The Real Estate Tomato

iBidcondo.com – The New Way to Buy Real Estate

2009-07-02T11:36:53Z

My friend Melani Gordon from Gwave Consulting brought this to my attention, so I thought I would bring it to yours.

July 27th iBidcondo is set to deliver a deal of a lifetime in Dallas. Buy your auction seat today. Bid for a brand new 1,300 sq ft condo in downtown Dallas, TX.

Full property details - http://ibidcondo.com/auctions/29/details

iBidcondo is a new and exciting way to purchase high quality real estate using a unique (Patent Pending) online-auction system that has NO RESERVE or MINIMUM PRICE.
iBidcondo covers the cost of the property by “selling a limited number of seats” to the Auction.

This means that the majority of the net proceeds will be donated to a registered Charity that the winning bidder nominates prior to the auction.
•    iBidCondo auctions are online live property auctions where properties are auctioned without reserve or minimum prices.
•    To bid at an iBidcondo Auction, Bidders must first purchase a "virtual seat" to the online Auction from the iBidcondo website.
•    The revenue from the sale of the Auction Seats subsidizes the price of the property.

At a recent auction of a property in Austin, a condo with a $690,000 value was sold for a bid of $86,840, and more than 1,200 people participated in the auction. Followhttp://www.Twitter.com/ibidcondo to learn how you can win an auction seat.

The 11 Most Common Pitfalls For New Real Estate Bloggers

2009-07-01T13:41:51Z

The 11 Most Common Pitfalls For New Real Estate Bloggers

We’ve trained hundreds of real estate agents to make the blog an effective marketing tool. We run them through a dozen hours of personal training classes, aiming to keep them on track to success.

The following represent the most common issues that we help them recognize in or to keep them focused.

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1. Worrying About Design Before the Writing

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This is akin to planning a wedding before you have even met your husband/wife to be. Before you even ‘deserve’ a great looking home for your blogging, you need to have shown a solid commitment to The Writing.

Our process with our new clients is to get them to start thinking and acting like bloggers while their custom design is being developed. The process usually takes around 4 weeks, providing us with ample time to establish a strong commitment in the form of 10–12 well written articles.

Not to take away from a killer design, but the impression that you should want to make with your blog is that you are an Expert, delivering a Consistent Message. This will gain you an audience, to whom you have earned the right to show-off you fancy site.

More on this topic:
Why Am I Blogging Again?

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2. Failing To Establish A Clear Focus for the Content

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If we stick with the idea that the common blogging goal which we all share is to gain and retain an audience, then we need to consider their experience.

Good headlines and great content will surely gain the audience, but keeping them there, and earning their subscription and return visit is the real trick. Categories, Related Posts, Tags, a Mission Statement and clear Calls To Action are your opportunity to make your message clear. But the first thing you need to do is carve out exactly what topics of content you plan to deliver on a consistent basis.

If your audience is confused as to what categories of content they are going to get from your blog, they aren’t going to bother subscribing. You put $1 down and pick up a newspaper without even looking inside because you know what you are getting (local news, world news, sports, business, entertainment, comics, etc). Your audience needs to react with a similar understanding. When they recognize a solid commitment to a clear group of topics that meet their interests, they will commit to you in the form of subscription.

More on this topic:
Your Real Estate Blog is Your Newspaper.

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3. Failing to Recognize and Write to Their Ideal Reader

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In order to gain the right audience, you need to define them. I know that most of you have worked with all ages, all incomes, all races, and have gone miles in all directions to help them… but who do you want to work with? Define him/her, and then write to him/her. Take a second, write down who they are and even name them if you have to.

When you can visualize the reader, it is much easier to explain things to them. What’s easier, explaining something to a friend or to a room full of strangers? When you ‘know’ your audience, it will be much easier to hatch and deliver your ideas.

More on this topic:
8 Things That You Are Not Doing On Your Real Estate Blog, But Should Be.

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4. Failing to Read and Learn from Other Bloggers

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To become a better writer you need to be an avid reader. We learn from example, and there is no shortage of fantastic writers in and out of the RE.net.

Read from the perspective of a writer.

I learn something every blog surfing session. I see new formatting ideas, new call-to-action approaches, new PlugIns, etc. But before all that, the new blogger can pick up so much from established bloggers. Blogging is not like other forms of writing, and reading others will help you recognize the rhythm and formatting that works best.

In addition to learning the writing style, new bloggers will notice the dedication shown by the successful. This is the most valuable lesson of them all.

More on this topic:
7 Reasons Why Your Local Real Estate Blogging Peers Are Not Your Competition.
How Twitter Makes You a Better Writer

For Pitfalls 5-11, you'll need to click through to the original location of this article on Real Estate Tomato.

The 11 Most Common Pitfalls For New Real Estate Bloggers

IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

Jeff Turner of Real Estate Shows To Appear LIVE on Tomato Radio, TODAY July 1st at 3pm PST.

2009-07-01T12:40:38Z

Call in #: 347-884-9764
Click Here to Listen Online (starting at 3pm PST)

We have been having so much fun, and getting such great feedback that we have decided to add a second show a month to the Tomato Radio schedule. Now, instead of just one show on the 15th of each month, we will be hosting 2 shows, the additional date being the 1st of each month. The bi-monthly shows will air live at 3pm PST, and will also be available as a podcast shortly thereafter.

Todayy, July 1^st, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Jeff Turner, president of Real Estate Shows.

Over the last few years, Jeff has positioned himself as one of the most visible personalities in the online real estate space (aka the RE.net). He has been a top point earner (~400K) for much of the existence of ActiveRain, he is stalked by nearly 7000 on Twitter, 2000 on Facebook, 360 on Flickr, 500+ on LinkedIn, shows up to speak at most of the REBarCamps, and Inman Connect events. The man is connected.

Our format will be to talk with Jeff for the first 30 minutes regarding:

Real Estate Shows News
Mastering Social Media
Real Estate and Social Media
Must-Have Web Tools
iPhone and Real Estate

And the second half of the show will be Jeff answering your questions!

Click Here to Listen Live at 3pm PST on July 1^st.

Call in to listen away from your computer, and Ask Questions: (347) 884-9764
(Hit the #1 on the keypad to get our attn, and we'll bring you on live!)

There's a Chat Room too!

Yes, there will be a podcast in case you missed the live show... but being there is where it's at!

Are you a fan yet of Tomato Radio’s Fan Page on Facebook?

Listen to Tomato Radio Today At 3pm PST: We're Getting a Behind The Scene Look At ActiveRain with Jeff Corbett (VP of Operations).

2009-06-15T13:25:13Z

Listen in from 3 to 4pm PST to get a Behind the Scenes Look at the Real Estate Industry’s Largest Social Network, ActiveRain (About to eclipse 150K members).

Our guest, Jeff Corbett, is an old friend of the Real Estate Tomato, but more importantly, he is the VP of Operations and Business Development for ActiveRain.

He’s Bald, Bold and Brazen. and we’re hoping he’ll open up and give us the mud (dirt in the rain).

We will be talking with Jeff about:

His Role At AR
New AR Developments
AR’s Big Challenges and Possible Solutions
His thoughts on a Yogi Berraism: “Nobody goes there no more; it's too crowded!"
And more…

At 3:30 We will be taking your questions. Don’t hold back, we know you have a lot on your mind.

Listen Live: http://cli.gs/tb7u8t

Call In To Listen: (347) 884-9764

Call in with your questions. (347) 884-9764 (Then hit the #1 on the keypad to get our attn, and we'll bring you on live!)

There's a Chat Room too! http://cli.gs/tb7u8t

Yes, there will be a podcast in case you missed the live show... but being there is where it's at!

An Honest Look at the Impact of Video on Your Real Estate Blog

2009-06-05T18:41:41Z

Welcome to our latest Tomato Collaborative Article where we cover the topic of Video in Real Estate Blogging.

We recently had a Tomato Radio episode on the same subject, and this article is the collective opinion and insight from the contributors on our internal Matrix Blog.

My question to our audience was What is the Impact of Video in your Real Estate Blogging?

Below is my best effort at stitching together their comments in a comprehensive manner.

Pros:

The Audience Better Identifies With Author.

Rob Saxe: Who I am comes through more on video than when I write an article. From experience, that video blogging as a marketing tool is indispensable and an absolute necessity for my business.

Bruce Lemieux: A blog with compelling and informative written content can be a huge net to gather leads and build an audience. To pull leads into the boat and convert them to clients, you need to build trust by making a personal connection. Video can be just the lure to get them hooked. The trend is clear: people will continue to buy houses from people, not computers.

Cyndee Haydon leveraged Albert Mehrabian's Rule of 7%-38%-55% to reinforce the idea of how effective video with conviction can be for Real Estate. According to Mehrabian, there are 3 Main Elements of Communication, with ranging influence to your audience:

* Words, (7%)

* Tone of voice and (38%)

* Body language. (55%)

"I love the thought that the non-verbal cues are important to conveying our "belief and conviction" so videos give the viewer the ability to connect to us as people (100%) versus just words on a page (7%). "

Gena Riede: We are in the age of transparency and videos certainly do contribute to that aspect. The consumer is looking for REAL.

Bruce Lemieux: I think Gena's got it exactly right - your written blog is the foundation, video adds the transparency and enhances a blog. It doesn't replace the written blog.

Video Is Not a Fad

It was just announced that YouTube users are adding a staggering 20 hours of video every minute. Video viewing and capture on cell phones has greatly improved. Embedding video in your blog articles and pages is a snap.

HD video capture is available in your hand for as little as $229.

Search Engine Results

Well described videos published to Google Video and/or YouTube do very well in the SERPs for obvious reasons. Viddler is also starting to show some promise with their members' videos placing well.
Its a well known fact that Google is working on developing powerful Voice Recognition Software to add to their search algorithm making it possible to spider audio and video clips.

Convenience For Your Audience

Watching and listening is easier than reading. Just ask your kids if their homework is done while they are sitting in front of the boob.
Soon, most will experience the Internet from the couch (10 feet from the screen) or by handheld device. Reading is not convenient in either instance.

Cons?

...CONTINUED

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An Honest Look at the Impact of Video on Your Real Estate Blog

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How Does Teresa Boardman Post Every Day To Her Real Estate Blog?

2009-06-05T18:32:41Z

For most, the most challenging element of blogging is clearly finding time and the act of pounding out an article. Even our clients, whom we train, and train and train some more on the best approaches to blogging find that keeping a consistent blogging pace is difficult to maintain.

So who better to get some advice on consistency than one of the only everyday-bloggers that I know, our great friend, Teresa Boardman of StPaulRealEstateBlog.com?

Writing About Writing

By Teresa Boardman

I never thought I would be writing about writing but I am. I consider myself to be a non writer but have found that with practice it gets easier. Writing a blog is like writing an email. There was a time in business before email when we used to send memos but that writing style is much more formal.

The process was intimidating as my administrative assistant and my boss would question my choice of words and sometimes my tone. When email replaced the memo even business writing became less formal and more about communication.

Blog posts can be informal like sharing an idea with a friend. Blogs work because people like doing business with friends. The tone is less formal and the goal is to make the post informative but at the same time easy and enjoyable to read. As I write I sometimes get a mental picture of who will be reading it and I write to that person or group of people.

It takes discipline to write every day and to know what to write about. Sometimes sitting down and writing a blog post seems like work. A couple of years a go Jim published a post I wrote with 101 ideas for real estate blog posts. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with a 101 more ideas. The ideas come from the ordinary experiences that I have on the job and in life. Some of the experiences are unique and others are very common experiences that people can relate to.

The hard part is actually doing it each day. Most people run out of steam by the end of their first month writing a blog.

I am going to share some tricks that have worked for me.

...CONTINUED >>>

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How Does Teresa Boardman Post Every Day To Her Real Estate Blog?

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Real Estate and Twitter - Use Hashtags to Dominate a Niche.

2009-05-12T13:26:49Z

Success in Real Estate is largely due to who you know.

The more Whos, the more opportunity you create for yourself.

Creating a database of regular contacts has always been a sound strategy for real estate marketing.
Mailing Lists
Rolodex
Walking Farm
Past Clients
Friends/Family
Business Contacts
Email Database
Blog Feed Subscribers
Facebook Friends
Twitter Followers... and now the Hashtag: #

Why follow Hashtags instead of just keywords on Twitter?

Hashtag 101: When Twittering, by adding the # in front of a term (like this: #conan) it automatically groups your post with any other post that included the same #term. This term ‘group’ can be found by using http://search.twitter.com and searching for the #term.

The use of a Hashtag signifies that you are intending to group your updates to that specific term.

For Example: You may Twitter a phrase like “on fire in Santa Barbara” that could have many contextual meanings, whereas using the Hashtag #sbfire makes it clear as to what conversation you are contributing.

Although a search for “Santa Barbara Fire” may yield more results, and therefore arguably be a better way to find out information about the fire, it is the intention of those using the Hashtag that I am interested in leveraging. Users of the Hashtag are looking to be grouped together on purpose: they want to hold a conversation as a group.

Want to follow the absolute latest group chatter on the Manny Ramirez bust? #manny
Updates on the aporkalypse? #swineflu

Participating with Hashtags on Twitter.

...CONTINUED

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Real Estate and Twitter - Use Hashtags to Dominate a Niche.

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Don't Miss May 15th Tomato Radio Episode: Online Video In Real Estate

2009-05-12T13:24:11Z

This month's Tomato Radio Show is Dedicated to Discussing Online Video in Real Estate: Video Blogging, Live Testimonials, Property Highlights, Community Reviews, and More!

In an article from Nov, 2007, I described the future of the real estate blog as something that will demand regular video updates in order to satisfy the audience that will no longer be hunched over their laptop.

On tomorrow’s television (an all-in-one entertainment console), the internet and blogs will need to cater to those sitting 10 ft from the screen, making text that much moredisengaging.

Although we haven’t quite made it to ‘tomorrow’, there are a growing number of real estate agents leveraging video to gain exposure and earn a reputation of expertise. Their efforts today have not only prepared them for tomorrow, but more importantly, won them success today.

We have 2 very special guests:

From 3 to 3:30 we will be talking with Ian Watt of IanWatt.ca.
Ian is best known for his mobile video blogging, where he mixes driving, personality and sound real estate advice.

We will be talking with Ian about:
His approach to video blogging
The success that it has helped him achieve.
His advice to those looking to get started.

From 3:30 to 4pm we will be talking with Tara Jones of ReelProductions.tv.
Tara, a Realtor and Emmy Award winning journalist specializes in high quality video production for the real estate industry.

We will be talking with Tara about:
How video can help your business
How brokerages are depending on video for success.
How to get started, now that you know it's not a fad.

Just as with every Tomato Radio show, we will be live starting at 3pm PST on the 15^th of the month.

What: Online Video in Real Estate with Ian Watt and Tara Jones.
When: May 15th from 3pm to 4pm PST
Where: BlogTalkRadio.com/retomato

How Do I Call In?: (347) 884-9764

Lost In The Crowd: Realtors Fail To Effectively Leverage Social Media.

2009-03-31T19:08:14Z

Don't Get Caught On Your Knees Sifting For Gold When You Could Be On Stage, Making A Lasting Impression.

I am so proud of the real estate industry. You've come so far!

In the latter half of the 90's decade, as the Internet promised to be a modern gold rush, curiously, Realtors showed little interest. It wasn't until just recently that the Realtor's personal website was accepted as an obligatory expense. The irony is that now it has little chance of being effective.

But today, I actually have faith in the real estate agent's embrace of the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

As much as the $500 brochure website of yesteryear catered to the ego of the Glamour Shots® agent, it failed to jibe with their gregarious nature. Affable and outgoing agents couldn't recognize any immediate relevance to their obvious business model; network, network, network.

Yet now, with the rise of Social Media, Realtors are feeling much more at home online, recognizing the opportunity to leverage the Internet as a viable networking tool.

Where it once seemed that Realtors needed to be dragged into the 21st century, they are now marching forward in droves. A rush, if you will.

But there's a problem.

...CONTINUED

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Lost In The Crowd: Realtors Fail To Effectively Leverage Social Media.

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8 Things That You Are Not Doing On Your Real Estate Blog, But Should Be.

2009-01-06T09:38:08Z

1. Microblogging

Twitter is all the rage… and yet most blogging agents aren’t using it becausethey don’t grasp the value.

Here’s another way to approach the Micro-Blog: Instead of catering to the audience in a Twitter Community, consider those that are actually coming to read your blog. Short updates from you about the market, your efforts as an agent, new listings, and news flashes are just the sort of thing that your readers will appreciate. Now pop them on your blog, and syndicate that back up to Twitter instead of the other way around. (More on this in coming weeks)

Hot tip: When it comes to your blog, avoid the community babble that gave you the creeps when you first looked at Twitter: “Having a hard time deciding what cereal to get.” Your audience came for tangible real estate topics, not the stream of consciousness that you feel the need to share. Try: “Cleaning out the gutters for the today’s 2pm open house at 123 Elm St, Eastville.”

2. Video Blogging

With high quality and too-easy-to-use video cameras available for under $150, you’d be a fool to not start including local video clips on your blog. Whether you post yourself vlogging, or replace the photo-op with a quick clip, your audience will appreciate it.

Hot tip: Try to keep videos under 2 minutes. That digestible expectation will have them watching every video you publish.

3. Extending Your Soapbox to Other Community Experts

At Inman Connect last summer, we held a panel on Taking Your Blog to the Next Level. My take then (and still) is that there is way too much Realtor-on-Realtor action happening in what are supposed to be local level real estate blogs, aimed at developing an audience of potential clients. It took several paragraphs to cover all the bases in an article, so I will save the space and provide a link to the benefits of getting other local voices to carry the load of your blog content.

Hot tip: Once you know you have a local audience that cares about your efforts, it won’t be difficult to get others to provide valuable content. Trying to put the cart before the horse will be a hard sell.

4. Using Google Maps

I’m not talking about just popping a map on the site to showcase a location. Google maps are so incredibly versatile now, that the range of resources you can create for your audience is endless. To whet your appetite, here is a link to Lori Turoff’s post that describes her Open House Map for Hoboken, NJ.

Hot tip: Next week, I will be publishing a comprehensive overview on how to leverage Google Maps on your real estate blog. It will include several exciting map examples like Lori’s above. I feel that the proper use of Google Maps will be what makes your site an invaluable resource unlike any other in your community.

5. Including Unique Calls To Action

What separates a real estate blog that generates appointments from one that doesn’t? More often then not, it is Call-To-Action. As bloggers you are writers/reporters, but most importantly, you are real estate agents that need to have appointments with clients. Writing alone will not always be enough to get someone to act in a manner that leads them to working with you. Place visiblecalls to action in your navigation, in your sidebars, in your footer, in your articles, in your videos and in your email blasts.

Hot tip: Spend some money to have someone design something nice for the calls-to-action on your site. These graphics can be what get people to ‘act’ so it is worth a small investment. Mix in a theme to the graphics that you use for your calls-to-action. Cool looking icons, or a mascot will stand out, and yet not be seen as ‘pushy’.

...CONTINUED

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8 Things That You Are Not Doing On Your Real Estate Blog, But Should Be.

Social Media: It's About the Contact, Not the Conversation

2008-12-17T18:47:18Z

Social Media: It's About the Contact, Not the Conversation

We have a real treat for you today here at the Tomato. Brian Brady, easily one of the most well-known Mortgage Bloggers on the planet, has just delivered to us, a solid piece on a topic that we both feel really needs some clarity: Social Media.

If you are struggling to embrace social media as a viable marketing strategy, this post, and the announcement at the end is your ticket to success.

It's About the Contact, Not the Conversation

By Brian Brady

Google calls me "America's #1 Mortgage Broker" but funding loans is not what I do for a living. You might consider yourself to be a "real estate consultant" or a "short sale specialist" but I assure you that your job is not selling houses.

You and I are Marketers...Salespeople...Client Attractors. Our number one job is to find prospective clients. Now, I know that many folks detest that role. Nobody likes the pushy insurance agent at the Chamber of Commerce meeting or the overbearing stock broker at the family picnic. In contrast, many of us embrace the Web 2.0 revolution as a way to generate business. Certainly, blogging is one medium to attract clients BUT...

Blogging ain’t enough if you want to put up big numbers on the scoreboard. I play this game to win so I'm all about scoring points. Every day, I want to hit a grand slam, catch one in the end zone, score a hat trick, or hammer three-pointers. I EXPECT to win, every single day, because of my social media strategy.

Five years ago, I started learning how to use social media to circumvent the pending "Do Not Call" legislation. Since college, I always made my living on the telephone. A typical day consisted of me rooting through my rolodex, with two-phones glued to each ear. That damned "Do Not Call" list threatened my very existence

LinkedIn changed all that, in 2003. I was invited to LinkedIn and found that I was the only mortgage guy in a roomful of well-earning tech folks, who owned homes. Myspace came, in 2004. I honed the rich demographic data to connect me with REALTORs by creating and promoting a group called MLS on Myspace. Active Rainwas a no brainer. Facebook is the perfect combination to mix both consumer direct and professional referral platforms.

Folks on the ClueTrain might suggest that social media are "all about the conversation"; I couldn't disagree more. It's all about the contact. Your social media efforts, which include blogging, need to have some sort of ROI if you intend to thrive in business. I measure my ROI by contacts made daily. My goal, every morning, is to find five new contacts who give me permission to market to them. I engage in pull marketing through rich content and engaging hooks (I'll discuss those hooks on the webinar). It's designed to be non-intrusive and qualifying, always getting participants to "raise their hand" but it starts with the contact. If you're blogging your little heart out and nobody's reading you, you're like that tree that fell in the forest.

Let me give you an example. The Facebook status bar is a tremendous tool; it's like Twitter with pictures. I feed the Facebook community by sharing things about my life:

1- I rejoiced when the Phillies beat the Rays to win the World Series
2- I listen to George Strait
3- I voted for Mc Cain
4- I lock mortgage rates below 5%, for selected clients.

When I dropped that sub 5% rate, on my Facebook status bar, every disco lovin', Obama supporter, from Tampa Bay, wanted to talk to me...WHY?

...because I hold their interest. They needled me on Election Day, hated me when the Rays lost the World Series, and were appalled that a guy in suspenders listens to old-school country music but I hold their interest. I love people so that gives me a leg up on the competition. I congratulated them when President-Elect Obama won and taunted them throughout the World Series but I love the contact.

The contact then, becomes a conversation.

Do I troll the social media, looking for likely candidates, then spam them with a friend request? Absolutely! I love people...seriously, I LOVE them. I think everybody I haven't met is just a friend in waiting...and so should you. THAT is our job, folks. The buying, selling, and financing of houses is the easy part.

Jim Cronin and I will be holding a FREE webinar about how to make lots of friends online. I’ll walk you through how I set up my profiles, fill up my friend's lists, and engage the community. More importantly, I'll show you how those friends will become clients.

December 30
1:00PM to 2:30PM
Pacific Standard Time

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar Seat Now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/305650851

PS: Every time I speak or offer a webinar, some REALTOR says "Well, he's a lender. It's different for him". That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. I get more business from consumers than I do from REALTOR referrals and those consumers come from my social media efforts.

PPS: If you don't like the webinar, we'll refund every penny we charge you for it.

PPPS: That was a joke; the webinar is free. See you in two weeks !
—

Thanks Brian, we are thrilled to have you on the Vine!

Read more from Brian Brady:
Brian’s Website
Brian’s ActiveRain Blog
Brian’s Post Archive on the BloodhoundBlog
P: (858)- 777-9751

Inman Connect NY Real Estate Blog Makeover Contest - One Day Left!

2008-12-13T14:36:37Z

Our gift to Inman Connect NY this year is the complete makeover of one lucky, yet necessitous real estate blog.

Be certain that the re-skinning of a blog is by no means a guarantee to improve your blogging, nor your ability to generate business from the effort. This is precisely why our approach to this makeover effort is going to go way beyond first impression aesthetic. In addition to a fancy new look and feel, the blog makeover is going to include (at a minimum) Constructive Suggestions regarding:

1. Headline Writing
2. Article Aesthetic
3. Article SEO
4. Calls-To-Action and Lead Generation
5. Sidebar Management
6. Widget Management
7. PlugIn Management
8. Meta data SEO
9. Comment Aesthetic
10. RSS and Email Subscription
11. Category Organization

and much more… until they kick us off stage Wednesday.

If you are interested in being in the running to be selected as the lucky winner of this year’s Real Estate Blog Makeover, and don’t mind be ripped apart on stage by an audience of critics… you have just one day left to submit your entry.

Here's how it works:

1) Submit your blog for a makeover. To do that, simply leave a comment in the Inman Community Blog Makeover Contest Group. In your submission, make sure that you give the URL for your blog. Most importantly tell us why you think your blog deserves a makeover. Any type of submission is fine, you can write the whole thing out, make a video and link to it, be as creative as you want. The more creative, the better. This isn't a random drawing, so keep in mind that the quality of your submission matters.

2) We will collect submissions from THE COMMUNITY GROUP ONLY through Sunday, December 14, 2008.

3) We will then select one winner, who will be announced on December 17, 2008.

4) In addition to the Blog Makeover, the winner will receive a full conference registration to Inman Connect NYC '09. (winner to cover his/her own travel expenses)

5) During Bloggers Connect, the winner's blog will be discussed by all the attendees and presenters, who will offer their insight, input, and expertise as to how to create the most effective blog.

6) Using the input from Bloggers Connect, the winner will work with Jim Cronin and his team at The Real Estate Tomato to build a completely transformed blog.

7) We'll follow up with the winner and with Jim periodically afterward to see how the blog makeover has affected the winner.

If you have any questions, you can leave a comment here, or send Daniel Rothamel an email: Daniel.Rothame(at)Inman.com

So, what are you waiting for? If you have always wanted to do something new with your blog, but never thought you had the time or resources, now is your chance!

Related Articles:
Inman Community Blog Makeover Contest Group
The Official RE Blog Makeover Announcement on the Inman Blog
Inman Connect Registration (use the code tomato08 to save $150)

WARNING! Horn Tooting: The Inman List of the Top 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers for 2008 Is Out, and We're On It!

2008-11-01T02:13:20Z

After what has been an absolutely whirlwind year of company growth, product development and business travel, it’s hard to believe we had any time to blog at all. So, I have to admit, being recognized for the 2^nd year in a row as one of the most influential real estate bloggers, came as a bit of a surprise… albeit a pleasant surprise.

I’d like to think that the reason that I have been recognized as being so influential is because of the success of the many hundreds of real estate bloggers that we have developed over the last 2 years.

Collectively our clients have published 10’s of 1000’s of great looking and informative blog posts. So as much as I would like to take the credit for this achievement, the real honor belongs to our incredibly talented staff and to the dedicated bloggers of Tomato Nation.

Here’s the complete list of Inman News’ selection for 2008:
(In no particular order)

Congratulations to all those selected!

Broker and Agent Blogs

Kris Berg Founder, The San Diego Home Blog
Teresa Boardman Founder, St. Paul Real Estate Blog
Noah Rosenblatt Founder, Urbandigs.com
Daniel Rothamel Founder, Real Estate Zebra
Jay Thompson Founder, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy

Community, Multi-Author Blogs

Lani Anglin-Rosales New Media Director, Agent Genius
Greg Swann Founder, Bloodhound Blog

Mortgage Blogs

Todd Carpenter Founder, Lenderama
Dan Green Founder, The Mortgage Reports

Housing Economics Blogs

Barry Ritholtz Founder, The Big Picture
"Calculated Risk" Founder, Calculated Risk

Industry Commentary Blogs

Michael Wurzer Founder, FBS Blog
Joseph Ferrara Co-founder, Sellsius Real Estate Blog
Joel Burslem Founder, Future of Real Estate Marketing

Marketing and How-To Blogs

Dustin Luther Founder, 4Realz.net
Nicole "NikNik" Nicolay Co-author, MyTechOpinion
Jim Cronin Founder, The Real Estate Tomato

Local Blogs

Lockhart Steele Founder, Curbed
Jonathan Butler Founder, Brownstoner

Company Bloggers

Rudy Bachraty Social Media Guru, Trulia
Drew Meyers Co-author, Zillow Blog, Geek Estate Blog
Glenn Kelman Contributor, Redfin blog

Journalist Blogs

Peter Viles Co-author, L.A. Land
John Cook Co-founder, Where Are John and Todd

Housing Bubble Blogger

Patrick Killelea Founder, Patrick.net and Reality Parser

Why Should I Blog? - It's About the Value of Being Seen as the Expert in Your Niche

2008-10-23T13:23:22Z

As I was standing at the podium at the Christie’s Global Conference talking about the marriage that is Real Estate and Content, an idea struck me that at the time I only had an opportunity to touch on... knowing it deserved more.

The audience I was speaking to deals mostly in incredibly high end luxury homes. We're talking mansions, castles, villas and the like. What struck me was the idea that if you were to break down the value of their time when applied to working with one of these listings, you're easily looking at several hundred dollars an hour... and perhaps the prospect of putting several hours a week into blogging for business might be difficult to justify.

The more I thought about it and considered the true value of real estate blogging, one question came to be the measure: What would you invest to be the leader of an audience of potential and qualified clients looking forward to hearing from you?

The power of blogging and the answer to why you should, lies in the goal of developing an audience that you can lead.

Blogging is taking the initiative to be a leader, a leader in thought, reporting, opinion and exposure.

In the offline world, you may have 90% percent of your market wrapped, but what about the online mind-share?
Are you seen as the leader?
Do you have the exposure?
Are your opinions respected?
Are you recognized as a resource that stands apart?

TO CONTINUE READING PLEASE VISIT THE ARTICLE AT ITS ORIGINAL LOCATION ON THE TOMATO:

Why Should I Blog? - It's About the Value of Being Seen as the Expert in Your Niche

Disclaimer: THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

Hey Real Estate Bloggers, Where Are You Aiming When It Comes To Subscriptions and Subscribers?

2008-10-09T21:56:20Z

Today’s post is a special treat! Dave Smith of the Real Estate Blog Lab (and many other blogs) has found that he has so much to say, that he needs yet another outlet… and we’re happy to be there for him.

We are looking forward to publishing at least a couple of posts a month from him, focused specifically on our most popular topic of Real Estate Blogging Advice.

So, without further adieu…

Subscriptions and Subscribers: Where Are You Aiming?

By Dave Smith

Much is made of getting Traffic, Readers and Subscribers to your blog.

However, not all blogs should have the same goals. If your blog is monetized then it is clear that you want as many readers and subscribers as possible to see your pages. But how many of us who are Real Estate Bloggers have actually monetized our blogs and are looking to make money from traffic and clicks? I doubt very many are making a living or any real revenue from ads.

Extra reading from RET:
7 Compelling Reasons Google AdSense Will Ruin Your Real Estate Blog

I wrote today’s post to examine the difference between a short-term need Business Blog and a long-term need Business Blog.

Ongoing Interests Vs The Specific Need or Want

When I'm searching for a new home I start searching on the net. I look at homes, communities, activities etc. But once I've bought my home and moved to the community I stop reading about real estate and available homes in the community.

I was using a targeted search to find specific information about a particular event in my life.

This is unlike my hobby "Photography" this is something I'm always reading about. There are new things in the field of photography going on all the time. Cameras, software, photo sharing sites, services for storing photos. Tons of information is out there for my hobby and I subscribe to those blogs which keep me coming back and reading because this is an ongoing passion in my life.

I also subscribe to several photography magazines for the same reason. One about Landscape Photography, one about Outdoor Photography and one on photography in general. I have blogs that fit in each of these categories.

At the Real Estate Blog Lab I want subscribers.

Unless anyone plans to quit blogging or stop using WordPress as their blog platform I want readers coming back to read what I've discovered about the things going on in the WordPress and REBlogworld (I like that term, thanks to Todd Carpenter and Jason Berman).

My business blogs are not structured to attract that regular reader traffic. I'm writing to have informative content about Tucson on the internet structured in such a way that it comes up competitively in lots of different searches (The Longtail). This means I'm looking for more pre-qualified clicks and readers - not long term subscribers. If someone subscribes, that’s fine, but that's not why I'm blogging and I'm not going to focus on getting more subscribers to my business blogs.

If you author a blog with a specific topic of ongoing interest, then subscribers are your goal. If your blog is to help provide a service or meet a short term need, subscribers are bonus.

To Find The Remainder of this Informative Article, You Will Have To Visit This Article At Its Original Location On The Real Estate Tomato: Click Below.

Hey Real Estate Bloggers, Where Are You Aiming When it Comes to Subscriptions and Subscribers?

6 Secret Resources for Finding Real Estate Blog Topics That Attract Buyers.

2008-09-21T13:53:42Z

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable,
a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”

-John Buchan

Actually attracting real estate buyers through the act of blogging can be seen as a lot like fishing. It’s the location of the bait, not the quality of the equipment that hooks the fish. Knowing what to write about, at the right time, can be as rewarding as a favorite, yet little-known fishing hole.

One species of Ready-To-Act Buyer is the newly or soon to be relocated.

Knowing what questions they have and where they are finding their answers can have you standing waders deep in favorable opportunity.

New-to-towners have a ton of questions that they are using the internet to answer:

Where to stay?
Where to eat?
What activities are there to do?
What to avoid?
…and so on.

To me, the value of a local Real Estate Agent is beyond the ‘offer-to-close’ events. I see the agent as much a community consultant as a transaction consultant. A well rounded real estate blog is a reflection of this range.

You commonly see RE bloggers detailing the amenities about their different neighborhoods, reviewing a new restaurant in town, or digging up interesting historical facts.

I’ve heard the argument that these kinds of community topic posts are a detraction from gaining the Ready-To-Act Audience that we yearn for. I couldn’t disagree more. As necessary as the ‘real estate consulting’ content is, it would be like cooking without seasoning to ignore the value of well aimed, and even whimsical ‘local color’ content.

The challenge with writing effective local color content is that knowing your town doesn’t always equate to knowing what blog topics make a wise investment of your time.

There are several incredibly resourceful, yet mostly untapped websites available when it comes to uncovering the “Right Now” questions of a potentially relocating audience.

1. TripAdvisor.com

This site is actually one of my least favorite travel sites online, but yet it proves to be a fountain of topics for targeted local color articles.

The reason I dislike it is exactly the reason why it is such a great resource for topics. Every time I start searching on Google to plan a trip, this site is always in the top 10 results. I normally look to find the Mom and Pop boutique inns, and it is sites like this one that have a strangle hold on the search results, making it difficult to find the places I would prefer to stay.

Because it has such a solid search engine presence, many people looking for answers to their travel questions find themselves relying on it for answers in the well maintained forums.

Take for example a TripAdvisor search for San Diego, CA.
There are an abundance of conversations about things to do, restaurants, night-life, where to stay, attractions, and resources.

TripAdvisor Forum San Diego
Sampling of Recent Topics:
– Snorkeling in La Jolla
– Condo to rent
– Moving to San Diego
– Dinner recommendations

I must make it clear that in any social network structure you can end up wasting valuable time by getting caught up in the social aspect of it. You must always remember that you are looking to leverage these networks to improve your business, not detract from it.

Look at the exposure you can generate in forums such as TripAdvisor as opportunities to drive traffic to your blog, where readers will recognize that you are committed to their education and appreciate the focus of content you have built for them to enjoy (and respond to).

You are looking to expand the audience that embraces your blog as a resource, not necessarily mingle with them in the forums. The questions that you are answering in these environments are shared by many, and they will see you as the community expert.

Here’s the link for the United States Forums.

2. Google Maps

Search your general location at http://maps.google.com. What you find to the left of your mapped result can yield a few gems for topics that people are most commonly searching when pulling up this same map.

A quick search of San Diego, CA reveals.
San Diego Zoo
San Diego Convention Center
Sea World
Wild Animal Park
Vons
Hotel Circle
Hotel Del Coronado
Legoland
House of Blues
Seaport Village

In addition, you can see user-created maps that reveal other topics of great interest:
Tip: Zoom in to your area, and the sidebar results can change offering more local content in relation to the map.

Southern California Fire Maps
25 Reasons We Love San Diego
San Diego Reservoirs
SD Downtown Happy Hour Map

**How can these topics reel in buyers?**

It’s about covering all the bases when aiming to attract an audience interested in visiting/moving to your community.

If you are able to uncover and write about topics that are commonly sought out by people using mapping tools for your area, then you can be certain, that with theSEO power of your blog, you will be getting yourself in front of a similar audience, through the search engines.

In the above example, the topics are on the minds of people searching about San Diego. Rather than guessing what people coming into the area are looking for answers to, now you can start fishing where they school.

To Find Out What The Remaining 4 Secret Resources Are, You WIll Have To Visit This Article At Its Original Location On The Real Estate Tomato: Click Below.

6 Secret Resources for Finding
Real Estate Blog Topics That Attract Buyers.

Announcing the Launch of Real Estate Tomato 2.0 - Community. Knowledge. Excellence.

2008-09-02T13:06:59Z

For the last 2+ years, we have been forwarding the domain name RealEstateTomato.com to this blog (realestatetomato.typepad.com). Today, that changes. We are happy to announce the launch of the official website for our company and community, RealEstateTomato.com!

This blog here will continue to be our Real Estate Blogging Advice column, and for now will remain mostly unchanged.

So why the new site?

1. Community First

The care that we put into each and every client, has us feeling like one big family. Each blogging client has a relationship with our whole crew, and many of them with each other.

The homepage of the new RET is dedicated to showcasing our extended family by displaying the latest articles published in the network*, as well as featuring their avatars and blogsites as featured bloggers.

In the next couple of weeks we will be bringing the whole family even closer together by turning on a universal, members only, back-end blog that will be shared by ever member of our community. As they log in to blog to their local audience, they will have the option of being exposed to a national conversation centered around the art of blogging. Advice, announcements, discoveries, videos, tips, studies, contests and business referrals are just a sampling of the topics that we will maintain and encourage on the Real Estate Tomato Vine.

2. Separating the Message from Messenger

As effective as the blog has been at inspiring potential clients to contact us about our products and services, I’ve always felt that the true nature of our business model and offerings has been less than obvious to the casual observer.

The clean, uncluttered presentation of the new website gives visitors a clear understanding of our services as well as our community focus and most recent blogging advice articles.

Clear descriptions of our Agent Blogsites, Broker Blogsites, Tomato University Course, A La Carte Training, and Community Vine make it much easier for visitors to answer their questions about our ability to service their needs.

3. Change is Good

We all get tired of the same experience over and over, and I had finally had it with giving everyone else a new home, while we were still in the same one we moved into Day 1. A new coat of color scheme, a new layout, and a new slogan have us all feeling energized and in step with the progressive changes we have in store.

Many have noticed that our own blogging came to (another) halt this past month, and it is because every bit of spare time has been dedicated to launching our new home. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Twitter Explained for the Real Estate Blogger

2008-07-31T14:28:38Z

I knew that Todd Carpenter's guest post was going to open a can of worms for me. I spent a good part of yesterday fielding questions about "this Twitter". I know I'm not the first to bring an explanation to the interweb, but it's going to save me from having to do it again.

Do you remember when you first grasped the idea of texting on your cell phone?

I remember thinking, "Who on Earth would waste their time doing such a thing?"
Now, texting has become such a part of my daily communications that I send and receive several hundreds of texts a month.

Initially, Twitter struck me exactly the same way. However, now it is starting to become an integral part of the way that I 'feel' connected to my online network.

For the Newbie, Twitter is an Awkward Tool.

Short messages, describing what you are up to at the moment, published online, for the odd folk that care.
"Sitting in row KK, seat 32 at the A's vs Red Sox game."
"Just finished dinner at the Waffle House, here's a pic"
"Why am I still up?"
"At Starbucks by the Palace, join us!"
"just accidentally dropped my Treo in the toilet"

Some of the above are real and some are feigned, but you can’t tell which is which... which is the point. Anything goes with a Twitter update - a Tweet if you will.

One of the reasons why a non-Twitterer may still not see the value and allure of Tweeting is because they can't see the need.

Just as I couldn’t see the need to text, when I had a perfectly fine communication device in my hand called the phone. Why take the time to type out a less than descriptive message to someone when I could just as easily ring them up for a chat?
If I wanted to type something to somebody, well, why not just send an email?

Twitter is not unlike the text message, but rather than use it to communicate to an individual or a specific group, it is a broadcast of your current state, to anyone who cares.

How Twitter Works:

Twitter asks you, "What are you doing?"
You type in a message no longer than 140 characters.
Fortunately, the message can include links, which help you expand your message by sending the reader to a website, image, podcast, blog article, etc.
Click "update" and the message is now broadcast for all those that care.

...CONTINUED

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Twitter Explained for the Real Estate Blogger

Photo Editing For Real Estate Blogs Couldn't Be Simpler - PicNik

2008-07-31T14:22:12Z

From time to time we recommend tools and services that are universally handy for your real estate blog. Teresa Boardman, HRH, has a quick one to share with you, that has become a staple in her blogging routine.

Photo Editing For Real Estate Blogs Couldn't Be Simpler

By Teresa Boardman

Nothing dresses up a blog post like a photo, especially on real estate blogs. Our readers really like to see some real estate when they stop by.

Most photos need some editing before they can be published on the internet. They need to be lightened up a bit and made smaller, and it doesn't hurt to sharpen them and tweak the contrast a bit, and crop them as needed.

Some of the photo editing software is pretty expensive and not all that easy to use. I have been using picnik (http://www.picnik.com) for much of my photo editing It is free but I am using the $25 a year premium version because I am worth it. Although the free version works well for photo editing, it is missing some of the cool photo effects, fonts and frames.

Picnik is on the internet and does not require any software download; just upload the photos and edit them online. I can put frames around them, write on them and or apply photo effects. When I am done I can save them in the perfect size and resolution for my blog.

The site is very easy to use, and many of the "automatic fixes" work just fine. Once a photo is edited it can be saved to Flickr, Facebook, blogger and several other sites. They can also be saved on my hard drive. Another really cool option is that photos that are currently in your Flickr account can be edited using Picnik and then saved back into Flickr.

Her website: www.TBoardman.com
Her blog: www.StPaulRealEstateBLOG.com
Voice: 651-216-4603

Thank you Teresa.
As always, it’s a pleasure having you 'on the Vine'.

Original location of this post:

Photo Editing For Real Estate Blogs Couldn't Be Simpler - PicNik

Real Estate Blog Growing Pains? Share the Load, Multiply the Success.

2008-06-23T11:48:10Z

In preparation for my participation at Inman Connect 2008, I have been thinking a lot about our panel topic, Growing Pains: Take Your Blog to the Next Level.

Today’s post is a run-together of the relevant points on this topic, the way I see it.

If you are experiencing “Growing Pains” in your blogging, I guess it would entail that you have been at it now for at least the last year, and in some cases much longer. In addition, you probably find the following list familiar.

1. Your blog is at the center of your Online Marketing Strategy.
2. You enjoy the Discipline of blogging regularly.
3. You have integrated your blog into your Offline Marketing.
4. You are Generating Leads and Clients as a result of your blogging.
5. You have earned Prime Position in the Search Engines for desired terms.
6. You are recognized as an Authority on the topics you cover.

So where does a real estate blogger go from here?

Well, what are your Needs?

1. More Content
2. More Authority
3. More Exposure
4. More Business
5. More Relationships

The Tendencies are to look for New Tools, New Design, and/or New Knowledge.
However, I don’t know that any of these will make any real difference.

In an earlier post, I penned that the Future of the Real Estate Blog is inevitably going to yield to proficient video bloggers. However, I don’t feel that embracing video is the next step for bloggers experiencing growing pains.

Although I still believe that video will be an amazingly successful tool for those that master its application, I don’t see it to be universally leveraged in the real estate industry.

(On a side note, if you want to watch what fellow panelist Daniel Rothamel’s first thoughts on our topic are, go check out his vlog.)

Blogging, even with all the attention it has garnered over the last couple of years, is only being used as an effective marketing tool by less than 1% of active Realtors. Vlogging (video blogging) is a similar effort to blogging, in that to be successful it will require discipline, creativity, consistency, skill and practice. Given the effort required, I’m not going to broadly encourage bloggers with growing pains to jump on the vlogging train to solve the above Needs.

What then?

My first impression of the Real Estate Business was watching my father, who has been the broker of a successful boutique real estate office for longer than I have been alive. Admittedly, as a boy, I had little understanding of what he actually did for a living other than:
1. He took lots of pictures of houses and property.
2. He seemed to know everyone in town.

Continued... There's plenty more!

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A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

2008-06-10T11:41:20Z

About a month ago I received, in the mail (yes, the kind with real letters, bills and magazines) an envelope with 3 items in it.

The first was a a New Blog Announcement, something like a Baby Announcement: It’s a BLOG!

The second a business card showcasing the Blog Address and contact information for Michael Bergin and Virginia Amos (on the reverse), proud new owners (and authors) of GWSleptHere.com.

For those not “in the know” – GWSleptHere is embracing the common local claim to various local destinations in greater Alexandria, VA, that the Father of our nation, President George Washington, slept on the grounds.

The third item was a a faded $1 bill likeness (you know, the one with George Washington on it) offering a quick and easy was to receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card: Subscribe to GWSleptHere.com.

I found the marketing idea so clever and fun, that I immediately went and subscribed to make sure I was one of the first 50. I’m sure his local audience got their announcements days before me, given that I live 3000 miles from Alexandria, VA.

Fast forward to yesterday.

In the mail, as promised, I received my $5 Starbucks Gift Card, along with a very nice, handwritten note thanking me for my subscription, and to our team for doing such a wonderful job on their new blog. So, not only have Michael and Virginia earned my (and many others’) subscription, but they also get a huge shoutout from the Tomato!

I’ll ask Michael to give us an update in the comments as to how many he sent out, the investment and the number of subscribers they have earned with their campaign.

So, if you want to read a real estate blogging team that really has the hang of blogging for business, go check out GWSleptHere.com, and be sure to subscribe to their feed.

To see how much Michael and Virginia spent on this campaign, and other comments, please visit the original location of this article on the Real Estate Tomato :

A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

The Real Estate Broker Blog 2.0 - Plug In To The Solution

2008-05-28T15:15:38Z

**Disclaimer**

This post is a blantant pitch for our exciting new product, the Real Estate Broker Blog. Feel free to ignore it completely if you can resist its delicious chocolate chip cookie smell.

**End of Disclaimer**

Last year we launched the first of it's kind Real Estate Broker Blog.

Because of its innovation and wild success, Beth Butler, the Broker responsible for the project, has been asked to speak at Inman Connect in San Francisco this summer.

Her topic: "How One Broker Is Making Group Blogging Work"

Here's a quick overview of the EWM Project's current stats:

-14 Offices with 750+ Agents
-400+ agents have posted since launch last year.
-100+ post regularly (a few times a month)
-10,000+ Posts to date
-Easily 100's of Leads Generated (sales, leases, listings, press requests)
-Dozens and dozens of Sales
-60 Percent of Inbound Traffic from SE's (read: Google)
-1000's of Daily Hits

Well, from all that we learned over the last year, designing, developing and managing this massive project, we've found some room to make improvements. In fact, we learned so much, that the entire approach has changed enough for us to call the product the Real Estate Broker Blog 2.0.

Besides Beth's Company Blog (http://blog.EWM.com), there are very few successful Broker Blogs on the internet, and the reasons abound:

1. Price: The development of an office-wide, comprehensive and organized blogsite is quite the project.
2. Getting Agents to Blog in the First Place: The Benefit, The Commitment and The Education.
3. Providing a Win-Win Solution for the Agents': Agents aren’t going to just blog for the Good of the company.
4. Security and Moderation Control: Brokers are responsible for the content that is published to their site.

And then, there are other challenges that are sure to develop:

1. Agents come and go... what then?
2. Future Customization for Broker and Agents: Upgrades, Designs, PlugIns and Functionalities.

Well, we've solved all the above and more!

With one package product, we are now providing Real Estate Brokerages (large and small) with the following:

1. Full Featured Custom Company Blogsite

    a. Custom Design from Scratch
    b. Unlimited Content Pages and Lead Generation Forms
    c. State of the Art Company Blog
    d. Integration of Broker IDX
    e. User Friendly Content Management System (CMS) for In-House Editing.
    f. Open Source Platform

The Company Blogsite plays two roles. First of all it is a full blown real estate broker website, housing pages about the company, its agents and services, as well as it's lead generation forms and IDX MLS searching tools.

And secondly, it is the destination for a re-syndication (republishing) of all the content written by the agents on their personal blogsites. This creates greater exposure for the agents' blog articles, and establishes the company blogsite as an enormous cumulative resource.

...Continued. There's Plenty More!

Such as:
2. Unlimited Agent Blogsites
3. Company Intranet Blog and User Management
...and how we've overcome all the above challenges...

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Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.

2008-03-31T22:20:31Z

Thanks to the recent frequency and quality of guest posts, I’ve had the pleasure of taking a little time off from shouldering the content on the Tomato. Keeping in stride, we have another treat for you. Todd Carpenter, ubiquitous RE.net participant, and owner and author of the globally appreciated mariah.com (a web 2.0 real estate network of websites), just emailed over this solid piece weighing the value of blogging for Search Engine exposure.

Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.
By Todd Carpenter

What’s the difference between a blogging expert and a real estate expert?

Blogging experts may or may not understand how the real estate industry operates. Take, for example the theory forwarded that, for the sake of superior Google search results, bloggers should not write about their community. That instead, they should stick to posts that are only about real estate itself.

You’ll get no argument from me that a real estate blogger should blog about real estate. Blog about your listings. Blog about your open houses. Blog about market conditions. Blog about foreclosures. You’re a real estate agent, of course you should write about real estate.

Blogging this way and you’ll get search engine traffic. However, blogging only about real estate means leaving much of a blog's marketing power at the table.

Some experts scoff at the idea of blogging about the community, or local businesses, or even writing a restaurant review. These topics may not drive in large numbers of web driven leads, but let’s face it, you can BUY Internet leads. You’re not in the Internet leads business. You’re in the real estate business.

Step away from blogging for a minute and think about how successful real estate agents market in the real world.

Referrals are key to driving a successful real estate business. I’ll take one referral from a real live human over a hundred from Google. Referrals from past clients are very powerful, but you can use you’re blog to create a referral stream from people you’ve never worked with before.

...Continued - Where is John going with this?

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Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?

2008-03-27T13:25:58Z

John Coley, still my favorite Lake Martin, Alabama blogger, sent over this gem, and I couldn’t wait to post it for your enjoyment.

Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?

By John Coley

I recently got rejected on a listing presentation, and it hurt.
Unless you're a realtor that signs up 100% of your listing presentations, you know what I mean.

This one was particularly painful because it was to list a couple's lake home and help them buy another. The combination of the two homes would have been about $2 million in gross sales, which buys a lot of groceries in Alabama. It also hurt because I felt I had a really good relationship with the husband. He contacted me out of the blue. We talked a lot. He liked the way I marketed other homes in the area. So I was surprised to hear that I had lost at the last minute to someone else.

I swallowed my pride and tried to salvage the episode by getting some good feedback.

I said, "I'll be honest.. I am really surprised. I thought that you all had made up your mind to let me help you. Please do me a favor. Can you give me the full unfiltered truth, even if it hurts my feelings? How did I miss this one?"

And he told me, bless him. He's one of the few people out there that will really tell you what they think. I am so glad he didn't spare my feelings; what he said flabbergasted me as much as it helped my career.

He: "My wife didn't want to go with you."

His wife?? Up until then, he had been my main contact. I had offered to meet with them both in person, but they declined for the sake of time. How could she not like me if we had never met?

Me: (cringing) "Why didn't your wife want to let me help?"

He: "I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but it's because you're a man."

What? Have I just become a victim of discrimination? He's kidding, right? No, he wasn't.

He went on to say that his wife felt that she could not work well with a male agent. In their past real estate transactions, she liked dealing with women.

I thanked him profusely for his honesty. The conversation ended on a positive note, but I was frustrated. As a man, how can I overcome that objection? Sure, there are a lot of great female realtors in the world. I know many. But there are also a lot of great male ones, too. I really think that I could have done a great job for these folks.

So how can I lessen the chances of this happening again?

...CONTINUED

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Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?

All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So.

2008-03-26T13:56:58Z

I know what you are thinking…”not another SEO article, please…”

SEO focused companies have secrets.
They want you to think that you need them to get you to the top of the search engines.
They want you to think that you need to learn the complex details or you will fail.
They want you to think that there is so much that goes into it, that you'd be a fool to not put your faith in them.
They want you to think that your success depends on their knowledge and tools.
They want you to think that their advice will make "all the difference".

Well folks, the truth is, when it comes to blogging, SEO consulting is a lot like cold medicine. When you catch a cold, if you don't take medicine you are going to be sick for seven days. However, if you do take cold medicine it is going to only be a week before you're healthy.

The fallacy of SEO advice is that Correlation does not always imply Causation. Just because you took your cold medicine, and then got better in a week, it does not imply that it improved your health. It just made you feel like you were doing something positive.

When it comes to blogging, many of those that are currently holding the top spots in the search engines have done it without much concern for SEO. In fact, it may have never even crossed their minds.

Well Then, How Did They Do It?

They blogged, they blogged and then they blogged some more.
They blogged on topic. They blogged on the topic for which they were looking to be found.

So, if you want to be found in the Search Engines for terms that you expect will generate an audience that will develop into leads, then you need to blog those topics.

Is it really that simple, Jim? Yes it is.

But what about all those advertisements and remedies we hear about that are designed to help us be found in the search engines? Should I not be taking those as prescribed?
You can. And they may make you feel better about everything. But an active blog, on target and on topic is a healthy blog.

So what's the SEO equivalent to "stay home, get some rest, and drink lots of fluids"? Surely you can't completely ignore some advice.

There are some basic guidelines, but once you read them, you'll realize that they mostly common sense, and not some packaged remedy.

...CONTINUED

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The Real Estate Tomato

iBidcondo.com – The New Way to Buy Real Estate

The 11 Most Common Pitfalls For New Real Estate Bloggers

1. Worrying About Design Before the Writing

2. Failing To Establish A Clear Focus for the Content

3. Failing to Recognize and Write to Their Ideal Reader

4. Failing to Read and Learn from Other Bloggers

IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

Jeff Turner of Real Estate Shows To Appear LIVE on Tomato Radio, TODAY July 1st at 3pm PST.

Call in #: 347-884-9764 Click Here to Listen Online (starting at 3pm PST)

Todayy, July 1st, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Jeff Turner, president of Real Estate Shows.

Listen to Tomato Radio Today At 3pm PST: We're Getting a Behind The Scene Look At ActiveRain with Jeff Corbett (VP of Operations).

An Honest Look at the Impact of Video on Your Real Estate Blog

Welcome to our latest Tomato Collaborative Article where we cover the topic of Video in Real Estate Blogging.

Pros:

The Audience Better Identifies With Author.

Video Is Not a Fad

Search Engine Results

Convenience For Your Audience

Cons?

IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

How Does Teresa Boardman Post Every Day To Her Real Estate Blog?

For most, the most challenging element of blogging is clearly finding time and the act of pounding out an article. Even our clients, whom we train, and train and train some more on the best approaches to blogging find that keeping a consistent blogging pace is difficult to maintain.

Writing About Writing

I am going to share some tricks that have worked for me.

Real Estate and Twitter - Use Hashtags to Dominate a Niche.

Why follow Hashtags instead of just keywords on Twitter?

Participating with Hashtags on Twitter.

IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

Don't Miss May 15th Tomato Radio Episode: Online Video In Real Estate

This month's Tomato Radio Show is Dedicated to Discussing Online Video in Real Estate: Video Blogging, Live Testimonials, Property Highlights, Community Reviews, and More!

We have 2 very special guests:

How Do I Call In?: (347) 884-9764

Lost In The Crowd: Realtors Fail To Effectively Leverage Social Media.

Don't Get Caught On Your Knees Sifting For Gold When You Could Be On Stage, Making A Lasting Impression.

But there's a problem.

IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.

8 Things That You Are Not Doing On Your Real Estate Blog, But Should Be.

1. Microblogging

2. Video Blogging

3. Extending Your Soapbox to Other Community Experts

4. Using Google Maps

5. Including Unique Calls To Action

Social Media: It's About the Contact, Not the Conversation

It's About the Contact, Not the Conversation

Inman Connect NY Real Estate Blog Makeover Contest - One Day Left!

Here's how it works:

WARNING! Horn Tooting: The Inman List of the Top 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers for 2008 Is Out, and We're On It!

Broker and Agent Blogs

Community, Multi-Author Blogs

Mortgage Blogs

Housing Economics Blogs

Industry Commentary Blogs

Marketing and How-To Blogs

Local Blogs

Company Bloggers

Journalist Blogs

Housing Bubble Blogger

Why Should I Blog? - It's About the Value of Being Seen as the Expert in Your Niche

Blogging is taking the initiative to be a leader, a leader in thought, reporting, opinion and exposure.

Hey Real Estate Bloggers, Where Are You Aiming When It Comes To Subscriptions and Subscribers?

Today’s post is a special treat! Dave Smith of the Real Estate Blog Lab (and many other blogs) has found that he has so much to say, that he needs yet another outlet… and we’re happy to be there for him.

Subscriptions and Subscribers: Where Are You Aiming?

Ongoing Interests Vs The Specific Need or Want

6 Secret Resources for Finding Real Estate Blog Topics That Attract Buyers.

1. TripAdvisor.com

2. Google Maps

How can these topics reel in buyers?

Announcing the Launch of Real Estate Tomato 2.0 - Community. Knowledge. Excellence.

1. Community First

2. Separating the Message from Messenger

3. Change is Good

Twitter Explained for the Real Estate Blogger

For the Newbie, Twitter is an Awkward Tool.

How Twitter Works:

Photo Editing For Real Estate Blogs Couldn't Be Simpler - PicNik

Photo Editing For Real Estate Blogs Couldn't Be Simpler

Real Estate Blog Growing Pains? Share the Load, Multiply the Success.

So where does a real estate blogger go from here?

A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

Call in #: 347-884-9764
Click Here to Listen Online (starting at 3pm PST)

Todayy, July 1^st, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Jeff Turner, president of Real Estate Shows.

**How can these topics reel in buyers?**

Such as:
2. Unlimited Agent Blogsites
3. Company Intranet Blog and User Management
...and how we've overcome all the above challenges...