Neat, Cheap Flash generator, for almost dummies - 05/29/07 06:00 PM
Ever hear of SwishZone?  http://www.swishzone.com/.  Product is called SwishMax, $99 dollars.  Really.  Lots of templates, built in stuff.  Some free, some not.  Lots of people build things that you can drop pictures in, buy templates (like http://www.mostertemplate.com/) that use swish.  Really neat toy. 
Yes - a photographer background helps, and a little website knowledge would be nice too.  But really, considering you get flash?  Or you can make self starting files for CD's
Just for fun, check out this page we're doing for a subdivision...
http://whyrealtyworld.com/sycamore_pond/test/lotmap.htm
 Have fun!!
… (1 comments)

Agent Achieve - Lucero - First American - NEXT??? - 05/29/07 05:54 PM
THANK GOODNESS!!  Long conversation with Keith Hunter from Lucero/Market Linx.  He is heading up Agent Achieve, which will integrate with Lucero, and they are all owned by First American.  See where this is headed?  I'm a Beta tester for the Lucero RETS connection.  I get to load all the company listings into Lucero.  My central hub for accounting, agents, contacts, and soon to be Web and marketing thru Agent Achieve.  I can't wait.
My agents should love it too, integrated websites, contacts, follow up, tons of lead management.  As the broker I get to make sure they take care of the Leads … (2 comments)

Wichita Really is a Good place to live! Here's the proof... - 05/24/07 09:13 AM
Schools:  Newsweek ranks the top High Schools in the US every year.  4 made the listin Kansas.  3 are in the Kansas City area.  Wichita has the fourth school.  Ranked at # 527 is East High school, old established school in the middle of Wichita, and home of the International Baccalaureate program.  Tests showed more students preparing for College, and taking the exams than any other school in the area.
Next, according to the ERC (association for Workforce mobility) Wichita was named as the #2 Best medium sized city to raise a family in.  Nice to hear, good school, good for families.  … (0 comments)

My Tech class review - 6 months makes a big difference!! - 05/23/07 09:51 PM
I'm teaching technology for Realtors tomorrow at our local board.  You would think this would be easy?  I read my outline from 6 months ago.  OH BOY.  Maybe I've learned more?  Maybe a lot of technology is coming to the rank and file.  I've made lots of adjustments.
First, the class is difficult because of age difference.  Some "older" folks are just getting their first Cell phone.  Next to them is the 20 something who can text faster than I can type.  How do I keep the interest of one, without losing the other completely?  With a good mix I guess.
First and foremost, … (3 comments)

God is first, even outside Keller Williams!! - 05/22/07 12:21 PM
Normally, I wouldn't write about my Christianity in a forum like this, but I feel compelled after 2 very gross, nasty statements about Greensburg Kansas, Jerry Falwell, and someone's misguided Christianity hate beliefs on one of my blogs.  I once had a broker, jealous of KW's recruiting success, who said - "God first?  Who are they kidding.  We all know better than that".  I chose not to comment (you had to be there).  I'm somewhat jealous of KW's success, I wish I was doing better.  I know people in KW, and from their actions, I know God isn't first in their … (7 comments)

Another Web site provider - LinkURealty - 05/19/07 06:50 PM
Because I didn't read all the blogs, I find myself asking questions that others have answered already.  So I checked this time first, and no one else has mentioned this company yet - so here goes:
www.LinkURealty.com  I had to call to see if they were for real.  And they are.  And I have no reservations talking about them.  $45/month.  NO CONTRACT.  Not so great?  That's because you don't know the features....
First, you need to know at $45, I'm paying the additional $15 per month for the IDX link, in that $45.  And for that, I get drip email, integrated IDX and … (4 comments)

Wichita River Festival 2007 - 05/19/07 10:12 AM

The River Festival ends tonight.  For those who haven't heard of it, the Grand Finale is GREAT.  The Wichita Symphony plays for an hour or better.  Patty Austin is paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald this year. Every year the show  ends with the 1812 Oveture.  The finish of that piece has Cannons from Fort Riley shooting off at the end.  It's fantastic.
Then:  Fireworks over the Arkansas (the river above).  All of this is outdoors, and also simulcast on Radio.  We've been blesses with one of the Greates Firework companies in the world call Wichita their home.  Fireworks are alwas set to musice, … (0 comments)

Web Help - - Myers? Birdview? iHouse Web? What's a broker to do!! - 05/18/07 05:42 PM
Well, I've designed my own - Including Flash.  Don't want that much work anymore.  iHouse was OK, but NO CHANGES.  AT ALL.  I told them our franchise logo was outdated.  They submitted a request.  Wasn't changed after 3 months.
I'm liking Myers, I can HTML in it, and the templates are very good.  Great flash header selection.  Priced well, and I just keep adding pages.  BUT, their IDX provider doesn't service our area (wichita kansas).  So I'm left with iHouse for IDX framed, and no real integration.
I use Intersend now, and love the product.  Birdview would be perfect for web and IDX, but … (12 comments)

Late 60 minutes 2 bits - God bless Free enterprise!!! - 05/14/07 08:54 PM
The 2 bit up there isn't a mistake.  remember "shave and a haircut, 2 bits"?  Wish that a quarter would go that far...
Having got that out of the way, let's talk reality.  Free enterprise is good, for America, for Realtors.  Bad service from a cut rate broker will make us look good.  Good service from a cut rate will make us sharper.  Competition does that everywhere.  And we all know, most of us do charge 6%.  I do, and I think I provide better service than a lot of guys up the street.  And I better be ready to tell a … (2 comments)

Make Localism for the CONSUMER!!! - 05/14/07 08:29 AM
I opened up this brainstorming blog today.  I was interested in lots of articles, but something caught my eye about "when Localism Launches".  I wasn't quite aware it hadn't lauche.  I mean I see the "Beta" at the top, but figured something must have started.  I'm left wondering what will happen when it Launches!!
So, being the good little SEO I try to be, I googled "Localism".  #2 on the page (below Wikipedia).  Not bad for something that hasn't launched.  Of course, at the moment, very few people will search for Localism.  I'm really curious what the Launch is about.
So I opened … (10 comments)

Wichita Kansas River Festival - 05/13/07 09:45 PM
We're rolling now.  The weekends events were good (concerts esp.), and the weather looks good for tomorrow.  I'm posting a link to the Page with tomorrow's events, http://www.wichitariverfestival.com/events4.cfm.  But I want to comment on a couple of things.
The Bob Strubble Memorial Golf Tournament was named after a long time, very respected Realtor in the Wichita Kansas area.  It's nice to see one of our own remembered each year.
2 events downtown for music lovers, and both free with your button.  Gospel, and Opera.  AND (if the river flow is down), golfers can chip a ball from the bank of the river … (2 comments)

Showing Services - 05/13/07 09:04 PM
I touched on this with my last post, but let me go into it further.
I've used a couple of showing services, and I'm sure there are many around the country.  www.eshowings.com works this way.  Every morning they get a feed from our local MLS with all the listings.  If one of my company listings is new, their computer creates a site for that listing.  That site comes up 1 day after the listing is put in.  So, day 2 of the listing Mr. Lister logs into eshowings, and he pulls up his listings.  Behold, one has no showing instructions.  Mr. Lister … (22 comments)

How to be different giving the same service? - 05/13/07 07:20 PM
Our local board is considering a single showing service for all our members.  You know about showing services - they make the appointments, log them in, some have websites for the seller and agent.  The showing agent calls the service and they set the appointment based on the listing agents showing instructions.
So why would a MLS board want to get involved in that?  Because with a single service, a button could be place on the listing info.  When you pull up a listing that your client wants to see, click the button and put down the showing time/date.  They email you … (4 comments)

Drip Email - 05/07/07 09:50 PM
I'm not the first to write about this, but am I ever impressed.  http://www.intersend.com/.  Just fantastic, and not very expensive for what you get.  Complete drip email campaigns:
Just check out the clients you can select:
No, I don't work for them, I just discovered this system.  All Campaigns written but customizeable.  And these really do follow up for you.  Name merge, classification, the buyer after closing goes for 5 years!!!
I did 2 things, custom my email template ($30 with the discount), and customized all my web forms so they are inserted into intersend as soon as the client hits the send button.  … (6 comments)

Greensburg Kansas is suffering - 05/07/07 09:26 PM
I am from the land of Oz, but far away from Greensburg.  Still in the lower half of the state.  Many people have asked me is we're alright (Wichita didn't get touched), and what they could do to help.  Before I answer that, let me tell you a little more.
This was the strongests tornado in the US for more than 9 years.  It was over a mile wide (one of my Realtor friends is a storm chaser, I think he said 1.8 miles).  Citizens were kept away from their homes until this morning (last nights storms were bad too).  They had … (15 comments)

Citi card Really does have a heart.... Really. - 05/05/07 04:37 PM
I've heard that Realtors aren't making as much money as we were.  On top of that, I decided to change a successful New Home brokerage and added a Resale department with Realty World.  Now, I suspect that many of us have found ourselves with less than perfect credit.  And during these time when the housing market isn't as robust as a couple of years ago.  So, throw that in with some REALLY massive medical problems with my wife's brother, personal medical problems, and some MAJOR dental work for my wife (thanks to bad dentistry 10 years ago), we've been a little … (5 comments)

Applaud the Localism Brainstorming moderators!!! - 05/04/07 07:53 AM
Ok, I'm new.  And I'm complaining already.  Nope, got off on the wrong foot.  Kingdom thinking.
I received an email from the Localism crew.  The were questioning a post, wondering why it would be a good Localism topic, and informed me they were trying to clean up Localism to pertinent posts.  Brilliant, Wonderful idea.  Let's keep on topic.  I removed my post, and thanked them for their efforts.
You see, when I posted, I wanted to make sure EVERYONE got to see my post.  I wanted to get lots of points, I decided that what I had to share was something the world … (4 comments)

All new Realtors, take heart: Can't be as bad as this one... - 05/02/07 02:51 PM
The year is 1995.  November, I've been a Realtor for 9 months, and made $6000.  Our average home price today is $115,000, so I'm guessing maybe $90,000 back then?  And I had worked around some 40K to 50K houses.  Friend of my Wife, he wants to buy a $250k-300k home.  Hot dog.  Now I'm going to make some big bucks.  Small problem, he wants the Great American Dream (sing along, you know it); big sprawling ranch; acreage; lake on property; trees, no one around.....  And he doesn't care how far he has to drive to see everything (read, my gas.....).  I'm … (27 comments)

Things to know about Wichita Kansas - 05/02/07 02:50 PM
Wichita, also known as the Air Capital of the World, is the largest city in the state of Kansas.  Kansas City as a whole is larger, but it is split between 2 states.  Wichita is a major aircraftt manufacturing hub (the city is home to six major aircraft manufacturing companies) and cultural center as well.  In July of 2006, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Wichita ninth on its list of the 10 best big cities to live in the United States. The city is home to six major aircraft manufacturing companies.  The 51st largest city in the US, we have a … (0 comments)

Terradatum Broker Metrics/Agent metrics - 05/02/07 01:41 PM
Is anyone using Terradatum?  http://www.terradatum.com .  I've been trying to sign up with them, and introduce them to my local MLS.  Seems like the contracts have been going back and forth for a while.  I'm beggining to wonder whether it's going to be worth it or not.  Pretty expensive on the broker side, but the most comprehensive package I've ever seen.  Please tell me I'm not waisting my time/money.
The Broker metrics will pin down agents, time on market, aged listings, grosses, $ from listing, selling, both, and more.  Seems like a great recruiting tool.
 I guess I'd like to know if anyone … (7 comments)

Post card mailing interface with MLS - 05/02/07 07:22 AM
I buried this in another post, but it bears it's own posting.  I believe strongly in technology that makes our lives easier, and interfaces to keep our data entry low.  http://www.mlsmailings.com/ is one of these.  Sign up for the service (free), they interface with your MLS.  When you have an active listing, they detect it, and wait up to 10 days for a photograph to be posted.  They take that address, and pull from their database the 100 nearest home owners, print a "just listed" card with your picture, and home picture.  Then they mail it to the residents.  100 cards, printed … (3 comments)

The four words I hate, $ per sq ft, continued - 05/01/07 09:07 AM
I hate when people think that all houses are created the same.  It's worse here in Wichita (I think) because we have basements here, and finishing an already existing basement costs around $18 per ft, compared to main floor at $90-100-110, or more.  We had a builder quoting $65 per foot on homes.  My figures told me he was avering in the basement, and the house was floating in Mid Air (no lot included.  I hate this, kind of like buying a car, then having the dealer tell you the tires would be extra...)
We combated this ad with our own ad.  Little hard to … (3 comments)

Realty World Convention - 05/01/07 07:26 AM
2007 in Orlando Florida.  What a great time.
 
My little car made the 1400 mile trip, and I even was asked for my buiz card 3 times during the trip.  Customers who wanted to buy Real Estate.
Garrison Wynn from Wynn Solutions was our first speaker, and a very Powerfull one at that.  His new book, Speaking of Success is coauthored "Garrison Wynn joins best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey, Ken Blanchard and Jack Canfield in a new book on success! Click for details".  He spoke around the topic of trust, and why it is important in sales.
Another powerful speaker was Allen F. Hainge's CyberStar(r) … (3 comments)

Wichita Kansas Annual River Festival - 05/01/07 06:51 AM
Our 26th Annual River Festival begins May 11th, and ends on the 19th.  The week long event is visited by almost 400,000 over 9 days, including about 150 hours of music by over 100 bands.  This year Chris Daughtry, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf and the Little River band will perform.  The premier events include the Sundowner Parade, and the Twilight Pops concert followed by a music/fireworks display.  For full Details visit http://www.wichitariverfestival.com/index.cfm or visit http://www.wichitafestivals.com/ for pics of previous years.
… (1 comments)

 

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