Rockland County Real Estate - INDUSTRY NEWS / Some interesting news articles from the past week:

Forbes: QR Codes – The Most Abused Technology of 2011

Nichols, vice president of digital at Stern + Associates, a public relations firm, was an early adopter of QR codes and sees the benefits but “I knew that this technology, like all great technologies (think e-mail) could be easily abused by people who either didn’t ‘get it’ or who were simply trying to be cutting edge,” he writes at Forbes.com. “I think we are at the forefront of this technology being abused” and the perk to users may be diminished if more marketers don’t start using them correctly, he adds. 

RISMedia: It’s Time to Link up – with LinkedIn

Mention the phrase “social media” and most people automatically think of Facebook and Twitter. But if you have any dealings in the corporate world—whether you’re a CEO, salesperson, human resource manager, administrative assistant, or anything in between—you’ll want to take a closer look at LinkedIn. Before you dismiss the idea of using LinkedIn because you only know it as that “bland” social media site where people go when they’re looking for a job, realize that currently there are 90 million LinkedIn users worldwide and a new user joins every second.

Agent Genius: Three steps real estate leaders can use to disarm tense situations

Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter analyzes three steps leaders use to disarm tense situations, which is critical in the intense practice of real estate. Consumers are upset by difficulties in lending or how long their home is sitting on the market, while team leaders and brokers are shouldering the burden of hearing agents vent frustrations of market conditions limiting their income.

Tech News

Agent Genius: Chat with your real estate website visitors with 2011 style technology

If you or your website visitors prefer to chat via Skype or GTalk or other existing instant messengers, they can without anyone having to download or learn a new technology. SnapEngage is supposed to be super easy to install on your website, allows users to chat from their existing instant messenger, integrates into many major CRM systems, and automatically prompts your visitors to chat, offering your help.

Agent Genius: Top 15 rules for staging a real estate listing, according to a scientific study

In a recent study by Duke University, Andrea Angott, Ph.D. said, “As far as we know, staging principles haven’t yet received empirical testing. Rather, they most likely evolved over years of experience and practice, and very experienced practitioners develop an intuition about staging. But, it is probably the case that some staging “rules” are more effective than others than others in terms of changing buyer perception and behavior.” Click the link to see the rules.