2
Feb
Mobile phones for Estate Agents - the digital Swiss Army Knife in
your pocket
From our correspondent in New York -
Troy Stanley gives Resource Techniques a
firsthand account of the Inman Estate Connect Conference.
'Smart phones were another hot topic at the Connect Conference.
Estate Agents love showing each other their favourite mobile, app
and talking about the latest phone - Google's Nexus One. Although,
without a doubt the most popular phone of the whole conference was
the iPhone. In a show of hands for "Who has the iPhone", 60-70% of
agents put their hand up.
In the end all smart phones have a set of features that they all
share in common, such as the ability to call, text (SMS), send
picture (MMS), a camera, an internet connection and a built in GPS,
it is the GPS that now gives mobile phones that extra
dimension.
A presentation conducted by Dennis Crowley, founder and CEO of
Foursquare really opened my eyes to the amalgamation of mobile GPS
and social networking. The keynote address entitled 'Capturing the
Mobile, Local and Social Phenomenon' explained how Dennis
established Foursquare. Dennis explained how at Foursquare they
integrated mobile GPS with social networking.
Foursquare is currently a mobile GPS application on the iPhone,
Android and Palm webOS whilst also having a website to view stats,
history and friends. Via the mobile application, people are able to
connect with online friends and share their current location,
whilst being awarded points for 'checking in' at various locations.
Checking into one place more than anyone else will make you a
virtual 'mayor' of that location, and users can add new places
giving them extra points.
The application really takes off from the hints and tips added
by Foursquare users. Using outstanding initiative, users have
started to create a sub-culture with an almost Masonic element to
it. Going into a bar, a Foursquare user can see off-the-menu drinks
or food, or by ordering a certain way they can get a discount and
various offers. In one example, a coffee shop gave free coffee to
any user who is the mayor of that location. This could be the first
example of mobile GPS marketing - something that is likely to
increasingly catch on as more and more of the general public buy
smart phones with internet and GPS connection.
What Estate Agents need to realise is that smart phone users are
living their lives creating location-aware content such as
photographs, videos, tweets, and Foursquare checkins. Each of these
adds a virtual layer of a real life experience that has meaning to
that person, their friends, family, business contacts and online
contacts. Estate Agents that quickly tap into this meaningful
content are able to reach people in a personal way that is in
real-time as well as location aware. You've heard Estate Agents
that have successfully used social networking, well this is the
next step; geographical social networking and it's time to get
there before someone else does.
Think of it this way, back in late November 2009, there were 6.2
million smart phone users in the UK and in a recent survey 96% of
the population are never more than 3 feet away from their mobile.
This is a scary statistic. 96% of the 6.2million smart phone users
always have their GPS smart phone within 3 feet of them 24/7 and
many experts predict that mobile web will be much larger than
desktop by 2013. Mobile has always been seen as 'the next best
thing', but one thing is for certain, we are one step closer to
mobile being a truly great business tool.
Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques.
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