Typically, many agents' workdays slow considerably as the holidays approach. On the flip side, real estate services companies are working in overdrive right now as they prepare to show off hot new technologies at the annual National Association of Realtors Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Oct. 28-31.

While the technology they're gearing up to show you varies, much of it was created with similar bottom-line goals: to help you win new business, and to get ever-larger quantities of information into the hands of consumers quicker than ever before.

It's all in response to one of the most fascinating trends to emerge in the real estate industry in decades -- a consumer-driven desire for larger quantities of information, sent by agents faster than ever before, to an ever-increasing number of devices, from iPods to MP3 players to Blackberries. These hand-helds are quickly gaining traction as hot tools for agents to not only better communicate with their clients, but to enhance their marketing efforts through the ability to instantaneously relay information on a client's home to prospective buyers.

One company that's been burning the midnight oil to help real estate agents better deliver information to consumers is a la mode. Some of you may recall that a la mode was the industry's first firm to offer all of its 7,500 agent customers nationwide the technology to podcast information on homes for sale to customers with iPods, portable MP3 players and personal computers.

As recently as a few months ago, who would have thought that those oh-so-hip iPod devices -- you know, that wafer-thin contraption your teenager uses to tune in to their favorite music (while tuning you out) -- could be used by tech-savvy real estate agents as a way to deliver information and gain more business?

a la mode's use of podcasting was all the more unusual because the company announced it had made the technology available to all of its Agent XSite customers, at no additional cost.

With a la mode's technology, real estate professionals can record and distribute property descriptions as spoken audio files -- known as podcasts -- to the millions of home buyers and sellers already using this new medium.

According to NAR, nearly three in 10 agents (some 27 percent) are already using a PDA device. An even larger percentage of consumers are getting in on the tech fun with these devices and others: 22 million Americans own an MP3 player, and 29 percent of them have downloaded a podcast. What's more, Apple has sold 28 million iPods since their introduction. And by 2006, 30 percent of new cars are expected to have an iPod option.

"Podcasting has exploded -- and will continue to grow in popularity -- because it delivers content automatically, providing the ultimate in convenience for busy consumers," said Rusty Lindquist, a la mode's vice president of Agent Products. "It allows our agent customers to walk into a listing presentation confident they can market a property like no one else. That's something today's increasingly tech-savvy home owners look for, and our customers tell us it can be the tipping point to winning the listing."

"Podcasting is a remarkably cost-effective marketing tool that enables me to better service both buyers and sellers," said Todd Ernst, a Keller Williams agent from Grand Rapids, Mich. "I can now market my clients' homes to tens of millions of iPod and MP3 users," said Ernst, whose Agent XSite can be found here.

Another unique technology comes from Smarter Agent. This technology enables home buyers to dial into a database via either a cell phone or Blackberry (notice the handheld trend here?). Then, a Global Positioning System (GPS) will not only show them where the home is, but also match it to available information and records about that house (no matter if it's for sale or not).

Taking things one step further, assuming the house isn't for sale, the Smarter Agent technology will then offer to find another house as similar as possible to the one the buyer is standing in front of -- but that is on the market.

The company isn't shy in its marketing, calling itself "the world's best real estate search engine," and stating that its patented technology "brings you all the real estate information you need no matter who you are and no matter where you are." (Visit here, for the company's animated video demo.)

Be sure to attend the NAR Conference & Expo to receive first-hand demonstrations of podcasting and other emerging technologies. By putting them to use in your career, you'll find your success and technology go hand-in-handheld.

Published: October 26, 2005

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.