New Mobile Real Estate tool Flaretag - an interview with creator, 10-year Nokia Veteran Daniel Arroyo

The smartphone revolution is bringing the power of the internet to our daily lives via the powerful apps that are integrating our online and offline worlds. And those apps are being built by techno-geek-entrepreneurs such as Daniel Arroyo.

Daniel is a mobile-oriented entrepreneur, and creator of Flaretag – “a platform to connect web content with the world around you via your mobile phone”. Like many mobile entrepreneurs – this generation’s .com-ists – Daniel is inventing new and exciting ways of leveraging the internet with alternate devices.

This mobile entrepreneur isn’t some kid in his basement developing an app though, he has a much geekier pedigree than that. Daniel was previously a Solutions Architect, R&D Software Manager, Integration Engineer and Chief Forum Consultant at Nokia.

I recently got a chance to (virtually) sit down with Daniel to talk about his new entrepreneurial venture into mobile Real Estate marketing:

Q. Can you give me the brief elevator pitch on Flaretag and its uses?

Flaretag helps Real Estate professionals promote their business and their home listings on mobile and social media. Our platform gives them tools to enter their information and automatically create mobile websites and integration into Facebook. With our analytics they can optimize and focus their marketing efforts.

Q. What are the various features of your system?

Some of the features:

• Device auto-detection: to present the content in a UI that fits your device whether its a phone, tablet or PC.
• Mobile Marketing: generate QR Codes and text messaging campaigns to promote your mobile pages (listings, agents or company page).
• Facebook integration: promote home listings and generate leads directly within Facebook, therein reaching more people.
• Mobile Video: include video content to your mobile pages and add them to flyers, signs and postcards using QR Codes.
• Analytics: measure your social and mobile marketing channels effectiveness with our analytics engine.

Q. Of all the industries that your Flaretag application could be relevant to, why did you focus on Real Estate marketing?

Personal frustration. When my wife and I were looking at houses, it would annoy us when we wanted to see the details of a house for sale and the only way to get them was to call the number on the sign. I wanted to enable anybody looking for a home to be able to learn more about the house on their own and learn about homes and good Realtors through friends and family. We bought our current home, not by searching online or working with a Realtor but by falling in-love with it during an open house. Our product allows you to peek inside a home at anytime, anywhere and possibly creating the same effect.

Q. Daniel, could you describe your educational and work experience background?

I have a degree in Computer Science by the University of Cordoba, Spain. I started out as an entrepreneur co-founding Solicom in the late 90s, a digital commerce and web services company. We sold the company to our biggest customer and I went on to the corporate world. Spent about 10 years working for Nokia in various Technology Management & Engineering positions and in July of this year came back to my calling and started a new company: Flaretag.

Q. What edge does your product give its users over people not using it?

Most people are looking for homes on their own initially and won’t call an agent to learn more about a house, they’ll just move right to next one on the list. Having an easy way to deliver the information they want, gives the Realtor a new opportunity to get a client. Furthermore when people see a house the really like, our tools give them the possibility to share that house with friends and family on Facebook. All of this puts the house and the Realtor in front of new people. Essentially, Realtors using our product to gain more exposure for themselves and their listings.

Q. Obviously leveraging online tools is important, especially in the cut-throat world of Real Estate–what was your inspiration to create this tool and tap into the online tools world?

It’s my belief that the web is now entering its next phase in which social and mobile will redefine how the web looks and behaves. I saw an opportunity to help move forward an industry that is typically very socially driven (buying a home is often one of the most important decisions of our lives) and prone to mobile consumption of content (homes are outside not in your computer).

Q. My parents are in Real Estate, and while they have decades in the business they are technologically inept, would my parents (and other techno-weenie agents) be able to use your product?

The product is very simple and integrates into current workflows. The only action required by Realtors is to enter the information in our system. The platform does the magic of creating mobile pages, Facebook integration, stats collection, etc.. The platform then communicates with the Agent via email in most cases, a medium that they’re already used to.