There are a lot of exciting things coming out in the next few weeks – here are my top 3:

1. Like it? Hate it? The iPad which drew a ton of rumors and speculation is ready to make it’s debut. The 1st commercial aired during the Academy Awards (which explains why Steve Jobs was on the red carpet) and is officially going mainstream. The iPad will be on sale on April 3, 2010 and pre-orders begin March 12, 2010.

Here’s the commercial in case you missed it:

2. Better than the iPhone?! The Google Nexus One phone – the phone that had a lot of buzz when it first came out, is a phone that critics are still wondering if it can compete with the iPhone and other touch-pad type smartphones. Google has never made it a secret that they plan to release it to multiple carriers – just WHEN is the question. This phone is rumored to be coming to Verizon on March 23, 2010.

3. Wonder if I could sneak into this? f8 – The Facebook Developer Conference is slated for April 21-22, 2010.

According to the Facebook blog,

“f8 has always been about empowering a community of developers to hack, to build and to delight users. We’re looking forward to continuing this tradition at our third f8 in San Francisco on April 21-22, 2010. Please save the date!”

BONUS: One more thing to add to your calendar this month. Planning on coming to Real Estate Connect SF (#icsf) – Early Bird Registration ends in 11 days! Sign up by 3/19/10 and save over $300!

Would love your comments – please leave feedback below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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“I have nothing to say.”

I have heard this over and over again, not just by real estate agents – but by many people who are trepidacious about getting involved in Twitter.

To many, Twitter has become more useful as a way to tap into what’s “going on today,“ than to broadcast their own messages. And once you get acclimated to Twitter, you might just find you have something to say after all.

Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder says,

“Naysayers should simply log onto their Twitter’s home page and search for a topic they are interested in, whether it’s their favorite sports team, the name of their company or a topic in the news.” Within a minute, they understand the appeal, he said.

Here are 3 ways to make Twitter work for you:

1. Create a custom feed. Find people to follow by searching Twitter directories. My two favorites are WeFollow or Just Tweet It. Remember, to get followers at first, you must follow others!

2. Create lists.

Lists are fantastic – and a GREAT way to organize people you follow. You could make lists for news sources, fellow Realtors, geographic areas, etc. This way you can click on that list to see what those specific people are talking about. I just created the Inman Team list – as a place for people to contact the right person at Inman News (i.e. editorial, marketing, advertising, etc.) If you don’t know who the best users are on a favorite topic, look for lists on sites like Listorious or by checking profiles.

3. Check out the most discussed topics in your area. We hear it over and over again, but real estate is truly a ‘local business.’ Find out who is around you locally and what they are chatting about. Some Twitter apps, like Tweetie and TwitterLocal, let you search posts near you. Check the Web site Happn.in to see the most discussed topics in your area.

BONUS: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Once you’ve gotten your feet wet, use Twitter to ask questions such as the best place to grab a bite to eat in a new city, marketing tips, or anything else you need an answer to!

Some questions Realtors could start asking via Twitter are: “What’s the best marketing tool that is working for you?” or, “What is the most effective thing Realtors are doing to convert leads to sales?” These questions open the door to conversation and networking!

What are you doing to make Twitter work for you? Would love your feedback – please leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Yesterday, the “IE6 funeral” took place in Denver. This is what appeared on the funeral site:

Internet Explorer Six, resident of the interwebs for over 8 years, died the morning of March 1, 2010 in Mountain View, California, as a result of a workplace injury sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc. Internet Explorer Six, known to friends and family as “IE6,” is survived by son Internet Explorer Seven, and grand-daughter Internet Explorer Eight.

Those mourning the Web browser, but unable to attend, were asked to send flowers. So, Microsoft sent a big bouquet!

In the photo above, a funeral guest is showing off the card that arrived with Microsoft’s bouquet. Microsoft confirmed the test and also that it sent the flowers (according to SeattlePI.com.)

The card reads:

Thanks for the good times IE6, see you all @ MIX when we show a little piece of IE Heaven.

The Internet Explorer Team @ Microsoft

Internet Explorer 8 has been in existence for over 8 years and Microsoft plans to continue support until 2014, but many in the tech world are happily ready to move on and ‘kill’ IE6 – especially with all the problems and bugs it has caused users.

Still using IE6? Please, either upgrade or I recommend switching to Firefox or Chrome!

What’s your browser of choice? Would love your feedback, leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find an email newsletter from – TWITTER! I guess it shouldn’t surprise me – but at first I was a bit surprised that the company that made “140 characters” a household name, decided to get a message out to their members via email.

Good reminder to all of us that email is still a great way to get a message out – especially to your loyal fans (or followers!)

Here is the body of the email in it’s original form – lots of great new things coming down the pipeline from Twitter!

Hi there,

In the early days of Twitter, I used to send out short updates just to keep everyone in the loop since so much was happening. It’s been a while, but you signed up for short, monthly updates from Twitter so we thought it was time to start sharing more information. We’ve had quite a year. If you haven’t visited in a while, we’d like to invite you to come have a look at http://twitter.com — we’ve been busy!

Growing Up
In the course of a year, registered Twitter accounts have grown more than 1,500% and our team has grown 500%. Recently, we hired our 140th employee! His name is Aaron and he’s an engineer focused on building internal tools to help promote productivity, communication, and support within our company. We celebrated with a little dance party.

Features of Note
Some features of note that we released over the course of a year include the ability to create lists, quickly spread information with a retweet button, and an easier way to activate your mobile phone to work with Twitter over SMS. We also built a new mobile web site that looks and works much better on smart phones.

Feeling Inspired
By working together during critical times when others needed help, sharing important information that otherwise might not make the news, and inventing new and interesting ways to use Twitter, you’ve shown us that Twitter is more than a triumph of technology — it is a triumph of humanity. Projects like Fledgling and Hope140 were inspired by you.

Chirp!
While there may only be 140 full-time employees working at the Twitter offices, there are thousands of dedicated platform developers who have now created more than 70,000 registered Twitter applications creating variety and utility for all of us. We’ll be gathering this spring at Chirp, our first ever official Twitter developer conference.

Thanks,
Biz Stone, Co-founder (@Biz)
Twitter, Inc.

Would love your thoughts on email newsletters. I am a big believer in them myself – especially to drive traffic to your web site or blog. I also think they are a fantastic way to keep your ‘raving fans’ updated on the latest and greatest that you are promoting.Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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One of the topics people ask me frequently about is social media – and specifically they ask me for how to make the best use of their time. Anyone who has dived into social media knows that it is not “free” – it takes time and a thoughtful effort to make it work your time.

If you are like me, and seem to be “always connected” – whether it’s Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc  – it’s a great reminder that you need to be smart with your time. If you’re not careful, social media can be a time suck!

So how can you be more smart with your time?

Plan social media into your schedule for 1 hour a day: 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes late in the day.

The key here is multi-task, move fast, don’t get distracted.

If I was a real estate agent – this is how I would do it:

AM: 1st thing after or before you check your email

1. Turn on your computer. Open 7 windows: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your web site, your blog, your favorite news website (i.e. Inman News ), and your favorite ‘drip marketing’ social media site (my fave is Hootsuite). Move fast, don’t get distracted.

2. Facebook: Scroll through the page – make 3 comments on other people’s posts. Post what you are up to that day. Respond to anyone who has commented on your or left you a message. Move fast, don’t get distracted.

3. Twitter. Click your @ button (i.e. – @katielance). Anyone who has mentioned you – thank them publicly. Respond to DM’s. Scroll through your home page and re-tweet 3 things of interest. Move fast, don’t get distracted.

4. LinkedIn: Post your status update – have it feed to Twitter (check the ‘Twitter’ box to do so – so easy!) Respond to any messages in your inbox. Check your groups. Not in a group? Join a group and comment on 1 discussion a day. Move fast, don’t get distracted.

5. Close these 3 windows: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Keep Hootsuite.com open and your web site, blog, and your favorite news site. Pick 6-8 links to share that day in Twitter. One can be a listing. The rest must be good content or newsworthy. Pick 3 links to share for Facebook. Twitter moves faster than Facebook which is why you need to post more often. Plug your posts and links into Hootsuite. Space them 1-2 hours apart. If something is a hot topic you can schedule it to go out more than once. Move fast, don’t get distracted.

PM: Repeat!

Next day: Repeat!

Do this everyday 5-6 days a week. If you follow this schedule it will become a habit. Also don’t underestimate the power of commenting and interacting – this is probably MORE important than posting your own content and links. Social media is just that – social!

BONUS TIP: Plan into your schedule an additional 2-3 hours a week if you are a blogger. Also plan one time a week to search for new friends, fans, and followers.

Looking for more info?  Stay tuned… I have something exciting in the works that will be revealed in a few weeks.

I would love to hear how you formulate a schedule for social media – what works and doesn’t work for you. Please leave me your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Problem: When someone in the real estate industry goes job-hunting, it can be difficult to navigate through all the listings posted on Monster, Career Builder or some of the other online job boards posting up.

In addition, when an employer or real estate brokerage is looking for someone with specific real estate experience, it can sometimes feel like a ‘needle in a haystack.’

Solution: Vendor Alley has a BRAND NEW job board up just for real estate job postings. I think This is a great idea. It takes a a common problem  (unemployment in the RE industry) and makes a super-easy solution.

As of right now, there are 4 categories:

This is a version 1 release. Vendor Alley plans on adding additional features, ‘bells and whistles, and possibly additional categories down the line.

Greg Robertson, Co-Founder, W&R Studios says, “I get a lot of requests for job postings on Vendor Alley or people wanting recommendations.  I also saw that there was no single place for people to look for jobs in the real estate industry.  Since Vendor Alley gets such diverse readership (vendors, MLS professionals, sales, tech, portal, brokers, agents, franchisees, etc.) I thought it would be a good place to start a job board.”

Posting a job is really simple – employers form to fill out that includes a place for a job descriptions and contact information. It is only $29.95 to post a job for 30 days via PayPal.  They are also thinking about the idea of charging an additional amount to also do a post about it on Vendor Alley.

Greg has requested feedback, so please check it out and feel free to leave a comment below.

Written by Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Since I came to Inman News – one of my big goals was to hit the coveted “10,000 follower mark” on Twitter. As we came closer and closer, we thought it would be fun to have a contest. We decided that the Inman News 10,000th follower would win a free Connect SF ticket.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

So yesterday. We hit our goal and we are pleased to announce our 10,000th Twitter follower is: @Rofo_SF

These guys have a great company concept; and having a soft spot in my heart for companies that help small businesses, I was thrilled to be able to present Alan with his free ticket!

Rofo.com, which stands for “Right of First Offer”, is an office space search engine for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Rofo aggregates commercial real estate listings from top national brokerage firms to local building owners and everything in between.  In addition to browsing available real estate listings, businesses can put Rofo to work by posting their specific real estate requirements and receive competitive proposals from local landlords and brokers.

Alan Bernier, CEO for Rofo.com says, “The idea for Rofo and our unique focus on smaller commercial space (less than 5,000 sqft) came from first hand experience as brokers.  Entrepreneurs and smaller businesses who represent the majority of real estate transactions do not have the same access to resources and professionals as larger companies.  The goal at Rofo is to empower smaller tenants in their search for space and create an environment where those looking for space are easily matched with those who have it.  As a growing startup who has moved 3 times in 2 years we’re eating our own dog food.  And we now have an even greater appreciation for the platform we’ve created.”

Congrats again @Rofo_SF!

If you aren’t following Inman News yet on Twitter, I invite you to join us to get the latest in real estate news, marketing and technology!

Now onto 100,000

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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