Can the newspaper business really change?

So many of you have spoken with me in the offices about the newspaper industry and the changes of the last few years. From my discussions with you, as well as with a few publishing people I know, I was convinced that the industry was on its last legs.

But then I learned about the Ben Franklin Project

Right here in our backyard, Journal Register Company and their new CEO John Paton are taking a fresh look at every detail of the publishing industry. They are calling their effort the "Ben Franklin Project" after the famous inventor who never was content with doing things the "old way". I offer you a link to their detailed description but I would like to cite one paragraph from the explanation of the idea.

"All of this will start with the assigning process. To truly engage our readership we must know they are interested in reading, watching and consuming what is reported. The legacy measurements of circulation, sales and even the modern metrics of unique visitors and page views only measure reader interest after the fact. By providing a platform where users can suggest stories, vote for story assignments and/or opening contribute (information, sources, data, etc.), the Ben Franklin Project will create an open-sourced assignment desk. And, the process will continue as readers track story developments online. Stories that not judged worthy by the audience could be dismissed while those that may have been dismissed under a legacy model could find new life."

So why am I taking time on Memorial Day to talk to you about all this? Why is it important to you? Because it may...may...be the change the newspaper business has been looking for. Turning journalism on it's ear; putting the end user in the beginning of the news gathering cycle instead of just at the end.

But, it may also be interesting for us as real estate professionals in JRC's back yard. By learning about the project, by understanding the concepts and the tools, we may just be able to become the local experts in an ever-expanding medium. If you've ever introduced yourself at a cocktail party, then you already know that everyone likes to talk about real estate; if the news gathering mechanism changes so that readers are determining assignments then perhaps real estate news bleeds deeper into traditional news. We'll see.

Graduation Day!

Many of you know that in addition to my other work I serve as the President of the Bloomsburg University Alumni Association. It's a great job, and one of the highlights is that I get to participate in commencement each spring. Actually it is where I am now - blogging on my phone as diplomas are handed to the grads.

If you want a reminder of how tough the economic outlook is right now talk to students at graduation. On either side of me are two highly-involved, super-smart students. Talking with both I find that neither are sure just what the future holds.

Why should you care? Well, college grads may hold the answer for you like never before. Thanks to new provisions of the health insurance reform law college grads can stay on their parents insurance, lessening the need that they take any job available just to get benefits. They need professional experience, and they need a few dollars in their pocket. You need their technology and social media skill, their understanding of Generation Y consumers and maybe even their friends and contacts.

Who knows? Perhaps you could even trade them their experience for real-estate school tuition and add them to your "team" after that - we all know our profession could benefit from an infusion of youth.

Gotta run! My turn to speak...

An App a day?

So I probably shouldn't admit this but I have been slacking lately. If you read my prior post you know I went to Disney World with the family for a few days, and then returned home for a few hours of me time and a golf trip with the 'fellas.

While there is no need to rehash those trips (especially the second) I did learn something pretty significant while away that I wanted to share with you - smart phone apps are going to run our lives...and soon.

For those of you who don't know, a mobile phone "app" is a software program that runs on your phone that allows you to do something you would normally do on your computer. One simple example of a mobile phone app is YouTube, which created a tool for users on their phones to search for, watch, and share video right from their handheld device. Not important??? Try (or remember) keeping a 3 year old entertained for two hours after clearing TSA security and finding out your flight is delayed :)


During the course of my Disney trip I utilized a mobile app that helped me navigate the Magic Kingdom (complete with a GPS pointer to show me where I was at all times) and also managed wait times and appearance schedules and (most importantly) had all the bathrooms listed. C'mon...you can't tell me that's not cool! How many times have we all wandered around an amusement park, map in hand trying to figure out where the roller coasters are? I know this one was so worth the $0.99 investment.

But apps aren't just for playtime. Check out this free app I downloaded that works as a mortgage calculator. While certainly no replacement for the world's best Mortgage Mobility team, this little zinger can give you a quick "on the road" review of what a house will really cost.

Of course there are plenty of apps to help with real estate search. One of my favorites (ignoring bias for a second) is the Coldwell Banker app, available for both the iPhone and the Google Android. What I like is that it pulls in your GPS location (remember like I said in the Magic Kingdom) and helps you find homes that are near where you are - allowing you to find the info on a particular property nearby even without having to know the name of the town (which is great here where post office and municipality don't always match).

There was also another app that kept all my golf scores, but I am too embarrassed to even post the screen shot - know that it kept the leaderboard for our event (8 guys in two different foursomes always knew who was in the lead even with handicaps figured in) and also gave us course data to help us line things up. Made the four days of golf even more awesome.

With more than 1.5 Billion (yes B) app downloads so far and more than 300,000 apps already built I know you can find ones that do just about everything if you look. The key is that you 1) know what they are 2) think about buying a phone to use them and 3) start investigating which ones are available for you.

Greetings from the "friendly skies"

If you follow me on twitter you know I am taking a few days away from the office to participate in the mandatory ritual of capitalist parenthood...taking the kid to Disney World. Perhaps I'll post some thoughts from there as they relate to our lives in the real estate business...perhaps not (after it is supposed to be vacation, right?)

What I couldn't resist doing today, however, is writing this post from 30,000 feet. Air travel has changed so much in the past 12-18 months - certainly in response to the changing technology needs of frequent travelers. It is amazing how different flights are now from the "buy your headsets for $1" days of just a few years ago.

So here I am in my seat, cell phone on, working on my blog. I can turn the cellular functionality off so that it doesn't interfere with the important flight functions (which of course seems odd since the flight attendants are using a cellular device to ping my credit card for the drinks). When I get on the ground I will publish this with one push of a button. I can answer all the email I avoided today, can review the spreadsheet Jamie sent about office production and also generate the press releases related to the Coldwell Banker buyer bonus that launches when I get back.

Have I mentioned somewhere in the last few sentences that my laptop is still securely stowed under the seat in front of me? Yep, doing all this from my phone.

Even better, some airlines are starting to offer wireless internet on their longer flights; it will only be a matter of time before it's on all of them. Imagine how productive I could be right now with internet access? (especially now that the red bull just came off the beverage cart?) Certainly ends the need for the lame in-flight movie.

So you might be saying "who cares". After all real estate agents aren't exactly the corporate types they used to develop George Clooney's Up in the Air caracter. The truth is that while we don't travel much, isn't it one of the oldest real estate rules that deals always happen (or explode) while you're away? Well, were my deal going south at the same time I was chances are good I could have it fixed before I hit the ground (especially if I used Skype or GoogleVoice to make calls without a cellular signal).

Also remember that many of our clients fly...a lot. Perhaps before you best client takes off for his/her next big trip you offer them something to read other than John Grisham.

OK, red bull in full effect now - back to those spreadsheets! Hope you have a great weekend!

(note: because I didn't have wirless access on this flight I used an application called AndroBlogger to write this offline. It is a free app for Android users, and I am sure a similar one exists for the iPhone)

Happy FourSquare Day!

Chances are good you don't know it, but Friday is "FourSquare Day" and I want to be the first to wish you a happy one. You can learn more about this event, which is being billed as "the first global social media holiday" by clicking this link.

Before I get too deep...know that Friday is the holiday because of the play on words. FourSquare = Four, Squared = 4/16 = April 16.

So are you confused yet? I think it is a pretty safe bet that most of you have not had any interaction with FourSquare, which is a new social media tool based on the idea of location-based connection. I have been using it for about six months, and I know there is one agent (maybe two) who are experimenting with it too. The idea is simple; when you are in a location you do a "check-in" on your handheld device that records your location and shares it with other FourSquare users. Additionally you can force your FourSquare updates to twitter, extending the network even further. If you believe the FourSquare hype, the tool allows people to see where you are, offer you tips & suggestions while you are there, and perhaps encourage "meetups" based on your location - the ideal social networking concept.

So should you FourSquare yet? Probably not. Keep maximizing the tools you have been working with first. Get twitter figured out first, start up and run your fan page with efficiency. More importantly, learn the elements of your handheld device so that when the time comes you can manage an application like FourSquare with ease.

Why is FourSquare important? Well, many reports have targeted the mobile social media (that being done with your handheld device) as next area of social media to have major impact. There are a number of ramifications for real estate but none of them have been fully worked out just yet. Every company out there, including our brand and the others you know, are trying to come up with the "cool thing" that is powered by mobile social media. I know someone will figure it out, and within two years I am pretty confident tools like FourSquare will have a major impact in our industry.

For now, just remember that you knew about the first ever "FourSquare Day". Use it as an opportunity to visit the FourSquare site, maybe as a chance to add the FourSquare app to your mobile device...perhaps even to get your "newbie" badge! If you do, be sure to friend me...as I'll be out tomorrow checking in around our towns.

It's supposed to hit 90 degrees today!

If you have been following along for a while now you may know about my infatuation with TV weather personality Cecily Tynan...but this is not a post about the weather or those who deliver it with aplomb.

This is a real estate blog. We are real estate professionals.

So how is it, that on a day when the thermometer is approaching 90 degrees we are showing this many houses on our web site with snow?

Yes, I grabbed all these from CBHearthside.com TODAY. Since CBHearthside.com is fed by the three MLS services we utilize, that means they are still in the MLS. Since the MLS also sends all our listing info to many other brokers, some of our syndication partners and to Realtor.com - you guessed it. Snow is falling everywhere.

Worst of all, as we head into this National Open House Weekend event, some of these photos have open house balloons right next to them...yikes!

I started this post with the idea that I would find one or two and post them. Then I found a few more, and a few more, and a few more. Believe it or not I could have kept going. There is one from every office in here except one. Congratulations to our Northampton office for not having any snow photos.

Think of the message this is sending to your sellers who are expecting to pay you a lot of money for your skill and marketing savvy. Think of the money you are spending on promotion driving people to your web site or Realtor.com to see these houses. Think of how embarrassed you would be right now if one of these photos were yours.

C'mon team...let's see if we can't do a little better.

Social Media to the Rescue?

Wow, took a few weeks off from the blog...blame it on the good weather. Sorry about that. But I had an interesting situation remind me that about the importance of sharing and of social media. Hopefully you'll indulge me in a little family news.

Day after Easter, wife decides to take my 3-y.o. on an adventure to the Limerick outlets (now to the Cville folks that may not be an adventure, but remember I live in Doylestown). Anyway, just before King of Prussia on the turnpike the car hits something rather large and blows a hole in the tire. Darn...trip in jeopardy.

The trouble is that my wife has never changed a tire, and when she called me on the telephone I decided that wasn't the time to teach her how. Not owning a AAA membership, I hop into my car to run to the rescue.

Here is where it gets interesting. Not wanting the two of them to have to sit on the highway for the half hour or so it is going to take me to get to K of P, I put a message on twitter and facebook asking anyone in the area to reach out to me as I needed a favor. On facebook I even took the unheard of step of publishing my cell phone number right in the status update.

Wouldn't you know that within five minutes I had one text and two phone calls all offering to lend a hand? People in their offices, people in their cars (not that I endorse such behavior). It was really cool to see how much social media has become a part of our daily lives.

Good news is that I got to K of P, got the tire fixed and everyone got to the outlets (well except me, I had to go back to work). The social media messages continued to flow for the remainder of the day - it was a pretty interesting experience.

Don't give up on social media just because someone doesn't contact you right away..they're out there, listening. When the time is right - either in your world or in theirs - they'll reach out to you.