Mobile marketing for real estate is so in your face right now that it can’t be ignored any longer. The options available for you to create and tailor your mobile application are so plentiful that you could literally have one ready within an hour of reading this. I want to talk about two aspects – getting up and running and then the marketing benefits from all of these efforts. The mobile market is absolutely massive and it continues to grow so hopefully this gets you hungry for a piece of it.

I’d also like to mention that since it’s still considered “new” technology, you’ll have a really great chance to stand out in your market. If you happen to be in a larger market, like say Manhattan, then you’re far behind the pack. With that being said, you can still come out with a unique mobile app for your area that focuses on something a little more unique and specific than just the MLS listings and a map for your phone. The crazier and more unique you get, the better opportunity you’re going to have to get it written about, linked to and spread around.

Those of you who already have a mobile application in the wild, I’d really like to hear how it’s going in the comments below. Our team only has the numbers from our clients, so it would be great to hear how others are liking/hating it.

Creating + Programming Your App:

There are more than a few good options for getting your real estate business on a mobile platform, so we’ll look at the cheap and move up to the more costly. Obviously a great iPhone app that’s geared to be approved by Apple is going to cost more than a free RSS -> Mobile app tool. Going in one direction can make or break the app’s potential marketing so listen up!

–> Out Of The Box Solutions <–

WidgetBox.com Mobile Solutions – This is as easy as it gets! WidgetBox is something I’ve mentioned before, and besides easy widgets, you can have a mobile app launched within 15 minutes (booyah). How does it work? Well, you can easily just mash your social feeds together from sources like Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, your blog, Youtube and other places then have them compiled into an application that keeps everybody updated no matter how they follow you. The pricing options range from fair to pricey and it is charged on a monthly basis, but for the lack of hassle and sheer quickness, their service is a definite win.  If you’re skeptical, try a 14-day trial for free and you’ve got nothing to lose..

Smarter Agent – This is service is highly geared for real estate mobile application solutions that are more than sufficient. The best thing I can mention about Smarter Agent is that you’d be hard pressed to find a mobile platform they don’t cover. It’s a great platform that is competitively priced with WidgetBox, yet it’s FOR agents.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I didn’t find anything else worth blogging about that made life easy and quick, so for now those two options seem the best. If I missed something, then please let us all know in the comments below. With the way the mobile business world is going, it won’t be long before other similar platforms start popping up like crazy.

Hiring A Mobile Application Developer:

While this next sentence is completely my opinion, I think the custom route is the best option for a few reasons. I’m all about helping my clients create something extraordinary, something that gets noticed and best of all something that works specifically for their target market. You want to really make that user want to install  and use your app, once you do, you’re golden.

The hiring process can, honestly, be a pain in the ass! A lot of businesses tend to reach out to cheaper development teams in developing countries, something which I don’t recommend. I’ve had more than a few failed projects going this route myself, but it hasn’t been all bad. Finding the right fit will take a lot of time and a lot of extra communication on your part. Try and get a recommendation from someone who’s dealt with a good programming team and go from there.

–> Freelancers <–

This is the hard part. Wading through countless freelancer sites that all kind of look the same, have a lack of moderation and generally a lot of scammers is time consuming. If you’re willing to save some cash by investing the time,  then the least I can do is recommend some good starting points.

ODesk.com – This one is most likely an obvious “oh yeah” to most of you readers here. ODesk has made a name for itself by offering access to higher quality freelancers. While they’ve done a decent job, you’ll still find that you still have a possibility of getting stung . Perhaps I’m being too negative, call me Mr. Scrooge, but being cautious is never a bad thing (especially when it comes to your money and business). Do your research on your prospective freelancer and go with your instincts after taking in all the information you can.

ReferralKey.com & Linkedin.com – These two go hand in hand and they are, in my opinion, a better way of finding someone of quality. Linkedin recommendations are a great way to scope out a potential programmer and ReferralKey can help even more. Check out this video for a visual explanation of how the two work together:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Join mobile development groups on Linkedin and see who’s around and making moves. This way, you will, at the very least, be able to see legitimate recommendations for that person/business. If we’re reaching out to a freelancer, we’ve always done it through LinkedIN and never really had much of a problem. It’s also a great way to network, so you might as well kill two birds with one digital stone.

–> Reputable Mobile Dev Firms <–

This is the route I recommend, especially if you want to get your app into something like Apple’s directory. It’s no secret that Apple likes to keep the app store pretty tight, so getting an app accepted there is a task unto itself. That is, of course, if you don’t go with these firms. They specialize in just that and have become very good at it. The downside? The price is going to be significantly higher than the other options. In the end, however, your end product is going to be significantly better and hopefully, take your business a lot further.

Grapple Mobile – I’m more than happy to recommend this company any time I speak, mention or Tweet about a dev company. These folks have talent oozing out of every corner of their team and, most importantly, they get the job done right. You know without a doubt that going with Grapple means your app is going to be the best it’s ever going to get… and no, they didn’t pay me  to say that!

MyFirstMobileApp.com – This is another firm that has a great reputation and has a lot of experience building all sorts of applications. They cover most platforms as well as handle some marketing aspects of your mobile campaign but come on, you might as well ring me for that (shameless plug!).

Apptellect.com – These folks might sound like they only do Apple development, but they cover all the top platforms. I’ve had friends and business contacts use them and they were all very pleased with not only the service, but the prices too! Apptellect has a lot of award winning applications coming out of their end making it a good and sound contact to add to your list!

Marketing Your App:

The good news is that you’ll get more than just mobile downloads/installs from your application. If you put the time in, you’ll see that the links and brand buzz will follow. If your completed app is really something else, then you’ve got yourself some mighty fine piece of link bait there. This is a great way to add diversity to your link profile and a great example of links that set you apart from the competition.

Don’t fret if your link building efforts are slow to kick off in the beginning. One thing our team has noticed is that local blogs will eventually throw you a link or two if you establish yourself in the community.

Now that you’ve got your app, we have to let people know about it and app directories make for both great links and a solid advertisement.

–> Official App Directories <–

- Official Apple Application Directory http://www.apple.com/webapps/
- Android Application Directory https://market.android.com/
- HP App Directory http://www.hp.com/united-states/webos/us/en/apps.html (horrid web navigation here)
- Blackberry App World http://appworld.blackberry.com

There are of course many more sites out there that list the latest and greatest mobile applications on the market. I’ll only list a few sites that will get you going, but put your Google hat on and you’ll be able to find many many more.

–> Places To Submit Your App <–

Some of these app directories just pick and choose from the official sites for content. Others will either take submissions or, if you make nice on Twitter with them, you’ll stand a chance. Either way, the links you can gain are well worth your time. Again, don’t stop here and get to Googling. You’re bound to find more sites of this type and get the head up on your competition.

- http://www.appolicious.com
- http://smokinapps.com
- http://www.yappler.com
- http://ipadiphoneblog.com/submit-a-guest-post/
- http://www.androlib.com
- http://www.androidzoom.com
- http://www.appbrain.com

–> Generate Buzz & Links <–

There are a number of other ways you can use your mobile application as link bait so let’s cover a few of the easier options. Keep in mind, we always find that local bloggers are quite willing to write about stuff like this so be ready to fork over some free copies for a review. This is where you’ll really see an influx of buzz for your app locally.

- get it reviewed by local bloggers
- submit a press release
- submit the news to local news sources online and off
- get local Twitter users to tweet it
- blog about it
- write about it on your external sites like ActiveRain.com, Zillow and perhaps your REW blog
- do a video showing how it works or get a local video blogger to do one for you
- run a contest and give away copies
- get new business cards with mention of it
- create a pdf for Scribd showing people how to get it and how to use it
- create a SlideShare.net for it showing how its useful
- perhaps a local forum you’re on is a good spot to sneak in the news

–> Going From Here <–

That should be enough to get you started and get you excited for jumping into the mobile marketing game. Keep your ear to the ground and keep adding cool and unique features to your app over time. The crazier the better is what I always say! Just make sure your mobile download options are front and center on your website and your incredible mobile app will get good traction. Go get that mobile money!

what features would your ultimate #realestate app have? #retechchat

What do you think? What is the killer real estate app and what features does it need to include? Does the app already exist in some form? What are your favorite real estate apps already available?

I have been using QR codes for 9 months. After spending lots of time promoting my QR Code I would like to share all of the prospects I have received with this new technology. Whoops, there is nothing to share. Yep, after having QR codes on my facebook page, twitter page, website, marketing materials and brochures I have had 9 people use the qr codes ( I actually have them assigned to a url shortener to view traffic). 8 of the people using the qr code were me. I’m scratching my head on the 9th. Maybe it was another agent checking it out?

I realize that’s just one example, but I’ve yet to hear from someone who has gotten REAL results from using QR codes in their marketing materials. It seems safe to say QR codes are just that latest shiny object for the real estate industry that marketers who don’t actually know what works are cramming down people’s throats. Please — if you or someone you know has had success turning QR codes into actual business, enlighten us as to what we’re missing.

Before you go to buy a dongle from your local MLS office, you should download the eKey app from the iTunes store.  It’s free and easy to install.  The problem you will run into is when you go to purchase the dongle from your local MLS.  During the process, they will probably ask you to enter an authorization code that they provide you with and then they will want you to sync your device.  At home, you have your wireless router so this is not a problem in the long term but at the MLS, I doubt they will give you their wifi encryption key to allow you to sync your device on their wireless network.

To solve this problem, I borrowed my wife’s Verizon Mifi.  This is a fantastic little device that acts as a wireless hotspot for up to 5 computers at once in any location that you can get 3g cellular service.  I went through the process, hit “sync now” and everything fired off without a hitch.  There are a few other solutions that I can think of, but most of them are a little clunkier than something like the Mifi.

Certain devices available from Clear might be able to serve the same function or if you have an air card for your laptop, you can take your laptop in and set it up to provide an adhoc wifi network connection to your iPod Touch however the details for that are a bit beyond the scope of this article.

If you are lucky enough to have an iPhone, the eKey setup process should work flawlessly without a hitch.  If you have an iPad, you may have to jump through some of these hoops to make it an eKey depending on which model you have.

A promising start...

In terms of acceptance of this kind of digital signature, it’s an entirely open question due to how rapidly technology is changing. DocuSign, on the other hand, has years of experience and they’ve spent a great deal of resources to ensure the legitimacy of their solution. I’m not a lawyer, and in my opinion the onus is on the company to make it abundantly clear whether something is legally valid or not.  Personally, I might use a solution like SignMyPad for simple forms/ applications/ etc, but I’d stick with a more established system like DocuSign for important contracts until I learn more. Anyway, on to the review:

Getting Started:

The documentation is minimal with SignMyPad, which is great when something’s super intuitive, but made for a bumpier start in this case. The app opens to a empty list, where your saved pdf’s would go. Maybe I’m slow, but it took me a few seconds to figure out that I had to email myself a pdf, then in Mail click “Open In SignMyPad” for it to then appear. This could be made a lot more intuitive.

Usage:

The first time I tried opening a doc in SignMyPad from Mail, it crashed. It worked the second time, and I started by selecting the “add text” option to write in the address in my sample purchase contract. That worked fine, but then when I tried to delete the text, I simply couldn’t figure out how. I clicked and I dragged until it was time for the last resort: reading the instructions.

Finding the instructions wasn’t easy: I clicked menu, didn’t see it, then clicked “PDF list”, read the instructions, and came back to delete my text (you need to double tap the text to delete). Unfortunately, my text was already gone: it doesn’t save automatically, or warn you if you go back to your list of PDFs. The mystery of the disappearing text would haunt me throughout the entirety of my review. It was not clear at all how or when your input was saved, which in a seven page contract can get incredibly frustrating.

Where are my signatures and text!?!

I tried the “save” option, and the “save/email” option, but was unable to actually save my text. I emailed myself three blank contracts, then gave up.

Bottom Line:

I absolutely love this idea, and I commend the developer for focusing on this need, but the current implementation was unusable for me. If you are highly technically savvy and patient, give it a try. From the reviews on iTunes, some people have been able to make it work for them, though the consensus seems to be that it’s pretty buggy. Until we see improvements, I would save your $4. If anyone has had a better experience, by all means share in the comments.

Current iTunes Rating: 2.5 stars

My Rating: 2 stars

Price: $3.99

iTunes Link: SignMyPad

I searched around for something REALTOR® friendly.  Something simple and affordable.  Something that works smooth-like-real-butter, on my desktop, my notebook, my iPad and my iPhone.

I  and settled on a beautifully simple application called Dropbox.  The process is straight forward. If you’re looking for a simple synching solution, I think you’ll like this.

1. Sign Up for your Drobox account.  2Gigs for free.  50GB for $9.99 per month. Or, 100GB for $19.99 per month.  There are discounts if you pony-up a year in advance.
2. Simply download the software to your computers/mobile devices and launch.  Computer, iPad and iPhone applications are free.
3. Drag previously saved files into your Dropbox folder (See below) and begin saving new important files to your Dropbox folder and you’re good to go.

Most of my important stuff, listing presentations, .PDFs, letters, contracts, photos, slide-decks, etc., I create on my desktop or notebook.  For things I want to have handy anywhere (my desktop, my notebook, my iPad the cloud or my iPhone), I save it to the Dropbox Folder.

Here’s what you get on your computer when you install the Dropbox application.  Notice the Dropbox folder on the left hand side (red arrow).  To sync your files on all your geek stuff, either save new files to the Dropbox folder or drag previously created files from another folder to the Dropbox folder.  The little green-for-go check-mark means the file has been successfully synced (the syncing magic happens quietly in the background).

After you save something, the Dropbox application automagically syncs your stuff to your high-security Dropbox cloud account.  In the unlikely event that you need something important, and heaven forbid, you don’t have your computer/phone/iPad with you, just log on to your secure Drobpox account and get what you need.  Here’s what my Dropbox cloud-account web site looks like:

After you save a file to one of your Dropbox enabled devices, or the cloud site, the next time any of your devices is connected to the internet, your files are synced.  You can open any file, change it, save it, and it’ll be good to go on all you devices.  Plus everything you need is everywhere you need it.  Very simple, very affordable and very cool.  The Dopbox app for mobil devices has some cool forwarding and sharing features too.

For the iPad, I recommend you buy (.99cents) the GoodReader.com application.  This cool app, syncs with Dropbox and gives you magical viewing powers. You can open and read the most popular and common file types. Yes, Mac and PC.

OK.  That’s it.  I imagine there are other solutions, this one works great for me and I know it’ll work great for you too.  If you get started, within a few minutes, all your important stuff will be everywhere you are, whenever you need it – Geek Sync completed.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers.