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Forget What the Experts Say…You CAN Shortcut Your Way to Success with Social Media
By NikNik · August 23, 2010 · 18 Comments
The Social Media Experts I’m a fan of will tell you that if you want to succeed in applying social media as a business strategy that it requires planning, consistency, balance, originality, relevancy, and listening…among other things. And they would be right. But when it comes to real estate marketing, many agents struggle with working ON their business because they’re tapped by working IN their business. And for the most part, I’ve always considered that an excuse (myself included).
There is some validity however, to the shear amount of effort required in implementing social media marketing strategies….or ANY effective marketing strategies for that matter. And that’s why I’m not surprised when agents ask me if I can do “the social media” for them. But if you know me, then you know I’m not an automator…I’m an educator. Which means I prefer you learn about the new strategies available to you, best practices for using them, and how to measure their effectiveness. Read full story
Lost & Found: My Blogging Voice
By NikNik · August 15, 2010 · 4 Comments
The past year has been crazy for the Nicolay household…to say the least! Reggie started his new job with RPR…and has been passionately reaching out to curious agents and creating a variety of helpful resources that are soon to launch. I, on the other hand, have been extremely focused on my new company. Agent Evolution was born from our efforts right here on MTO! After all, many of you have regular questions for us…and occasionally ask for help with your blogs. So we answered by mixing my teaching skills with Chad’s blog shop to provide a full service new media company!
In the midst of this professional progression, we’ve definitely let our regular MTO blogging schedule slide. Let’s face it, something had to give! Read full story
How-To: Manage Your Events Using WordPress
By Chad A. Johnson · May 27, 2010 · 10 Comments
In “4 Ways To Add An Event Calendar To Your Wordpress Blog“, we looked at options for adding an event calendar to your Wordpress website. The solutions were offered with an emphasis on sharing community events.
But, what if you have an event you are producing yourself? Maybe that event requires managing RSVP’s or even selling tickets to the event. You’ll need a more specialized system than a basic calendar. Fortunately, there are several Wordpress plugins that will help you pull your event off without a hitch. Read full story
oneforty. Your Target for Twitter Tools
By NikNik · April 21, 2010 · 9 Comments
There’s an app for that! That’s what we’re told anyway. But how do you find the best apps to streamline business productivity and online sharing? When it comes to Twitter, there’s a site for that? Oneforty, and it’s “oneforty”…all lower case letters for those of you that would like to bring a smile to @pistachio’s face.
Anyway, oneforty is like your Target for Twitter tools. Sure I can go to Walmart…but the shelves are overstocked with so many items I get frustrated by the experience and make a b-line for the door while hoping nothing jumps out at me. Target, on the other hand, also offers a great variety of items, but the shopping experience is one that draws me in. It’s organized aisles invite me to stay awhile, assuring me I’ll find what I need….oh, and there’s a Starbucks.
Now oneforty may not have a Starbucks, but it does happen to be a comprehensive site for finding, rating, collecting, and sharing Twitter apps. And by Twitter apps, I’m also referring to any application which posts to, shares content with, and/or is relative to Twitter in any way. The site was founded by Laura Fitton “@pistachio”, author of Twitter for Dummies, is backed by a rockin’ development team, and advised by social media heavyweights @briansolis and @guykawasaki. Read full story
dsIDXPress: Search Engine Friendly IDX
By Reggie · January 26, 2010 · 17 Comments
If you’re not already aware of Diverse Solutions….you should be. These guys have some serious cool factor and have been driving innovation with their dsSearchAgent Pro IDX for years now. Recently they unleashed a beta of a long awaited “indexable” IDX plug-in for WordPress. And today they’ve ripped off that BETA label!
What does this mean for you?
It means your real estate blog can now have the functionality of a highly custom site with search engine friendly IDX data. dsIDXPress is released with special introductory pricing of $99.95 setup and $29.95 a month. That is an introductory offer and will go up over time.
And for the most part the plug-in is compliant in all markets they cover with the exception of a couple of the more strict MLSs. If you have any questions or comments about compliance reach out to them here. Let’s take a look at a few ways to implement dsIDXPress.
AgentPress: The Ideal Theme for Real Estate Bloggers
By NikNik · October 26, 2009 · 15 Comments
If you’ve been reading MTO for awhile you know we’re huge advocates of WordPress as a platform to power your real estate blog. And we’re not the only ones who think WordPress rocks! Matt Cutts, the head of the Web Spam team at Google, recently declared WordPress as the best blogging platform in terms of search engine optimization. He went on to say that WordPress automatically solves 80-90% of the mechanics behind SEO, making your site easily crawlable by search engines.
Now when it comes to selecting a WordPress theme that delivers a clean design, variety of options, highly optimized code, and customer support….the MTO team chooses StudioPress. Which has been a great theme option for us and our Web design clients. But now theme legend, Brian Gardner, is back and has developed AgentPress, specifically for the real estate industry. In fact, we’ve partnered with Brian to offer customization and consultation for AgentPress theme users. Read full story
That’s What You Get For Waking Up In Vegas!
By NikNik · September 28, 2009 · 1 Comment
Calling all real estate bloggers!!! Would you like to spend some time with real people who actually know what blogs are…and why they ROCK! Would you enjoy learning new tips and strategies for continuing your blog success, or perhaps launching it?! Are you wondering where the future of social media can take you, and how to push the limits of innovation while remaining effective? Do you need a vacation and time to play? Or dance? Or go to a show without leaving 20 minutes after it starts because your kids can’t sit still? (Oh, sorry…that one was for me!) If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, I suggest you head to REBlogWorld and the BlogWorld/New Media Expo in Las Vegas! And actually…you don’t really need a reason to go to Vegas…it’s Vegas! Woohoo! (I’m not excited…at all!)
BlogWorld officially kicks off October 15th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The first day of the 3 day program will provide some specific niche tracks…one of which is Real Estate BlogWorld. Read full story
Regator iPhone App Delivers Quality News & Cool Interface
By NikNik · August 18, 2009 · 5 Comments
If you have an iPhone, then the new Regator app will rock your mobile world! And if you’re a lover of informative news and a sharer of all things great…you will undoubtedly be excited to find out this app launches today!
Regator.com is online hub of hand-picked blogs representing numerous content areas. Basically, you can search for and find quality blog posts on just about any topic. Read full story
The Tweet Plan 2.0
By NikNik · August 6, 2009 · 27 Comments
The Tweet Plan is a simple way to share your resourceful tips and expertise with your network. You’ve heard of drip marketing right?! Well, the Tweet Plan is essentially “drip tweeting”. Read full story
LIVE from SF: REBarCamp and Inman Connect 09
By Reggie · August 3, 2009 · 2 Comments
Whether you made it here or not, we’ll be sharing and showing you all the happenings LIVE from REBarCampSF and The Inman Connect! Oh, and of course all the craziness in between! Reggie hooked us up with “Cover It Live” so we will be liveblogging it all! Chad will be snapping photos like a paparazzo! If you have any burning questions for attendees or speakers, send me a DM or leave your question in our comment stream below. And I’ll send you the reply via Video Tweet! A VERY BIG thank you to Dakno.TV for sharing their live video feed with us! Woohoo! We’d love it if you’d participate in the MTO liveblogging stream, so feel free to comment here or tweet us using the hashtag #mtosf.
The “Cannot modify header information…” Wordpress Error
By Chad A. Johnson · July 27, 2009 · 2 Comments
You are working away at building your Wordpress website. Having fun finding plugins to add exciting new functionality to your site when error messages start appearing at the top of the Wordpress admin.
The error message starts with (1) “Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by…”, followed by (2) a reference to a plugin file and (3) a reference to “pluggable.php on line 850”.
Ubertor Launches New Video Solution
By Reggie · July 20, 2009 · 4 Comments
Last week I was talking with Steve Jagger of Ubertor, and he shared that some of his clients who’ve posted videos to popular online video sharing sites have had them removed for being real estate / commercial content. This inconvenience drove Ubertor to create a powerful in-house video hosting solution which went live last week.
Now using the Ubertor website system, clients of the $57 and $77 website plans can upload videos to their website and display them using the Combustion Video player. The same videos can also be easily syndicated to YouTube and Viddler.
The Contest: Your Chance To Win!
As I was talking with Steve about this new feature, we decided to make it a little more fun and give away some sites for MyTechOpinion readers. Here’s how it will work…
