Jeremy Blanton ActiveRain Corp.

While the past few weeks we have been able to enjoy wonderful weather of temperatures in the mid 70's here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, between last night and this evening, we have experienced some serious changes. Last night when I came home it was over 70 degrees. The temperature when I awoke this morning was a frigid 29!

Luckily, one of the major benefits of living in the south is that these type of cold temperatures normally do not last. After checking the local weather, it appears that the cold times will be gone by Christmas Day with the temperatures going back up in the mid 70's.

I love living in the south!

As some of you know, I recently started a seasonal job to bring in some extra cash during the holiday working for T-Mobile. One of the great things about this job, is that I have been able to find out about all the latest & greatest technology in cell phones.

There are several different pieces of criteria to consider when choosing a phone. Especially if you are planning to use the phone to optimize your real estate career. The main thing to base all your choices on, is this:

What is the main purpose of the phone?

First, how often do you send text messages or email from your phone? Some phones are designed specifically for text messaging, while others are designed to optimize talk time. If you use your phone to send a lot of email or text messages, you may want to consider a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. This makes sending messages a breeze.

Do you you use your phone to take pictures? If you do, you may want to pick a phone with a higher resolution camera. There are several phones now that now have a 5 megapixel camera. Also, these phones have capability of inserting a mini SD card to store more pictures as well as easily transfer the photos to a computer or printer.

Do you wish to receive your email on your phone? While many phones will now accept email only certain brands will accept corporate type email. When I say corporate email, I mean any email address that ends with a corporation tag. An example would be @coldwellbanker.com, or @walmart.com. While there are some really great phones with plenty of all new techonologies, some do not accept corporate email. These phones will only receive messages from addresses that end @aol.com, @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc. This is a major question to ask when picking a new phone.

How much talking do you do on your phone? If you talk on your cell phone for hours daily, you may not wish to pick a "smart phone." Since these types of phones are used for more than just sending or receiving calls, the batteries will drain quickly. Most of the times these batteries will not last more than one full day without needing to be charged. If it is used heavily, you may need to charge them mid-day. In this case, I would suggest choosing a phone that does not have all these features and is used for calls & text messaging.

How is coverage in the area you use phone? If you work in a solid concrete or steel building, you may not always have the greatest reception. Or, if you live out in the country where there isn't the greatest of reception, you may want to think about purchasing a phone that is wi-fi enabled. This will allow you to connect to the wireless internet in a location and talk on your phone with crystal clear clarity all the time. On a wi-fi phone, as soon as you leave the area, the phone will automatically switch back to the cell tower.

These are the 5 basic questions I ask every client when they come into my store to start looking for a cell phone. As a real estate agent, you may also want to consider a phone that will allow you to add your full contact list from microsoft outlook, as well as your day planner, to do list & memos.

Also, with the increasing popularity of social networks, a phone with web browsing capabilities comes in handy. Through my phone I am able to keep up with twitter, facebook, myspace, and my email constantly without needing to be around my computer. This, comes in very handy to an agent that is constantly on the go.

I hope this information assists you in the purchase of your next phone. When going to purchase your next phone be sure to ask all these questions to your sales associate to help inform you in picking the bext phone suited to your needs.

Jeremy Blanton- Myrtle Beach Real Estate