Introducing IFTTT. Stands for If This, Then That.

Basically IFTTT is a service that has taken the many, many different codes and API’s from online behemoths like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Worldpress, Instagram, etc. hereby called “channels,” and linked and automated their services for you through what they term “recipes.”

Think of it like this:

• When you change your profile photo in Facebook, it automagically updates your profile photo in Twitter.
• You need to write yourself a note but you’re driving. Call and leave yourself a voicemail, it will send you an email reminder.
• Post to your WordPress website and it will promote it on your Facebook FanPage
• Synching Google+ updates with your other social media platforms.

Has your adreneline started to pump? Are you getting a better understanding of the power of this yet? There are currently 41 channels to choose from including what I mentioned above plus LinkedIn, CraigsList, Evernote, Digg, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo…

The variety of linked services with IFTTT is ginormous,  if you can’t utilize one of more than 400,000 possible IFTTT recipes to fit your needs, then you need to hop on back to the 70’s and find your happy place.

Here’s a list of one author’s top ten “recipes.” It’s written for real estate agents, but I didn’t see one on there that was exclusive to the industry. They are seriously cool. Check it out here.

I know, I know. You’re hesitant to give this new company a go, after all they need all your logins. I was too at first. I started slowly with a recipe that solved an issue I have had for some time. How to add a new post to my WordPress blog and have it promoted on my Facebook Business Page. I plugged in the recipe, posted and waited. IFTTT says that the tasks are checked once every 15 minutes. After 20 minutes I was about to dismiss this whole IFTTT craze as folly, got distracted (shocking) and came back 30 minutes later and it was gloriously on my Facebook page. I have since done another run at it with the same pleasing results.

And that my friends, means that I am ALL IN.

Now, tell me what you’re IFTTTing today!

I’ll admit – I ran this poll briefly out of a) curiosity and b) blog fodder. And I succeeded on both fronts.

Here’s what I found.

It’s REALLY easy to start a poll. The harder part is making up the question. I went for the painfully obvious.

My Poll Question: How much time do you spend on LinkedIn to generate leads?

The results are amazingly dissectible. I can tell you the gender, age and employment seniority for the breakdown of respondents for EACH question. It has a lovely graphical interface and albeit, slightly addicting…

Of the whopping 14 people who answered my poll (and because they did not comment, I don’t know who they are):

• 36% spend 10 minutes a week on linked in, 29% spend 10 minutes a day on linked in, 21% “live” on LinkedIn, and 14% didn’t know LinkedIn was good for lead generation.
• There were 7 men and 4 women who participated in my poll (I am not sure where the other three fall…) and mostly fall into the 37 – 44 age category.
• Of the three who claim to “live” on LinkedIn, 2 are female, one male and are aged 18 – 36. No surprise there as the younger set gravitates to the social media platforms.

Granted, people may have been a bit skeptical of my poll, thinking it was a shill for LinkedIn. Or it could be that my peer group isn’t on LinkedIn. Hmmm.

I see a number of polls that went unanswered so I am not disappointed. However, as I scan some of the other more popular topics, I notice that there are seriously high levels of interaction on some of these:

• Which one of these CRM providers wil be the leader in 5 years? (11,056 votes)
• What is the most important quality that you can’t find on a resume? (385 votes)
• What is the best company incentive that motivates you? (337)
• A good night’s sleep may not mean 8 straight hours. How much rest do you need? Explain in the comments (4129 votes) 65% of people share my response with this one…
• How many of your LinkedIn Connections do you REALLY “know” personally or professional? (613 votes +1, I just voted.)

I suspect some of these polls were promoted in groups (I didn’t do this) and other social media platforms. Of which I will do NEXT TIME. And there will be a next time, you can count on it.

Overall, I am highly intrigued by LinkedIn Polls. Not only can not only get a real business question answered, you can use the information from LinkedIn Polls to further your position as an expert —  whether you post the poll or NOT — because you can still VIEW the results.

Here’s how to create your own poll: Go to the “More” tab on the top menu, the drop down has “Polls.” On the left, click the button with the green plus sign that says, “Create new poll.” Brilliant. I would highly recommend it for – well, the above two reasons. And that you can become an instant expert just by reading other polls – or your own.

What do you think? How are you going to use LinkedIn Polls for your business?

Chris Smith, the real estate tech guru, rolled into Dallas again this year for Inman News’ Agent Reboot, charmed and enchanted his throngs of followers with a well-synchronized introduction of his tech elite industry friends, leaving the audience with extensive to-do lists and brains whizzing with possibilities.

Long considered to be the on the bleeding edge of real estate technology, it’s no wonder that Chris first came on my radar years ago as the co-founder of Tech Savvy agent. As the current Chief Evangelist for Inman News, Chris has knack for envisioning the future of the real estate industry while most are still relying on direct mail and cold calls to get their business to grow. This instinct makes him a must follow on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+… (the list goes on), and to be in his mere physical presence inspires one to up their online game — yesterday. And the fact that he never sits down is enough to make anyone stockpile 5-hour energy drinks just to keep up.

As a licensed real estate agent, the Agent Reboot is a must-attend. I go each year not to see Chris Smith and friends in the flesh, and not because I hold my license (I don’t practice), but because I view real estate as the canary in the coal mine for my business brokerage — and more importantly it helps me better serve my real estate clients of which I manage their social media and blog activities.

Agent Reboot continues to come as advertised. I dare find anyone who hasn’t left more educated and with better tools to make them a more effective professional. It’s the best $50 spend around –real estate or no.

Agent Reboot is the perfect medicine for any real estate agent who is committed to competing and elevating themselves as a professional in today’s market, but here are some golden take-aways that I believe everyone (not just real estate agents) should know:

1. Facebook business pages are now timeline-ready. Hold on, hold on, wait a minute. Harness your trigger reaction to dive in and upgrade. Slow down. Strategically think out your timeline, write it out, THEN post it.
2. We’ve seen the trend towards refining your news stream (think Google Circles, Faceblook Smart Lists, LinkedIn Groups, etc.) but the market is flooding with apps to help you do this. Apps like Zite, Google Current and Flipboard make it mission critical that the content you produce is now follow-worthy and will make the cut to fit into your audience news streams. Remember that saying, “Content is King?” It’s no fad.
3. Don’t bolt things onto your business. Before loading new apps and programs into your arsenal, they need to align with your marketing plan, your “why.” If you’re going to add it, add it brilliantly.
4. Apps Astro Boy loves:
   1. Roambi for iPad: With a premium package, you can embed this amazing tool into your website. Roambi is an easy-to-use interactive publishing tool that takes your company reports and information and creates it into an interactive report for your mobile devices. I know a few people that will totally geek out on this one!
   2. WorldLens: Hold your phone up to any words, your camera will read them and translate them for you. I am SO using this on the menu at the next ethnic restaurant I go to!
   3. Text Vision Lite – Save yourself the embarrassment that this woman had by texting and well, walking. You know it could be you…
   4. Snapseed: Amazing photo editing software for your iphone. This will be my downfall at the soccer game this afternoon, I just know it.
5. Posting your information directly to Facebook gives it better visibility than HootSuite.
6. When making smart lists (think old school like qualifying leads as A, B, C, etc) on Facebook – make sure they are safe for public consumption. While they are private to you now, you just never know when Facebook will change their interface and poof, now everyone knows you have a list called, “Friends who tell bad jokes” or worse, “People I have to friend but would rather block.”
7. Use Nimble to bring together all your social media contacts and conversations to more effectively monitor and engage with them.
8. The first few words in your Google+ profile are the most important. Write them for new readers. Also, the more words, the less “weight” each word receives so be brief and to the point.
9. Online reviews need to be taken seriously. Make them part of your strategy – NOW. If you think their power is not effective, go to Travel Host.com, search for the “Budget Host Saga Motel.” Seriously, do it. It’s hilarious — because it’s not about you. If this does happen to you AND it’s unwarranted, file a request in the webmaster tools section with the search engine and petition to have it removed.
10. When making a client testimonial video, ask your movie star a very specific question to answer and you’ll have a more valuable end product. And here’s your bonus tip: YouTube.com/create has a goldmine of tools you can use to edit and even create videos.

Well done Agent ReBoot presenters, well done. I can’t wait to see what you do next year.

So off into the blogosphere we go – about to wow you with incredible bits of social media and SEO knowledge, client case studies and stuff we just really think is cool.

You can follow us here, or on our Facebook business page. Pages, (We have a lot of children) as we create some mary janes, some cowboy boots and maybe even a hot pair of stilettos.

Your socks will be so jealous.

Now there are all these social networks, and etiquette and blogs and online influence scores. You don’t have the time to figure it out. You just want to sell stuff.

We get that.

And your customers — yeah, they don’t want to be found or chased anymore. But they do want to be heard, and THEY want to find YOU – but only on their terms. These client relationships are so complicated anymore.

Like it or not, social media is integral to business today. Some businesses are doing it well and it’s making their phone ring. Others, um, they’re keeping their head in the sand and watching their competition fly by.

So when you’re ready to spit out that mouth full of dirt and take a look around, we will simplify, educate and automate your social media program for your company. And in the process, we’ll help you understand your customer’s wants, interests and behavior.

We aren’t going to change the way you do business, we’re just going to make it better.