Real estate technology

Stop birds from eating your strawberries

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:06:18 -0700

My wife's parents have started growing strawberries. But apparently the native birds love to eat the juicy fruit. The ugly bird netting that they use works fine, but little birds still find their way in. Unfortunately, they don't always find their way out. Well, I have a better solution... A ScareCrow®.

The ScareCrow® is an automated animal deterrent. It's basically a water sprinkler with a motion sensor. See it in action and watch how it can protect your garden (and keep your garden green!).

via: The Gadget Blog

Save the world by asking questions: phone scam protection

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:25:08 -0700

Whether it's a phone scam, Internet scam, or some other type of scam, you need to know how to protect yourself.

One way to protect yourself: Don't give out any information.

One way to protect others: Stay on the phone and ask a lot of questions. Here's a few that I like to ask. These are used for those special people that call my personal phone number (that's on the National Do Not Call Registry).

What's the weather like where you are? Then go on to talk about the wonderful conditions where I live. It's a great opportunity to sell them on your area.
Where are you calling from? If they can't tell me that because of "security reasons", I press them by asking "If I guess it right, will you tell me if I get it?"
Do you like your job? How long have you been in your current position? How can I get a job application?

I know people suggest hanging up right away. But think about it. The goal for a phone scammer (I'm not saying telemarketer. Many telemarketers are legitimate no matter how much you don't like them.) is to quickly find a victim. By preventing them from making another call, you can save effectively delay their feast. You might even save the world! :-)

If you're looking for "authorized" and practical measures of thwarting evil in this world, check these out:

Register your phone numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry
File a complaint with the FTC
Review the FTC's advice about Consumer Fraud Against the Elderly
Learn more from sites like ScamBusters

Do you have other links or info? Please share!

Phone Number Scammer Directory

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:05:54 -0700

I recently received a phone call from a phone scammer. This one was related to domain name renewal. But as you know there are many others out there: mortgage scams, insurance scams, etc.

I did a reverse search on the phone number and found some interesting links. This includes forums where other people have received the same call. One of the best resources I found was Who Called Us.

Who Called Us is a sort of reverse directory of "UNAVAILABLE" phone numbers. It's better than a typical reverse phone search because it includes phone numbers of scam artists (not normally listed in the white pages). In addition, you can review others' comments to see what they experienced.

NOTE: While writing this post, I just received another call from them.

So there you go... Another resource to put into your arsenal of tools to protect your clients and yourself.

Update: Three calls so far this morning (all from the same people). I've reported them to the FTC.

Blogs Better Than Newsletters

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:49:53 -0700

Newsletters are easy, once a month shots at communicating with your clients and customers. And wth the right company, it's practically automated. Blogs are time consuming and can take you away from "making rain."

Can a blog really improve your bottom line? Or is it just hype? Well, Sellsius puts forward a good argument for blogs over newsletters. They say blogs:

Are interactive
Build trust
Have interested readers
Have a larger audience
Give you future growth potential
Are 100% Google Juice
Allow more innovation
Warms leads
Are free

Good points. I would add to and expand a couple of the reasons. I also don't completely agree with number nine. But I think I'll save my detailed commentary for another time.

What say you?

MLS Marketing

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:08:25 -0700

I'm sure that most will agree that the MLS is an excellent place to market your home. However, I've recently learned that some agents do not enter all pertinent information about a property. Or more accurately, they do not check all the boxes. They do this to help certain features of a home stand out more (i.e., better marketing). Do you think this is good practice? Is it good representation?

To me, it seems like an extra step that wasn't willing to be taken. But I can also understand, somewhat, the argument of "trying not to cloud the waters" with too many features.

Granted, some things may be insignificant like whether curtains are included in the sale or not. I'll let you decide which items are worth checking. Here are a few of the check boxes that are frequently omitted (even if it applies):

Den/Office
Heat source
Included appliances
Exterior/Siding Type
Ammenities (pool, security systems, view)
Porch/Patio type (open, covered, enclosed, etc.)

So what do you think? And if you don't mind, what do you do? Do you check all the pertinent ones or do you check only the "biggies"?

Thin Client (Network Monitor) Review

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 22:59:15 -0700

"It"came in. I mentioned how it seemed easy to setup and you wouldn't need a "real" network administrator. Well, you don't. The new unit was up and running in less than ten minutes... really.

Now for the rest of the story...

The ten minutes included the time to open the box, install the software on the host PC, and plugin in the monitor. With this completed, I was able to sit down at the new workstation and use the majority of applications. However, there were two applications that did not work as intended:

ScanSnap Manager, and
Voyager2

ScanSnap

The ScanSnap Manager allows a computer to connect and use the Fujitsu ScanSnap document scanner. This software wouldn't work because, at least this version, is intended to operate with only one computer connected to one ScanSnap scanner. I needed to remove the software from startup to remove an error message that I was receiving. A possible solution for this would be to use Ncomputing's L200, which apparently supports direct connection to USB devices, then connect each terminal directly to the ScanSnap via a USB switch box.

Voyager2

Voyager2 is a desktop MLS application by FNIS. Whenever running, it locks the local database allowing only one person access at a time. The solution, that I hope works, is to use special windows environment variables to give each user access to their own database. I would also need to create a copy of the database for each user. Not very practical for a large group of users. It's doable for three.

Everything else seems to be working dandy. Let me know if you have questions about specific applications. If I have it, I'll check it out for you!

Easy Map Builder

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:13:54 -0700

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft all have come out with their little API's (Application Programming Interface) so you can create maps on your own website. However, API's middle name is "Programming", which means it can easily fly over the head of most people. Easier option? Yep, I got one for you.

Instead of writing your own map from scratch, try Map Builder. Map Builder is a free online application to get you started quickly. Everything is relatively intuitive allowing you to choose custom points and icons.

Update: There is a monthly fee-based real estate option. I haven't signed up for it, so I'm not really sure what the added benefit is. If anyone signs up for it, please fill us in!

Other than its ease, why or how else would you use it? Here are a few ideas:

Other ideas? Post a comment. We'd love to hear them!

And for those that have seen Jim Lee's post on testimonials, take a look at Map Builder's feedback. I think their's are all real. :-)

Boundary Maps

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 12:20:34 -0700

Interactive maps have been one of the hottest tools (trends?) in online real estate. You have Zillow, Trulia, and others that offer capabilities beyond what you would probably do on your own. Well, I'm a Type E and am always working to implement new and exciting ideas, especially maps.

Something that I've been working on has been a way to take city, county, and utility info to map service boundaries and availability. Thanks to Real Estate Tomato, I came across a site that has some of the ground work already laid. Nothing pretty, but very functional. Check out the boundary maps.

Office Expansion using Thin Clients

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 12:07:18 -0700

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I'll be testing a thin client device from Ncomputing. And more than likely will be purchasing a couple for myself. I'm looking forward to trying it out as I think it could really cut down on computer/network management for real estate offices and teams. This means less computer management time, lower operating costs, and more time doing what needs to be done (and a life).

If you've worked with GoToMyPC, VNC, WebEx, LogMeIn, or some other remote computer access software, you're already familiar with the technology. The difference with Ncomputing's solution is that it's a hardware solution. By connecting one of Ncomputing's devices to your network, you can have an instant computer. Just add a mouse and keyboard.

There are a lot of questions that are up for debate on this one. But the big question is:

Thick or Thin? Translation: Why not buy a cheap computer?

I won't answer this for you, but rather I'd love to get your thoughts on it.

Post Tagging Benefits

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:43:03 -0700

Just a little more info about tagging and why it can help you. It's my last post on tags. I promise... At least for today.

When tagging content in your blog, you can automatically generate highly relevant, inbound links to your site. (Is that good enough a reason to tag?) This happens because of two things.

Unique tag pages on your website
Third-party tag pages that point to your posts

Unique tag pages

I'm not referring to tag or topic clouds here. Tag pages are dynamically generated pages that consist of only one tag. They list all posts in your blog that are tagged the same. On my AR blog, for example, I have a blogging tag page that lists my posts tagged with "blogging." If you appropriately tag your posts, your tag pages become nutritious spider food.

Third-party tag pages

Tag pages on other sites work just like tag pages on your own site. In addition, they include posts from other websites. The nice thing here is that you are usually getting a free deep link to your site.

Beneficial Inbound links

Services like Technorati and IceRocket can be pinged (notified to make them aware of a change) which helps to automate the process of generating free inbound links. This is beneficial from an SEO standpoint, but it's also beneficial from a people standpoint.

How? People have a greater potential of discovering your blog when you're listed on these sites. This can be through better search engine placement, related blog searches, or even syndicated blog headlines. The main point is that you're simply in more places to be found.

Submitting your feed to blog tracking services is like placing clues all over the Internet. The more clues you place on the Internet, or the more places you submit your site to, the more likely people will find you.

Tagging Services

Technorati has probably been on of the biggest players in the blog tagging and tracking market. However, they are not the only one. Following are a few services that you can ping. These are the ones that specifically have tag pages as described above and purposely do not include social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us and BlogMarks. Also, be sure to check out other blog pinging services that cover the whole shebang.

If you know of others that should be included in this list. Let me know and I'll update the list.

Blog It, Tag It, Ping It.

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:09:19 -0700

With all of the different blog-related services out there, the noise of options can become overwhelming. A good, and simple, next step (after tagging your posts) should be pinging good blog tracking services. I suggest using a pinging service such as Pingoat. This will provide even greater exposure of your blog on the Internet.

Here's the step-by-step.

Anytime that you create a new blog post:

Go to Pingoat.com
Enter your blog name
Enter your blog url (i.e., http://activerain.com/blogs/ungos/)
Click the "General" header (This selects all services in the General category)
Click submit ("Go Pingoat!")

That's it!

Tagging Services Summarized

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:30:43 -0700

A recent comment on Technorati blog claiming got me thinking... There's a whole bunch of tagging services. So what's the diff?

Following is a brief overview of different tagging services that you may have heard about. They all have value, but they serve different purposes.

Tagging Service Classification

Tag services, or services that rely on folksonomies, are lumped into two very general camps (my own classifications).

Media Tagging (Photos, Music, etc)
Content Tagging (Web pages or sites)

Media tagging services include those like Flickr and Last.FM. For photo sites like Flickr, you need to upload a photo to their website, then tag the photo. For song sites like Last.FM, a special plugin uploads music information, and you tag it for their site.

Content tagging services are what most bloggers like as it helps to generate relevant inbound linkage. This can be via social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, TagCloud, or BlogMarks. It can also be through blog tracking services such as Technorati or IceRocket.

Tags are just categories

Tagging isn't anything special. It simply helps to categorize information whether it's media or plain text posts. The uses are different depending on the tag service you use. Start with the big players (i.e. Technorati, IceRocket) and move to the others if they fit your needs.

If you're interested in a list of URI's to these different services, let me know and I'll post a starter compilation. Stay tuned for my next post which will have quick steps on how to use blog tracking services.

Community Blogging Success

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 21:04:42 -0700

One of the goals of blogging, at least it should be for you, is to develop a community with your readers. Whether you're a real estate agent, mortgage broker, or a plain ol' ranter, a blog is a powerful place that gives you the opportunity to develop a rapport with present and future clientele. If you're just shooting out market stats or news, consider expanding your topic base and start getting personal with your readers.

One of the most successful real estate blogs of 2006 is the Rain City Guide started by Dustin Luther. The blog's relatively unique way of blogging has developed a solid community that includes readers and multiple contributors. While many still have personal single-contributor blogs, RCG shows how views from multiple industry experts can provide a more rounded, and more exciting, place. (Kind of like AR) ;-)

Do you want to learn more of how they did it? Dustin just posted his secret formula. Check it out.

Techno Decor

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:12:10 -0700

Are you looking for some cool techno decor to stage that modern or contemporary home? Or maybe you're just looking for a different "look." If so, Crib Candy has some great ideas to get you started.

Crib Candy calls themself a "thumbnail bookmark blog." They have thumbnails and links to some of the coolest (and funkiest) furniture innovations out there. There's always new things being added including manhole cushions, portable M-vironments, and even a Father's Day Gift category.

Tell me, would you actually use this stuff? If so which ones and why/how?

GPS for Ms. Gadget

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 11:12:21 -0700

Anyone that knows me knows that I am Mr Gadget. This makes it easy to recommend gadgets to REALTORS since I've tried out a bunch of them whether it's through a friend, hanging out in the store, or a personal purchase. Well, I just came across another gadget that would be a perfect gift for Ms. Gadget. It's the new Intempo Buddy Pink GPS (Per Gizmodo).

This pink GPS doesn't look like anything special. I take that back. It looks special, but doesn't seem to have any special functionality. It's a basic GPS with point to point directions, mapping, and remote control. It's a perfect GPS for those that love pink, flowers, and butterflies.

No I didn't try this one out and I probably won't. But if you do, please let us know how it works for you. And by the way, there's already a Mrs. Gadget, although she doesn't realize how much she likes gadgets yet. :-P

Dangers of Duplicate Content

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:21:03 -0700

Inspired by Kristal's comment, I thought I'd discuss the dangers of duplicate content in blogs. However, I realized there probably aren't very many dangers... just one. The danger is the potential for lowered search engine rankings. So instead, below are three ways to stay away from duplicate content. And if you're looking for a slightly different perspective with more technical solutions, you can also check out my other article on duplicate content.

So what's really going on?

Each search engine has an algorithm to determine the most relevant web page given some search criteria. Whether there really is a penalty or simply if certain pages are given priority, that's under debate. In fact, Richard Keir has an excellent article that mentions how he benefits from duplicate content. Either way, duplicate content has some definite cons. So don't do it.

And to potentially beat a dead horse...
Author's note: No animals were injured in the writing of this post.

Duplicate content prevention

Here are some of the things that you can do to prevent duplicate content "penalties."

Write completely unique content
Write partially unique content
Point to unique content

Got the point? It's all about unique content. These are my own definitions, but they should give you an idea of how you can communicate your and others' ideas.

Completely unique content

These are posts that you create from scratch. No copying or pasting.

Partially unique content

Partially unique means that the content is paraphrased or summarized articles from other sources. The sources could be from other sites that you own or writings of other people. Be sure you always get permission where necessary and always cite your source.

Pointing to unique content

Linking to unique content gives you the least on-page search engine benefit, but it's also the easiest to do. Simply write a short sentence with a link that points to the information that will benefit your readers.

Be unique

So that's the quick and easy on duplicate content. Simply, don't do it. Write your own stuff and you should be fine.

Claiming your ActiveRain blog with Technorati

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:01:16 -0700

I recently posted about blog tagging . I mentioned how Technorati is a key way to maximize your tag exposure. But to make this work, you must embed special javascript code so that Technorati can confirm that you own your blog. If you've tried to claim your ActiveRain blog and it's still in "processing" status, you've found a limitation with the current system. So here's my hack... ahem... solution.

Disable javascript.

Yep, that's it. Just disable javascript in your browser.

Why it works

The post editor uses javascript to provide WYSIWYG functionality to normal text boxes. By disabling javascript in your browser you will effectively disable the WYSIWYG editor. This will allow you to edit your post via raw HTML code.

What about an <HTML> button

So why doesn't ActiveRain allow direct HTML editing? Well before you get mad with them, let me present a few reasons why I would disable it.

Site formatting consistency
Site security (i.e. preventing rogue scripts)
Interface simplicity (prevents end-user confusion, fewer buttons)

With the forethought that the ActiveRain team has put into the development of this system, I have no doubt that they have good reasons for preventing this. However, I will leave it up to them to share their reasons. I'm content with the way things are since there is a very easy workaround.

* BTW, I use Firefox with the Web Developer plugin. The plugin makes it very easy.

Effective Blog Tagging

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:38:29 -0700

Update: Be sure to check out the follow up post on claiming your blogs on Technorati.

In my previous post I mentioned that tagging needs to be relevant. That’s one part of tagging effectiveness. But brevity is important too. Think of it like keywords or key phrases. Following are a few tips on getting the most out of your blog posts via tagging and a little explanation of why tags are good.

Appropriate Tagging

Let’s say, for example, your post is about Lewiston Idaho real estate. Appropriate tags could be:

lewiston
idaho
lewiston idaho
lewiston id
real estate
lewiston idaho real estate
realestate

You don’t have to, or should, use them all. I’m just saying that these would be appropriate and correct uses of tags. Each is short and concisely defines at least one of the topics discussed in the post.

Inappropriate or poor tagging

These are examples of ineffective or inappropriate tagging:

contact me about Lewiston Idaho and Clarkston Washington real estate
mls market statistics lewiston Idaho

The first is more of a marketing ploy that doesn’t work. Does the post really talk about Clarkston? It might be a neighboring town and it might be an area that you work in, but the post is not about Clarkston. Also, it’s a sentence. It’s not a keyword or key phrase. Remember… short and sweet.

The second looks good and probably appropriate. However it’s definitely ineffective. This should be changed to multiple tags: “mls, market statistics, lewiston, Idaho, real estate”. As you read the “tag clouds” section you’ll see why.

Tip: Here on ActiveRain, use commas to separate your tags. Otherwise they will appear as one long, ineffective tag.

Tag Selection

So how do you know what tags to use? Well, it’s not really a science. Tags are freeform, so you can choose whatever you want. However, to be effective you want to choose words or phrases that actually get searched by people and provide relevance to your post.

WordTracker is a great place to learn about what terms are searched and their frequency. By using terms that people search, you have a greater opportunity for increased exposure. Oh, and keep them short.

Who do you tag for…

You use tags for two reasons: People and search engines.

Tags for people

Tags help to categorize your posts. So if they look at your list of tags, they will be able to easily find your related posts. Here on ActiveRain, your visitors will also be able to find related posts by other posters (real estate, staging, listings, california).

Not coming up where you think you should? Check you tags!

Tags for search engines

Search engines like tags too. Tags help to cluster highly related content. So when a search engine finds this page, they’ll follow my links in the previous paragraph and notice that the “staging” page is all about… staging. Those posts will then get indexed and will probably get a little boost for that keyword. Cool, huh?

Anything else?

Absolutely! But I think this is a good overview of how to effectively tag your posts. Also, it’s a simple primer on how tags can benefit you and your blog. It works on ActiveRain as well as the major blogging systems out there.

If you have other ideas, or even disagree, feel free to comment and let me know!

Blogging and Tagging Effectively

Jason Ungos (Real Estate Technology) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:43:37 -0700

Reading through the initial posts here on ActiveRain, I learned that:

Blogging is new
Tagging is new

Okay, okay. It's not that the technologies are really new, but I think it's probably new to many of the bloggers here. And just to be certain that I don't get any rotten tomatoes thrown at me for my first post... I'm not trying to put down anyone, nor am I trying to boast of my "experience." After all, this is my first ActiveRain post!

Here's the deal.

You should have a small clue of the purpose of blogs and tags in order to use them effectively. So here's my contribution to help make ActiveRain a better community.

ActiveRain is an excellent directory that can boost the exposure of you and your websites. One way to improve your exposure here on ActiveRain is to blog. And part of that is tagging appropriately. Yes, there are many ways to gain exposure on ActiveRain, but I'll focus on just blogging and tagging for now.

Blogging effectively

Blogging, generally speaking, is an online journal. Within the real estate world it has been expanded to become everything from online event calendars to market condition updates. A few have started blogs here, but they are not all reaping the full benefits from it. Here are three biggies you should strive for with your blog:

Gaining trust and authority
Developing an online Community
Getting noticed by search engines

Trust and Authority

Real estate blogging is all about establishing trust and authority. By periodically posting authoritative content, you have a greater ability to develop trust with your readers. So when they're ready to buy or sell real estate in your market area, they'll remember you.

You can't build trust by shoving them a whole bunch of info in one sitting. So to those of you who copy and paste a whole slew of posts, slow down! Take a break and let a day go by before you publish your next post. Also, be unique and read up on the negative side-effects of cut-n-pasting.

Online Community

As readers get to know you, you'll find that they are more willing to comment on your posts. And eventually, readers will start to carry on conversations with each other. This can strengthen the value of your blog in a way that will cause people to return and participate often.

Search Engine Optimization

Everyone wants to be noticed by search engines. And it's been proven over and over that blogs get noticed by search engines. However, if you want the biggest bang for your buck, post frequently.

As I mentioned earlier, it's better to space out your posts. So once again, slow down! * Note: This comment is mostly targeted to those that have copy-n-pasted a bunch of articles so that they can fill their blog with content.

Tagging Effectively

Tagging is a way of associating your posts with a specific topic, or tag. This allows your readers to browse through these tags and easily find relevant information. It's also great for search engines that read tags such as Technorati.

So how do you tag effectively?

Easy. Get Relevant.

Don't stuff your post with non-relevant tags. If you're talking about real estate, then tag your post with "real estate." But if your post is about weather, don't tag it with real estate. Remember, you're doing this for your readers.

Blog and Tag It!

So that's it. I hope to see some great, well-tagged, authoritative and unique posts out there!