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McKeever's Musings - Advertising is No Longer Analog |
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Did you see the movie 'Best Man?' One part of it should be required viewing for any REALTOR®. The movie shows a real-estate advertising campaign that is based on demographic comedic stereotypes. The campaign was silly—the movie’s a romantic comedy, after all—but it worked: it made the agent’s phone ring.
The concept of advertising has taken many new directions since the advent of the Internet. Prior to the internet, it was about using your time, space or resources as effectively as possible. Creativity always has and always will play a role, but the message seemed to be upfront and to the point (queue 1950's Public Service Announcements). Now with the advent of Internet, Tivo and people’s ever-diminishing attention span, advertising needs to do more - it needs to catch their eye and pique their interests.
Who watches television ads anymore? Tivo lets you fast forward through life—and your favorite television shows. Now, when people watch ads, it is because they choose to. They have gotten caught up in a viral marketing campaign, where a link to the ad winds up in their inbox directing them to the uploaded video on YouTube - or, maybe even simply started there and never on a typical media outlet. Take the New Jersey Association of REALTORS® new campaign. I'm not sure whether or not
this is a mass media outlet campaign. But I suspect that, as a Chicagoan, I am probably outside of their demographic market. Yet, via Twitter and an email forward, I got swooped up by the buzz of the
campaign.
Here’s what happened. Through Social Media awareness (email), I got the 'seal of approval' from one of my colleagues that these ads were worth my time and attention. On that recommendation, I chose to visit the YouTube page and watch the ad. Guess what— my colleague didn't lead me astray. Because he knew me, he had a better idea of what I'd find informative, clever, or amusing, and he was right. In fact, his instinct was perfectly on target. I was so amused by the video clips
that I watched all of them—and each had their own humor and appeal. Now this is the kind of thing I'm talking about with new media advertising. The message was there, but the ad was done in such a way
that the message became the by-product of the entertainment.
With listings ads, whether in print or new media, you may have a trickier time pulling this off —but you should be able to do it on the level of the agent/broker. Google AdWords and strategically placed
banner ads are still, in my opinion, the proper way to advertise (always make sure to check your ROI). Sure, we have all trained our eyes to know where the ads are on each of our most frequently visited
sites. But having a clever banner or witty AdWord may be enough to draw a viewer’s attention and get that desired click. I’m not going to lie: every once in a while I will try to hit the monkey with a
hammer when I see that banner come up on Yahoo It’s fun and I know I will get 3 seconds of glee!
So the moral of this story is, as the Internet and technology matures, the way we think about advertising needs to adapt. As a society, we may simply wind up having prospective clients judge us by our humor and our ability to engage as opposed to being direct about the services or solutions we offer. People have heard it all before, and so they want more than just high quality service, they want to laugh and be entertained. After all, isn't this the technique Frankly Real Estate used in
the early 2000's (Tennis and surfing)? And don’t forget - stay tuned to the CRT blog and our Twitter account for updates on the release of the 2009 REALTOR Technology Survey, the First Annual REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award, as well as our new RETS download client, simpleRETS.
Chris McKeever
cgmckeever@realtors.org
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Can't Miss Resources |
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Celebrating Tech Excellence |
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Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
-B. Littrell
The Center for REALTOR® Technology is introducing the first annual REALTOR® Technology Spotlight Award. The award strives to recognize REALTORS® and technology staff (in an association or in a brokerage) that have used, embraced or created technology that demonstrates innovation in the real estate industry.
Why did we create this award? It doesn’t matter how old we are, most of us still look for that nod to affirm that we’re doing ok. And the workplace is no exception. After all, no one really shows up for work hoping to do a poor job. Sometimes, however, we get too busy or we forget that there are people who consistently put their best foot forward, day in and day out. They are the people who keep things running as smoothly as possible.
For example, take the technical folks in your associations and brokerages—how cool was the application they created to help with productivity & leads? How about the individual or group that ensures that your office’s technology needs are met on a daily basis? Does Joe or Jane Techie even break a sweat in troubleshooting tech issues for the office? Are they always ready to help regardless of the day of the week or the time of the day? What about the tech visionary who brings the latest technology ideas to the table to help you shine, or the real estate practitioner who uses blogs and social media to ‘think outside of the box’ about how to take their business to the next level?
Some will protest and say that this is nothing exceptional—that ‘it’s part of the job.’ But don’t underestimate the power of praise & recognition. Without a doubt, your encouragement reinforces desired actions. I’m sure you’ve seen someone's self esteem rise when you cheer them on or praise them for a job well done. Yes, even for adults, a simple ‘Thank you!’ or ‘Good job!’ goes a long way. Research shows that appreciation or recognition is a driver of job satisfaction, retention, and better job productivity. Employees are more likely to be vested in the workplace if they feel that their work matters.
So, why not take the time to recognize the excellent work done by tech pioneers & visionaries in your office or association today? If you already do this at a local level, the REALTOR® Technology Spotlight Award is your chance to recognize them nationally. If you know more than one individual who deserves recognition, you can nominate each one. And yes, you can even nominate yourself! Nominations are currently open. If you wish, feel free to add one of these banners to your site or blog promoting the REALTOR® Technology Spotlight Award.
Award recipients will be announced at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego later this year, through our REALTOR® Technology Spotlight Facebook page, as well as on REALTOR.org and other communication media.
Stay tuned… the REALTOR® Technology Spotlight award may shine on you!
Ana Schmitz
aschmitz@realtors.org
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The DIY Path to Technical Expertise |
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How many times have you heard, “If you want it done right, do it yourself”? Technology can be complex but in most cases you can quickly figure out how to do it yourself. Seminars, conventions, and tutorials can be very helpful and should be part of any effort to learn about technology-- that’s one of the reasons CRT exists, after all! But there are other sources for quick information. Learning where to learn about technology will not only come in handy, it will enable you to get more out of the more traditional information resources. And it will help make you the envy of your peers.
The following ideas about where to find help are listed in the order you should follow when solving your tech problem.
1: Application help functions:
The help button is a tool that many help desk technicians use, and most of your basic how-to questions can be answered via this oft-forgotten button. Whether you’re using Top Producer or MS Word, there’s plenty of useful help information built right into the application. You can try it out right now in the browser you’re reading this in—though I suggest you try it on a desktop rather than a mobile phone browser. Go to your browser’s toolbar and click ‘help.’ If you’re using Internet Explorer select ‘Contents and Index.’ Now you can search for answers to basic problems right from your application. If you check, you’ll find that just about every application has a help function. Try it out the next few times you open an oft-used application; I think you’ll be surprised.
2: Search engines:
The World Wide Web is a rich source of information that can help you understand technology and answer your technology questions—all for free. Many of the solutions to your technical problems are readily available on the web. Can’t find the owner’s manual to your camera? Go to the manufacturer’s website and download it. Don’t know which webhosting company you use? Type ‘webhosting’ in a search engine plus the word ‘review’ and you will find any number of sites that rate webhosting companies. These hosting company that a majority of the review sites rate high is usually a good bet. Once you start seeking out technical information, you will find that people love to share knowledge. Technical forums are one place these do-gooders can be found. Don’t forget to bookmark the sites that you like best.
3: Your online social network:
Real estate has eagerly embraced social networking—Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. These communication tools can also serve as a resource for technical help. Just as social networking has changed how many people communicate with their business associates, friends, and family, it has also changed the ease with which you can ask people for information. Instead of waiting for the opportunity to ask your techie friends for their advice and assistance, just throw your question up on your social network page and watch them compete to provide the best answer.
Since its invention, the Web has been used by techies and researchers to exchange information. And they’re still using it for this purpose. It’s free to tap into this resource so go ahead and try it. The more you know about a subject in general, the easier it is to add to your knowledge. Build your knowledge base bit by bit and before you know it, you’ll be correcting those know-it-all tech geeks!
Ian Smith
ismith@realtor.org
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Internet Security Part 2: WiFi at Home |
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Setting up a WiFi network at home has become a very simple and quick process. You can often have your network up and running in less than 5 minutes! However, most ordinary users will set up their network and never configure it again. So it’s a good idea, when setting up your WiFi connection, to make sure your network is secure. You can be as vulnerable in your own home- especially if you live in a large city- as you are on the go. And if you leave your network unsecured, anyone can access the network and sift through your personal information, as I discussed earlier.
Here are some tips for securing your home WiFi network:
**Note that many wireless routers have different settings. To make these changes, you should refer to the documentation that came with your router.
Don’t broadcast your network SSID
Your Service Set Identifier, or SSID, is simply the name of your WiFi connection. Most wireless routers will automatically broadcast that name along with the signal so you can find your network easily. However, anyone within the range of your router can find it just as easily. Fortunately, you can tell your router not to broadcast the SSID. That way only those who should be allowed to connect can find it. All they have to do is enter the correct name.
Encrypt your network
Simply adding a password to your network will keep most people out. There are a number of different types of encryption (scrambling the password) and hackers have yet to crack WPA2. However, WPA2 only works with newer equipment. Even if you cannot use it, you should use some form of encryption and password protection for your network.
MAC address filtering
Every device that connects to a wireless network has a unique Machine Access Code, or MAC address. If you instruct your wireless router to accept only specific, pre-chosen MAC addresses, you will prevent almost anyone from using your network without your permission. To locate the MAC address, look for a label on each computer or network device that shows it. This process is often referred to as MAC address whitelisting.
While there are ways to individually get around many of these home-network security features, using all of them in combination will make your network very secure. While the best hackers might be able to break through some of the protections you place on your network, a secure network is likely to discourage them from doing so—why take the time when there are easier-to-access, less secure networks available? When your neighbor has an unsecured network, while yours is protected, potential hackers will undoubtedly opt for the unsecured connection. And since you are the one paying for your internet connectivity, why let someone else use it for free?
Greg Stinton
gstinton@realtors.org
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RETS Roundup |
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A lot of developments are underway in the RETS world, and CRT is in the thick of them. Here are 4 issues you may want to keep an eye on.
Compliance deadline extended to December 2009.
As you may already know, at its November 14, 2007 REALTORS® Conference in Las Vegas, the Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee approved a new policy that stated that all member-owned MLSs must be RETS compliant by June 2009. At this years Midyear meeting, this deadline was extended to December 2009. The extension will give the RETS community and the MLSs more time to get ready for the deadline.
RETS Compliance Tester to be released in early autumn of 2009.
In order to support the effort to be RETS compliant, CRT and the RESO community are working on releasing a RETS compliance tester. This tool will debut in the early autumn, and it will allow both vendors and MLSs to certify that they are RETS compliant. It will also be used in order to verify compliance with the new policy that goes into effect in December. The tool is presently being beta tested. To try the beta of the compliance tester, or for more information, check out the compliance page on rets.org.
Variman 3.0 to be released in early autumn 2009.
CRT’s Variman RETS server is getting a major upgrade. The new version will support RETS 1.7.2 and will have already been tested against the compliance tester to ensure full RETS compliance. This new version of Variman also has a visual metadata editor to make it easier to define the metadata on your RETS server. For more information about Variman and to download the beta of version 3.0, take a look at the Variman project page. For the production release of version 3.0, keep an eye on our blog.
CRT announces the release of simpleRETS.
CRT has a new RETS project! SimpleRETS is a lightweight, dependency free command-line-based RETS client that is designed for people who want a simple no-frills tool for downloading data from a RETS server. It is designed to be run in a job scheduler it can be setup to download data automatically on a periodic basis. The output of simpleRETS is CSV (comma separated values), which is a well known format so the data can be imported into pretty much anything. For more information, see the simpleRETS project page.
As you can see, CRT is still heavily involved with the RETS standard. We want to make sure that members’ interests are addressed with regard to compliance and to make sure that the members have the tools they need to ensure that they get the most out of RETS. For more information about our RETS initiatives, feel free to follow us on our blog or on http://twitter.com/CRTweet.
Andrew Tillman
atillman@realtors.org
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Copyright© 2009, National Association of REALTORS®
About CRT
Questions? Send an email to info@crt.realtors.org
CRT Report Editor - Jeanne Tillman
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