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So far THE WAV GROUP has created 603 blog entries.

The HP Palm

Contrary to rumors about Levono buying Palm, it was announced today that HP will purchase the struggling cell phone provider.   HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors. The combination of HPs global scale and financial strength with Palms [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:07-07:00April 28th, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on The HP Palm

Want Raving Fans? Try Picking up the Phone!

I was inspired to write a post today after being placed on hold for what seemed like FOREVER with my bank.  Why is it that “modern” customer service standards call for requiring customers to go through a series of qualifying steps and button pushes before even being able to wait in line to get our questions answered or our problems solved? Once I reached the bank, I was then transferred to yet another queue and placed on hold again!   All in all my experience with them lasted for over 2 hours!  What a nightmare. While generally I have a good [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 28th, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on Want Raving Fans? Try Picking up the Phone!

Real Estate and Microsoft Docs for Facebook

Real Estate has a love hate affair with documents. According to research performed by the WAV Group, The real estate industry has consumes about 1 Million trees per year in real estate transactions. There are a pile of companies offering transaction management and storage solutions adapted to the needs of real estate agents and brokers.  They are all fine products that can save hundreds of dollars a month in document storage fees while creating a better experience for the consumer in their transaction. In a move that smacks Google Docs in the face, Microsoft entered the fray of online document sharing with their [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 28th, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on Real Estate and Microsoft Docs for Facebook

And the Hits keep Coming – REALTOR.com tops the Hitwise charts again!

And the Hits keep Coming - REALTOR.com tops the Hitwise charts again! When I reviewed the latest Hitwise results it reminded me again of a phenomenon that continues to  amaze me - Realtor.com. According to Compete.com REALTOR.com had over 6.4 million unique visitors last month and in the peak season will likely repeat last year’s performance with over 9 million unique visitors. That is an amazing amount of traffic - enviable by every major brand in America. Just for perspective, Ford.com receives only 1.3 million unique visitors. Coca-Cola.com receives less than 500,000 unique visitors per month according to compete.com and [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 26th, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on And the Hits keep Coming – REALTOR.com tops the Hitwise charts again!

Marketing 101 for Real Estate Companies

Do you have a marketing and advertising department?  For most MLS, Associations and Brokerages today, the answer is NO.  For the largest companies, the answer is Yes.  Marketing and Advertising is typically the first “Cut Back” made by an organization facing uncertain economic times - but is also the most fundamentally destructive place to try and reduce costs in your business, especially for real estate Brokers. Studies show this is the reason why large companies gain more market share durring cyclical economic recessions and small companies fade or disappear. If you are of the ilk to appreciate and agree with this position, here are a couple of solutions for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 26th, 2010|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Marketing 101 for Real Estate Companies

Where HAR Goes, Zillow may soon follow

  This is pure speculation.  Nothing verified.  Just idle thinking….. Typically when a leader in the MLS industry like the Houston Association of REALTORS sets out a new business strategy, if it works - many follow.  As you may have heard, HAR is taking their Agent Ratings program to the next level.  They started with QSC, and are now they are developing a solution that allows consumers to see which REALTORS have represented the most number of buyers and sellers in a given area (powered by transaction information from MLS data).  The idea is that consumers will be able to see [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 23rd, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on Where HAR Goes, Zillow may soon follow

MLSs – Celebrate Earth Day by Going Green

The topic of going green is everywhere. We are getting bombarded with “greenness” by everyone from our bank to our grocery store. Why is everyone talking about it? Why should MLSs and Associations care? While it may not be the “sexiest” topic for some, the numbers speak for themselves. Green organizations benefit from reduced costs, more loyal staffs and more satisfied customers. With ever-increasing competition from fellow real estate organizations and third parties, going green provides a whole new competitive advantage. Smart green strategies help a company save money and eliminate waste while attracting new customers and creating a competitive [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 22nd, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on MLSs – Celebrate Earth Day by Going Green

AFIRE Conference News – Marilyn Wilson receives recognition.

WAV Group partner, Marilyn Wilson was awarded the Blue Crown award last night at the AFIRE conference for her ForeverLazy.com pajamas! About AFIRE - Awesome Females In Real Estate - Group of executive women who meet annually to share ideas, get inspired and have fun. About Forever Lazy - start up who makes super cozy pajamas! Unfortunately there are no photos allowed at the pajama party, but we are sure that everyone looked fabulous!

By |2018-05-03T21:26:08-07:00April 22nd, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on AFIRE Conference News – Marilyn Wilson receives recognition.

1 Park Place Webinar notes – 7 Myths of Personal Branding

Steve Hundley of 1 Park Place offered the following concepts about Personal Branding in Real Estate.  This was a good session for Agents and Brokers who are not new to online strategy, but looking to get more sophisticated.  I jumped on the call to get to know Steve and his company better in advance of joining him as a speaker at RIS Media. 5 Myths are :  Personal Branding will build my business; Internet leads are junk; Facebook and Twitter help build business; A website is better than a blog; Consumers want map search Myth - Personal Branding will build [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 21st, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on 1 Park Place Webinar notes – 7 Myths of Personal Branding

Trade Show Marketing for Real Estate

Last Year, WAV Group partners averaged an attendance rate of of 2-3 trade shows or industry meetings each month.  This year does not appear to be slowing down.  Perhaps we have trade show fatigue or the industry is economically sleepy, but there seems to be a missing component of excitement in our industry.  Here is an example of a team of entrepreneurs from Montreal based startup - Tungle - a meeting scheduling utility that we love at WAV Group - its free, works on a mac, is available as a mobile app, and syncs with google calendar.  LOOK HOW MUCH FUN THEY ARE HAVING [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 21st, 2010|Main category|Comments Off on Trade Show Marketing for Real Estate

NARs HOUSELOGIC uses Facebook to reach REALTORS

The National Association of REALTORS has moved headlong into finding new ways to communicate with REALTORS. Among those strategies are Facebook pages and now, Facebook Ads! Imagine my surprise today when this ad poped up on a Facebook page I was visiting.  The call to action was “Are you a REALTOR? and the link takes you to the Houselogic Content Resource page. I thumbed it up.  I like the ad and I like the strategy.  Advertising on Facebook is easy and very inexpensive relative to other online advertising strategies.  Choosing Keywords like Real Estate, REALTOR, etc will insure that your ad [...]

By |2017-06-30T02:13:07-07:00April 20th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on NARs HOUSELOGIC uses Facebook to reach REALTORS

Dynamic Page Solutions releases indexable IDX solution

The National Association of REALTORS yielded to requests to allow agent and broker IDX listings to be “spidered” or “indexed” by search engines last year.  Prior to this ruling, the suggested NAR rules and regulations for IDX was to not allow this activity.  This change plays a significant role in search engine optimization whereby a search engine will ‘index’ every listing in an MLS along with all of the content associated with each listing and attribute that to the website. Most agent websites were previously only being indexed for 20 or so pages of content by search engines - examples would include [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 20th, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Dynamic Page Solutions releases indexable IDX solution