Ty's Tech Blog

1. Use your phone as a flashlight. Most phones have a flashlight app or you can just use the screen light to illuminate small dark spaces, or places to sign, like a contract or receipt.

2. Take a picture of something you need to remember, like a parking spot or a color sample. Photos can also be a great way to communicate with another person rather than trying to describe something you have seen. Bonus: Free phone apps like Evernote and Springpad can help you organize these photos into notes which are backed up in real-time, on-line (when you are connected to the internet).

3. Use your still camera as a video camera. Almost every camera now has a video mode, including your mobile device. Some even shoot in high-def! People love pictures but video has a much greater effect. Bonus: “Share” these videos on your social media pages and watch what happens.

4. There are three ways to copy, cut and paste on your computer. Find the way the way that works best for you
– Through the top toolbar, click “edit”, then click “copy” then click “paste”. (newer versions of Microsoft Office now have icons that represent these functions)
– Keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl-C will copy, Ctrl-X will cut, Ctrl-V will paste. CTRL-Z will Undo
– Mouse shortcuts. Right-click and you will get a menu like in the first method. Undo is also an option in this menu

5. Use HootSuite (www.HootSuite.com or download the free phone app) to consolidate your social media into one, easy to navigate screen.

6. Use your mobile device to update your social media pages. There are dozens if not hundreds of times during the day where you’re stuck without the ability to do much of anything (ie. in line at the grocery store). Why not take the opportunity to engage with your network? Apps like Hoot Suite (mentioned above) make it VERY easy to do so.

7. Switch to Google Chrome www.google.com/chrome. Its faster than Internet Explorer, more secure and has a ton of great features. Check out the available extensions for all kinds of cool tools such as LastPass. There is even an Internet Explorer extension that allows you to use Internet Explorer inside Chrome for the rare site that isn’t compatible with Chrome.

8. Use LastPass to remember ALL of your passwords. This FREE service installs into ANY web browser and it will auto-fill your username and password into any site you have saved. Note: do NOT install this service on a public computer

9. Check out Yelp for restaurant and business reviews. Go to www.Yelp.com or download the app on your mobile device. Get real reviews from real people. There are additional features that enhance the experience as well (find the closest deli). If you are working with a client and you don’t know the area as well as you would like, Yelp can make it look like you have lived in that neighborhood for years.

10. Use social media to “listen”. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook are basically aggregators of news and events. Some are personal, some are global. Listen to what is happening around you and you will become more aware of what is happening in the lives of those you know. You may even be able to help them through a challenge. You will also be current on the latest industry news and events (if you are following the right people/companies). Inman News, Forbes, REALTOR.com are all great sources of real estate and financial news.

Everywhere I turn, I hear “iPad this….”, “iPhone that…..”. While I don’t have anything against Apple products, I know not everyone has one of these devices.  I don’t.  But I do know that many people have an Android based device (mostly phones) and they can be every bit as useful as their Apple counterparts.  The Android Market is growing exponentially every month and offers many of the same apps as the iTunes market.  Some Android apps are even better and/or cheaper than similar Apple apps.

Case in point.  CamScanner and SIGNificant are two FREE apps available in the Android market that work great.  CamScanner allows you to take a photo of anything and turn it into a .pdf file.  SIGNificant is an application that gives you the ability to physically sign a .pdf file.  The two applications are developed by two separate companies, but they work hand-in-hand.

Here is a video demonstration of how you can take a paper document, scan it, sign it and e-mail it, all from your Android OS device.

For those of you involved in social media, you have probably seen the evidence of a social media scam. I admit, they can be pretty easy to fall for. However, knowing what to look for will help you avoid these traps. Here are some samples of what to look out for.

Back when Osama Bin Laden was captured, there was a video scam going around on FaceBook that when someone clicked on the video, the user’s account would be hacked and then the scammer would have access to all of their information. It would also post the video on the user’s “wall”, hoping some of that person’s friends would click on the link as well. The reason this particular scam worked so well was because it took advantage of our own inquisitive human nature. The video Supposedly showed the actual video of Osama being killed. So naturally, A LOT of people clicked on the link to the video and then BOOM, they lost control of their account.

One way to tell if a video or link is a scam is to see if a lot of other people have posted the same link. The more people who post it, the more likely it is a scam. Also, looking at the content of the message will help as well. If it looks fishy, it probably is. Some other links that get a lot of attention are borderline pornographic, so definitely beware of those. If you are really curious, search Google for the video or article and see what happens. If it is a scam, a blog post or article that provides details about the scam will be one of the top results. You can also contact the person who posted the information either via phone, e-mail or direct message. They will likely say either “I don’t know what you’re talking about” or “yeah, it’s a scam”.

I have seen some strange things on Twitter as well. Here’s a good one. You may receive a notification that you were mentioned in an article and there is a link to it. The alert you receive would look something like this.

“@YourTwitterHandle check out this article you were mentioned in! http://bit.ly/adi234″ (note: this is not a real link)

Beware. Because of URL shortening services like bit.ly and others, it is very hard to tell if the link is real or not because it doesn’t show you where you are being directed. A simple rule is, if the message is pretty vague or if you don’t know who the sender is, move on. The more generic the message, the more suspicious you should be.

Common sense should rule when engaging in your social media. Always think twice about clicking on a link, because you never know what dangers lurk behind that seemingly harmless URL. Hopefully these examples which I have provided will help keep you and your accounts safe.

Did you know that YouTube.com is now the #2 search engine in the world (behind it’s parent company, Google)?  That’s right, YouTube is a SEARCH ENGINE, not just a place to find personal videos.  This means people are going to YouTube to find information that they can watch and not have to read.  If you’re anything like me, I HATE reading manuals.  I don’t even like reading books!  It isn’t that I can’t read, I just don’t like taking the time to do it.  My mind wanders easily and I can focus on a video much better than on a book.  And I know I am not alone.

So with this information, it would make sense to market yourself and your business on YouTube, right?  RIGHT???  I think a lot of people are freaked out by video.  They think it is too difficult to record video.  And forget trying to upload it to YouTube!  You have to be a “Techie” to do it, right?  Not at all.

It really is quite simple.

First, get a camera that records video.  Technically most cell phones and digital cameras record video, however, the quality varies drastically from unit to unit.  Be sure you test out your equipment to make sure the quality is adequate.  Remember, this is your business you are going to be promoting, video quality will imply professionalism or lack thereof.  I personally recommend the Flip brand of cameras (www.Flip.com).  They record in HD and come with preloaded software that makes it a BREEZE to upload videos to YouTube and other websites.  I just bought a Flip SlideHD because it can record up to 4 hours of HD content and it cost me right around $200 (www.amazon.com).

Next, set up a YouTube account.  Just go to http://www.youtube.com/create_account, fill in the fields and then accept the terms and you’re set!

Now, how do you shoot a good video?  Here is a video I “borrowed” that does a great job explaining what makes a good neighborhood video.

As for uploading videos to YouTube, you can use the software that comes with many digital camcorders like the Flip cameras, or you can follow these instructions.

1. Click the Upload link at the top of any YouTube page.
2. Click the Upload video button to browse for the video file you’d like to upload to our site. Select the file you want to upload from your camera or computer and click Open.
3. As the video file is uploading, enter as much information about your video as possible in the relevant fields (including Title, Description, Tags, and Category). You’re not required to provide specific information, but the more information you include, the easier it is for users to find your video!
4. Click the Save changes button to save the updates you’ve made to the video file.

Have more than one video file to upload? Not a problem! You can upload up to 10 video files in a single uploading session.

Be creative with your videos.  Record testimonials.  Get neighborhood videos.  Use QR codes in your print advertising and link the code to your videos.  Don’t know how to do this? Check out my blog post on how to do so.  http://tystechblog.com/2011/01/12/qr-codes-and-how-you-can-use-them-today/

Video is the future of the internet.  You can either lead, follow or get out of the way.  Fortunately, systems have evolved over time that has made it very easy to get involved.  Try it out, you may even have some fun with it.

For quite some time I was not much of a believer in Twitter.  I figured you can convey only so much in 140 charechters or less and why would anyone care.  Yes, there are services that allow you to shorten your posts and you can link to photos and videos, but what real purpose does it have?

Well, after attending a presentation by Gary Vaynerchuk, author of  “Crush It” and the newly released “The Thank You Economy” my perceptions of Twitter have changed darastically.  Here is why.

It is projected that Twitter will have at least 200 MILLION users by the end of 2011 sending nearly 1 BILLION “tweets” per week.  These tweets contain a tremendous amount of information about the users.  From hobbies and interests, to weekend plans, to relationship status and much more. 

Gary Vaynerchuck discussed on tactic he used to create a customer for life.  Gary, who runs a website that sells wine, started following one of his best customers on Twitter.  From following the customer, he was able to learn that the customer was a huge fan of NFL Chicago Bear’s quarterback, Jay Cutler.  As a thank you to this person for being such a loyal customer, Gary had a signed jersey sent to the customer’s shipping address (which he had from his previous orders). 

What an incredible way to communicate and thank your customers!!!

Now, aside from stalking your friends and customers, there is another hidden jewel within the Twitter-verse.  That is the ability to search for Twitter users that have posted a Tweet containing a key word or phrase that you are interested in.  From a business standpoint this is HUGE!  You can perform searches for things such as “buy an investment home in (your city)” or “moving to (your city)”.  To perform the search, just go to http://search.twitter.com and enter in your search criteria.  Here are some different search tricks that will help you really zero in on the most reliable and accurate results.  (you can find more at http://search.twitter.com/operators)

If you are to focus on any of these tricks, the ones I recommend you pay special attention to are the NEAR and WITHIN functions.  These search functions when used properly will allow you to zero in on a certain city or zip code.  For example, if I wanted to search for everyone that has tweeted “real estate investment” within 10 miles of Phoenix, my search would look like this:  real estate investment near:Phoenix within:10mi

Another feature that really sets Twitter apart from FaceBook and other social media sites is that you can follow just about anyone without their approval.   However they do have the option to BLOCK you if they don’t want to be followed.  So if you do start following someone that you don’t know, be careful you don’t jump on them.  People will respond much better to positive, helpful information rather than someone trying to sell them something or forcing information down their throat.  Become a resource for the person.  Build your credibility and if you do this correctly, they will reach out to you for further guidance and support.  Guide them to your blog or website for more information.

If I can become a believer in Twitter, I know you can too.  And with these powerful tips, you will be able to interact with more people and generate more business.   Even within 140 charachters or less.

My one gripe with FaceBook Business (Fan) pages has been the inability to post from anything other than a computer.  Fortunately, this has been addressed and the solutions are relatively good.

There are four ways to post to your business page from a mobile device.
1. email your post to your page
2. visit your business page through your mobile browser and post from there
3. the iPhone app has the capability
4. send your update via text message

To e-mail your post, here is what you need to do.  You need to find out the e-mail address for your page.  To do so, go to your business page and then click on the Edit Page link at the top right of the screen under “Home” / “Profile” / “Account”.  From there, click on “Mobile” on the left side of the page.  You will then be shown your page’s e-mail address.  Save this information in your address book and any time you want to post an update or a photo to your page (you can’t send video or post website links yet), all you have to do is send the e-mail to the address, and put the information in the subject line.  DO NOT put information in the body of the message.

To use your mobile browser, just enter in the url of your page (ie.  www.facebook.com/sony) and you can post your information through the web interface.  If you don’t have a Vanity URL, here is a link to a post I did a while back explaining how you can get yours, http://tystechblog.com/2009/10/06/facebook-vanity-url/.  You can also find more information on Vanity URLs on FaceBook.com at http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=900.

To post via the iPhone app, install the Facebook application and login. Click the “+” sign on the top left corner and then Click “Pages” on bottom right. Select your Page — it is now a favorite on your home dock. Now click your Page’s icon. To post a photo, click the “camera” icon. To post a status update, tap the “What’s on your mind?” field.

Finally, to post via text message, within the Mobile page as reference above, click on the green “Sign Up for SMS” button on the right side of the page and follow the instructions.  You will then be given a 5 digit number to send your updates to.  At this time you can only send text via this method.  So no photos, videos or website links yet.

By being able to post photos on the fly, you can get really creative, like posting a photo of a new listing or smiling clients after a closing.  Let your imagination run wild!  Just don’t let your business page sit there and rot.

It is important to keep your business pages active in order to generate interest and business.   If you can update them while you are on the fly, you are able to stay engaged and top of mind of those following you without having to wait until you get to the office or home.  So no excuses, make your business pages come to life!

Ok. So there is a new technology getting some serious attention in the real estate community called QR codes, which stands for Quick Response Code. These are computer generated bar codes that are intended to be put on print materials that direct users mobile phone browsers to the website of your choice.

Sample QR Code

When someone takes a picture of the QR code with special software installed on the user’s mobile phone, it will then open a web browser and take that user to the website that is linked to that code. It can direct the user to anything that has a URL like a YouTube video, website, blog, FaceBook page, Twitter page, ANYTHING. Now, most Android devices and the iPhone are being delivered with the software already installed, so the technology is not hard to obtain. The issue is that not everyone knows they have it or how to use it. However, with the growing popularity of the technology, that is going to change relatively quickly.

So how do you make your own QR code? It actually is incredibly simple since the technology is FREE!

All you need is a URL where you want to direct your customers. Again, it can be a link to just about anything. Just make sure that the website URL you use is set up in a way that it can be easily viewed on a phone’s browser, otherwise the effectiveness will be lost.

Next, you need to use a QR code service to convert the URL into a QR code image (like above). I personally like www.qurify.com because you don’t have to register and it is free. There are others that offer tracking capabilities and other features you may like, such as www.qreatebuzz.com, which is also free but you will need to set up an account. The QR code service will then provide you with a QR code image (usually a .png or .jpg file) that you can save to your computer and then insert into any of your print media.

Some suggestions for application of this technology are as follows:
- Link to a testimonial video that is posted on YouTube.
- Link to a walk-through of a listing or community that is posted on YouTube
- Link to your blog or your personal FaceBook page or Fan page
- Link to your website. (It helps if your website is optimized for viewing on a phone)

You can put these QR codes on some of the following items:
- Your car
- Your business card
- Property flyers
- Your property “For Sale” signs
- Magazine ads
- ANY print media

Your options are nearly limitless!

I do recommend that you or someone you know tests out your QR code before you print it. On your smart phone, you want to use the application called Barcode Scanner or you can download a QR code scanner from your phone’s application store if you can’t find one already installed. There are many FREE ones to choose from.

QR codes are an emerging technology that everyone can use with little to no investment. Try it out and I’m sure you will see some results.

If you want to know more about the origins of the QR code technology, just go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code.

Google has a very cool, and FREE, service available called Google Alerts. It will send you an automated e-mail alert every time a keyword or phrase that you choose is posted somewhere online. This can be a person’s name, company name, topic, whatever you want it to be. (You can set it up to e-mail you weekly if you choose.)

Here is how you do it.

1. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Enter in the search term of your choice in the box on the left (ie. John Doe, Arizona real estate, etc.)
3. Select the Type. I recommend “Everything” (Note: you will be able to change all setting if you desire)
4. Select how often you want to be notified. The more vague the term, the more results you will receive.
5. Select the Volume. I suggest “All Results”.
6. Enter in your e-mail address
7. Click “Create Alert”

You will then be sent a “Verification Email” from Google that will finalize the process. Click on the link in the e-mail to verify and you’re done.

Now, every time you get an e-mail from Google with the alert report, there are links at the bottom that will allow you to remove, manage or create another alert.

While this is a great tool to monitor information posted about you, you can also set this up to monitor your children, get information about a subdivision that you are targeting, latest government initiatives and much more. Be creative and I’m sure you will find many benefits to using this FREE service.

Ok, I’m going to make this one quick, but it could be one of my best posts.

I recently signed up for DropBox.com and I can’t believe how useful it is! Here is a quick explanation of what it is. It is basically an online hard drive that you can access from ANYWHERE. All you need is an internet connection. The best part, it continually backs up your information while you are connected to the internet. So there is no longer a need for a backup drive or software. And when you make a change to a file or add a file to your DropBox folder, it will automatically sync it once you have closed out of the file.

Another great feature, you can access your files from your phone as well (iPod, Android or BlackBerry). So if you take a picture or video with your camera phone, you can upload it to your DropBox and it will be on your computer when you get home. You can also pull files out of your DropBox and attach them to e-mails from your phone. No more running to the office or home to e-mail files. It is all right there on your phone.

The absolute BEST part of this service…….it is FREE!!!! At least the basic account is. You can get 2GB for free and then the packages start at $10/mo for 50GB or $20/mo for 100GB. If you invite your friends to join, you will get an extra 500MB free and they will get 250MB free. It is a win-win!

So if you are always on the fly and you don’t want to worry about backing up your computer or having to rush to a computer to access your files, DropBox.com is your solution. CHECK IT OUT!

To sign up and receive an extra 250 MB of space, go to DropBox.com

Here is a cool video I shot with some tips on how to use YouTube in your business.