In my speaking business, I have definitely noticed a difference in how busy I am. I’ve been blessed with a lot of speaking events so far this year, but what I am hearing from the agents out there still concerns me. As I speak to agents I find that while most admit that things are improving, they are still really struggling with what to do to take advantage of the business that is definitely out there.

From time to time I just think we have to ask ourselves the hard question whether what we are currently doing is really working? I know I’ve had to really buckle down with my real estate business and put some new practices – along with several old ones – into place in order to keep my real estate practice successfully growing.

Lately, I’ve been speaking on a new topic that everyone, brokers and agents alike, seem to really enjoy. (When that happens I call it a “Hot Topic!”) Earlier this year I launched my first of several events titled, “Get Your Head In the Cloud and Make it Rain!” It’s definitely been a Hot Topic! It is cutting-edge and I share web sites, free downloads, cool tools and systems that really get your creative juices flowing.

This has been my most popular topic this year and I love delivering it because it is fresh, new, exciting and makes agents really want to be in this business. I can tell from the comments I am getting on my Facebook page that agents love it because it’s helping their businesses grow, and brokers love it because it is helping their agents!

I think it’s a killer seminar, too, and I feel like I am accomplishing my goal to Entertain, Enlighten and most importantly, Empower agents to set themselves apart from their competition and get more business right now.

My other topic that has been a lot of fun and is also getting real results is titled, “How To Become a Freaking Sales Animal.” Some real estate professionals just don’t want to admit that they are SALES PEOPLE! (Heaven forbid!) But those who do, realize that sales is a process and having the right dialog and sales systems can without a doubt create more selling opportunities.

If you have ever attended one of my seminars you may have heard me say that my unfair competitive advantage is that “I’m armed to the teeth with technology” and that “I’m a Freaking Sales Animal!” I’ve still got a lot to learn, too, but I really believe that if more agents had that kind of fire and enthusiasm about what they do, they would definitely be more successful.

I’d love to speak at an event with your company and share either one of these topics. Whether you’re an agent or a broker, I promise you’ll come away with some new ideas to make being in real estate the best profession ever. You can find out more at my web site www.VerlWorkman.com.

Interesting stats, if you are too time deprived to watch the video right now:

• Only 1% of agents are using video currently in their listing marketing efforts.
• 73% of sellers said that they would be more inclined to list their home with an agent who DID use video to market their listings.
• 82% of Internet users view videos while surfing the net.
• Of those who do view videos online, 39.4% were viewing YouTube videos.

You need to get ahead of the curve and start utilizing video in your real estate marketing efforts… Don’t know where to start? Then you need to work with a Real Estate Virtual Assistant …you know what I always say, “Do what you do BEST and OUTSOURCE the rest!”

Customers pay for services on an as- needed, pay-per-use business model in which the cloud provider maintains the infrastructure, not the individual user. This virtualization of resources won’t, however, occur overnight. The single biggest hurdle to overcome is the difficulty in delivering a standardized environment to all members. This initiative is still at a very early stage of development with Forrester Research estimating that only 5% of companies are currently prepared for cloud deployment.

A major driver of cloud computing is the freedom in mobility, the ability to use Software as a Service (SaaS) like cloud-based email services Gmail and Yahoo! Mail anywhere without having specific hardware with you. In 2009 only 3% of email accounts were in the cloud. By the end of 2012 that number is expected to explode to 10%. Gartner believes that as cloud email offerings are adopted it will pull wireless email implementations into the cloud. Companies like Research In Motion and other wireless email vendors are forming partnerships with cloud providers to address their customers’ cloud needs.

Think of the impact of cloud computing on a typical real estate office as it opens up ways to stay on top of the latest technological advances in the growing demand for data and bandwidth without all the infrastructure cost. The power of the cloud allows the system to pull in data from third-parties to blend data from local MLS systems and websites like Zillow, Google, etc. in order to provide a full spectrum of available real estate data.

About the Author

During the last fourteen years, nineteen-time author Stefan Swanepoel has widely become regarded as the leading researcher on the business and technology trends impacting the real estate industry. For more information on his annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the annual Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report visit www.RETrends.com.

1. It is estimated that 10 blog posts are created every second.
2. If you post once a month, realize that by the time of your next post, some 27 million posts will have been made. If you post weekly, that number is approximately 6 million.

The Connectivity Revolution that has taken place over the past two decades, focused on the development of personal websites, the World Wide Web and Search Engines. In recent years, the focus shifted as users began utilizing social networking. Now, the focus has shifted again, this time to mobile media. People increasingly want to use mobile devices for collaboration; to share content, information and experiences with their communities.

According to the Center for Realtor® Technology, which extends an email survey invitation to 45,000 Realtors®. In 2007, 28% of all Realtors® stated that they were Smartphone users. By the end of 2008 that number increased to 50% and by 2010, it was up to 90%.

Mobile technology is ramping up at a much faster pace that PC technology ever did. Its impact is also expected to be larger than PCs and you already know what PCs did to business and your life in less than two decades. Mobile phones have jumped from simple phone-dialing services to modern Smartphones with the ability to serve as small but powerful, portable computers.

About the Author

During the last fourteen years, nineteen-time author Stefan Swanepoel has widely become regarded as the leading researcher on the business and technology trends impacting the real estate industry. For more information on his annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the annual Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report visit www.RETrends.com.

Top 10 Words/Phrases of 2000-2010

1. Facebook
2. Google
3. Social Media
4. 9/11
5. Foreclosures
6. “There’s an App for that!”
7. Blog
8. iPhone
9. Twitter
10. Green

What an interesting combination with Social Media and related sites taking several of the top 10 spots.

During the last fourteen years, nineteen-time author Stefan Swanepoel has widely become regarded as the leading researcher on the business and technology trends impacting the real estate industry. For more information on his annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the annual Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report visit www.RETrends.com.

In the world of technological leaps, wireless Internet access will be the next obvious accomplishment.

The popularity of portable communication devices is predicted to continue as wireless service increasingly displaces traditional telephone lines. By 2002, wireless service for the Internet will be creating millions of new uses and opportunities. The cellular phone may soon emerge as the ideal Internet access tool and could even displace computers as the Web-connection device of choice by 2005.

And it has!

Mobile technology has enjoyed rapid evolution since its inception nearly 30 years ago. It has jumped from simple phone dialing services to modern Smartphones with the ability to serve as a small but powerful, portable computers. Since the first portable cellular phones were introduced in the early 1980s, the technology has blasted its way into everyday life with a vengeance.

UTILIZATION

Over the past two decades how consumers utilize the Internet has greatly changed and now with the inclusion of mobile Internet platforms they are changing again. With the increasing prevalence of location-based services, applications are rapidly and dramatically developing both inside and outside the real estate industry. With the addition of web usage, calendars, email, MLS, etc, to mobile devices, Realtors® can now multi-task anywhere, changing communication from a one directional request to a back-and-forth discussion involving the simultaneous exchange of data.

TODAY

To offer a little perspective on data, Mobile phone usage has risen in the U.S. from 200,000 users in 1985 to over 285 million users by the end of 2010. So as we begin the second decade of the 21st Century with more than nine out of every ten Americans using cell phones as a part of daily life.

Even more intriguing, is that ABI Research estimates by 2015, Smartphones and connected computing devices (such as tethered laptops) will contribute to an incredible 87% of all U.S. mobile network data traffic.

Trends are in many cases predictable. The more you read, study and research, the more likely you are to spot the shifts occurring. That’s what we do.

About the Author

During the last fourteen years, nineteen-time author Stefan Swanepoel has widely become regarded as the leading researcher on the business and technology trends impacting the real estate industry. For more information on his annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the annual Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report visit www.RETrends.com.

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Last week we started a discussion on RealBlogging on “What words best describe…” the past decade.  After several interesting contributions, we’ve selected what we believe to be the Top 40 mentioned. Now, we would like to find out from you, from the Top 40, what are the 10 best words.

To take the Real Estate Trends survey click here: Top 10 Words of the Decade.

To read last weeks discussion, go to: What words describe best… article.

In your opinion which single word(s) – OK, not more than two word phrases and also acronyms – personify and will forever identify the first decade of the 21st Century?

To get your juices flowing, let me start us off…

• 9/11
• WMD
• facebook
• tweets
• Obama
• bailout
• foreclosures
• green
• BP
• wikileaks

Ouch! It’s a pity that the overall image of real estate agents remain at such low levels that some consumers actually feel that is a true reflection of the industry. Those of you reading this post are clearly way, way better than that, but unfortunately there are “others” out there that…well lets just say, like last week’s parody, the humor hits a nerve. (Go to this actual blog post to view the video on RealBlogging).

CLICK HERE I am a Realtor

If you can’t view the above video in the blog post follow the link at the bottom of the blog post to view it on YouTube : Stop Using Social Media Mom