foursquare

It is no secret that I am a big fan of all things social media and technology in real estate. Using location-based applications is no exception. I have been using applications like Brightkite, Foursquare and Gowalla for a couple of years now in Western MA and have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can utilize them to help with exposure in the local Western MA real estate market.

Last summer I wrote a post on this topic for Agent Genius magazine geared toward sharing some of my thoughts on how location based applications like Foursquare can be used in a marketing and branding sense to expose real estate agents to a new market.

I was beyond flattered when REALTOR Magazine emailed me and asked if they could use some of my post as a quote in an upcoming article on the same subject. Yesterday my broker presented me with the magazine and when I saw the article I was even MORE excited because I shared space in the story with Todd Carpenter, NAR’s social media manager. Todd and I have had the opportunity to meet a few times and I am so honored to be quoted in the same story!

If you want to take a look at the REALTOR Magazine story, click here. I am so proud to see my quote followed up by says Lesley Lambert, a sales associate with Park Square Realty in Westfield, Mass!

If you are interested in learning more about social media, technology or location-based applications you can contact me. If you want a REALTOR who is using new media techniques to help her clients achieve their home-ownership dreams then definitely contact me!

This is a true life social media tale about the serendipitous nature of FourSquare.

I am a sometimes user of FourSquare. I would use it more often if I had a different phone, but my antique Blackberry Curve can’t seem to handle the application very well and often freezes when I am trying to check in places. That I will solve shortly when I get my iPhone and after my true life experiences this summer, I can’t wait to use it more often!

This One Time In Vegas….

Morriss and I were on our vacation with a final destination of Utah, but the first night was spent at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. I managed to coax my phone through the check-in process to discover that the editor of my Masslive.com real estate articles, Laura Merwin was also staying there. I have never met Laura face to face and was excited to create a spontaneous meet up, but our schedules didn’t connect. All the same, I thought it was a lot of fun to see that someone I “knew” was there at the same time and afforded our #westernma friends on Twitter and Facebook a chance to chat about how random life is at times.

Put Me In Coach!

Over Labor Day Morriss and I took our kids to a baseball game at Camden Yards in Baltimore and I checked in. Moments later I saw that a friend, Derek Massey, was also checked into the ballgame. We tweeted during the game and he came by before he left to have a quick visit. It was awesome to see him even for just a moment and it never would have happened if it wasn’t for checking in on FourSquare!

Round Peg in a Square Hole

On our return drive from Baltimore, Morriss and I stopped at a rest area in Connecticut. As we were stretching and letting the kids run a bit, a woman approached and asked if we were Lesley and Morriss from Twitter. We admitted to the crime and she introduced herself as Heather Brandon (@heddafeddah) who is one of my first Twitter friends and someone with whom I have shared a lot of Mom themed discussions. She recognized us from our Twitter avatars and I am so glad she came over to say hello! This instance has nothing to do with FourSquare, but was so similar in the serendipity department that I had to share it, as well.

photo(2) — Heather Brandon and I at the rest area

I have written a post with ideas on how real estate professionals can use location based technology in their career, but this is really the power of these applications. Social media is about being social and this is a powerful way to put people together in the same place at the same time.

Be sure to friend me up over at my FourSquare profile so we can have a spontaneous meet up one day!

Do you have any serendipitous social media tales to share? Comment!

Footer