Cheryl Waller | Social Renegade | DOMINATE the Search Engines

Social Ignition for Real Estate Agents

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:30:21 -0500

This blog post is based on the first week of a Social Network Ignition training course that is currently under development for real estate agents. I wanted to post it here to get your feedback.

Over the course of 12 weeks we will be search engine optimizing your website, setting up your profiles on several social networks, creating strong back-links and getting you the exposure you need on the internet. This course is based on a previous 3 month course that I wrote that helped many RTV dealers DOMINATE search engine results for virtual tour services in their area. Many of those dealers had no idea what they were doing when they started and are currently reaping the rewards of being avid bloggers and social networkers. So, regardless of your current level of knowledge (or comfort level) with the internet, you WILL be able to dominate search engine results in your area. All you have to do is consistently dedicate 1-3 hours a week for the 12 weeks and you will have explosive internet marketing on auto-pilot!

Here is the course outline and links to the sites that we will be going over during the 12 weeks. There are many more social networks and blogging sites that are not mentioned in this course in order to get your social network ignited quickly. Once we have your foundation built, we can add more networks and further establish your internet presence.

Analytics:

http://analytics.Google.com

Blogging:

ActiveRain.com

Inman.com

Micro-Blogging:

Twitter.com

Social Networking:

Facebook.com

Social Tools
tweetdeck.com
tweetlater.com

Social Bookmarking :

Digg.com

Delicious.com

Let’s get you started…

The first week will be a little longer than the weeks to come, but we need to concentrate on your website and get it ready for the traffic that we will be generating over the next few months. This includes working on the way that your website is set-up, adding content on your site and adding code to help you track results as you progress through this course.

I know that you are eager to get your social network ignited, but unless this one crucial step is completed, you will be wasting a lot of time and losing out on the true power of this course.

So, first things first.

Let’s look at the way that your website is set-up. If you do not work on your own website or do not have access to your website to make these changes, then send these instructions to your webmaster.

Page Titles: all of your page titles should be unique. Never use ‘Home’, ‘About’, or ‘Contact’ as your page titles. Your main web page should be ‘[My Area] Real Estate | [YOUR NAME] - Real Estate Agent for [My County] Area’ and each of your other pages should be similar in that respect. Here are some suggestions for a 4 page site.

Home Page: [My Area] Real Estate | Real Estate Agent for [My County] Area

About Us Page: [My Area] Real Estate Company Information | [My County] Real Estate Company

Commercial Page: [My State] Commercial Real Estate | [My Area] Business Real Estate

Real Estate Page: [My Area] Real Estate Listings | Listings in [My County]

Descriptions: Each page on your site should have a different description. Search engines do not index websites, they index web pages. So, each page on your site has a chance to rank highly based on the keywords we used in your page titles. Use those keywords in your description as well as in the content on the page. NO two pages should have the same keywords, description or content.

Content: Use as much content as possible, but don’t get off topic on individual pages. For example: do not talk about commercial Real Estate on your real estate listings page. You can reference commercial Real Estate and link to the page, just don’t go off topic. It’s very important that each of your pages has its own complete topic.

Linking: Use text links as much as possible throughout the content on your website. Footer text navigation is also a great way to link your keywords to your pages and tell search engines what each link is pointing to. Use words that describe the pages content, even if they are not your exact keywords.

For the purposes of this course, that is as far as I am going to get into website SEO. Don’t feel overwhelmed if you have a lot of pages. Just pick one page at a time and work on it. ANY changes you make to your pages will help tremendously, so just do a little at a time and get your website organized. Even if you just change the page titles for now and then decided to do a little each week, you will have a fully optimized site at the end of this course. That alone saves you thousands of dollars on a SEO consultant and will beat your competition out of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

The last thing we are going to do this week is get Google Analytics on every page in your website. Again, if you do not have access to your site, then ask your webmaster to do this for you.

Go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and sign up for your analytics account. Google will walk you through the steps that you need to get your account set up and then will give you code to place on your site. This code must be placed just before the </body> tag and will look similar to the following:

If you have your webmaster do this for you, then you can check to make sure it was done on each page by right-clicking on the page and selecting ‘view source’. A text file will appear on your screen. Scroll all the way down to the end of the document and look to see that the code is there. Another quick way to do this is to pres CTRL+F on your keyboard, then perform a search for the word ‘google’ within the text document.

See you next week!!

-Cheryl

PS – You don’t have to SEO your entire website overnight. Right now, the most important thing is that you do get analytics on your website so that at the end of this course you can look back and see the traffic that you created and see what sites are sending you the most referrals.

Importing Bookmark Files into Delicious

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:26:10 -0500

The following video is a quick 2 minute overview of how to import bookmark files into delicious. The video quality is not that great because i made it rather quickly, however if you need to know how to upload a back-up file or import a bookmark file into delicious then this 2 minute video will show you exactly how to do it in less than 2 minutes.

Cheryl Waller
National Marketing Manager
RTV, Inc.
www.RealTourVision.com

Cell Phone Virtual Tour Software HOAX EXPOSED

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:47:54 -0500

Yesterday I posted Announcing the NEW Ultra-Mini Rotator and Auto-Magic FastStitch Cell Phone Software

Ok kids now here is the fun part....YES...this was completely made up. You have Jacque to thank for this little prank...NOT JASON!! Jason is still a good guy here!! (okay he had A LOT to do with it and so did I)That is just his picture promoting this imaginary system. Anyway, here is the fun part. Here is where we show you how much flack Team RTV took for this yesterday:

Read below...

(Sorry everyone!! We are not putting any names on these. Some people got quite upset.)

This is the order in which they started flying into Jason's inbox:

Hilarious!

do you have a sample of a tour done with this method

Did I tell you about the land in Florida I have for sale??

APRIL FOOLS, RIGHT?Good one! I want to know how many fall for it and try to order. LOL

You know its april the 1st right

Got to be a April Fools stunt.....................................

Amazing new product Jason....I'll take 10 of them! And I also don't think you're charging enough, so bill me triple the amount! :) LMAO in Ponte Vedra, Florida!

Good one. I believed it all until about the 5th paragraph and then realized this was too good to be true, then realized what day it is (April Fools!)

Looks great- I'll Take 100.

This will be GREAT for that oceanfront property in Idaho, and the bridge in Brooklyn I am selling I have been meaning to take photos and a tour of !!!

Nice work guys, way to keep in ‘REAL'

You are too funny! But you do realize that I will be getting calls for this... I have folks here that will do this! They take MLS photos with disposable cameras, why not cell phones. I'll forward all inquires to you...what's your personal email?

And here is a log from our online chat:

Mike: Hello. Welcome to Team RTV. How may I assist you?
Visitor: We are a RTV user already and I got a e-mail on doing them on you phone?
Mike: What did you think?
Visitor: about what
Mike: About the new rotator
Visitor: Oh well I would like more info or where to find on the website
Mike: Let me check and see if they have it on the web site yet
Visitor: k
Mike: Do you know what today is?
Visitor: no
Visitor: cloudy?
Mike: What is the Date Today?
Visitor: Oh April Fools... Ok you got me....HAHA

Do you have any sample tours?

Jason-APRIL FOOLS!!! Very, Very Funny!

Do you guys not like working with photographers? Are you trying to push photographers away from using your platform? Why would you send me an advertisement geared towards realtors who want to do the tours themselves? Do you think any photographer would be interested in using a cell phone to shoot virtual tours? I'm not quite sure what to think of the poor judgement RTV used in not only creating this product but then sending it out to all the photographers who rely on realtors calling them and not doing it themselves. Maybe you should fine tune your email system with separate lists for realtors and photographers.

How do we find out more info about the Ultra-Mini Rotator and how do we order?Thanks

Does this support the iPhone?

Happy April fools day Jason.

Wow, I may not have a job any longer...Would this be targeted to the broker accounts of RTV ? Or who is this really geared for.

April Fool's Right? ha! ha!

Hi Jason, RTV is always at the forefront of technology. Do you realize how many photos are taken by cell phone for MLS? Must be 90%! It's the way of the future, Jason. And did you know that Google is refining Google Streets.The new software will be called Google Homes and can take all interior photos of every home as their units drives by. And just like Dynamic MLS Image Correction Software, Google Homes software also removes clothing from the photos.What will they think of next?

I hope this is a good aprils fools joke

Does this thing really work that great? Does the $80 take care of the software too? Or how much extra?

Does this work with the iPhone?

So, what is up with this new Ultra Mini rotator? This thing attached to any camera phone can do everything for me?Are you guys suggesting we use this? Won't this make every realtor a virtual tour provider now? They can get the same quality out of this cell phone that we can provide? Not sure I follow the logic on this.... Can you please enlighten me?

How ridiculous!

Boy do I feel stupid. Im going home now. You got me.... I really thought I had missed something. I can not stop laughing.

Am I safe to assume this will work with Blackberry's?Thank you,

Okay... So are you suggesting we use this over Digital SLR cameras? Just wondering because we just had The Image Webinar teaching us all the tricks of using the SLR's.And if my customer's buy this... doesn't that make them no longer have a use for me... and I lose a customer?

boy i have to see the quality on those tours - it really brings it down does it not?

The smartphone sounds interesting. Hmmm the mini rotator - I don't like though. Makes it sound like just anyone can do a VT. That could take my job away even!

That's awesome! I assume the tour you sent was with the iPhone? Does this also mean you have software for Mac?Is there someone there I can speak with about this?

Jason please place 100 of these on order for me, that way I can just hand them out to the realtors and not have to do anything myself.Also if you don't mind please provide your credit card info for the order. I promise I will reimburse you once the order ships.Also, as you know I live in Florida and we have some prime Green Swamp property for sale if you are interested.

Are you concerned this will comoditize the value of the tours?

Awe GEEZ! You know... I am 43 years old and no one has EVER gotten me on April Fools...So you would be a first! The whole time I am sitting here going... WHAT!!! How can they POSSIBLY think A smart phone could compare to professional photography!I was seriously raising my eyebrows in confusion and disbelief... never even occurred to me it was April 1st.Gotta give it to you... you had me! LOLThis is one for the record books. LOL How many others have responded?Or Was I the only one not awake today. LOL

HA HA - Dude that is just too funny - April Fools - Very well done!

This is an April Fool's gag, right?

Is this an April Fools joke?!?! It does the dishes!!!

I have a serious problem with the latest email I just received.I am not one to complain but the following statement was not thought through. "No bulky equipment, no manual stitching, no processing whatsoever.The software does all the work to make YOUR cell phone pictures look JUST like you hired a professional photographer to photograph your listing!" Several years ago Kodak ran a similar type ad that had serious re precautions to their Pro Division. Pro photographers actually protested by not buying Kodak film for over 6 months. I am sure XXXX XXXX agrees with me that the statement is an insult to our expertise and continued support to RTV.

Hey Jason,Nice new update. Will we be able to promote this product and still get a commission for every tour produced? What's your thoughts? Do you have a sample tour I can look at? I want to see the quality first hand.

HAHA...great April Fool's joke...had me going for a minute there...

C'mon Jason, I've been bashing realtors for years for using their cell phones for the listing photos. Please tell me it's not this easy.And it will lay to waste all of the lighting and exposure tricks that Jim so eloquently discussed during the Webinar last week? There is no way my Blackberry can take as good of photos than I'm taking with my real camera. I'd love to see a pano shot with this thing!

I gotta tell you, I was really kinda pissed. I thought this guy has lost his freaking mind and is minimizing everything we're out her trying to do. Get these Realtors ( I know I am one) to add some class to their listings and use us professionals ( I call myself that now) to do their photography. I was ready to jump back to Visual Tour. (I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth there.) P.S. Feel free to post this on the blog and give me a couple of free tours!

APRIL FOOLS! Pretty good one!

This is a great April Fool's day joke, thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for having fun with us!!

- Team RTV

Announcing the NEW Ultra-Mini Rotator and Auto-Magic FastStitch Cell Phone Software

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:47:10 -0500

Tired of lugging around bulky equipment to your virtual tour shoots? Now you don't have to! With the new Ultra Mini Rotator for your Cell phone, just clip your cell phone to the rotator, connect the control cord to your phone's charging port, click the 10 second delay button and leave the room.

The Ultra-Mini Rotator will automatically take 12 pictures at the correct exposure to create your 360° image. Yes, that's right, your cell phone!

The Ultra-Mini works with all smart-phones and controls the exposure settings on your phone with the Ultra-Mini Smart base to produce high-quality professional images. No more expensive cameras, no more heavy equipment, all you need is a 1 mega pixel cell phone and your Ultra Mini Rotator and you're ready to go! No one will ever know that you used your cell phone to create your professional photography!

Just call RTV to order yours today. And don't forget to ask us about our NEW Auto-magic FastStitch cell phone software. Connect your computer to the Ultra-Mini Rotator Smart Base and the software will stitch all of your images and upload the completed virtual tour to our servers. With the Auto-Magic FastStitch software, creating your virtual tour manually is a thing of the past! Based on room modeling recognition dynamics built into the Auto-Magic FastStitch software, each completed 360° image will be named the correct room name. Room modeling recognition and naming is 99.9% accurate and is achieved through our proprietary software algorithms.

Imagine, just set the Ultra-Mini Rotator, press one button then connect to your computer and your virtual tour is complete.

No bulky equipment, no manual stitching, no processing whatsoever. The software does all the work to make YOUR cell phone pictures look JUST like you hired a professional photographer to photograph your listing!

But that's not all.

Order before midnight on April 1, 2009 and we will add our Dynamic MLS Image Correction Software. Just enter your MLS username and password and this proprietary software will crawl your MLS listings and dynamically correct bad MLS photos. The software lightens, brightens, straightens and sharpens all MLS photos on your account while removing garbage cans, dirty dishes and laundry from all scenes! Run this software just once a week and never again worry about bad first impressions on buyers! (available for multiple MLS accounts in a single brokerage)

Click here to order your April Fools System TODAY!

8 Tips for Basic Do-It-Yourself SEO

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:28:25 -0500

•1. Meta Title
Create your title using keywords and your farming area. Do NOT use ‘Home Page', ‘Index Page', or just your name in the title of your webpage. Use different titles on different pages to increase your exposure in the search engines for different search phrases. Keep this UNDER 70 characters in length.

•2. Meta Keywords
Use your key words in your web page title, in the description and throughout the content of the page. Do NOT use the same keywords for every single page on your site. Target each page to different keywords to maximize internet exposure. Keep your keywords UNDER 10 per page to better target your message.

•3. Meta Description
Use your description to tell humans and robots what your webpage is about. Search engines normally use your Meta description under the title of your site in search engine results. Like keywords and titles, your description should be different for each page on your website. Limit your description to 150 characters or less.

•4. Content
Your content should closely describe the title, keywords and description. Stay on topic and don't overuse your keywords. Search engines now use what is called semantic indexing, so you do not have to repeat yourself over and over to get indexed properly for your intended topic.

•5. Anchor text linking
Whether you are linking to internal pages on your site or pages outside of your site, be sure to use anchor text to let search engines know what the linked page is about.

•6. Internal Linking
Make sure that you are opening internal links in the same browser using anchor text. Opening a new window for every page on your website just annoys viewers and detracts from a professional image on your website. Also, limit your use of images as links and try to use anchor text navigation as much as possible on your site.

•7. Website Organization
Organize your website into specific topics and dedicate one page per topic. Don't try to explain several topics on one page. Your home page should describe a little about you and your business and act as a ‘link portal' to information on other pages of your site. Do not overwhelm viewers with EVERYTHING about you, your business and your website on the home page.

•8. Website Navigation
Website navigation should be simple and easy on the eyes. If you have a lot of pages on your website then group them into categories and provide one heading for every 4-5 page links in your left navigation. This helps viewers quickly understand the content available on your site. If you list too many links in one list, viewer's eyes will strain, people will feel overwhelmed and you will lose visitors.

Also check out: How to Create an AWESOME Email Signature

-Cheryl

Cheryl Waller
National Marketing Manager
RTV, Inc.
(866) 947-8687
http://www.realtourvision.com

PS - if you like the tips... sign up for our RTV eNews or connect to me on your favorite social network. My username is cherylwaller (all one word) on all of my networks.

Property Marketing Company Gives Away FREE Training for Real Estate Marketing

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:39:00 -0500

We are NOW proud to announce free monthly training webinars, RSS feeds and email training for Real Estate Agents!

Ok...Ok.. we have had our monthly training eNewletters and RSS feeds since Jan 2009, BUT we have recently added our FREE PUBLIC webinar series titled "The IMAGE."

Check Out the Press Release on NewsWire Today

I personally am very excited because this is the first time that RTV has agreed to coordinate a training series SPECIFICALLY for Real Estate Agents & Photographers that are not yet a part of our network! No sales pitches, just 100% training! I LOVE IT! This allows people to see the true Team RTV without feeling pressured to buy a thing!

Held from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday of every month, these FREE PUBLIC webinars will cover introductory and advanced photography tips and reveal how to capture the most effective images when shooting photography for property marketing purposes.

These webinars also explore some useful techniques that photographers AND real estate agents can utilize when creating virtual tours of subject properties. Ideal for any level of photography knowledge, these webinars will provide photographers and real estate agents with professional tips and tricks to help improve their photography shots and their bottom-line.

To register for the free photography webinar visit tinyurl.com/RTVwebinar

If you havent signed up for our free SEO, blogging and social networking tips and training through our main website, sign-up now at http://www.realtourvision.com/ and fill out the form in the upper left corner of our site. You can unsubscribe anytime, so you have nothing to lose and FREE training to gain ;)

RTV, Inc. is a leading property marketing company providing top quality photography and virtual tours in 27 countries around the world. We have a network of over 1500 dealers throughout the world, so if you are in need of advice from a property marketing expert in your area, either contact me directly or have your local property marketing expert contact YOU today!

-Cheryl

Cheryl Waller
National Marketing Manager
RTV, Inc.
www.RealTourVision.com
(866) 947-8687

Dr Mikey - Stop spending on print ads and take your savings and use professional web services

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:19:44 -0600

Another great post from one of our virtual tour providers this month! I had to share!

Via Michael Basch (Virtual Access Tours):

The statistics are real.

The internet is definitely a force to reckon with. Whether you’re computer savvy or not, you have to take the bull by the horns and learn what works and doesn’t work for you in this electronic age.

The craziest thing is that over 80% of people looking for homes have utilized the web when doing their research. If that’s indeed true, while times are tight and you have to squeak out as much exposure as possible on a limited advertising budget, why even consider print advertising? The ratio of cost to return is way too high.

So you’ve decided to advertise on the web.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

Which websites will get you the most exposure?

Which tools do you utilize?

How do you monitor your campaign?

Do you maintain your own personal website?

Which other sites do you network with?

How much do you outsource versus do yourself?

How do you capture leads?

What do you do electronically to insure referral business?

How much money do you allot per home for marketing?

How will viewers perceive your abilities and value?

It’s amazing, but since the web can track and produce great feedback reports and the number of web views (when properly exposed) tops the charts, you should consider pumping as much as possible into web advertising.

Remember that you don’t have to go broke. There are plenty of free resources available to get your listings exposed.

Here are some buzzwords you should make yourself familiar with (if you haven’t already): Search Engine Optimization; Social Networking; Social Bookmarks; Google Analytics; Ad words ….. to name a few.

Whatever tools you decide you might use, remember that if you expose yourself correctly, THOUSANDS of people will see your listings. With that said, remember to put your best foot forward when putting together your “perceived image.” The money you save on print advertising should be spent with professionals, helping you look like a powerful SELLING MACHINE!!

Design a personalized, well thought out website. Pay the extra few dollars and have Virtual Access Tours of New Jersey create beautiful looking still photos and virtual tours of your properties.

ON A SIDE NOTE: When creating visual tools, know that poor photos can desuade a viewer from considering your listing. ALSO - don't show everything there is to see in your listing (bait "the marketing hook" to make them want to see more). You wouldn't believe how many of people that have asked us to shoot their pantry and laundry room ... shhhheeeesh. We have a really nice way of explaining to the listers that it wouldn't be a good idea to do so.

With fewer competitors in the market, now’s the time to put your best foot forward and position yourself as a top producing agent. Remember that when people surf the web, they’re looking for signs that will let them know that you’re a successful realtor. Give them a GREAT first impression. Once they call you, prove to them that they made the right decision.

Economic Blues? How To fix the problem

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:14:44 -0600

Here is a Mike Taylor's first blog here on active rain! He is a new RTV virtual tour provider in East texas. Must read...He's off to a running start! click over to his original blog and welcome him to the AR community!

-Cheryl

Via Michael Taylor (TaylorMade Design):

Let's face it. Every single time we see the evening news, pick up the morning paper, or get our Fox News feed, the headlines are all the same: Economic Meltdown. People are losing jobs left and right, retailers and going under, and the housing market is in a slump. And then, one thing feeds on another. A loss of job means loss of income which means cutting spending on frivolous (or not) retail items (but I need the iphone for my business!). Cutting the retail spending means retailers have to cut back which means more loss of jobs. This loss of jobs means people can't afford to pay for their home anymore with means they have to sell.

Have you seen the size of realtor magazines and classified ads these days? They're as thick as a Dallas phone book. Houses aren't moving.

This is where we, as East Texas property marketing experts, come in. If we can get our amazing technology and exposure engine in front of ‘John and Jane Realtor', or For Sale by Owners, and they can use this amazing technology to literally flood the internet and social networks at the click of a mouse, then home sales can do nothing but go up. And the great thing is, when they use our Property Exposure Engine with our Tyler Virtual Tour services, they aren't just reaching a ‘minimal market' where someone going in to get groceries just happens to pick up one of these rotund catalogs, they are spanning the globe and maximizing exposure!

Social Networking on overload anyone?

Now thanks to this technology, the life altering job acceptance 10 states away doesn't have to be so stressful. Buyers can pick out a new home before they even leave the state! He or she now has the technology to view everything from the driveway to that huge walk in closet of the home they've always dreamed of. And they found it on myspace through a friend that saw it on another social network!

And it doesn't stop there! Really ambitious Texas VT providers that cater to the needs of real estate agents don't limit themselves to virtual tours of homes. Why not include a virtual tour of the whole city on your real estate website! Spotlight the landmarks, schools, parks, anything that makes the people of that city proud. This way, not only does the potential buyer get to see their new home, they can see their new neighborhood, visit their kids new school, and see the park where they will soon be walking their dog. Oh and they saw it on YOUR website.. the one with the cool virtual tour of the town!

So how do you reach people that are looking in your area? How do you fix the Economic Blues and PULL in people that are ready to buy?

Buy domain names that cover your area. I cover the East Texas area so I have www.EastTexasVirtualTours.com . But I also have two large cities within this are so I registered each of them: www.tylervirtualtours.com and www.longviewvirtualtours.com. They all forward to my main website of www.taylormadedesign.com, but for someone searching for virtual tours in East Texas, they probably won't type TaylorMade Design in Google, so I use a bit of SEO knowledge to guide people to my site and capture that lead.

These are the things that set us apart and let us make a difference. You can't get that from a 2"x2" black and white print ad that you have to sell a kidney to afford.

I know that we can't feasibly fix the entire nations economy, but if we do our part to help the Realtors & FSBO's do their part, we give the economy a boost in the place where it is hurting the most:

The Housing Market.

Stop by my website to learn more about driving traffic to your site and using virtual tours and our Property Marketing Expertise to maximize your presence on the web. The information is free, you don't have to buy a thing from us and just one idea could turn your ‘marketing plan' into a ‘marketing funnel'!

How to Get a Rhino to Pose for a 360 Virtual Tour

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:58:21 -0600

Recently, Tinus le Roux from Virtual Africa had a run in with a Rhino during a virtual tour shoot. You have to watch this video and see for yourself just how dedicated our network is to our getting the job done!

You can take a look at the resulting images on their Virtual Africa blog

RTV, Inc. Announces New Full Service Virtual Tour Provider in Kansas

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:19:17 -0600

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawrence Kansas - January 23, 2009 - Kansas 360 tours a division of marketmedia,LLC has relocated corporate offices and service center to Lawrence Kansas. Kansas 360 tours, the newest addition to the marketmedia, LLC services, has partnered with RTV, inc. (RTV), the world's largest and fastest growing virtual tour software provider.

As a RTV full service Douglas County virtual tour provider, Kansas 360 tours offers state-of-the-art virtual tours and innovative online marketing solutions to local real estate agents and businesses throughout the northeast Kansas area of Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City. Kansas 360 Tours' holding company, marketmedia, LLC, has completed proprietary training as a certified RTV full service Kansas virtual tour dealer in January of 2006 and will also be offering clients and customers expert advice on internet marketing and social networking with Kansas virtual tours.

Jason LaVanture, Vice President of RTV, Inc. said: "We are very excited with the move marketmedia, LLC has made to the northeast Kansas area, as one of our stronger full service providers, the addition of Kansas 360 tours to their already strong service line will be a great addition to our network. marketmedia, LLC displays the excellent leadership and skill sets required to become the regional leader in the industry. No other virtual tour company in the industry can match the level of marketing assistance, business consulting and technical training that RTV invests in all our service providers. Now that marketmedia, LLC has relocated to the Kansas City area, as a certified full service dealer they will be able to offer this same level of service to the northeast Kansas market."

William McCauley, RTV Provider and owner of marketmedia, LLC stated, "We're very excited to have relocated back to the Lawrence Kansas area, we look forward to bringing the best virtual tour photography and services that are unmatched by other local or national companies here to my hometown. Kansas 360 tours offers solutions to bring our clients from the initial listing to SOLD! Our professional marketing is the competitive-edge that brokers and agents need in this tough market. The 2007 NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers shows that internet-savvy consumers search the internet for two weeks before even calling a real estate agent. Our Lawrence Kansas virtual tours and professional photography are absolutely second-to-none and our clients are ecstatic to finally have the 360° interactive virtual tour services that their clients expect right here in the Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City area. Our clients especially like the fact we save them time, money and get their marketing online in just one business day."

Since 2000, RTV, Inc. has continually led the way in the virtual tour industry with marketing implementations such as their proprietary interactive software, RTV PanoRider^TM, single property websites, on-demand Virtual Tour Traffic Reporting 2.0, 2D/3D interactive floor plans, animated walk-throughs, custom websites, proprietary order-dispatch system, tour audio solutions, tour discs and sketch-and-fax services.

For more information on Kansas 360 tours call 937-974-4877 email info[@]marketmediallc.com or visit their website at kansas360tours.com .Those interested in business opportunities with RTV, Inc. are encouraged to visit virtualtourcompany.blogspot.com for more information and current dealer testimonials before contacting RTV.

About RTV, Inc.:

RTV, Inc. is a recognized leader in interactive 360 panoramic virtual tours and virtual tour software. Over the past 9 years, the virtual tour software company has built up one of the world\'s largest and most powerful networks of virtual tour providers. The company encourages prospective virtual tour provider and real estate agent network clients to begin by making logical business decisions, working out the numbers, and finally choosing the RTV virtual tour software system to drive their virtual tour company or enhance their real estate website with virtual tour software products. RTV virtual tours are chosen over other virtual tour software programs daily by intelligent business owners who demand the best virtual tour software to showcase and market their businesses online.

About Kansas 360 tours:

Kansas 360 Tours is a division of marketmedia, LLC a multimedia company located in Lawrence, Kansas. They offer customers a wide range of media services. The company has been in business since 2004 and specializes in virtual web media, commercial photography, real estate photography, aerial photography, web design, video production and marketing consulting. They have been a leader in commercial virtual tour design from coast to coast from everything from Florida resorts to California airports, large recreational vehicles to mega churches.

Contact:

Kansas 360 tours
William McCauley
http://www.marketmediallc.com
President
Phone: 937-974-4788

Visit marketmedia LLC's AR Profile!

View more virtual tour company press releases

Using Anchor Text in Active Rain: Video

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:45:30 -0600

Recently, one of our RTV virtual tour providers sent me an email asking me how to use anchor text in their AR profile and blog. I decided to put together a quick 5 minute (actually less than that) video on how to use anchor text in your AR profile and blog.

So what is up with anchor text? Why is it so important?

Anchor text tells robots and search engines what the web page you are linking to is about. It also helps with what is called relevancy. Relevancy, as far as SEO is concerned, is basically a measure of how related content on one web page is to another web page. And it is important. So without getting too complicated, if you have a real estate blog linking to your real estate website, you want to use anchor text to tell search engines to go to your site while at the same time telling them a little about the content of the site. That is how you get indexed properly in Google.

Anchor text is sort of like a little directional road sign on the internet. “Virtual Tours in XYZ city over here” or “Real estate in ABC County over there”.

There are a few more factors involved, like making sure that you are using the anchor text as web page keywords, in the description and in the content of the webpage to which you are linking. That is all part of optimizing your site for search engines. But, I won’t get into that here. RTV Inner-Circle members can check out our SEO guide for more information.

If you would like more quick tips like this, subscribe to http://www.youtube.com/user/cherylwaller I just created the account tonight to start making quick 4 or 5 minute videos to give our dealers powerful tidbits of information. It is nothing like what we include in our dealer webinars, Inner-Circle membership or RTV eNews but definitely worth 5 minutes of your time every now and then.

Also check out: How to Create an AWESOME Email Signature

-Cheryl

Cheryl Waller
National Marketing Manager
RTV, Inc.
(866) 947-8687
http://www.realtourvision.com

PS - if you like the tips… sign up for our RTV eNews or connect to me on your favorite social network. My username is cherylwaller (all one word) on all of my networks.

Using The Virtual Tour Social Networking Utility

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:04:52 -0600

According to the 2007 NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers, 84% of all buyers and 87% of first time buyers use the internet as an information resource during their search for a home. In the 25-44 age group this number jumped to 91% of all home buyers. Also, according to the same survey, 33% of all buyers are using now using social networking sites with 19% using them at least a few times a week.

This makes it more important than ever to incorporate social networking tools into your overall marketing strategy. Fortunately, RTV virtual tour software has just made your job much easier!
The software powering your RTV virtual tours now includes a Social Networking tool that allows viewers to bookmark your tours within their social networks with just a click of their mouse!

End users simply select 'Social Bookmarks' form the 'Share Tour' menu and the icons will appear at the bottom of the tour instantly. Share the news about this new tool with your sellers at your next listing presentation!

Bradenton Virtual Tour Company - How Can A Virtual Tour Benefit Realtors In A Down Economy?

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:09:32 -0600

We recently featured this blog on our virtual tour company blog and added some interesting statistics:

According to the NAR 2007 profile of Buyers and Sellers:

84% of all buyers and 87% of first time buyers use the internet as an information resource during their search for a home. In the 25-44 age group this number jumped to 91% of all home buyers.

Home buyers use the internet slightly more frequently (66%) than real estate agents (64%) and much more frequently than newspapers (17%), home magazines (10%) or television (2%).

Only 1% of homebuyers did not find the internet useful and 100% of those that use a real estate agent take two weeks to search on their own before contacting their real estate agent. 64% of all home buyers used the FIRST agent they contacted.

32% of all buyers look online for properties for sale as the FIRST step in their search for a home.

33% of all buyers are now using social networking sites with 19% using them at least a few times per week.

79% of home buyers use a real estate agent, this is the same percentage as 10 years ago. in 1997, 50% of buyers found their home through a real estate agent and 2% found their home on the internet. In 2007 only 34% find their home through a real estate agent while those that find their home on the internet has greatly increased to 29%.

Via Lance Ziegler (e-toursonline Interactive Media ):

The thought that there are still Realtors out there who have yet to implement a real estate virtual tour and the powerful online marketing tools it provides into their arsenal of Real Estate sales tools has a lot to do with:

The misconception of how valuable it is in today's market place

What role it plays in the hands of the consumer

So how does a real estate virtual tour benefit both the Realtor and the Client in a down economy? What can it do to help alleviate some of the financial stresses that come with a slow and stagnant economy? Read on and find out how to market your properties online without a huge cost in marketing dollars.

Virtual Tours in Today's Marketplace

There are hundreds of real estate virtual tour providers offering many different solutions. Few understand the marketing aspects of virtual tour technology and many underestimate the value it has for the Realtor. The misconception as a whole is that a virtual tour is just some type of online media. It is much, much more than that. A virtual tour can be any type of media; but, how that media is used to benefit the sale of the home has extremely valuable aspects to it when approached with the right technology and the right tools to market that technology. If you are paying $100-$300 for a virtual tour and it is only distributed to your MLS and Realtor.com, you are missing a huge market of potential buyers outside these practical inclusions and you are paying way too much for your service.

It is no secret that the housing market is rapidly declining. Realtors are not making the commissions they used to and short sales and foreclosures are only paying a very small commission as to what they would normally get. Yet, many Realtors are still dumping thousands into their properties in hopes they will sell. But the hard fact is that most of those marketing and advertising dollars will only pay for so much time in front of the consumer. An ad here or there can quickly add up and the exposure value is very little. Is there a better way? You bet!! Would it be safe to say if 90% of home buyers are shopping online first, maybe that is where you should be directing your efforts? Why would you advertise your products and services in the local newspaper when everyone is looking online, including millions outside your local reach? The only person you are helping is the advertising agent. Now it does make sense to advertise, but maybe it's time to re-think how the rest of the population is thinking. Understand your market and where it is they go to get the information they seek.

Basic observations when considering virtual tour technology and the value it has in the marketplace:

•1.      Affordability - Your virtual tour solution does not have to cost a fortune. The average real estate virtual tour should cost around $90-$150 for a good quality tour and hosted for 1-2 years online. It should also have excellent distribution qualities to get maximum exposure.

•2.      Functionality - What type of features do you get with your virtual tours? Is there rich media content that is easily accessible? Feature sets are what will keep your potential buyers occupied within your virtual tour. The more features your virtual tour has the more satisfying it will be to the end user. It is a fact that online users are becoming hungrier for rich media content. If your virtual tour provider does not offer real estate virtual tours that are packed with rich media content, it time to look somewhere else.

•3.      Informative- Does your virtual tour provider give you the necessary tools to inform potential buyers on all the details of the Realtor and the property? Buyers want data and if your virtual tour does not provide what is desired, you will lose the buyer's interest quickly.

•4.      Marketing - Putting your virtual tour on your website or MLS is just the tip of the iceberg. With millions of consumers shopping online everyday, you need to have the tools to put your properties in front of those buyers. A virtual tour with no exposure is a dead tour. It has little reach in the marketplace and the virtual tour holds no great value. Yet, when you combine powerful online distribution tools with your virtual tours, you have opened up a tremendous amount of exposure and the potential to get more interested buyers. Also, combining innovative offline tools to direct traffic to your virtual tours can lighten the cost of traditional adverting and marketing. The focus here is to market your properties online and offline with the intent of driving as much traffic to the property for sale. This marketing strategy is very effective and is cost effective. A good tour package that offers both online and offline marketing tools should average $.40-$1.50 per day. Compare that to traditional marketing, and you are saving a ton of money, getting ten fold the exposure and putting more profit in your pocket at the time of sale.

•5.      Flexibility - Your virtual tour should already come packed with tools to make your job easier. A good virtual tour solution should give you the flexibility to do what you do best......sell!

Real estate virtual tours can be the single most important alternative to property marketing in a time when the economy is failing. Time, money and value are so important when the span between commissions is much greater that it used to be. Investing in the choice to use virtual tours as your main tool of cultivating home buyers is a step in the right direction.

Consumers and Virtual Tours

How does the consumer benefit from real estate virtual tours you provide online? Potential buyers play a very important role. It's what they want! Do you give consumers what they want? Are you keeping up with the latest advances in online marketing? The way we do business today has forever changed and if you are not moving in strides with these advances, your competition will move leaps and bounds over you and leave you wondering why. If 90% of home buyers go to the internet to shop for property, you wouldn't put 90% of your advertising dollars into the local newspaper would you? I hope not and I hope you see my point. Consumers know they can find what they want on the internet. It saves them time and money, rather than spending countless hours driving around to each house. Virtual tours put the consumer in control to decide what it is they like about the house. A well organized virtual tour and the right virtual tour company can make use of the advantages of each individual listing and grasp the viewer's attention. You have to immediately engage your visitor with something that will capture their senses. Give them what they want and direct them on what to do. Give them the ability to explore all the advantages of your listings without the headache of having to search too deep. If a visitor can't find what they want within a few seconds, you will lose them.

Statistically speaking, consumers are eager for rich media content when they visit your website or virtual tours. If it is boring and inactive, you are missing the big picture. More people sit at home now because they can't afford to drive around. It is much more cost effective to find what you are looking for on the internet. And, it is a lot less stressful too.

Home buyers are getting smarter. In a buyers market, they are realizing they have the power to search and seek out anything and everything on the web. Including Realtors! If you're not making a huge impression, you're not doing what it takes to get those potential home buyers in the sales seat. Virtual tours are what buyers are looking for. It saves them time and money and that is very important in this economy.

If you need more information on an affordable Bradenton virtual tour company, go to www.e-toursonline.com.

e-toursonline Interactive Media

Bradenton Virtual Tour Company

www.e-toursonline.com

(941) 795-6978

How to Create an AWESOME Email Signature

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:52:31 -0600

In a previous issue of our RTV eNews I had mentioned that adding a picture to your outgoing emails is a powerful way to connect with your clients. Especially if you are like me and communicate by email a large percentage of your time. People like to know that they are communicating with a ‘person' and not just a company. By including a picture in your email signature, you are turning a normally ‘anonymous' type of communication into a more personal type.

But, why not take that a step further and include connections to your social network? At the very least, you can pick up a few more blog subscribers.

I like to use MyBlogLog to generate the code that I use for my outgoing signature in Outlook 2007:

But, unfortunately, Outlook 2007 does not allow you to edit html in your signature. So, here is the solution.

•1. Create your code in MyBlogLog for your awesome new signature

•2. Copy and paste the code to your favorite HTML editor

•3. Open a local browser (F12 in Dreamweaver)

•4. Highlight and copy the signature in the browser and then paste it into the signature box in out look 2007.

•5. Add your picture, click save and you have an awesome new signature!

Here is where to paste (again, this is Outlook 2007)

TOOLS > OPTIONS > MAIL FORMAT > SIGNATURES

And don't forget to have fun with your signature! Here are two that I have used most recently to reflect the holidays:

Want more tips? Subscribe to our monthly eNews or check out some of my other blogs here on AR:

Marketing Tips: Twitter

ActiveRain and Your NEW Twitter Settings

Getting Indexed Properly in Google

The Complete Marketing Plan

FINALLY a Sure-Fire Way to Beat the Economy

Visit the industry's best Virtual Tour Blog! Research, Educate, and Decide.

Follow Me on Twitter for RTV updates and MORE! Username: CherylWaller

RTV Announces Integrated Social Networking Utility for Virtual Tours

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:10:27 -0600

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - December 29, 2008 - RTV, Inc. today announced the release of their new Social Networking Utility that is now integrated with their virtual tours. This newest addition to their already technologically robust virtual tour features will allow virtual tour viewers and end-users to quickly add their favorite virtual tours to popular social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Delicious, Furl, Backflip, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Mixx, and Bebo. The Social Networking Utility also allows virtual tour viewers to submit their favorite tours to popular social networking sites such as Facebook, FriendFeed, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter.

"We are very excited to give our virtual tour dealer network and their customers the ability to instantly share online tours across social networking and bookmarking sites that accept virtual tours." Stated Jason LaVanture, Vice President of RTV, Inc. "Now more than ever, real estate agents and business owners need our powerful marketing tools to stay ahead. This latest enhancement from our marketing department gives our virtual tour providers, real estate agents and brokers the competitive edge and visibility they need in an aggressive market."

This latest virtual tour marketing tool was released as part of a series of marketing enhancements to optimize RTV virtual tours for maximum exposure and distribution potential on the internet. The virtual tour viewer was also recently Search Engine Optimized and offers geographical targeting features to enable RTV virtual tour providers, real estate agents and brokers to effortlessly appear more quickly in search engine results for their farming areas. These pre-programmed features are controlled through the tour builder's tour management system and are able to be controlled on individual virtual tours.

"Team RTV understands that although we are in the virtual tour industry, we are first and foremost in the marketing business. Our marketing department has been hard at work to not only integrate incredible marketing features such as this, but also to coach our virtual tour providers, real estate agents and brokers how to use these tools to their greatest advantage." Stated Cheryl Waller, National Marketing Manager, RTV, Inc. "We are constantly evolving our virtual tour features and training to incorporate Web 2.0 features and functionality. This enables our virtual tour network to effortlessly market with progressive technology and concentrate on their businesses without having to keep up with the Web 2.0 learning-curve. That's the power of Team RTV; we do the work so that they don't have to."

According to the website, RTV virtual tours already incorporate integrated popular virtual tour features such as audio, video, brochure, and floor plan attachments as well as MLS information, maps, area information and even a linked tour gallery that is automatically populated with a real estate agent's virtual tour inventory.

About RTV, Inc.

RTV, Inc. is a recognized leader in interactive 360 panoramic virtual tours and virtual tour software. Since 1999, RTV has continually led the way in the virtual tour industry with marketing implementations such as their proprietary interactive software, RTV PanoRider(TM), single property websites, on-demand HitStats 2.0, 2D/3D interactive floor plans, 3D animated walk-throughs, custom websites, TourTrack(TM), tour audio solutions, TourDiscs(TM) and Sketch-and-Fax(TM) services. RTV virtual tours are chosen over other virtual tour software programs daily by intelligent business owners who demand the best virtual tour software to showcase and market their businesses online. For more information about RTV virtual tours and marketing tools, visit their website at RealTourVision.com or give them a call at (866) 947-8687.

TourTrack, Sketch-and-Fax, PanoRider, HitStats, TourDiscs and RTV are trademarks of RTV, Inc.

Contact Information:

Jason LaVanture, Vice President
RTV, Inc.
www.RealTourVision.com
(866) 947-8687

PRESS RELEASE: Announces Virtual Tour and Marketing Support for Former V-I-C.com Customers

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:25:49 -0600

Traverse City, MI, United States, 12/10/2008 - Today, RTV, Inc., a national leading virtual tour company with over 1500 providers worldwide, announced increased network marketing support efforts to real estate agents affected by the recent shut down of Virtual Imaging Corporation (VIC) and their website V-I-C.com.

"Although we have known for some time now that Virtual Imaging Corporation (VIC) had shut down operations, it was not until yesterday that many of our providers started receiving panicking phone calls from real estate agents in their area." said Rick Simons, President of RTV. "As of yesterday, all V-I-C.com virtual tours are now offline. This causes many problems for affected real estate agents, especially just before the holidays."

In order to help real estate agents get their tours back online quickly, the company has sent out an email to all of its dealers to alert them of this situation and get them prepared to support the needs of former VIC customers.

"A misfortune such as this can have a ripple effect on real estate agents" said Jason LaVanture, VP of RTV. "Many of our virtual tour providers come from real estate backgrounds. They understand what kind of strain this can have on real estate agents. This isn't just about getting their tours back online. Many of our dealers are offering one-on-one marketing support and rates well below market price to enable realtors to get their marketing plan back on track before the New Year. "

RTV is encouraging affected real estate agents to contact them directly at 866-947-8687 or where they will be directed to with their local virtual tour provider. The company also offers innovative cost-cutting solutions for agents with 10 or more tours that were impacted by the V-I-C.com shut down. For more information about RTV and the virtual tour industry, visit their virtual tour website or visit their virtual tour blog for research and industry information.

About RTV, Inc.

RTV is a recognized leader in interactive 360 panoramic virtual tours and virtual tour software. For almost 10 years, RTV has continually led the way in the virtual tour industry with marketing implementations such as their proprietary interactive software, RTV PanoRider(TM), single property websites, on-demand HitStats 2.0, 2D/3D interactive floor plans, animated walk-throughs, custom websites, TourTrack(TM), tour audio solutions, TourDiscs(TM) and Sketch-and-Fax(TM) services. RTV virtual tours are chosen over other virtual tour software programs daily by intelligent business owners who demand professional virtual tour software to showcase and market their businesses online.

TourTrack, Sketch-and-Fax, PanoRider, HitStats, TourDiscs and RTV are trademarks of RTV, Inc.

Attention VIC Virtual Tour Customers – Important Information

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:15:49 -0600

Virtual Imaging Corporation (VIC) Virtual Tour Company Shut Down

Although we have known for some time now that Virtual Imaging Corporation (VIC) was in the process of shutting down, it was not until today that our Detroit Michigan Virtual Tour provider and several other providers in other locations started receiving panicking phone calls from real estate agents. Apparently all V-I-C.com virtual tours are now offline.

This causes many problems for real estate agents that previously worked with VIC to produce their virtual tours. All links to those virtual tours are now ‘dead links’ and this is frustrating both agents and sellers alike.

In order to help affected real estate agents get virtual tours back online quickly, RTV has sent out an email to all of our dealers to alert them of this situation. Many of our dealers are offering special rates (some well below market price) to enable realtors that were prior customers of VIC to get their virtual tours back online promptly.

Contact me directly and I will send you your local virtual tour provider’s contact information. We have over 1500 dealers in the US and 27 countries worldwide, so it doesn't matter where you are located. Our dealers understand the situation and are on standby to help in any way possible. If you have possession of your digital images on your computer, please let them know this when you contact them.

For the do-it-yourself types we also set-up a hardware/software Rotator-Mini virtual tour package through RTV that will give you a free year of virtual tour hosting for an unlimited amount of virtual tours. Just call 866-947-8687 and let Team RTV know that you qualify for the free year of unlimited virtual tour hosting as a previous VIC customer or simply fill out the Rotator-Mini contact form on our website and mention that you were a previous VIC customer.

Marketing Tips: Twitter

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:47:31 -0600

If you have been looking for a way to quickly fill your social network with like-minded individuals, look no further than twitter. With small 140 character updates, you can grow your social network like never before possible.

Here are some neat applications and websites to help you get started using twitter to its full potential.

Using tools such as www.twellow.com you can search for people with similar interests and start following them. While you are there, be sure to setup your twellow account and add links to your other social networks.

If you don't want to use your cell phone to send and receive tweets, you can use a desktop application such as twhirl or tweetdeck.

You can use an application like www.friendorfollow.com to make sure that you are following those that are following you and see who is not following you back.

Using www.tweetlater.com you can automate your twitter account to auto-follow new followers and send a follow-up DM (direct message) to thank them for following you. If you are careful (DON'T use follow-ups for self-promotion or even worse to try to sell anything) you can use follow-ups to invite others to connect to you on other social networks.

As a twitter beginner, you may have many questions. Here are a few articles to help you get started in the right direction.

In the article 10 Easy Steps for Twitter Beginners Darren Rowse offers a simple and informative answer to the question, "What do I do with twitter?"

In 35 Twitter Tips form 35 Twitter Users, you can find a collection of advice to get you started.

In Twitter Tips for new users, Paul Walsh lays out some candid advice for getting started.

Getting Indexed properly in Google

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:38:09 -0600

No matter what type of information your website presents, it is important to get your website properly indexed by Google. While there are many other search engines on the web, Google holds the lead for searches at 71.86% as of October 2008 (Source: Hitwise).

To get properly indexed, you have to take into consideration two main methods used by Google to index the internet; crawling and indexing.

The Googlebot is a robot used by Google to crawl the internet and find new and updated pages to index. There are two crawler versions used by Google; the Freshbot and the Deepbot. The Freshbot only looks for fresh content, while the Deepbot uses links within your site to index more pages and content.

When the Freshbot or Deepbot finds a new page or updated content on a page, it will then pass that information to the indexer which sorts through the content for indexing by Google. The Google indexer then analyzes the pages, sifts through the content and uses relevant keywords within the page content to index the page in Google's massive database.

So how do you get your pages ready for proper indexing by Google? Create good relevant content with...

New SEO Tool Released

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:36:19 -0600

Our technology team here at RTV has recently released a new powerful search engine optimization tool for RTV virtual tour dealers.

Once implemented, this tool will allow our worldwide network of dealers to effortlessly and substantially increase traffic to their websites.

Increasing traffic to your website is the first step to increasing conversions and gaining new clients through your website. RTV has now made it easier than ever for dealers to not only attract traffic, but also rank high for geo and long tail keywords with ONE simple change in their virtual tour builder system.

The new SEO tool will be announced during tonight’s webinar, The Formula.

All full service and In-house dealers are HIGHLY encouraged to attend!

Seats are filling quickly, we only have 1000 seats available. Not all ~1500 dealers and real estate agents in the network will be able to attend, so if you are at all serious about marketing your website on the internet, this will NOT be the webinar to miss!

-Team RTV
www.RealTourVision.com

Visit our virtual tour blog.

Goodbye to Google Ranking

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:23:38 -0600

The days of Googling your keywords to measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy are coming to an end. According to Bruce Clay of PubCon, there will be big changes in ranking. In the name of Top Shelp Organic SEO, Google will be tuning into the specific behaviors of individual users to serve up more customized results.

What this means to the end-user is better results and less spam.

What does this mean to SEO professionals?

Well, for the good ones it means more business. For those that have been concentrating on ranking without any reference to traffic, bounce rates and conversions it means a serious reality check.

At the end of the day, this is a change for the better. More individualized search results means higher conversion rates for companies that have a well built website. This does not mean that SEO is no longer important; it actually makes it more important! Tracking your marketing efforts will definitely require more diligence.

Q: What should you do to get ready for the change?

A: Nothing that you should not have already been doing.

The most important part of a website is the ends result; attracting more leads and increasing business. To get there you have to attract website visitors, keep them interested in your website long enough to stay past the first page and finally get them to convert. By convert, I mean to get them to perform a specific action like sign up for a newsletter or request additional information. Conversions vary by website. A conversion for you may be a request for information about one of your listings while a conversion for amazon.com could be the sale of a bestselling novel.

I, for one, think this is a great lead by Google. It forces website owners and SEO professionals to take a closer look of what traffic is actually DOING when it gets to your website. It puts the emphasis on website content, navigation and functionality.

Sending people to your website and getting XXXXX visitors is one thing, conversion rates are a completely different (and more important) aspect. I mean, you can send all the traffic (paid or otherwise) in the world to a dilapidated home, but if they never get out of the car and go inside... it's not going to sell.

It's time to get your website to do what it's supposed to: SELL!

Go Google!

How Love Changes Business

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:08:28 -0600

After shooting virtual tours full time with RTV for Four Years in Tallahassee, FL, I have been able to step away from the helm and let the business run itself. For the first 3 years I pretty much just winged it. I had never run a business before, but RTV gave me all the help and motivation I needed to keep it going. At the 2 year mark I had an intern and a contractor and at about the 3 year mark, I realized I was feeling pretty secure with the income from the business.

Then it happened...

Read how one of our virtual tour dealers manages his Tallahassee virtual tour business from a remote location and hear the love story that made it happen in the blog: Running a Remote Virtual Tour Business

Blog story By:

Myles Lasco
Tallahassee Virtual Tours
www.TallyTours.com
Order a Tallahassee Virtual Tour (850) 491-3909

Visit our virtual tour blog archive

YES, You are Invited!

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:53:43 -0600

This year we are opening up our dealer teleconference to ANYONE in our network. If you are familiar with RTV, then you know that we have the largest dealer network of virtual tour providers with 1500 dealers in 27 countries. We constantly work together to improve each other's businesses and grow as a family.

Join Jason LaVanture & Cheryl Waller on this exciting teleconference where we will be discussing some of the SECRETS behind running a successful virtual tour company. Guest appearance of Mike Thompson of Real Vision Studio.

Just how did BlueLaVaMedia produce over 200 tours in 7 months time? What is ‘The Formula' for this success? Find out about the powerful marketing tools used.

Listen to key strategies that WORKED with a potential customer base of only 500 active area real estate agents, despite outrageous gas prices and a struggling real estate market.

Find out how easy it is to apply ‘The Formula' to your business!

Title:		The FORMULA

Date:		Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Time:		7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/662616055

For more information about our virtual tour company visit our website or visit our virtual tour blog.

Virtual Tour Marketing - Mini-CD Style

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:19:14 -0600

Business card sized CD's have been around since the late 90's, but just recently they have become a tremendously popular marketing tool for several RTV virtual tour companies. Business card CDs make great promotional tools for trade shows and especially as hand outs for sales and marketing use. These miniature sized CD's hold many advantages over traditional virtual tour marketing tools such as paper business cards, printed brochures and flyers, standard CD's and even DVD's.

Brochures and catalogs are common marketing tools because they are immediate. You can quickly get information about a company's products and services by browsing the printed material. However, because they are so common, those brochures and catalogs sometimes get tossed in the trash with little more than a quick visual browsing. The business card CD is still a novelty of sorts, and therefore attracts more attention and interest. The smaller size makes them easy to carry, hand out, and store as virtual tour marketing tools. The novelty of their size and their visual appeal gives them an advantage over printed material.

The RTV Inner Circle Marketing team is making it easy for you to implement business card CD's as a sales tool for your virtual tour business and for increasing the listing exposure for listings by creating several marketing CD templates. These template projects were created with a program called AutoRun Max Business 2.0 and can be downloaded in the Presentation Section of Inner Circle Marketing. The CD templates contain a wide variety of Inner Circle materials including interactive virtual tour samples, automated slide show presentations, music, and PDF brochures/info packs.

Inner-Circle members can download and customize these amazing presentation templates starting TODAY!

- Team RTV

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RTV™ Announces New Full Service Virtual Tour Provider in the city of Somerset in Pulaski County, Kentucky

Cheryl Waller Online Marketing Consultant (www.CherylWaller.com) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:36:13 -0600

Somerset, KY 11/3/2008
Dream House Photography has again partnered with RTV, Inc, the world’s largest and fastest growing virtual tour software provider. As a RTV™ full service provider Dream House Photography will be able to offer state-of-the-art virtual tours and innovative online marketing solutions to local real estate agents and businesses to Pulaski County. Dream House Photography has completed proprietary training as a certified RTV full service dealer and will also be offering their clients and customers expert advice on internet marketing.

“It is exciting to see Keith’s Dream House Photography business expanding into Kentucky”, says Rick Simons, President, RTV, Inc. “Combining top-notch photography skills, outstanding customer service, and personal integrity, Keith and his team are proving that even in these challenging times that a well-positioned virtual tour and marketing services company can grow and thrive. I know his customers in and around Lexington, Somerset and Burnside, KY will be well served.”

Keith Frank, owner of Dream House Photography stated, after Retiring from the Navy, Terry and I are excited to go full time in Somerset, Lake Cumberland and Lexington, Kentucky as well as Virginia Beach Since 1999. RTV™ has continually led the way in the virtual tour industry with property marketing implementations such as their proprietary interactive software, RTV PanoRider™, single property websites, on-demand Virtual Tour Traffic Reporting 2.0, 2D/3D interactive floor plans, animated walk-throughs, custom websites, proprietary order-dispatch system, tour audio solutions, tour discs and sketch-and-fax services.

For more information call (606)425-4838 or visit their Virginia Beach Virtual Tour Company website. Those interested in business opportunities with RTV, Inc are encouraged to visit www.Virtual-Tour-Blog.com for more information and current dealer testimonials before contacting RTV.

About RTV, Inc

RTV is a recognized leader in interactive 360 panoramic virtual tours and virtual tour software. Over the past 8 years, the virtual tour software company has built up one of the world's largest and most powerful networks of virtual tour providers. The company encourages prospective virtual tour provider and real estate agent network clients to begin by making logical business decisions, working out the numbers, and finally choosing the RTV virtual tour software system to drive their virtual tour company or enhance their real estate website with virtual tour software products. RTV virtual tours are chosen over other virtual tour software programs daily by intelligent business owners who demand the best virtual tour software to showcase and market their businesses online.

About Dream House Photography

DHP was started when Keith and Terry bought their post Navy career home on gorgeous Lake Cumberland. Their business focus is a quality product and timely customer service. See their testimonial page and read what others have said about Keith, Terry.

RTV™ is a trademark of RTV, Inc.

Contact Information:

Dream House Photography
Virginia Beach Virtual Tours
Somerset, Lake Cumberland and Lexington, Kentucky Virtual Tours
Keith Frank, Owner
Phone: (606)425-4838
Cell: (757)831-0829
keithfrank[@]dreamhousephotography.com

RTV, Inc
Virtual Tour Software Company
Jason LaVanture, Vice president
Phone: (866) 947-8687
info[@]RTVpix.com
Virtual Tour Blog