WAV Group has worked with many of the Nation's MLSs to develop their social media strategy.  I tend to follow a bunch of REALTOR Association and MLS fan pages to see examples of using social media to stay connected to members/subscribers (lets call them customers).  Now I celebrate whenever I see an MLS or Association using Facebook correctly. In general, the principal business component of a social media strategy is to publish information that connects with customers and redirects them to information that enhances the provider-supplier relationship.  The principal social component is to listen to your customers to better understand [...]

WAV Group has been following the story of Palm Inc, the makers of the most popular handset among real estate professionals.  Palm raised private equity last year from a group led by U2 singer Bono in an effort to launch their competitor to the iPhone, Google Android, and the popular Blackberry devices that have taken significant market share away from the smartphone handset pioneer.  If you are considering a mobile phone today and a new two year contract, choosing a Palm may be a mistake. Palm rolled out its new Pre and Pixi phones in an attempt to regain lost [...]

A new clue emerged today about the future of real estate mapping. The University of Washington and Cornell University are working together to build mathematical models that will use photos to dynamically build three-dimensional renderings of buildings, neighborhoods and potentially entire cities.  The name for this project is called PhotoCity. PhotoCity is a process whereby multiple two-dimensional photos are combined to generate mathematical scale to buildings.  Microsoft has commercialized this process with a product they call Photosynth.  Microsoft has failed in scaling their Photosynth service to cover any significant geographic region. PhotoCity has a plan that may be prime for [...]

As you may know from the August Press Release, RE Technology will soon be launching in MRIS, MRED and MLSListings.com.  RE Technology was created to allow an MLS to deliver a directory of technology vendors, product reviews, and product news to keep their members informed about the best tools and services available today. If you are a technology vendor, be sure to join the more than 400 companies who have registered for the free directory here. If you are an MLS or REALTOR Association - you may offer RE Technology subscriptions to your members too.  Just send a note or [...]

It is time once again for the annual REAL Trends 500 Survey.  If your brokerage firm closed more than 500 transaction sides in 2009, you qualify to participate in this year's ranking.  Making this prestigious list can be a great marketing tool for your firm.  It's a great honor to be featured with the most progressive and successful firms in the industry. The REAL TRENDS 500 Survey highlights the companies that sold the most homes and the most dollar volume in the past 12 months. The deadline to submit an application is FEBRUARY 28th, 2010 so don't miss out! All [...]

Vendor Alley is opening a jobs board, but until that is live, we are teaming together with other bloggers to announce job openings in our industry.  There has never been a better time to attract talent into real estate technology.  If you know anyone that is looking for work who knows saleforce.com - be sure to send them over to LPS for a confidential interview. Description The LPS Real Estate Group is looking for a Senior Customer Relationship Management Evangelist to join a dynamic technology organization.  This key position will involve working closely with senior management and technology staff in [...]