Staff Writer
Combining social and professional lives may not be the ideal business environment, but two Jacksonville University alumni see that equation as an opportunity.
Social networking website Facebook reports it has more than 400 million users and Grant Deken and Aaron Joshua of Twidget Media want to make it easier for real estate agents who use the site to reach that audience.
Twidget Media is developing an application for Facebook that will allow agents to catalog their listings on their Facebook pages.
“We started out as an Internet marketing company and we were doing some lead generation work for some Realtors when we got the idea for an MLS (multiple listing service) application for Facebook,” said Deken, who will complete his studies at JU this summer.
He said the application would allow agents “to plug in an ID number and pull all of their listings onto their Facebook page. It transforms their Facebook page into a business platform.”
The company was formed in 2009 and has offices in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. Deken said Twidget Media has a staff of 10.
The company began developing the application last year and recently completed beta testing. The testing releases the application to a small audience so the company can find out how well it works and what, if any, problems need to be corrected.
Twidget Media plans on releasing the application this month and wants to partner with a brokerage house to help later with a nationwide launch.
“Each state requires licensing to offer the application,” said Deken. “So we planned to start in Florida and develop a relationship with a larger brokerage house that has the framework to allow us to go national with it.”
Once the application is officially launched, the most tangible benefit will be the information that it can produce, said Joshua.
“Unlike other forms of advertising, this Facebook application will be able to provide a lot of information about its user,” said Joshua. “You can see who has viewed the listing, who they recommended it to, where they live, and how old they are.”
Age hasn’t been a problem for the young company.
“For our business, it’s the 20-somethings that are driving the industry and changes in the industry,” said Deken. “Businesses are aware of that.”
The one problem that the company has had is securing business loans to help the company grow.
“It’s hard. With this type of business, we don’t have the collateral banks are looking for,” said Deken. “Our product is intellectual property, so that also makes it difficult.”
Twidget Media plans to move forward regardless and Deken and Joshua plan to move the company’s Jacksonville office out of the home the roommates share near Atlantic Boulevard into a commercial property in the next six months.
Realtors are always on the lookout for anything that could help them move their properties and this application might interest them.
“We look forward to seeing the product,” said Carol Hill, president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. “It’s good to find out about a product that is being developed locally that may be able to help the industry. We’ll just have to see.”
Facebook facts
• Facebook has more than 400 million active users.
• Fifty percent of active users log on to Facebook in any given day.
• Average user has 130 friends.
• People spend more than 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
• About 70 percent of Facebook users are outside the United States.
• More than 70 translations are available on the site.
Source: Facebook
356-2466