The increase in Mobile Web usage for longer periods of time is a direct result of content providers tailoring their sites specifically for the mobile device. For example, sites like Google and Facebook, two of the most popular mobile websites, have done a great job when it comes to streamlining and formatting their content and user experience for the mobile device. As the Mobile Web continues to evolve as the preeminent destination for Internet usage, making sure your brand is positioned properly for that medium is becoming increasingly important.

To ensure we stay ahead of the learning curve here at “Life in Mobile,” I thought it would be a good idea to look at the Top 5 things to consider when creating your mobile presence, a.k.a. your mobile website:

1. Make sure your mobile website is built for mobile delivery. Some companies will tell you they’ll build a mobile website that should work on some phones, and what you get is really just a small website. Mobile websites are officially their own entity. When built properly, and delivered properly, your mobile website will display perfectly on every mobile device.

2. Phone detection. With over 6,000 mobile Internet browsers for all of the Mobile Web-enabled handsets on the market today, it is important to make sure that your mobile site recognizes the particular handset model on the fly and formats the site accordingly. One of the ways to determine if your provider is truly able to do this is if they can provide you detailed mobile analytics.

3. Content conversion. Similar to phone detection, ensuring that your content, such as audio, video and pictures, is converted appropriately for all mobile devices is extremely important. Once the phone detection takes place, content can then be converted for viewing on that particular handset.

4. Understanding the mobile user. When creating your mobile website, think about what you would want to have access to on your phone. Mobile websites should be streamlined with regards to content and features for a friendly user experience. For example, in real estate, people will want an easy way to search for properties and contact you if they find one they like. In contrast, they may not need detailed area information at that point.

5. Drive traffic. Users should be able to access your mobile website by going to your existing URL. You have spent a lot of time building your brand and online presence and should continue to drive traffic there. Using a site with built-in phone detection will allow you to keep the same URL and send back the mobile version to users on a mobile browser—to them it’s just your website.

Furthermore, work with a company that provides other mobile services, such as SMS/text messaging programs, which can provide a good call to action to get people to text in and drive additional traffic to your mobile website.

The number of people and the time they’re spending on the Mobile Web is going to continue to increase. The quicker you transition your brand, the better off you’ll be.

Seth Kaplan is president of Mobile Real Estate ID.

For more information, visit www.mobilerealestateid.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

“Today’s buyer is more educated than ever before.”

These statements echo throughout the real estate sector as agents attempt to adapt their marketing strategies to an ever-evolving consumer.

It’s fitting then, that REBAC debuted a new course this spring, designed to help agents market themselves where consumers are already interacting: online and through social media.

Real Estate Marketing Reboot is a one-day course that expands on marketing fundamentals, teaching students everything from branding and relationship marketing to social media technologies and practical business-building tips.

To illustrate the concepts behind the development of Real Estate Marketing Reboot, I talked with Dominic Cardone, ABR®, CRS, GREEN, a broker with Keller Williams Realty in Media, Pennsylvania, in this month’s column. Cardone worked as a subject matter expert to help REBAC build a course that accommodates the new generation of buyers and incorporates the methods they use to find information and buy real estate.

“The way consumers obtain real estate information is changing,” says Cardone. “It used to be enough to advertise in the daily newspaper as a REALTOR®. Now you need to be in the places where consumers are communicating, seeking entertainment or obtaining news and information.”

And like today’s consumer, the course is ever-evolving and it is best when it produces an open forum for students to share ideas and best practices.

“It focuses on marketing through new technologies and reaching buyers on the Internet and through social media,” says Cardone. “It’s important to understand though, that low-tech marketing can be just as effective for agents. There is value in a mix of online and face-to-face networking.”

The increasing number of agents interacting with consumers and peers online every day means an adjustment for brokers as well. While these marketing methods can mean more business for agents and an opportunity for their brokers, they come with a new level of legal and liability issues.

“It can be intimidating for a broker if he or she has a lot of successful agents to keep track of,” says Cardone. “Brokers have a responsibility to encourage their agents to obtain the education and training necessary to not only increase their business, but to stay on the right side of the Code of Ethics and license laws in the process.”

Covering a range of topics from best practices to personal branding, the course counts as elective credit towards earning the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation and was designed with buyer’s agents in mind. Many of the techniques, however, are not unique to buyers and can be utilized on the selling side as well.

Students interested in signing up for the new Real Estate Marketing Reboot course can visit www.coursecalendar.com to find a course in their area or log onto rebac.net to learn more.

Marc Gould is the executive director of The Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC). A wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), REBAC is the world’s largest association of real estate professionals focusing specifically on representing the real estate buyer. With more than 40,000 active members, REBAC awards the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation to REALTORS® who work directly with buyer-clients.

For more information, visit REBAC.net.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

For Doug Curtis, an important key to continued success is staying top of mind with his clients.

While he’s only been working full time in real estate since 2008, he understands the fundamentals and the importance of engaging your clients long after keys change hands. One of the tools he uses most is the Lowe’s Program for REALTORS®, and more specifically, Lowe’s Inside Out e-newsletter, which is sent via e-mail to Curtis’ lists of consumers at the beginning of each month.

“The thing I struggle with is that you have to stay in the back of clients’ minds,” says Curtis, a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, Realtors in San Antonio, Texas. “The Inside Out e-newsletter is a non-intrusive way to do that. You can’t continuously bother people with phone calls, so this is a good way to keep a touch point…and it works.”

“Just the other day, I was at Starbucks and ran into a client. He came up to me and told me that he loved receiving the Lowe’s Inside Out e-newsletter, so it’s an interesting, mutually beneficial agreement.”

Curtis says he’s so happy with the e-newsletter, which includes a monthly article from Money magazine, and articles on trends, buying, selling and moving, that he continues to add more clients to receive it each month.

“What’s great about it is that the articles are positive and show how the market is beginning to come back,” he says. “The articles are helpful toward getting people off the fence.

“Plus, they are topical—sometimes by season, sometimes by the market—so there’s always something that comes from it that you can discuss.”

For Curtis, using the e-newsletter gives him a great advantage in his marketplace.

“One thing that a lot of REALTORS® fail to do is follow up after the deal is done,” he says. “With the e-newsletter, you’re still there and interested in helping out with your client’s future. Communication is key and not enough REALTORS® realize that.”

Another positive of using the e-newsletter: showing a partnership with Lowe’s adds instant credibility.

“It adds a professional image to the delivery of what you’re sending when you are partnered with a company like Lowe’s,” says Curtis. “You stand out a bit more, too.”

Being part of the Lowe’s Program for REALTORS® and using the Inside Out e-newsletter is a no-brainer for Curtis. “I don’t understand why every agent isn’t using the e-newsletter,” says Curtis. “I’m glad for myself, but they are really losing out on an opportunity for free marketing. It takes five seconds to add a new client to the e-newsletter distribution. That’s five seconds of time that could make a huge difference down the line.”

For more information, visit www.lowesrealtorbenefits.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

For Doug Curtis, an important key to continued success is staying top of mind with his clients.

While he’s only been working full time in real estate since 2008, he understands the fundamentals and the importance of engaging your clients long after keys change hands. One of the tools he uses most is the Lowe’s Program for REALTORS®, and more specifically, Lowe’s Inside Out e-newsletter, which is sent via e-mail to Curtis’ lists of consumers at the beginning of each month.

“The thing I struggle with is that you have to stay in the back of clients’ minds,” says Curtis, a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, Realtors in San Antonio, Texas. “The Inside Out e-newsletter is a non-intrusive way to do that. You can’t continuously bother people with phone calls, so this is a good way to keep a touch point…and it works.”

“Just the other day, I was at Starbucks and ran into a client. He came up to me and told me that he loved receiving the Lowe’s Inside Out e-newsletter, so it’s an interesting, mutually beneficial agreement.”

Curtis says he’s so happy with the e-newsletter, which includes a monthly article from Money magazine, and articles on trends, buying, selling and moving, that he continues to add more clients to receive it each month.

“What’s great about it is that the articles are positive and show how the market is beginning to come back,” he says. “The articles are helpful toward getting people off the fence.

“Plus, they are topical—sometimes by season, sometimes by the market—so there’s always something that comes from it that you can discuss.”

For Curtis, using the e-newsletter gives him a great advantage in his marketplace.

“One thing that a lot of REALTORS® fail to do is follow up after the deal is done,” he says. “With the e-newsletter, you’re still there and interested in helping out with your client’s future. Communication is key and not enough REALTORS® realize that.”

Another positive of using the e-newsletter: showing a partnership with Lowe’s adds instant credibility.

“It adds a professional image to the delivery of what you’re sending when you are partnered with a company like Lowe’s,” says Curtis. “You stand out a bit more, too.”

Being part of the Lowe’s Program for REALTORS® and using the Inside Out e-newsletter is a no-brainer for Curtis. “I don’t understand why every agent isn’t using the e-newsletter,” says Curtis. “I’m glad for myself, but they are really losing out on an opportunity for free marketing. It takes five seconds to add a new client to the e-newsletter distribution. That’s five seconds of time that could make a huge difference down the line.”

For more information, visit www.lowesrealtorbenefits.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

Here are five questions to focus on. Follow these tips and you will be able to seize the incredible opportunity to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

1. What is the biggest mistake that Realtors make when it comes to Web marketing strategy? Your website should reach out and connect with the mindset of today’s home buyers and home sellers. It’s important to understand that it’s not just about doing general marketing (running an ad, farming with a postcard or having a simple website). It’s about having a targeted niche in real estate and then having your market message support that niche. Buyers and sellers do not want to work with a “Jack of all trades;” they want to work with someone who is highly experienced for what they need. Just like if you have a heart condition. A family physician is great, but if you need heart surgery you are going to go to the best surgeon.

2. How can I raise my lead generation and conversion rate? It’s not about having a website; it’s about having a strategy that connects with the type of consumer you want to work with. The three strongest elements in your overall Web strategy are:
-A personally branded IDX solution (advanced to capture leads and target market)
-An e-mail follow-up campaign to incubate the buyer during their home search process
-A marriage between all your offline marketing to your Web marketing so there is consistency between the two. This system will provide amazing results.

3. How can I improve my site’s search-engine ranking?
Step 1: Make sure you have a website that has the core components for natural search engine optimization. Your site needs to have the ability to hold unique title tags and descriptions for each individual page. It should also have a site map.
Step 2: Make sure you can add unlimited pages to support a niche and target market you are going after and have a built-in blog so that when you blog, you have new content being added to the structure of the site.

4. How often should my website be updated? You should revisit your website’s focus every six months. The core (main content pages) content is the foundation and by adding additional content and weaving in unique offerings (like the recent home buyer tax credit) it allows your site to stay cutting edge.

5. What is the one part of my strategy I should be sure to do every month? Add at least one content page about a town, a featured community or property types that exist in your market. On the page, include a search to see properties through your IDX so that the consumer sees exactly what they want.

Tricia Andreassen is the CEO/Founder of Pro Step Marketing, a leader in brand and Web strategy for the real estate industry. As an industry expert, speaker and author, she has over 19 years’ experience in helping Realtors grow their business.

For more information, visit www.prostepmarketing.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.