Inman Connect 2008…what a great trip! We had five Enterprise clients join us at the conference and numerous meetings with new potential Enterprise Network Members. As always, it was well worth the trip.

After reviewing last week’s events and the impact that Inman Connect had this year, I left with the feeling that Brokers are finally starting to embrace technology! However I must include that it did take a huge market slump and all time high foreclosure rates to get them to finally let go of the old security blanket. That aside, change is in the air. 

Still, with one mountain behind us, there are always more to climb. (more…)

Podcasting is a superb way for marketers to reach highly targeted niche audiences. Active Website’s fundamental view on the future of podcasting has not altered since last year. As the medium breaks away from its progenitor, Apple Inc., podcasting is becoming a mobile technology that’s popularity continues to grow. Millions are plugging in to download audio files for listening and communicating.

According to eMarketers, “the podcast audience will continue to grow at an impressive rate into the next decade. Podcasts will reach 18 million regular subscribers in 2011, with a total potential audience that year of 55 million people.” (more…)

With the continuing demand for Eco-friendly products and services, one company is taking steps to educate Real Estate Industry
professionals. EcoBroker is the first and only green educational curriculum and certification for licensed real estate professionals.

The goal of EcoBroker is to help Real Estate agents stay informed and up to date on the growing green real estate market and the benefits it provides. It helps expand an agent’s knowledge about the increasing green trends and how they can incorporate them into their business so that they can build on this potential market base. (more…)

Given today’s technology, providing the real estate consumer with what they really want shouldn’t be a problem. Today’s consumer wants to be able to go online and search for properties, view property details, photos, maps, and neighborhood information with the click of a button. The Internet has given consumers the ability to do numerous searches on their own and conduct their own preliminary research before even deciding on a real estate agent. What do consumers see when they visit your website? Do they find a functional, easy to navigate, informational resource or do they leave just as fast as they arrived because they have to ‘become a lead’ before they’ll get any information out of you? After all, it really is all about them.

Maybe we can all learn something from this: http://www.wellcomemat.com/video/6DF8FF1C76

Surface Computing – is this technology coming to a Real Estate office near you? Microsoft has announced its release of a new, ambitious technology they call ‘surface computing.’ Check out the table computing platform at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html.

How can this technology change how we do business? Imagine you have a potential client coming from out of town and you schedule a one hour meeting at your office to see what’s available in the their price range. When they arrive you sit down at the Table PC and start pulling up property searches. As you search you can pull up endless photos and videos of multiple properties all at the same time. This is a truly a unique real estate experience and its available today! (more…)