Terry McDonald Broker, NC & SC
I’m a real estate broker in Charlotte NC, and have made my living online for 5 years. Not counting referrals, better than 90% of my business has come from online sources. I’ve been involved in all the major waves- Pay Per Click, Blogging, Video, and now Social Media. 2009 saw my entrance into Twitter in a big way. Reflecting on 2009 I realized my life is completely different than most brokers, because of the tools and technology I rely on. I use these every day, and even though I am an “elder” techie, it is hard to remember how we did some things before the digital age.
I’ve said for a while now, I make my living in real estate but I make my friends in tech… which isn’tn entirely true, I make friends in RE too! Neverthe less, I am asked quite a few tech questions and though I can only anwer at most half, I know where to find the answers to the other half.
Tech and Tools A Digital Realtor Can’t Live Without
1. Google’s Picassa and other Great Tools-Picassa is still the best photo-management and sharing software in the PC world, there is so much to love here. I take thousands of photos a year and Picassa’s batch editing of photos, the “I’m Feeling Lucky” mode, perfects 10 to 100 pictures at a time; this feature alone is worth the program. But it downsizes pictures en masse, and lets you create collages, turn them into video or embeddable slide shows, one button Upload to Flickr and with a couple of clicks, geo-tagging, print and buy your photos locally. The latest versions include simple video movie makers. All Free, Tutorials are on You Tube.
Other Google: I-Google, Google Docs This suite of online software rivals MS Office, and duplicates their main programs, allowing you to run your office in the ether of the Internet. There is very simple document sharing, it keeps my team together, and offers widget-friendly options and docs I love. I-Google lets me have my own daily newspaper, see more about that in RSS.
2. RSS- Real Simple Syndication, stay in touch with the world. RSS lets you pick and choos your sites of interest, and then have those sites deliver their stories to you every time they write a new one. So hoe do you not suffer from information overload? You use RSS and a Reader, and if like me, I use I-Google to manage all the info. Using my Google Reader and I- Google, I’ve created a newspaper of my own, with Real Estate News from MSNBC, the WSJ, and Inman, with news headlines from CNN and the New York Times, Sports from ESPN, plus a few RSS mash ups on environmental stories, politics, humor , weather– it is my own newspaper. How long doe it take to create one? You’ll create your first in under 10 minutes. Then, like so many things on the web, you can make it better with time.
It is simply impossible to keep up with all the changes in technology and the world without RSS. If there is one takeaway, make RSS your friend.
3. WordPress is the blogging platform you are reading this on. Wordpress is an easy to use, open-source, SEO friendly blogging platform that has taken over the beginner and intermediate blogs because of its flexibility and adaptability. I’ve converted all my old websites to Wordpress blogs, I love the support and you don’t have to know a stitch of HTML or CSS to “drive” it, though it helps if you do. That too is the beauty of Wordpress, it allows you to learn as you go.
Your blog is your office and anchor in the digital world. If you don’t have one, now is the time. You can start today with a free one from wordpress.org, but you’ll want your own domain
4. Firefox and it’s Add-Ons I love that it is open source and there are so many add-ons from SEO tools like Rank Checker, password managment like Robo Form to Google, Delicious and Stumble Upon. Too bad our backwards MLS only works with IE… they say it will in the next version.
5. The I-Phone- A terrific handheld computer, it has unlocked the mobile phone industry. Kudos for that. It is a decent phone made worse by ATT network, but it makes up for its limitations as a powerful computer that’s let me leave my laptop at home on most days. 3G is fast, and the Safari web browser is almost the same as a laptop. It multi-tasks, you can be online and take calls, work the address book, etc. I take my laptop only for extended absences, or specific work projects. Real estate apps pop up daily, but so far the best and easiest is Smarter Agent. Warning, all house apps are limited by local MLS- how well they share their data. Daily the big “I” is all I need. Smarter Agent is my favorite for finding quick prices of nearby homes for sale. But can anyone say Verizon?
6. Pandora- If like me music is a major source of creativity, then Pandora is a business tool. But is is just plain fun too! You create your own personal radio stations. The music is streamed live when ever you turn it on. You tell it what you like by creating radio stations compsed fof your favorites, Pandora plays what you told it you liked- then, it feeds you music Pandora thinks you’d like, based on your tastes and preferences. It is called The Music Genome Project by Pandora. They’ve broken it down in their software like Amazon has done for books. People who like the S and T, probably also like X, Y and Z. If you hear a new song, give it a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down, and you hear more of it or less. Your stations get better and better, hearing long lost tunes from your past. I haven’t it taken it mobile yet, but here is to 2010, there is an app for that. Create as many stations as you have moods. The cost? Free. Amazing, and so few ad’s you’ll barely notice. Music is still a source for my creativity and concentration.
7. Video- TheFlip HD Pocket Video Camera. Video Has become easier every day. I am taking wonderful HD video with the Flip, an easy to use camera, with easier to use software. There are tons of cameras that offer a better production value, however none have a shorter learning curve, none have the ability to post directly to You Tube like Flip. This is definitely a “Good Enough” camera for us non-video professionals.
8. Canon digital Elph camera. The venerable digital Elp. I have owned about 5 of of these pocket-sized cameras. My family gets the older versions, as they have steadily improved, added video, and provide “Good Enough” quality for every day needs. Their compact size means they are ALWAYS with me easily fitting into a shirt pocket. They do NOT replace the SLR, but, they make up for it by always being nearby, seldom do you miss a shot. The SD memeory card is not tonly the most affordable, it is becoming the standard, and large cards are cheaper all the time.
However, my love affair with the Elph may be dwindling. I expect my next phone’s camera’s to capture the “Good Enough” category. I take a lot of photos with my 1st generation IPhone now- and for the web, in most cases they are good enough.
9. Skype- I Skype with my son and daughter-in-law regularly in Guam. Skype is the fulfillment of those many Phone-video ads we saw in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s- except it is more computer and less phone. Two wireless connections, two computers with cameras and you are in business, again the software has litle to no learning curve, and away you go. It is good to see our grand daughter up close. it is good to see their smiles. WE do this about once per week, and it makes staying in touch that much easier. They got a new computer and new video so now their images are crystal clear. This is The way to communicate with friends and loved ones over seas, cross country, even a few cities over. No I don’t yet use Skype in my real estate business
10 Twitter- Twitter allows me to reach more people every day, across the country, around the world. Twitter offers the ability of instant communications to thousands, and as it becomes more a part of the general digital landscape, ti will play a bigger role still. Today I can dirve more traffic to my website or a blog post with a handful of “Tweets” thatn Google sends. I ‘ve gotten my first clients from Twitter this year.Follow me @TerryMcDonaldRE, or for pure Charlotte Real Estate @LiveInCharlotte
What Tech that may make the list in 2010? I love Posterous and its capabilites for social community building, watch Google and their growing RealEstate capabilities, and we’ll see more and more on our handheld computers. I’m especially looking forwrd to Tablets, the “Cross-over” of the laptop and handlheld devices.
So- what tech tool did I miss, what can’t you live with out?
Terry McDonald
704-351-1519
The McDonald Team, Wilkinson and Associates, Broker
Relocation, Distressed Properties, First Homes, Luxury Homes
Client Satisfaction Awards 2008-2009, Charlotte Magazine
Top Team 2006, Top 10 2007, Top Agent 2008
http://www.TerryMcDonaldRealEstate.com
http://www.CharlotteCommunitiesOnline.com
Follow me on Twitter @TerryMcDonaldRE
Charlotte’s #1 Video on You Tube- Introduction to Charlotte
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I too love Picassa. I’ve heard of Flip, may have to invest in that too. I don’t really understand RSS-I’m missing something, and you have it as #2… can you explain a bit more?
Terry-
GREAT info! I have a handle on about 7 out of 10. I’ve been wondering if i should buy a new camera OR just upgrade from BB to the iPhone… Perhaps the Elf is a good in-between option.
Yes- i’m confused about RSS as well…how do you set your preferences?
You are right on about all of this. I still have some technology to learn! The ELPH camera is great. I got them for my kids for Christmas, and I love them better than my own, and love the colors! Its a girl thing! Now, do you prefer the flip to the video capability of the ELPH or comparable camera?
Shelley,
My wife got the only other “original” and its purple. I stay silver…
Kim,
if a phone upgrade is in your future, I’d strongly consider the I-phone because of all the things it does. It may be better in a year when its exclusive contract with AT and T is up– The Elph is affordable, and if you used it a lot for a year, and then gave to one of the kids perhaps? When you got your new phone? Who knows.
RSS- lots of confusion here. RSS is a broadcast medium- think of it as Radio in print. Really, the word syndication comes from newspapers and columnists who syndicated their work at multiple papers~they “”broadcast” it and it appears in the local daily as news. Likewise each web broadcaster- a blog, a newspaper, a major website will have RSS feeds for the Changing elements, to update interested readers. Newspapers have multiple RSS feeds, why?They have multiple sections. Look at these New York Times RSS Feeds they feed everything from the front page to science ,health, autos, sports-sports has 24 feeds alone.
Now the only thing dfficult about feeds is that they aren’ t readable in your browser window- Firefox or explorer, so you need a “feed reader.” My Feed reader of choice is the Google Reader, available right behind the Google main screen under More on the top of the screen. Grab the reader, download and install it in under 2 minutes.
Now when you see that orange icon, and like what you are reading, you just click it. It asks which Reader you have, and Google is always one, click on Google, and the Google Reader opens up and asks to put the RSS in your Reader or if you have one, your own home page, the I-Google. I keep my most important feeds separate in the I-Google newspaper format, and the rest in the Reader files. I can add a RSS feed in about 10 seconds- explore the Reader page a minute and you’ll note you can delete a feed in 2 seconds. I can keep track of 25-30 sources of news in 15 minutes per day. (I also keep 5 or 6 competitor blogs there too)
So try it with my blog up above where it says Subscribe with the orange Icon. That way you can keep track of my writings here… with out returning to the page all the time. Easy once you’ve done it. I think you will like it!
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