An interactive business magazine called exchange,  or in other words, it is online only.

Online magazines came to the surface some time ago and we all rushed out and thought how cool this page turning software was and how we will all be reading magazines [...]]]> ‘… EXCHANGE HAS ARRIVED …’ announced the email in my inbox yesterday.

An interactive business magazine called exchange,  or in other words, it is online only.

Online magazines came to the surface some time ago and we all rushed out and thought how cool this page turning software was and how we will all be reading magazines online like this very soon.  That was some time ago and they didn’t work, web users behave differently and the transition just didn’t happen.

But now with Kindles, ereaders, ipads and the like could they be more in vogue, user friendly?

Reading around the subject one comes across various tech articles complaining that such software and applications are still too big, which effects download speed, which makes mobile browsing nigh on impossible.  I also came across research that said many don’t actually work on mobile media and have not planned effectively for mobile.  I actually tried the exchange on the mobile but it is built in flash so doesn’t work on the iphone or ipad so there goes 50% of your market.

An interesting observation from one of the many takes I read on this subject begged the question whether this is actually the right way to delivery media.  Many times it has been said that we have read five or six opinions on one specific article before the article has had a chance to dry so why try and wrap it all up with glossy publications, pictures and artwork?

Is there a place for b2b magazines at all, on or offline?

Magazines per se cannot report news, by the time the magazine has been put together the news is old, has been commented upon, reviewed, regurgitated and spat out.   This renders the advertising useless as readers don’t even look at the pages.   What does this leave?  Advice and opinion.  I get enough of that from trusted online sources.   Interviews.  Decent quality indepth interviews is probably the one area where a b2b magazine can shine.  The Negotiator does this well and I have said before they should push harder with this strength.

But this still begs the question; why bother with all the other bumpf and if I am asking these questions for offline why do I want it online?  Keep the interesting interviews and other stuff within the realms of an easy to use website.   This would then work on mobile, which is surely the perfect time to read.

It will take a little time, but I suspect the current pundits, property journalists, commentators will all gather online and publish their material within an easy to use and uncluttered space.  But this begs another question – how will they all get paid?

Too many questions, I am off to write about sex and pop stars!

We coould add a sixth – ‘Do read this blog’.  We have also [...]]]> We were approached by the nice people of City Living and asked if we would post a guest blog.   Of course we would love to we said and here is their guest blog : ‘ City Living: The 5 DO’s and 5 DON’Ts.’

We coould add a sixth – ‘Do read this blog’.  We have also set up a guest blog section on the left so if anyone else wants to post please let us know.

Renting a flat in Leeds (or anywhere else) is a serious matter and it is important to think things through. Here are the 5 DO’s and 5 DON’Ts that you should be aware of…

City Living – Flats in Leeds: The 5 DO’s

•    DO Have a Good Look Around Before Moving in!

It is essential to have a really good look around any accommodation before deciding to move in!  When you are going for a viewing it is a good idea to take a friend along with you.  This will give you an extra pair of eyes for spotting any potential problems and it is also a good security measure.

•    DO Look Everywhere you Can for Somewhere to Rent

When you are looking for flats in Leeds, you will need to stay ahead of the competition.  There are plenty of other potential tenants out there and you need to be carrying out your searching well ahead of everyone else.  Check any local papers the moment they come out, look at ALL notice boards and ask as many people as you can!  Even in this technological age, word of mouth is still an excellent way of finding a flat.

•    DO Find Out How Near Any Amenities Are.

We will all need to use basic services and it is a big bonus if they are close at hand.  How far will you have to walk/drive to use the nearest shop?  And are there any doctors or dentists in the immediate area?
It is also worth finding out about parking facilities.  Will you need an expensive permit just to leave your car outside!  And if you do not drive, then how far away is the bus stop?

•    DO Think Like a Buyer!

When you are looking for a flat, it is destined to be your home and you should bear this in mind at all times.  It is you that will be living in this property, so it has to be the right one.

City Living – Flats in Leeds: The 5 DON’T’s

•    DON’T Make Any Rash Decisions!

You may be pretty desperate to get yourself a flat, but don’t be impulsive. If you go rushing into things only to find out that you are totally unhappy living in a flat you will end up kicking yourself.

•    DON’T Move in Without Doing a Little Research.

Unfortunately, not all city centre flats in Leeds will complement your lifestyle and it is a very good idea to do some research…  Try visiting the location of the accommodation at different times of the day to see if there are any particular problems. A nearby thriving night life might be your thing so checking the place out a night will tell you how active an area is. If the quiet and calm life is for you then visiting at night might raise the issue of noise and rowdy customers. It’s not all about the flat itself.

•    DON’T Ever Redecorate a Flat Without Checking With the Landlord First!

You should never go blazing in with plans of redecorating.  Of course, you will want to give a flat your own personal touch (and the landlord may even be all for it), but you should always ask first!  Besides, it’s polite if nothing else.

•    DON’T Move in Until Any Obvious Problems Have Been Sorted Out.

A flat should not have any visible problems when you first move in.  If you spot a damp patch, a cluster of mouse droppings or a loose electrical socket, then DO NOT sign an agreement or move in until it has been sorted out!

•    DON’T Settle for Second Best!

You may feel prepared to put up with certain things just so that you can get settled in somewhere, but DONT.  If a flat is not quite right then walk away and look elsewhere.

So what I hear many of you say. Well, I am top 10 ten blogger don’t you know! Anyway, enough about me. I like what Zoopla are trying to achieve.

Has this only just happened, not really. I have been liking them for a while, but I had for some [...]]]> I like Zoopla.

So what I hear many of you say. Well, I am top 10 ten blogger don’t you know! Anyway, enough about me. I like what Zoopla are trying to achieve.

Has this only just happened, not really. I have been liking them for a while, but I had for some time seen them as just another portal, albeit one with deep pockets. So what has changed? Nothing striking I can put my finger on, but I now get the feeling that Zoopla appears to have a heart, a strong loudly beating one! I am feeling the Zoopla love.

Rightmove on the other hand may have been caught napping. Yes they appear to be aware of Zoopla, but I don’t think they have taken them seriously enough and this will come back to bite them.

Is this my sudden brand awareness? Perhaps, but it is not me they need to convert, it is the Rightmove masses and new house searchers/buyers (which are dwindling in any event) on the one hand and the agents on the other hand. Their iphone app is very successful and I see the younger new house buying/renting generation as a key target area.

The big question however is whether Zoopla’s pockets can go deep enough. There are no indications that the money will dry up and the VC team behind them is second to none. Indeed, they have just spent whatever it costs to get their TV ads on prime time slots (see their ad below).

They know they have a huge challenge and it is not worth going over old ground here, but I am on board and want to see them do well.

They said that they liked the owl as we were honest and told it how it is, yep that is us:  So let’s tell it how it [...]]]> Thanks to the guys at The Express and Star Newspapers who have listed the Owl as one of the top 10 bloggers in England.  Not bad for a bird!

They said that they liked the owl as we were honest and told it how it is, yep that is us:  So let’s tell it how it is and be honest.

Well, another top 10 announcement just popped up in twitter.  Zoopla have made the top 10 of top 100 startups and Time magazine has just listed the top 50 websites.

Jemima Kiss of the Guardian take on all this is absolutely brilliant and I will quote her verbatim.  How is that for honesty!

‘… Lists are always pretty exciting for the anally retentive, but doubly so when you’re on them …’

Anyway, thanks once again and I am off to build a shelf for the awards that will obviously follow

I have long since championed the need to tie yourself with Google, not more so because it is free, but if you [...]]]> Did you know Google has a page for Real Estate Agents?!  FOREM posts on some of the top google products for real estate agents and here is my take on a few on them.

I have long since championed the need to tie yourself with Google, not more so because it is free, but if you were still in doubt, have a look at these.

1. Google Maps

If you are not using google maps to make listings simpler for house buyers to find when they are looking for properties you are losing sales.  Yes there are other maps to use, but this post is about Google
2. You can add your stock/properties to Google

Let’s just say that again.  You can feed your properties directly into Google for free!  Do I really need to tell you why this could be useful?!  Free traffic, extend your reach and generate more leads through natural search.   Results are shown on Google Maps (see point above).
3. More mapping goodies with Google Maps API

Not only can you have maps, but you can have interactive maps.  You can display your listings on maps and satellite views that you see on google.  You can also show where your office is based.
4. Google Earth

An extension to the API above really.  Publish your properties in Google Earth in glorious 3D satellite images and allow property information to have schools, parks, roads and much more all shown at the same time.   Have you played with Google Earth.  If you have, I am sure you love it, well now image your properties within that system.

5. Google Places is a home for your business

Around 30% of house buying/renting searches start by looking for agents online.  So yes, you need your business to be found and displayed in these search results.  Easy to use and you can upload more than one office.
6. Google SketchUp – 3D models

We wrote about this a while back and if you haven’t use it yet, give it a go.   Create a 3D model for your listings and wow your customers.  Spend a few hours on this and your customers will think you have spent a fortune on design.   Not just for the home, it will do surroundings so you can take this as far as you like.   Moreover, upload this to Google Earth and you really have a ‘wow’ factor.  If I was selling my house and my agent did this I would be impressed.
7. Gmail and Google Apps

All my email systems run on gmail.  It works perfectly, syncs up with everything I use and worst case scenario I can still access it through a gmail account anywhere.  Sharing documents, communicating with colleagues is all made easy with a pool of google tools accessible from anywhere.
8. Google profile and Google Buzz

Profiles and a social network make it easier for people to find you and communicate with you.   You can include photos and anyone with a google account can easily get in touch with you.
9. Show your properties on YouTube

The vast majority of US agents video properties.   We are still coming to terms with it here and I am not sure why.  For those already doing it or thinking of doing it, YouTube  offers a kind of video property portal for free.   Create a YouTube channel and just upload those videos.

The bottom line is you would be far better off spending a few hours to do the above than debating what to write in a flyer to post through a letterbox!  And, oh yes, did I mention it was FREE!

The Americans were discussing technology that allows agents to be vetted by sellers using online questionnaires.  Quite brilliant I thought, I must pass this information on to agents within the UK.  But then I remembered recent discussions over here about the benefits of using [...]]]> The title is lifted directly from the end of a 1000watt newsletter.

The Americans were discussing technology that allows agents to be vetted by sellers using online questionnaires.  Quite brilliant I thought, I must pass this information on to agents within the UK.  But then I remembered recent discussions over here about the benefits of using the ipad and its usefulness, which led me down the dark path of questioning my motives of pushing yet more technology to agents who were not yet ready/willing to embrace what is already available.

To them I say as we have said many times, we now live in a world of social media, we communicate through social platforms and ‘Digital Impressions are now first impressions’.  If you are not in it, you have no first impression and will be overlooked, if you are in it, you need a good first impression.

So how does one make a good first impression?   By applying old fashioned values I would humbly suggest.  Clean and tidy presentation (your website, blog, twitter, brand look and feel), be polite (what you are saying), be professional (be informative), smile (how do you do this online?  write from the heart), engage your customers (the equivalent of calling them back, talk to them), show them you care about them.

On the latter point, you may be interested to read a recent BBC intereview of two early adopters of Twitter.  What both writers highlighted was Twitter is more personable for them and brings them closer to the people they like.  One actually said Twitter ‘is like facebook, but with people I care about’.  Does that suprise you?  It did me a little and is a very important point.  Daily I see real estate agents blindly posting property details on their twitter feed.  Do these people care about me and their other followers – no.  Why I am following them then?  Good point, as of today I am not, their first impression is poor.

Apparently, the Chinese spent 170 million odd on central London property alone in the last 12 months [...]]]> The English People Daily reports on a new wave of spending in the UK housing market from Chinese investors. Estate Agent Today also carries the story, but doesn’t mention this as the source or link back to them.

Apparently, the Chinese spent 170 million odd on central London property alone in the last 12 months to March 2010.  The article quotes Liam Bailey of Knight Frank as saying ‘…Asian investors are now buying more than a fifth of all central London’s new properties and account for 49 percent of all investment purchases in London …’

This seems a very high number to me and I am sure I read somewhere last week that it was the Spanish, Greeks, Americans etc who were the next big property investors. Of course this is all ‘research’ and guesstimation from Knight Frank and their conclusions appear to be, domestic ownership is harder in China, the economy is forcing people to look outside and more and more Asians are sending their offspring to UK Universities.  

I know a few people who got fat helping Russians buy property over here and I am sure those same people are looking at the latest foreign investment with pound note signs in their eyes.

That said, this is not the super rich, multi million pound purchases, this is more modest £400-800,000 purchases for their kids (lucky kids is all I can say!!).   If this is the case, then this puts everyone in with a shout of securing this channel, epscially those close to Universites and good transportation links.  To this end, this will be the only time you will hear me recommend buying another domain name. Purchase a Chinese domain name and point it to your website. Go one stage further and provide a decent translation of at least your home page so our Chinese friends can find ‘London property’ on the Chinese google search. (it is not that simply, but this is a good first step).

I conducted a quick test. I translated ‘london property’ into Chinese, then searched on Google China. The results provided me a page of chinesse and whilst I have no idea what the text says, you can clearly identify the domain names, none of which I recognise. This says to me ‘opportunity’.

好运