NAR’s technology arm the CRT (Center for REALTOR® Technology) recently released an open source single sign on toolkit. What is SSO and why is it important?
SSO allows a user to log in once and be access to multiple applications. This is much better than having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. A SSO system makes thing more convenient.
This news will likely garner more blank stares than “oohhs” and “ahhs” from the average agent. However, developers should pay attention. The CRT releasing a SSO tool kit sends a message that online tools need to begin working together.
I’m particularly interested in this because at Sutton we’ve been working on our own identity management initiatives. We’ve been looking at the light weight OpenID to integrate into FlexiSites. That’ll gives our agents the ability to use their FlexiSites as an OpenID enabled URI.
What this will accomplish is the first step towards online identity management and online marketing for our agents. That’s thinking Real Estate 2.0.
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Yesterday at the Vancouver Real Estate Technology Meet Up guest speaker Joel Burslem, Social Media Manager of Inman News and proprietor of the Future Of Real Estate Marketing blog gave a presentation on trends in online real estate marketing.
This is a summary of Joel’s presentation:
- Learn the new tools. The “winds of change” are coming.
- Build your online reputation. The game is the same, you build your business by touching bases. Online your website can work for you while you sleep.
- Have conversations. Blogging and participating in online communities (LinkedIn, FaceBook, Yahoo! Answers, etc) demonstrate your expertise. Have conversations with people. Learn to type.
- Show, not tell. More photos, more video and more information. Use your digital camera, make a video, upload it to YouTube.
I share Joel’s opinions and I like to push Real Estate 2.0 marketing ideas as much as I can. In the end, whether offline or online the key is about differentiation and standing out from the crowd. It pays to be remarkable.
Here’s a new mantra, apply the old rules, learn the new tools. The web commoditises everything at light speed. Soon every agent will have a great looking website with a listing search for $5/mo. When everybody is remarkable, nobody is remarkable. The only way to stand out is by investing in and marketing your reputation.
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The GeekEstate blog has an interesting post by Brian Wilson on never ending MLS data access debate. Brian doesn’t see value in opening up the listing data to syndication:
I can understand how making MLS data more malleable and easier to syndicate may benefit national aggregating websites like Zillow, Trulia, Homegain, etc, but I do not understand the value of this to the real estate agents or real estate customers. I look at this question in a very capitalistic way by following the money…after all, this is a business to most of us, not a government service of some type.
It is a good read with compelling reasons for keeping the data more controlled.
I am of the opinion that there is more value for everybody if we share listing information with anybody that wants it. Let the data be free. The more places it can be seen the more value it can generate.
Here’s how I would make listing data available:
- Put your best foot forward. Clean up those descriptions, add pictures and list all the features. Make people want to use your data!
- Give away just enough to whet their appetite. Address, photos, features, description, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. Make them come back to you for more.
- Get linked. Anybody that uses your data has to link back to you. This drives more traffic to your site and that is good.
A good real estate website tells customers why you’re the best agent to represent them in their next transaction. The best way to accomplish that is by marketing your skills and expertise.
That is why we added testimonials to our FlexiSites. Take a look at the feedback our agents have been receiving at http://www.sutton.com/testimonials/.
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