Ericsson has reported that mobile phone data traffic has tripled in the past 12 months. This is really demonstrating the move by consumers to smart phones and the increasing trend to access internet data on these smart phones.
We have for some time been raising the long term trend for smart phones to be used to access to the Internet. It is the most active ‘battleground’ for technology companies as it is a new and quickly emerging market place without the dominant existing providers that exists in the more mature technology markets (think Microsoft in PC land and Google on desktop search).
However just as technology companies are scrabbling to stake out their place in this new market, so should property companies. As more consumers use smart phones to access the internet, they will naturally be driven to websites and web applications that are optimised for the platform. This simply provides a much richer and user friendly experience so it is entirely natural. However the vast majority of property firms have no strategy let alone website or web application to target this market.
We rolled out the service R.E. Mobile around 12 months ago specifically to target this emerging market and it has proven a big success in providing a fantastic experience for accessing and searching for property listings, staff member details and general company information. For more information on R.E. Mobile visit our website here.
A recent article in The Australian Newspaper commented on the sucess of Bing and Yahoo in taking market share from Google. Now in Australia that isn’t going to be hard initially, as Google has around 90% of all search engine traffic. Making a significant dint will be much harder however.
There is no doubt Bing is a good search engine – far far better than Live and a real potential threat to Google. In a recent interview by Tech Crunch with Steve Ballmer, Ballmer commented that they have over 5000 people working on search. A pretty extraordinary number but it shows how serious Microsoft is about competing with Google.
Cityscape Dubai 2009 launched today and I was in attendance. Numbers are vastly down on last year – I would guess about 75% down. Having said that it was still busy, which says a lot about how crazily busy it used to be!
This is the first time in 4 years that we have not had a booth at Cityscape Dubai, primarily because we choose the exhibit at Cityscape Abu Dhabi earlier in the year.
It will no doubt be a more subdued year in terms of visitor numbers and deals done, but I am sure it will come back stronger next year, and we will be there again.
Even though we are not exhibiting at Cityscape this year we are running some great Cityscape specials, so if you are looking to purchase a new software solution for your business, I encourage you to contact us asap.
We are exhibiting once again at Cityscape Abu Dhabi. The exhibition runs from this Sunday April 19th through to Wednesday April 22nd.
Due to the ongoing financial crisis and the impact it has had on the property market some firms have pulled out of the Cityscape exhibition and some have even closed completely. We remain 100% committed however to the region and continue to see a bright future for Brightfox in the GCC. Exhibiting at signficiant exhibitions such as Cityscape Abu Dhabi is a great way to meet new prospects, reconnect with our existing clients and demonstrate our commitment to the industry.
I was revisiting some of our old newsletters and came across this content – which was emailed out in October 2007. I think it is as relevant today as it was then, particularly as so few websites for property developments include the functionality that this site does. I find it very surpising that property developers do not demand more when it comes to internet marketing. They spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in the main stream media and yet usually have token websites and almost non-existent online marketing. I think it is a real oversight and is affecting the sales performance of so many projects. Given the number of property purchasers who start looking on line now (up to 80% in some countries), this really is something that property developers need to have a serious think about addressing.
Here is the original copy from that newsletter. If you are a property developer or project marketer and you would like to discuss what more you could be doing with your website or in broader online marketing, give me a call or send me an email.
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Barr Al Jissah is an exclusive development in Oman, positioned on the shores of the Arabian Sea with awe inspiring views. To market this extraordinary development, the Zubair Corporation and marketing agents PRDnationwide Oman required the very best in technology and web services and turned to Brightfox to meet those requirements.
Brightfox developed the Barr Al Jissah website so that it was both informative and attractive to view. However, to turn the website into a true sales tool Brightfox added some extraordinary new features that are sure to be implemented in other property development sites in the future.
Many websites are efficient in providing attractive images and information, but are generally out of date and act as poor sales tools.The Barr Al Jissah websites redefines what is possible with property development sites through an array of new features all designed to engage visitors, making them stay at the site for longer periods, visit more often and ultimately – to purchase.
What makes the Barr Al Jissah website possible? Seamless integration with foxEnterprise, the world’s leading CRM, Sales, Marketing and Contract Administration software. By integrating foxEnterprise with their new website, the Barr Al Jissah sales team can upload and maintain their properties on the site without advanced technical know-how.
While the Barr Al Jissah website has many extraordinary features, we have outlined a few key elements that give the website a distinct competitive advantage. These innovative features are what transform the Barr Al Jissah website into an effective sales tool, and will become the ‘must have’ features for leading Projects around the world.
Interactive master plan map
Visitors to the master plan can view the master plan map, and ultimately which properties are still available for sale. Further information can be obtained by clicking on the available property. An informative window about the specific property pops up which contains pictures, floor plans, a photo gallery and price for the visitor to peruse. The visitor can also zoom in for a closer look at the properties
Photo Gallery & Slide Shows
Each individual property has its own photo gallery, which can be accessed via the Master Plan. Alternatively visitors to the Bar Al Jissah website can view individual images or a slide show about the area and the development.Client Portal
Every purchaser is able to logon via the website and get access to secure private information on their own contracts. With purchasers around the world, this makes providing project updates, contract adjustments and other important contractual information easy and fast. Just as internet banking has taken the world by storm, secure client portals such as this will soon become standard in the industry.
Google Movie
Using Google Earth and Google technology, Brightfox was able to create a short movie display that highlighted Barr Al Jissah’s location, properties, facilities and master plan.
While these features are attractive and engaging for the visitor, they also aim to interact with the prospective buyer to facilitate the sale. The Barr Al Jissah has ensured that its first-class development is reflected in its premium website design, and we should not be surprised if its properties aren’t available for long.
It is a tough market out there and we know that many agents are finding business difficult. To assist agents and agencies on improving their business in these tough times, we have recently launch a free weekly email called ’50 Bright Ideas’ which will send a new business idea to agents each week. Each week we will email a new business idea used by one (or many) of the leading agents around the world. Having recognised however that an idea without execution is a wasted idea, we are also including suggestions on how to implement the idea into your business.
So in a nutshell, our ’50 Bright Ideas’ campaign is a FREE weekly email that all agents and agencies can subscribe to, that send you a great new business idea and suggestions on how to implement the idea into your business.
We have seen many companies selling similar information for well over hundreds of dollars. However we have decided to impart this knowledge for Free. When you sign-up for 50 bright ideas you will also receive 3 professionally designed HTML templates that you can use immediately – straight out of the box.
Of course we don’t think for a second that we are the only people with great ideas on how to run a real estate business, so if you have suggestions or would like to contribute to our weekly emails, we would love to hear from you. Simply email us at 50brightideas@brightfox.com.au.
You may have noticed websites popping up with ‘RSS feeds’ on their site. RSS basically allows someone to link not just to a page, but to subscribe to it with a notification every time that page changes. For example, news websites have taken this on board with top news from various organizations feeding into one website.
RSS can push all kinds of information from news articles to blog entries, stock quotes, weather data, photo availability and more.
One such website has been developed by Brightfox, which is called PropertyMash. It embraces the new ‘mash up’ technology and is applied with a real estate focus. What this means for those in the property industry is the ability to access all real estate news and information in one spot. Visit it here…www.propertymash.com
We’ve also created an iframe application, so organizations can have live real estate news from property mash on their website for free. This has already proved successful for some of our clients as they obtain more visitors to their site and demonstrate the importance of market intelligence to their clients. Visit the PropertyMash site for more information.
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