Need another tool for social media marketing campaigns? Check out Sendible, a social media marketing platform that allows users to engage with their audience and track results across multiple channels at any time. Anything to make life a little easier!

Sponsorships seem to be everywhere, from celebrities tweeting (a $46 million business last year) to cable television shows. Last week, SelecTV, a new interactive advertising/programming initiative – in which an on-screen icons alert viewers to interactive programming or advertising capabilities – was revealed. It will be interesting to see how seamless the integration is and its reaction from viewers. What are your thoughts on this?

Showing just how important social media has become, Gateway has launched a new laptop with a one-touch social networking button to allow users easy access to sites like Facebook, YouTube and more. In less than ten years we have seen a shift from social media channels using the power of the computer to now computers using the power of social media. Incredible. In perhaps more shocking news, YouTube announced, shortly after its 5^th birthday, that it has exceeded 2 billion video views per day. What an impressive growth!

A new survey out this week shows that women especially respond to positive reviews on community message boards. You should encourage your happy customers to write about you on influential websites in your community! What a great way to gain referrals.

Back in January, I had the opportunity to ask a few questions of Dennis Crowley – CEO of the current belle of the social media start up ball. Particularly this year, Foursquare’s location based service has been attracting mounting attention and has exploded from a few hundred thousand to more than 1 million users in the past few months, with a “check-in” happening every second.  Wow!

The possibilities now for combining the real estate buying experience with augmented reality and other location based content is immense. We are currently looking at strategies for incorporating this sort of technology enabler into our lifestyle brand value proposition.

Ideas for the “next generation brokerage” come from everywhere – view the video below to see my interview where I captured a few more.

[Photo courtesy of DennisCrowley.com & FourSquare.com]

One of the main problems we are facing in the industry is a lack of optimism. One of the main worries is the eminent withdrawal of the government from the housing industry in the coming months. Many shudder to think of what the future of the industry will be without President Obama’s helping hand, like the plan announced last week to infuse $1.5 billion into the hardest hit housing markets. We have discussed this in great depth, but only because it is one of the most important issues on our industry today. Let us know your thoughts on the looming departure of the government from our industry.

The group that seems to be the positive bunch lately is home builders. The disconnect between home builders and the housing market is not surprising, as we have seen similar divides in years past, as many of you know. There is some data that may help you be optimistic as well: although home prices are still falling, it is at a slower rate than when compared to a year earlier. The numbers prove that, according to The Wall Street Journal, “the floor beneath home prices might be wobbly, but it is unlikely to collapse.” Other encouraging data shows that fewer homeowners are falling behind on their home loans and nationwide housing affordability closed out 2009 at its highest level in 18 years. Although it was not written about in this exact way, other good news was reported on in The Wall Street Journal that bargain hunters are having a hard time finding foreclosures in desirable neighborhoods. For me, I take the glass half full view of the slowing of some foreclosures.

A lot of people are making the best of their situation: There is an increase of people moving in their families, creating a demand for multi-generational housing. With the extra hands around, it is not surprising that 13 percent more homeowners will remodel in the next 12 months, a recent survey showed. And these homeowners are doing everything from upgrading to greener features to painting their living rooms.

Moving away from the real estate industry… It turns out that direct email marketing works. Here are eight reasons why and a simple way from BlueSkyFactory.com to make them more effective: a great subject line. What is the most creative subject line you have ever used?

It remains to be seen how Twitter will integrate an advertising platform, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will be hyper-local, which would offer many benefits for our industry. If this option comes available, do you think you would use it?

Two mega brands reinforced key pillars of our industry this week. Pepsi discussed the importance of brands talking with consumers, not talking at them. The two-way dialogue should guide all of our social media initiatives, its SVP and chief consumer engagement officer said. If you are not already doing this, you should follow suit. Additionally, high rankings in trust and recommendations named Amazon the top performing brand in the country. As real estate agents, we should strive to build this same kind of trust and offer meaningful recommendations every day. Do it the Amazon way!

Two last items of interest… Mashable provided tips on creating a Facebook landing page for your business. Check it out! And, for those of you who are not iPhone users, there is a new Google Earth for Android App, which allows users to view complex scenes of 3D imagery, terrain, roads, and other layers. Have fun exploring!

There is a “tug of war” mentality between those in the real estate industry and Washington who believe the government should do more to speed the recovery of the market versus others who believe the real estate industry should be self sufficient. Some policy makers at the Federal Reserve, for instance, believe more might need to be done in the housing market while others believe existing programs should be scaled back. The most discussed form of support from the Capital is the tax credit, which has significantly helped with home sales. Here’s proof of its success:  As the original tax credit expired, the number of houses placed under contract fell sharply in November. As I have said before, we should expect to see something similar in May, as the extended tax credit program will have just ended. This is a prefect example of how we should take advantage of all programs available to us now, but not to solely rely on them for the future of our industry.

I happen to teeter in the middle, agreeing that in the interim we need to take advantage of the government’s crutch of tax credits and programs to hold down mortgage rates, but long term we need to do more than rely on a government-funded band-aid. Collaboration is essential to help reinvent the industry to avoid a housing bust in the future and we all need to think about how we reinvent our industry in today’s changing world. What are you planning to do differently in 2010?

Not surprisingly, with the holidays and people gathering with their families, finding perfect gifts for loved ones, we saw a lull in December house shopping. Also during this time of year, people are traditionally more cash-strapped, which, along with with mortgage troubles and job losses, has perhaps led to the latest wave of bankruptcies. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel as the pending home sales index for the month was 15.5 percent higher than it was a year earlier. There’s something to celebrate!

This week is perhaps one of the most exciting for consumer technology buffs as the Consumer Electronics Show begins in Las Vegas. According to MediaPost, the tradeshow will likely introduce several products that will pique people’s interest. It will be interesting to see what products are revealed, especially in the realm of smartphones: a 21^st Century real estate agent’s best friend and personal assistant. Stay tuned.

For all of you playing in the online content and video world, a new survey by The Neilson Company tells us that consumers trust and rely on content produced professionally over content produced by consumer peers. If you’re considering developing and posting videos or images in the new year as part of a marketing scheme, it’s best to spend a little more dollars and have something done more professionally, rather than rely on your consumers to produce content. That being said, if all you have is a FLIP Camera, don’t let that stop you! Something is likely better than nothing.

On to advertising… we should keep our eye on a new experiment from the U.K.’s Outdoor Advertising Association, which is setting out to prove that outdoor advertising can drive response. The company is tracking consumer reaction and awareness to advertising on buses, street signs and more. The results could help those in our industry determine how to target outdoor advertising to reach “cold” new consumers.

With all that in mind, people are getting creative with mortgages and refinancing for 15-year loans, as opposed to the traditional 30-year. Also, as we discussed last week, there is a growing demand for rentals, evidenced again this week by Zillow’s new rental search, which offers visitors the ability to use a monthly payment tracker to search for homes and rentals they can afford side by side on a map.

The environment has taken center stage this week while world leaders gather in Copenhagen at the climate summit. It should be no surprise, then, that eco-friendly housing programs came to light. A new report by Vice President Joe Biden projects that the Recovery Act will help fund the installation of smart meters, which track energy usage by month, week and even hour in 18 million homes. Additionally, a proposed “cash for caulkers” program will aim to encourage homeowners to invest in things like caulking air leaks and installing insulation and more efficient heating and cooling equipment. Although in its infancy with significant details yet to be worked out, the plan is estimated to save homeowners up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. In my opinion, anything that saves homeowners money and stress is great for our industry!

In marketing news, according to RISMedia, “Ninety percent of agents and brokers fail in their Internet marketing efforts. In most industries, failure rates of 90 percent results in a complete change in the way things get done. In real estate, however, the same old things that don’t work continue to be treated as ‘must haves’ for every agent.” So this brings me to the question: What are we doing wrong? If 90 percent are failing, that does mean 10 percent of us are not. We need to collaborate and share our best practices so we’re not making each other’s mistakes. Leave a comment below and tell us all what has worked for you.

On the social media front or, in this case, the almost anti-social media front, research from ShareThis and Nielsen Company confirm that email is still the channel preferred for sharing content. In fact, email beat Facebook by 13 percent and Twitter by 40 percent as the preferred method. This is especially interesting as we consider how to communicate with potential or existing consumers. Although social networking can be beneficial, it is important to remember that email is still far more important – at least for now.

Also this week, HomeFinder.com launched an “Open Houses” iPhone application dedicated to helping homebuyers find open houses and connect with a local Realtor. An iPhone truly is a homebuyer’s best friend these days and we hope you’ll all consider downloading these helpful applications, including our own, to help make your and your homebuyers’ and sellers’ lives easier.

And lastly, although it may be unrelated to real estate, in last week’s blog I dreamed of a day when an application would do my shopping for me. Well, in less than one week, that day arrived. Sears this week launched a “personal shopper” iPhone application. Do you think they read my blog??

Moving on to other news… Historic low mortgage rates and government incentives have lead to a “now is the time to buy” mentality. One such demand is from people who flip houses, a practice that pretty much ceased to exist after the housing bubble burst. The rising demand, coupled with the fact that housing inventory is down will prove beneficial as the market begins its slow and steady climb to equalizing.

As we all know by now, the government is doing its best to make homes more affordable with the tax credits, pressure on mortgage companies and other financial incentives. Government incentives have dragged down costs and given people every reason to stay in homes and yet, according to a recent survey, Americans now rank credit cards as a higher repayment priority than mortgages. With people more worried about paying off a credit card than their home it begs the question: what happened to the American Dream of owning a home?

Once upon a time, owning a home was the first priority when it came to paying the monthly bills. Owning a home carried a deep sense of responsibility. I don’t mean to say there are no longer people who care about their home and this dream, but so many factors, from mortgages far exceeding home values and the changing price of inventory, have made the dream not nearly as glamorous. Today’s American Dream, for many people, is renting. With renting, people get amenities they could not afford otherwise, whether it is a pool or living in a popular neighborhood, and rent has been on the decline in cities across the U.S. With all these factors, the U.S home-ownership rate has charted its biggest decline in more than two decades, falling to 67.6 percent as of September.

In more upbeat news, Advertising Age delved into what it takes for a person to be a proven, trusted brand. My take away: it takes time and work. Most people, outside of the real estate industry, typically let their “day jobs” get in the way of developing a successful personal brand. But, for us, our brand is our day job and it is important to put in the leg work to establish ourselves as a brand in order to be truly successful. Part of this includes understanding your consumer first and providing value. Hispanics, for example, are avid downloaders of digital content. So, if there is a large Hispanic population of in your area, this may be something to consider as you develop yourself as a brand.

The power of social networking was proven yet again this week as Google announced plans to include results from sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from news and blog posts published just seconds before in live searches. This signals the importance social media has in our everyday lives, as a Twitter post now seem to be just as relevant as a New York Times article.

Lastly, a tip on how to make our lives easier: the Read it Later iPhone application, which lets users tag a blog or article of interest you can’t read right away so it can be easily located later. At your convenience, you can then read that article, either by recalling the Web site or without even leaving the app platform. What will they think of next? An iPhone app to do grocery shopping? (Hey, I can dream can’t I?)

Also this week, the Treasury Department introduced plans to increase pressure on mortgage companies to complete more loan modifications and also provide financial incentives to reduce loan payments. Additionally, a bill passed by the New York State Legislature would require lenders to give all borrowers a 90-day warning before starting foreclosure proceedings. These efforts not only give home owners more time to get their affairs in order before a foreclosure but also may reduce the number of foreclosed homes in the coming year.

Also this week, we managed to learn lessons from the good, the bad and the ugly of social media. If we look at the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), for example, we quickly learn the importance of staying relevant and avoiding self promotion. It turns out the football selection system has treated social media platforms like a propaganda tool and, not surprisingly, has suffered the consequences of angry fans and followers. This is a valuable lesson for our industry as we straddle the fine line between being interesting and thoughtful sources of information and sales-oriented real estate agents or brokers. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember people want to be your friends, not your sales target. The only case in which advertising on social networking can work, according to Brandweek, is when it adds value to the communication in some way.

On the flip side, Black Friday provided an excellent chance for companies to use Facebook to interact with audiences. Toys R Us is a perfect example, promoting its deals to fans for the crazed shopping day, as is Best Buy, which offered an Idea Gift application that aggregated gift picks from real people to help with holiday shopping dilemmas. The key to using Facebook as a sales tool is to offer relevant and desired information or services to your audience. During the busiest shopping day of the year, people want deals. As real estate agents and brokers, we need to find out what our audience wants and then deliver it. Simple as that, right?

In other social media news, “Tweeters” are often worrying about their ratio of followers vs. how many people they are following. But, like so many other things, this week we learned it is all about quality over quantity. Data collected from a cross-section of sites shows that the more followers you have the less likely they are to click on your tweets because the follower-following relationship can be static if it exists only to gain higher stats. That’s not to say someone with a high following isn’t relevant; it’s all about communicating in a manner that people find interesting and, in turn, continuously listening to those you follow as well. So, on that note, follow me @BHGRE_Sherry – I need more followers!

On the technology front, Microsoft announced the availability of the Office Mobile 2010 Beta, which offers on-the-go professionals a new way to view documents from their smart phones. This is particularly relevant for our industry, as so few of us sit at a desk anymore. I hope it proves useful for some of you.

And yet, while these numbers are optimistic, the caution comes as we realize about one in seven American households are behind on mortgage payments or in foreclosure, many of which are middle class workers which are the very backbone of the American economy, and that home construction slowed 10.6 percent unexpectedly in October – its lowest level in six months. This data is far more indicative of economic health, especially because construction feeds directly into the calculation of U.S. gross domestic product.

But foreclosures and slow down do breed creativity, as vacant homes across the country are being used to hold parties and events. In fact, one rented empty mansion in a Georgia town was used by more than 1,000 costume-clad partygoers to celebrate Halloween. With so many homes left untouched, it is no wonder Fannie Mae unveiled the “Deed for Lease” program, which gives borrowers on the verge of foreclosure an option to rent their home. The jury is still out on the long-term affects this move could have on the real estate industry. Stay tuned…

Although there is plenty of blame to go around for this crisis, the National Association of Realtors this week said that Realtors are not to be blamed because we – as a whole – don’t put people in a home they cannot afford.

In social media news, a growing group of celebrities, bloggers and regular Internet users are allowing advertisers to send commercial messages to their personal contacts on social networks. The idea behind the trend is that people trust recommendations from those they know and respect, while they increasingly ignore nearly ever other kind of ad message in print, on television and online. As we in the real estate industry constantly seek new ways to use (and sometimes abuse) social networking, I wonder what role – if any – this trend could play.

On the mobile front, the question asked this week is will quality matter more than quantity for iPhone applications? For the more than 250,000 active applications on Facebook, only 250 have more than a million monthly active users. The apps that provide value are experiencing tremendous success, while the others get lost in the noise. It is a quality over quantity environment. Will we see the same happen with the more than 100,000 iPhone apps?

You don’t need an almanac to know that traditionally, the months of December, January, and February have been slow or “cold” for buyers, sellers, and Realtors.  But this year we have the perfect opportunity to heat up those months with the twin warm fronts of a credit of up to $8,000 to qualifying first-time buyers, and a new credit of up to $6,500 for families that have lived in their homes for at least five years and wish to “step up” to a new home.

Homes must be purchased or under contract by April 30, 2010 which is great news!

This deadline creates a sense of urgency that normally doesn’t exist this time of the year.  So, the key is how do we make the most of this and get 2010 off to a fantastic start?

One of the advantages of traveling and working with Realtors across the country is the ability to learn, first hand, how many markets can differ yet operate within similar environments.  Gleaned from my travels are some ideas that I have employed myself or have learned from others:

1)      Make future tax credit dollars work for your buyers today.

Many states offer a ‘first time buyer bond program’.  Some of those states allow qualifying borrowers to leverage their future tax credit with what the mortgage industry typically calls a ‘soft second’ mortgage.  This ‘soft second’ can be used towards their down payment (please see your states first time buyer programs websites for their specific rules and eligibility guidelines) and help your buyers/borrowers make use out of their tax credits now versus waiting until 2011 when they file their 2010 taxes.  This ‘soft second’ has to be paid back within a specific period of time after they file their taxes, so please check with your preferred lender for additional details.

2)      Home buyer Seminars targeting both ‘first time buyers’ and ‘move-up buyers’.

A proven marketing technique (if done well) is home buyer seminars.  Modify these seminars to include ‘move-up buyers’.  The new tax credit extension is also an expansion to include those folks who have owned and resided in a home for at least five consecutive years of the eight years prior to the purchase date.

Many of these folks commonly think that they cannot move since their home may be worth less than what it was.  Short sales notwithstanding, the fabulous home affordability index (mortgage rates as compared to home prices) positively impacts many families.

Consider the buyer who bought a $300,000 home but wanted that $400,000 home on the other side of town.  Well if their market is off 15%, although their home has lost $45,000 in value, the home they wanted to buy costs $60,000 less.  With mortgage rates probably lower than what they secured a few years ago, that new home is a great deal!

3)      Merchandise the tax credit to the fullest extent.

Help your sellers get the attention they deserve by using sign riders and/or lawn signs that remind everyone about the tax credit extension and expansion.  Use your social media outlets to educate friends, family and followers.  Remind folks that this time of the year is a great time to buy.

4)      Use the new BH&G Real Estate iphone application called ‘Home Selection Assistant’.

Although a bit self serving, I can honestly say that the new Home Selection Assistant is one of the best buyer tools on the market today.  Designed by an experienced marketing team dedicated to the consumer experience, the BH&G Real Estate Home Selection Assistant allows your buyers to take photos, organize information, rank amenities, learn about the neighborhood, and compare features of different properties – all in real time.  Beyond cool, this new tool is effective and practical…….and will help you grow your buyer business.

What ideas do you have to ensure spring comes early this year?

I may be dating myself here, but I began my career in the world of software product marketing and was well schooled on the software architecture approach known as the Jacobson Use Case technique .   In a nutshell, this means you start with the human outcome a user is trying to achieve, and align the technology to do it.  You choose the key outcomes a user would want, and think like a human being,not a software engineer. (Not that they aren’t humans, I mean c’mon I married one…)

So what does it do?

So here’s an overview of what our app, known as the Home Selection Assistant, does for a buyer.

WHAT: The app enables ‘smarter home selection’ through the open house process, utilizing native iPhone technology.

WHY: This app fits our consumer brand promise, and will act as a long tail branding machine. It will help fuel the Groundswell as it builds both brand associations and brand experience.

WHO FOR : It’s designed for buyers… all buyer-, those using BHGRE agents, and those who will someday. Because it has been architected around pronounced buyer challenges, it gives our agents and brokers, something different to talk about, and a way to engage more deeply with buyers during the home search process.

Go to www.bhgrealestate.com/iphone to download our app and start testing it out! We look forward to your feedback and we will add updates and features as we release subsequent versions.