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W&R Studios announces one millionth Cloud CMA report published

September 26th, 2013

Funny thing about numbers, they kind of sneak up at you. We keep track of a lot of different metrics, and one of them is the number of Cloud CMA reports published. Dan noticed last month the number was approaching 1 Million, and pretty fast!

It’s a huge number and one Dan, I and everyone at W&R Studios are very proud of making happen. And I also want to thank all our MLS partners (providers and vendors) for making this happen. Obviously we wouldn’t have any success without your generosity, support and trust.

Katie and I look forward to seeing and thanking everyone personally next week at CMLS 2013.

Full Press Release below:
——————————————–
Cloud CMA Hits One Million Reports Published
Award winning CMA tool plans to celebrate milestone at Council of MLS 2013 conference next week in Boise, ID.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA (September 19, 2013) – Web-software company, W&R Studios announced today that their flagship product, Cloud CMA, hit one million reports published and plans to celebrate at Council of MLS (CMLS) 2013 conference in Boise, ID, October 2nd – 4th.

Cloud CMA is a web-based report generating software designed for real estate professionals to easily create custom client handouts for buyers and sellers. Report sets include a comparative market analysis (CMA), buyer tour, property report, and flyers. Cloud CMA merges data from the MLS with various web sources such as WalkScore, Yelp, Panaramio and more to generate content rich reports.

“One million reports is really an amazing milestone. When Dan [Woolley] and I first launched Cloud CMA back in 2010 I don’t think either of us imagined this kind of impact.” says Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios, the creators of Cloud CMA.

Real estate professional, Tania Urbano, of Keller Williams Realty (Mission Viejo, CA), was the Cloud CMA subscriber who published the one millionth report. To recognize this real estate agent, representatives from Cloud CMA proudly awarded her with an iPad mini at her office’s weekly team meeting.

Cloud CMA is accessible from any computer or mobile device regardless of brand. Real estate professionals can generate and automatically share a Cloud CMA report with a client by simply sending an email. Reports are stored in ‘the cloud’ and generate a shareable link to their location that agents can easily share via email, social media channels, and websites or blogs.

“We could not have achieved such a milestone without the support of our MLS partners and their memberships.” Concluded Mr. Robertson. “As the popularity of Cloud CMA increases we are sure to hit the second million published reports a lot sooner than the first.”

W&R Studios will be attending CMLS 2013 next week and plans to celebrate this milestone by offering free commemorative “One Million CMAs Can’t Be Wrong” Cloud CMA swag. All attendees of CMLS 2013 are invited to stop by the booth to participate.

About W&R Studios Founded in 2008, W&R Studios (http://wrstudios.com) is a privately held web software company co-founded by Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson. W&R Studios focuses on creating simple yet focused web applications for the real estate industry. By utilizing a “less is more” approach to software design, elegant user interfaces, and the latest in agile programming, W&R Studios’ software applications are powerful, yet accessible to everyone. W&R Studios’ products include Cloud CMA (http:// CloudCMA.com) and Nudge (http://getnudgeapp.com), an easy way to share real estate knowledge and stand out.

CMLS 2013 is next week, and we’ve got you covered.

September 24th, 2013

It’s hard to believe that CMLS 2013 is next week. And despite the bitching and groaning about having to take two flights in to Boise, or the lack of a W hotel, CMLS 2013 is breaking records. Why? Because it the best damn conference of the year. Especially if your an MLS professional. So when you’re at the lobby bar and see Greg Manship or Jay Gordon (our two host this year) buy them a drink. And by a staff member a drink too. As many of you know, putting on this conference is no small task, so show a little love.

I’m showing the love the days running up to CMLS by posting a series of articles about various things I think are interesting about the MLS business today. So starting today don’t forget to check Vendor Alley for all cocktail conversation starters.

You are witnessing a rebirth….

August 28th, 2013

I recently started a new blog, Listing Bits. It was pretty hard for me to delineate what to write on Listing Bits, versus what I write post on Vendor Alley. Consequently I was not writing much. So I switched Listing Bits to a Tumblr blog format, which makes it easier to share pics, videos, links and other stuff. So far I’m liking it. If you are interested in check it out please visit, http://ListingBits.com or follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/listingbits

New York Times interviews Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin

August 27th, 2013

Be Yourself, Redfin’s Glenn Kelman Says, Even if You’re a Little Goofy

Short but good interview. Redfin is one of true disruptors in the industry. My favorite line from Glenn.

“If I haven’t found evidence that someone’s ever done anything hard in their lives, then I just don’t believe they’re suddenly going to be able to jump into a phone booth, come out wearing a cape and learn how to be tough on this job”

So true.

Tom Ferry event draws close to 4,000 agents.

August 21st, 2013

I’m at the Tom Ferry “Success Summit” today. It’s being held at the Anaheim Convention Center. This is the second year I’ve exhibited the event. I was amazed at the number of agents he had last year. They have gone even bigger this year, drawing close to 4,000 agents. It really isn’t too hard to believe. Tom is a dynamic speaker with a deep bench of coaches and speakers, and the content is geared to top end agents.

I’m told the average ticket price is around 199.95. You do the math.

Dave Liniger’s letter about RE/MAX IPO

August 19th, 2013

Here’s the special announcement Dave Liniger (RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder) sent out today about RE/MAX’s impending IPO.

Homes.com launches tv campaign.

August 14th, 2013

[VIDEO]: Homes.com Launches National TV Campaign to Drive More Traffic to You!

“The campaign will provide your brand and listings exposure to over 260 million consumers daily that watch HGTV, TLC and the DIY Network!”

The ad is decent, not great, but I see a few smart things Homes.com has done here.

1. Instead of a high concept ad like Zillow, which are hard to pull off, they went with their strongest asset, the URL. Nobody can argue that homes.com is the best url out there.

2. Morale. I think this type of exposure is huge for the company itself. Homes.com is competing with the likes of Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. I’m sure the employees must be sick of seeing Zillow’s name all over the place. I think it’s great when you sit down in front of the television and a commercial for your company comes up and you say to your kids, “that’s the company Daddy works for.”

3. Sales. When you are running a sales team you need something for them to rally behind. It’s huge to add to your sales pitch that the company is launching a national television campaign.

2013 Inman Innovator Awards Finalists announced

July 5th, 2013

Lots of great names here, I just wanted to highlight a few.

Introducing: 2013 Innovator Awards finalists

Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise

I was glad to see Estately as a finalist, Galen and his team have been killing it. @properties is another favorite.

Most Innovative MLS or Real Estate Trade Association

East Bay Regional Data, Inc., MLS Listings, Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), and Metropolitian Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS) just to name a few. I probably shouldn’t weigh in here but from a vendor’s standpoint MRED getting over 4,000 agents to a tradeshow is pretty damn innovative. : )

Most Innovative Real Estate Agent App, Tool or Vendor

Doorsteps (recently acquired by MOVE, Inc.) is a strong contender, but I do hear good things about BuyerMLS as well.

Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise App, Tool or Vendor.

I like Imprev here, there new stuff is hot, interesting to see Reesio make the cut.

Most Innovative MLS or Real Estate Trade Association App, Tool or Vendor

I think the favorite in this category has to be the Spark Platform. Clareity Store is still getting ready to launch (very curious on how their “portal” approach performs, it’s different from anything I’ve seen). Interesting to see LPS also nominated, they been having a great run since their high rankings on the Clareity MLS survey results.

Most Innovative Digital Real Estate Marketing Campaign or Strategy.

I like Chase “My New Home” app in this race. It caused quite a stir in the industry and I had a lot of friends outside of real estate asking me about the ads.

Most Innovative Use of New Technology

I like Double Robotics. Gives a “virtual tours” a new meaning.

Good luck and best wishes to everyone!

Cloud CMA introduces Interactive CMA presentations

June 5th, 2013

I’m very proud to announce a new enhancement to Cloud CMA, interactive CMAs. Optimized for the iPad Cloud CMA customers now have the ability to “present” their CMA reports on a tablet.

We spent a great deal of time thinking about the best way real estate professionals could use an iPad at a listing presentation. Some apps try to jam as much information on each page, making the information impossible to read or understand. Since we view this as a complement to our existing Cloud CMA reports we were free to focus on design that highlights the key parts of a CMA. Key to this was an easy to read format, that helps the presenter show comps in a fun and entertaining way. Check out this short video we made highlighting some of its features.

This is a free enhancement to all Cloud CMA customers and is available today. Since it’s web-based agents can also share their presentations by just sending their clients a email with a link.

If you want to learn a bit more about how it works, and see another promo video please visit W&R Studios’ blog Lightning|Twice. My thanks to the entire team at W&R Studios, they really knocked it out of the park.

You can check out the full press release here.

Did you hear?

May 26th, 2013

I’ve been super busy and there has been a lot of news to catch up on. Here’s a few links to stories I think are worth checking out…

Bob Gottesman has been selected as RESOs new Executive Director, effective May 2013. Check out Matt Cohen’s Live Blog transcript to see this and all the RESO Spring Meeting news.

Todd Carpenter’s new site Realty Nex.us is fast becoming one of my favorite industy sites. He recently published a “Special Report” – “Why online consumers love Zillow and Trulia more than you.” It’s free and worth the read. I’ve also added the link to the my “Read This Now!” header.

Speaking of special reports Rob Hahn’s (aka The Notorious R.O.B.) has another report, “[PREMIUM] Move, Trulia, Zillow: Q1/2013 Report – The Narratives Take Shape”. You need to be a premium subscriber to access the content. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet (you know you need to carve out a big of time for Rob), but his first two Premium reports were excellent.

And if you really need to get caught up on the MLS public facing website debate look further than Inman News for great content and discussion.

Ever heard of the Dymaxion House? How about a conveyor belt linen closet? Now you have.

[via SWISS-MISS]