Are you a tortoise or a hare?

Trying to stay ahead of trends can sometimes feel Sisyphean:  The moment you feel on top of new trends, a newer, shinier, flashier tool is introduced. For early adopters this can be exhilarating. Being one of the first to try a new social media site can have its cachet among hip and savvy tech nerds (no longer an oxymoron).  These trailblazing early users are the Hares in the race. They are the sorts that create Facebook groups bemoaning every new change in format or functionality.

Tortoises have the hares do the beta testing for them. Second generation social media will have larger user-numbers, will have worked out all the kinks and will become easier to merge with other existing platforms.

One of the most talked-about presentations at Inman Connect was the presentation on FourSquare. You probably have noticed more Foursquare activity on your Facebook feed. That’s because Foursquare promises a new level of user interactivity, as it is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game. With the use of your smart phone, it encourages you to discover new places and challenges you to explore your neighborhood in new ways.  

Big Mouth Real Estate Consulting speculates on its real estate application:

 Here are just a few thoughts on some uses for FourSquare.

  1. Listing agents can add their listings to Foursquare as a tracking and feedback mechanism.  Imagine that every showing was accompanied by the showing agent “checking in” and using the tip as feedback.  Listing agents and homeowners alike can check and see who is showing the property and how often they are coming back.

   2. Take that same thought and imagine the prospecting tool you have if you are interested in pursuing expired listings.

   3. Use Foursquare to track attendance at office tours, caravans or meetings.

   4. A fun contest idea to get a specialty tour of featured homes.

   5. Build neighborhood or condo check in and compete for “mayorship”.  I can see where being mayor of a particular neighborhood could be of real value on a listing presentation.

I am sure there are many more ways that Foursquare can work for real estate. There is a developer API out there, and that section alone could open up all kinds of uses for real estate.

There are iPhone and BlackBerry applications ready for you to download.  Go ahead and sign up, enter your listings, put it in your comments.  Let’s see what happens.  Looks like Foursquare might just be another social media application that has found a home in real estate.

If this sounds too daunting, remember there are already plenty of social networking strategies that have proven results. Join Facebook, if you have not already, and friend your clients and professional contacts. You’ll be amazed at all the familiar faces.

Social networking is an ideal tool for real estate agents. You don’t realize just how many people you know (both personally or professionally) on a particular site until you try it, and heaven only knows that real estate agents want everyone to know what they do professionally. So, sign up for Facebook today. Few networking tools are this simple and it won’t cost you a dime.

If you have a Facebook page, don’t forget to “become a fan” of Prudential Rubloff. Simply click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of Prudential Rubloff’s homepage and click on “become a fan”, located in the upper left hand corner beneath the Prudential Rubloff logo.