Oh Google...what were you thinking?

The folks at Google must have known I was about to send the revised ToolKit CMA presentation to the printer, that is why they went ahead and announced late last week that they were making big changes that impact real estate syndication.

Thanks, I guess, for saving me the embarrassment of having an outdated presentation before it ever was used.

I try not to get too techy in these posts; I know most of you are looking for the real estate implications of the tech changes, not real detail on the changes themselves. So I'll just say that last week Google announced that it is no longer going to accept real estate data feeds into its GoogleBase service, and it is also no longer going to present real estate listings on GoogleMaps.

All together now......Boo.

Google's answer for getting out of real estate is pretty simple; there are other players in the space who are doing it better. You can read their full post here (note that Coldwell Banker got a great shout out too). The truth of the matter is that they are right. Plenty of firms are doing a better job presenting real estate for sale than Google and plenty of firms have better, more accurate data than the GoogleBase engine has. The real estate data landscape has changed quite a bit from when they introduced the service way back in 2009.

I'm bummed for selfish reasons. Saying the word "Google" on a listing presentation was always a good starting point to talk about listing syndication. Even the most tech-resistant seller knows what Google is, so when you told them their listings were going to be delivered to GoogleBase and GoogleMaps it got their attention. Now that opportunity doesn't exist.

Certainly I believe that is justification for Google to continue the business, don't you?

So for all my CBHearthside colleagues I wanted to give my two cents on what the change means - feel free to offer other comments as you see fit.

1. It increases the value of Realtor.com - Google's move into real estate scared the number one player in the space...and they reacted. We have lots of great new tools as a result, and of course Google's disappearance only makes the site more relevant. Play up the fact that you have the Realtor.com Enhancement package when you start the conversation about listing syndication.

2. It makes single-property web sites even more important - Since Google will not be showcasing results on their map, and many sites that relied on their GoogleBase feed will have to find a new way to exist, the single-property web site may take a whole new prominence. Add to that a way-too-techy-to-post discussion of Google's latest algorithm changes and we may find those single-sites are very very important. Make sure you use them, promote them to your clients and sell the value they present. If we need to do a refresher, comment below.

3. It reinforces the value we deliver with our CBHearthside data feed strategy - You may not know this, but how the data gets to the sites is an important part of our business. Many of our competitors utilized tools that sent the data to GoogleBase, knowing that it would then get to many of the other sites by osmosis. We took a different approach, implementing site-specific feeds that brought data in from our web site and then farmed it out to the key players in the industry. While this is not a conversation you probably are going to have with your seller prospects, you can take comfort in knowing that the GoogleBase/GoogleMaps change doesn't have as big an impact on us as it may have on our competition.

4. It opens the door even wider for ColdwellBanker.com - You may not know this, but there was a big decision made about listing data at the National Association of REALTORS(R) meetings in Washington last May. NAR decided that franchise organizations (like Coldwell Banker) can now have IDX access to listing data, even though they are not a real estate broker. This paved the way for sites like ColdwellBanker.com to start sharing "all the listings, all the time" with consumers. Century21 just launched the first of the national sites to incorporate the IDX data, and ColdwellBanker.com is about to do the same through its iPhone and Android app. This is only my opinion, but knowing the amount of national media the big real estate brands use to push consumers to their sites the decision by NAR may have helped Google decide to get out of the business. Why would people go to Google Maps to get bad (often outdated) data when they can go to ColdwellBanker.com and get up-to-the-minute MLS data (and have it displayed on a map)? Could be an interesting few months watching this develop.

So it does mean the ToolKit revisions were delayed a bit...but no worry, when they come out they'll be up-to-date (or at least until something else happens).

Stay tuned....

Christmas Tree Recycling in New Hope has a Hearthside touch

I just saw this article online (via the New Hope Gazette) and wanted to share it with everyone. Congrats Dee Dee and thanks for your work in the community.

http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2010/12/27/new_hope_gazette/news/doc4d1913823d71b828922518.txt

Staying on top of the changes in our market

This morning Jamie and Frank met with the agents of the Malvern office and explained to them their decision to switch that one office from Coldwell Banker Hearthside to the NRT. They asked that I get the message out to you quickly, so I decided to use my blog.

I have been with CBH for six years now and I have seen plenty of change in the marketplace (and our strategy) during that time. Since this move is about strategy I wanted to explain to you with some images.

When I started here, the plan was for us to be a "Delaware River Company" with offices stretching through Bucks County, into the Lehigh Valley and finally into the Poconos. This was an aggressive plan and it relied on some elements out of our control in areas north of Easton.



Two and a half years ago we were introduced to the possibility of merging with Coldwell Banker Diamond. The match was ideal, and we acted quickly to make the move. The merger immediately made us a "Suburban Philadelphia Company" with offices in most every county north of the city and into the Lehigh Valley. It was a strong strategy and we took the challenge of competing with Coldwell Banker Preferred as one we were willing to take.



Unfortunately with the death of Harry Caparo and the sale of Coldwell Banker Preferred to the NRT we are forced to make changes to our strategy. It is difficult enough to compete with other Coldwell Banker companies, to compete with your own corporate parent is next to impossible. Our Malvern office is situated right between two Preferred offices; it only makes sense for us to adjust our strategy accordingly.

So now you see the final map. It shows us as a strong company set between two almost parallel lines on the map. This corridor is our strength - both in PA and NJ - and defines where we need to focus. This is where we will be successful going forward - this is where we will investigate growth down the road.

Please see that every CBH office now fits in between these two lines. That means we are not looking to shed any other sites in order to streamline our strategy. Jamie and Frank are clear that we are now perfectly positioned to move forward together.

As always, I encourage you to comment or email any of the three of us for clarification.

Should Q.R. Codes be on your 2011 list?

Yes, it is getting toward the end of the year - time to start thinking about how well you did from a tech standpoint in 2010 and also time to consider what is the "next big thing" on your list.

Over the course of the last few months there has been a ton of talk about Q.R. codes in real estate. I am pretty sure you have seen them (and may not have even noticed) ...but if not it is the square thing up above the text of this blog.

Just a quick education. Q.R. (Quick Response) codes were originally designed by the Japanese as a way to quickly handle inventory management. Over time people realized the implications these square boxes could have for mobile computing (especially as the number of smart phone users started to multiply). After a few firms started creating easy-to-use Q.R. code readers the technology started to boom.

A Q.R. Code allows people with smart phones to scan the square and have something happen. For example, they can scan the code and be directed to a web page, or they can scan the code and have an email sent to them. Some of the more interesting applications are having them scan the code in order to qualify for a promotion or be counted in a poll. Needless to say the possibilities are endless.

Two articles for you to read:

Hamilton Chan at Mashable - Why the Best Online Marketing May Be Heading Offline

Jonathan Osman at the YPN Lounge - Show Me Your Barcode!

So what should you be thinking about in your 2011 plan?
1. If you don't already have a smart phone, it's time to make the move. According to Neilsen there will be more smart phone users than traditional phone users in the United States next year...you need to be one of them. Whatever brand you want (although I am still not willing to recommend Blackberry) just as long as you can get apps and manage content.

2. If you have a smart phone, make sure you have Q.R. reader software installed. My new personal fav is something called BeeTagg - with ScanLife a close second. Go to your app store or market and get one of these (note...if you are an iPhone user and want BeeTagg make sure you get the Pro version).

3. Start scanning tags. They are around if you look for them. You can scan right off the computer screen - so scan the one on this post if you really can't find another nearby. See what happens when you scan them, and think about how you could use it in your business.

4. DON'T SPEND MONEY. Please don't run out and start signing contracts with every vendor that shows you a Q.R. code and promises to make you "stand out from the crowd" or tells you the technology is too hard for you to learn. It is not expensive (actually it is free)to create a Q.R. code, and with a small bit of learning (which I know Stefanie has already put into her 2011 plans) you can be up and running on your own.

Now I know I often tell you what you should be doing in 2011 - it's only fair that I tell you what I am working on as it relates to Q.R. codes at CBHearthside.

1. Mobile display of property data - since a Q.R. code usually points to a web site, we want our site to display the data in the right format. While most browsers can display the site already (I use CBHearthside.com on my Droid all the time) it is not as user-friendly as a specifically-designed mobile site. With that in mind we are going to redesign our mobile display with specific mobile URLs you can use when you want to point consumers to your listing data via Q.R. code.

2. Deeper integration of video - while Google and Apple still fight about YouTube and video standards it is still pretty well accepted that video will make it to your smart phone more in 2011. I already find myself watching video on my phone when I need additional info, and I am sure consumers will do it more next year too - so we will continue to provide ways for you to embed video and point users to that content in several different ways.

3. Possible integration of GPS - this has been a tough one, because not all the MLSs we deal with offer us what we need to get it done. That said, it is important and we will spend some of our time and money to make it work more effectively.

What does TReND's latest email mean to you?

If you are a member of TReND, chances are good you received an email from them today talking about some really techy stuff. If you didn't get a copy, I put a printout of mine on the web for you to see.

When I first read it I realized it needed some explanation - hopefully I can keep it really non-tech.

When you visit web pages your browser stores some of the information in your computer so that when you go back there again it doesn't have to load the info again (thereby making the page load quicker). It is called "caching" (like cash-ing) the info. Sometimes when a web site makes changes, the cache holds the info incorrectly and the newly-designed page doesn't load just right. That is what is happening at TReND.

If you are not having this problem, please just delete the email from TReND, as it could cause you more aggravation than it resolves.

Here is the hard part - along with the cache of page info, your computer stores passwords, preferences, etc too in order to make your experience better. If you are not careful about following the instructions (especially if you are using Firefox as your browser) you could end up deleting these file too.

While clearing your computer's cache is not a bad thing (in fact it is recommended that you do it once in a while) be careful just how much you delete from there. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to let me know or reach out to the TReND help desk who can step you through the process correctly.

The RF2G ~ AVG Fix

As promised, here are the step-by-step directions for dealing with the quarantine issue coming from AVG. If you have questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Go to your desktop and click on the icon for AVG 9.0
Click Tools
Click Advanced Settings
Click Resident Shield on the left
Click Directory Excludes
Click Add Path on the right
Click the + sign next to My Computer
Click the + sign next to Local Disk (C:)
Highlight the RealFast2go folder then click OK
Click OK to exit that screen

You will then be back at the main page of AVG 9.0
Click History
Click Virus Vault
Highlight the file rfindex.hta
Click Restore
Click OK then close out of AVG

Are you a TITAN?

In yet another of those industry-rattling moves within social media, all expectations are that Facebook will announce its own private-label email service tomorrow in California.

The service, which is being called "project Titan" greatly improves upon Facebook's current private-messaging capability that has long been ripped for not offering much functionality. Supposedly Titan will offer POP3 and IMAP access (meaning you could get your @facebook.com email messages without having to go to the Facebook web site).

Perhaps you don't need another email address - certainly I have talked at great length over time about email and whether having addresses other than your branded one is worth it to your business. I have also railed against the use of @aol or @hotmail addresses in your professional communications online.

So what makes this one different? Maybe nothing. But having an address that at least 500 Million people know (since that is the number of users on Facebook) may be worth it to you. Certainly it is going to make it easy to give your email address to someone since "at facebook dot com" will not be misinterpreted by many people.

So here is the important part. According to the article I read from Jason Kinkaid at TechCrunch.com, your Facebook email user name may end up be the same as your Facebook vanity URL.

What? You never set up a vanity URL for your account? Yikes! OK, here is a post from TechDaze.net that you need to read to catch up.

Whether Titan becomes the monster some people are suggesting (the early press is talking about a "GMail killer") you still want to be ready when the service goes live.

Stay tuned!