If This Then That (IFTTT) is a free online tool that allows you to connect otherwise unrelated apps, Web and mobile services and become a master of the Internet.
With IFTTT you can create “recipes” that involve a trigger (This) and a subsequent action (That).
To get started with IFTTT, you’ll need to head over to their site, sign up for an account and begin activating the various “channels” you wish to connect.
Here are some awesome recipes Realtors will love:
1.
You can use a variation of this recipe to post to your Facebook page or other social media sites. First, you must find the RSS feed URL to the listings page on your website and enter that URL as your trigger item.
2.
This uses the exact same principle as the previous recipe, but with the RSS feed from your blog instead of your listings page. This recipe automatically posts a new blog link to your Facebook page with the status message, “Check out our new blog + the blog title.” Again, this could just as easily be modified to post to Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, LinkedIn, etc., and the status message can be changed as well.
3.
Instagram does have an option to tweet for you; however, this recipe allows you to post photos as native Twitter photos, instead of linking it to your Instagram account.
4.
IFTTT is great for automating your social media and marketing tasks, but there are many other useful recipes that help to simplify your online life.
This recipe sends Gmail emails containing “receipt” or “order” in the subject line to a spreadsheet in Google Docs. A great way of automatically keeping track of your expenses. NOTE: If you’re like me and your business email is hosted with your domain name, you can easily forward that email to a Gmail account to utilize this and other features.
5.
This is a powerful tool if you are someone who markets to for-sale-by-owners (FSBOs). Create a search in Craigslist as you would normally do under “real estate for sale by owner” and search for your desired area. Hit enter and copy the search URL to form your “trigger” event.
IFTTT is a fantastic piece of software that, if used correctly, can save you time and help grow your business. I highly recommend playing around with it yourself and creating your own “set it and forget it” recipes for success.
Stephanie Halverson is a residential Realtor at The Mint Group – Macdonald Realty in British Columbia, Canada, specializing in first-time homebuyers.
