Live chat for your Website, CHEAP - 06/24/07 05:08 PM
After several bouts of "Click here for Live support" from many websites lately, I thought this could be a very good, well marketed idea for Realtors.  Seemed simple, a Non-confrontational way to let consumers chat with a realtor, try to point them in the right direction, earn consumer trust, then try to capture contact info.  I've researched many companies, and think I found the most cost effective for small companies.  www.ProvideSupport.com.  Many plans, but if you only have 1 agent on at a time, $35 for 3 months, plus a 10 day trial.  Fully customizable templates & buttons, access from downloaded … (4 comments)

I like Z57 site, and all they're for Me, + Link U Realty - 06/24/07 04:45 PM
I'm a techy.  My wife thinks a Laptop is permanently attached (she's threatened to by the computer a "Nighty".  Most of my time has been spent working tho, so it's a good thing.
Z57 has been my template site of choice.  It's been a long road to get here.  I tried 3 different Template sites, and have designed my own template, flash, and some minor Java & PHP coding.  I still have the site I designed for recruiting (www.whyrealtyworld.com) as well as others.  So why would I look for a template?  And what set them apart?
First, the home page and navigation.  I believe … (13 comments)

Google Gadgets real estate calendar!! Cool... - 06/17/07 09:49 AM
This is COOL:  I wish I could show it here, but AR doesn't let me paste in Java I guess.
Real Etate Calendar links you to Google Gadgets for your website.  I found lots of fun things there, like Asteroids and Pacman, but I found this useful link to.  It brings up daily Real Estate trivia, yesterday was when the first Elevator was made, today is about first and second home-buyers.  I WILL be putting this on my home page.
I say will, because my home page is editable by HTML, but the template doesn't support Java.  If this language confuses you, don't let … (2 comments)

SEO for Google only, and you'll miss 60% of the other engines.. - 06/14/07 07:19 PM
Once upon a time, if you made your site high in Google rankings, you had it made.  Times change.  Google now has an estimated 35 to 40% of the search engine market, and Yahoo & MSN Search have about 50% market share.  Getting high in search engines takes a little more study.
First, the good new is that Google sitemap is now the standard used by everyone.  An organization called Sitemap.org has a standard for XML files that are becoming what all search engines use.  No longer do you need the HTML, txt, and XML files to have sitemaps read by various … (14 comments)

I know secret info about a competitor - 06/11/07 07:57 PM
Ok, here in Ethics, a real ethics problem.  A competitor resides in my office building.  Nice enough guy, don't know him very well.  He has more agents than I do, but not very productive.
My dilema?  The building management made a mistake about who has what suite.  Sent a demand letter, said he hadn't paid rent in 6 months.  Over $20,000.  I didn't realize the letter wasn't to me until I read it the third time.  So, I could approach his agents, try to recruit them.  I'm sure there could be some legal problems that could affect his standing as a broker.  … (16 comments)

Agent Offices, which way should a broker go? - 06/08/07 09:37 AM
I'm looking for VERY serious input.  I've been a broker for about 10 years.  The first 8 years of my being BROKEr was easy.  New homes only, very little office space needed.  2 years ago, decided we needed to expand to resale.  Helps to train agents before I put them in subdivisions.  Looked at the competition, and modeled my self after them.  Most people want desks, they want a prestigious place to call the office.  So I set up 3000 feet, cubicles, training rooms, networked everything.  Great.  I didn't set up the glass view over the lake, but nice any way.  … (7 comments)

SEO, the real thing! Where to spend your advertising dollars - 06/04/07 12:17 PM
I'm going to plug a company here.  Tell you that up front.  And it's not my company...
I've been designing websites for 7 years, I can use PHP, HTML, Flash, CSS, and more.  I'm not great, but I get the job done.  My wife is a writer (morning radio).  I've read tons, watch the search engines, and more.  I can get a site close.  I can tell you what my word concentration is, what a good KEI is, an what my site's cloud looks like.  And I can make a lot more money being a broker (recruting and training) when I pay … (14 comments)

I'm a Broker with tools, but the AGENTS have to use them - 06/04/07 09:25 AM
We've thrown around terms like broker-centric, agent-centric, consumer-centric, self cetered-centric?  Small joke.  I guess I'm headed towards being a  Broker-centric, but not by choice.
I'm providing all kinds of tools for my agents.  Contact management, Website, drip email, leads, new home subdivisions.  All agents tell me they want these wonderfull tools, set up a server so they could access these tools from away.  Moving towards 1 central software to communicate with all the tools.  Now, the problem is, GETTING THEM TO USE THEM.
The reason I'm broker-centric isn't to Brand my company, it's because I can't get my agents to use the tools.  … (14 comments)

Remove Google pages - 06/04/07 08:14 AM
4 months ago, I decided to quit designing my site myself, and use a template.  On my 4th provider now (think I'm really happy, finally), but I've created LOTS of pages that aren't any long associated with my site.  I own the domain, and re-assigned it on every move.  Naturally, each provider had their "own" content, and put lots of pages out there that come up 404.  So my questions -
1.  How bad is it really for my site to have pages come up "404 not found"?
2.  Google allows me to remove them, but because the hosting moved each time, I can't insert … (6 comments)

Answer email REALLY fast (and this is not Drip email...) - 06/01/07 03:39 PM
I've discovered a new toy (I love finding them really).  I've looked at Blackberry, Treo, MS Mobile, and I keep getting gun shy, and wondering how long before I'll need PC tablet, and of course keep it running in the car until an email comes in.  BECAUSE  -  -  we have 1 hour (the Golden Hour) to respond to our clients emails.
My fingers are big, and I fumble text messages.  The ones I get from some folks are so short, quipped, that I'm not sure they get the full meaning accross.   So how better to communicate with my clients, quickly?
Voice Genesis … (11 comments)

 

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