RISMEDIA, June 23, 2010—Have you seen iGoogle? It’s an online dashboard that offers you the ability to read the day’s news, check your Facebook or Twitter feeds or even find out what time that new movie is playing.
Now, imagine something like that for your real estate business. One place that provides you with the platform to update your social media networks, create a marketing campaign, read the daily real estate news…all with the click of a button. Enter Fuzed Agent. Launching this month, the technology company is going full force with its online dashboard—the FuzeBoard. Here, we talk exclusively with CEO Dan McCabe about his background, what a FuzeBoard really is and where he wants to go with his company in the years to come.
Stephanie Andre: Can you please tell me a bit about your background?
Dan McCabe: I graduated college in 2001 with a degree in real estate, but actually started buying real estate when I was 19. I got my degree in real estate because I really wanted to be an investor. After college, houses were appreciating by double-digits year-over-year, so I became a real estate agent so I could stay close to the market. I was fairly successful at selling real estate, but not so good at working for others. I later owned my own brokerage for about three years but when the market started to tank, I got out and went back into investing for a while.
The Fuzed Agent idea had been in the back of my mind for some time. Investing was very lucrative for me and afforded me the ability to take my software idea and expand on it rapidly.
SA: What is Fuzed Agent and why launch now?
DM: Fuzed Agent is a technology company. We have created something called the FuzeBoard, which is essentially one, central online location for agents to go to have one login to do everything they need to do online. It’s a social media platform similar to TweetDeck or HootSuite. You have the ability to check boxes on where you want to go or what you want to read—Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can update your status and click “publish now” and it will go to all of the platforms, all at once. Or, you can select “publish later” and create a post campaign.
The FuzeBoard also receives incoming feeds and status updates from Facebook, Twitter, etc. The user has the option of looking at one column with all of their feeds in it or separating them into different columns by platform.
SA: Is there only one version of the FuzeBoard?
DM: No, we have a regular version and a pro version. The regular version has what I mentioned earlier. The pro version, however, offers a lot more. With it, an agent’s MLS feed can also be directed right into the FuzeBoard. With the click of a button, agents can send a new listing to all of their social media outlets. There are also other features, such as a personalized CRM and website development. If the user has the website product, for example, he or she can edit the website right from the FuzeBoard. The FuzeBoard also allows the agent to initiate e-marketing campaigns right from the dashboard.
Plus, everything is automated and trackable. For instance, if an agent sends out an e-mail broadcast, he or she will be able to tell who opened the e-mail and which links they clicked on. This idea was really borne out of wanting to create one, central place for everything. It’s a huge time saver and something that real estate agents really need.
SA: It sounds like the FuzeBoard will be very user-friendly, but do you have to be tech-savvy to use it?
DM: No, not at all. We’ve been really careful with the programming and design so everything is above the fold and simple to use. Everything is a clickable button. Any agent—regardless of tech experience or knowledge—can use this.
SA: How does an agent benefit by using the FuzeBoard?
DM: If you use the system, it will help you manage your business and do more of it. Setting up campaigns is crucial. Make a phone call one week; send an e-mail the next week; social media the next week. I have found that it’s hard for agents to consistently keep up with marketing campaigns. They do a ton of marketing, show the houses, sell them and then have nothing left.
The FuzeBoard will make it simple for the agent to constantly keep flowing streams coming in and the pipeline full. Additionally, this fall, we plan to begin providing ongoing training.
SA: What are your long-term plans for the FuzeBoard?
DM: I think we’ll have multiple FuzeBoards. We will continue to work on adding new elements as they become relevant and necessary. We’ll add more social media networks, but beyond that, we always want to keep things simple.
SA: What are your ultimate plans for the company?
DM: In the short term, we are looking forward to getting everything launched this summer. More longer term, we will be working on website technology. I have had a vision for a long time to create the largest real estate training company in the country. I want to train agents and make them better at running their businesses. Being a real estate agent is not just a job; it’s a career and a business. To be successful, agents need to be working on their salesmanship and marketing in addition to their real estate-based training.
Any successful agent will tell you that solid, consistent marketing is crucial to their business. This is where we help by making it simple and adding automation to their marketing campaigns.
For more information, visit www.fuzedagent.com.
