Kick Off To MTO Vlogging Contest!

By NikNik · August 3, 2008 · 18 Comments 

Okay, so you may have noticed we have taken a fancy to podcasting here over the last few months.  It’s been a great exploration of social media….learning how to best create and share our podcasts.  I could also compare my experience to that of a horror flick, as recording and listening to my own voice pretty much scares everyone out of the office. I started out as a perfectionist, trying to bleep out and edit all my verbal mistakes. Poor Reggie would listen from a far as a barrage of four letter words would radiate from my mouth with each tongue twister I encountered. I quickly learned to “get over” the mishaps and just let the words flow. Besides, everyone makes mistakes and it’s just more natural and easier to listen to.

So, now that I’ve been podcasting for awhile, the next scary medium that requires my attention….is video. Duh! I’ve been afraid to touch vlogging in the past for many of the same reasons that others have been avoiding the camera:  (1) it takes too much time, (2) not sure about the right equipment, (3) what content is best to share, and (4) I will look and sound like a jackass…or to quote one of my favorite comedic geniuses, Adam Sandler, “They’re all gonna laugh at you!”

I finally have the perfect retort:

(1) TIME REBUTTAL: Make a commitment to once a week. Pick a spot and shoot. It can actually take a lot less time than writing a post…if you know what you’re talking about.

(2) EQUIPMENT REBUTTAL: The Flip…it’s $149 and has one red button for start and stop and plugs directly into your computer via USB drive. Video opens in a super easy format with immediate email and upload options. Oh, and no rendering time!

(3) CONTENT REBUTTALL: What makes you and your niche unique? If you are asking questions or talking about a specific topic, idea, thing, or place…chances are someone else is. So address those topics. If you’re clients have regular inquiries about your Read more

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The Secret to Blog Success: YEO, You Engaging Others

By NikNik · July 23, 2008 · 14 Comments 

Yes, the title gives it away! The secret to your blog success is YEO. YEO, a now popular term used by bloggers (coined by Jeff Turner) to describe the process of building your network and facilitating blog success via YOU ENGAGING OTHERS.  I’m not even going to mention the other term that makes us sweat, and also has an “e” and “o” in it. That aside, what have you done lately to reach outside your real estate blog? Have you employed tools or strategies to keep your readers enticed to come back for more great information? What about making your blog more Read more

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External Factors Affecting Your Blog Success

By NikNik · July 20, 2008 · 11 Comments 

I used to teach my first graders a really fun game to learn about how plants grow. Each student would get a laminated “secret identity card” (sun, soil, water, air, seed). The seeds (excitable first graders) would travel through the air (run from one side of the blacktop top the other) looking for the elements (other excitable first graders) needed for their growth. But the elements were not so easy to acquire. Read more

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Internal Factors Affecting Your Blog Success

By NikNik · July 14, 2008 · 6 Comments 

Last week I talked about the importance of assessing your real estate blog. Whether you have room for improvement or just need to boost your already prospering success, tweaking your blog is a process that should continue throughout its life on the Web. Today, we’ll look at the internal factors affecting your blog success, as well as support tools.

(1) Speak to your target audience

Identifying your target audience hopefully occurred for you during the conceptualization of your blog. Now that you’re up and running, is your blog geared up to attract new niche readers?  By that I mean, are you including a variety of Read more

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Your Edge in Real Estate is Getting Sharper

By NikNik · July 9, 2008 · 4 Comments 

If you’ve been clamoring for an up to the minute mortgage rate widget for your real estate blog….it’s time to dry your eyes and head over to Zillow.  There you’ll find four brand new Mortgage Rate Widgets that you can freely leverage for your own blog.  If you’re looking to foster greater online interaction via your blog community and provide readers with a knowledgeable tool, this may be just what you need. Not only are these widgets radiating rates…but they look nice too!

If you thought the Mortgage Rate Widget was the only new candy in Zillow’s goodie bag, it’s time to reach in for a second helping. Did you feel that? It’s Zillow’s FREE co-branding! With it, your blog readers will have access to Zillow tools and features while being reminded who sent them there in the first place.  With Zillow’s co-branding individuals or companies can utilize this free service just by adding any of the following to their blog or Website: individual Zillow URLs, mortgage rate widgets, links generated by the Zillow API, new profile badges.

Here’s how it works:

Before you can take advantage of Zillow’s free co-branding, you need to take care of the following: (1) sign up for a Zillow account, (2) add a Zillow URL to your blog or Website and (3) include the following code at the end of your Zillow link “/?scrnnm=YourZillowScreenName”. Then, when readers select the Zillow URL on your blog and a new Zillow page opens, you’re picture, contact information and link to your Website will appear at the top of that page.  Wherever your blog reader travels on Zillow during that session, your branding will follow too. Click here to learn more about Zillow Co-Branding.

In this market, any edge, ledge, step stool or leg up you can get to boost your blog community and market freely to your target audience is worth checking out. And if you’d like to get up close and personal with the Zillow team AND you’re planning to go to REBarCamp and the Inman Connect, you won’t want to miss Beer with Bloggers. The venue is Café Du Nord (from 6-8pm), which just happens to be right above REBarCamp on July 22, 2008. See you there!

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“Does my blog REally rock?” An Assessment for Serious Real Estate Bloggers

By NikNik · July 6, 2008 · 10 Comments 

Have you taken a good look around your real estate blog lately?  Would you like to gain more traffic?  And, reach each your target audience, for real? If you are serious about your blog, then you should be serious about taking new steps and exploring innovative options to boost your blog success. Don’t let your blog take a back seat to 2.0!

MTO is gearing up for the Inman Connect SF. In fact, I’ve been invited to speak on the Blogger’s Connect panel entitled, “Growing Pains: Taking Your Blog to the Next Level“, alongside these A-list rockin’ real estate blog experts Dustin Luther, Jim Cronin, and Daniel Rothamel.  The RE 2.0 guru himself will be there as moderator, yes, you know him….Jeff Turner.  So over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing tools and suggestions for taking that next level leap. But of course I’ll be leaving the meatiest of it all for those of you attending the Connect. So, I hope to see you there!

Anyway, our blogucation cannot begin without a self assessment, a blog assessment really. The best teachers assess at the beginning and the end of an assignment or goal. How else will you know if you made any real strides? To start, you will notice that the following assessment is organized in 2 sections, Internal Factors and External Factors.  To examine your blog best, you should focus on these 2 areas.

Internal Factors are actions, tools, and strategies you put into play on your blog to give it life, display your expertise and target your audience. These may include your voice, design, blog posts, organization, comments, etc.  External Factors are actions, tools, and strategies you use to reach outside of your blog, create interaction, and hopefully bring readers back to you.  These may include, but not limited to: IDX Search, email newsletters, commenting, podcasting, video, social networking, etc.

Take the “Does my blog REally rock?” Assessment (Directions: Print this article, read each question, and write your yes or no answer next to each one. If you’re old school, grab a piece of paper and number 1-6 twice, then write down your answers. Keep your eyes on your own paper. ) Read more

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MTO Interview: Behind the Great Real Estate Plug-In

By Reggie · June 30, 2008 · 4 Comments 

Recently Roger Theriault released a new plug-in for WordPress that makes displaying and marketing your real estate listings on your WordPress blog a snap. This new plug-in is called “Great Real Estate.” I was amazed with the thoroughness of this first release.  In my opinion, Roger has built powerful plug-with lots of future potential. See my introduction to Great Real Estate Read more

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Great Real Estate Plug-In: The Secret Tool For Featuring Listings with WordPress

By Reggie · June 29, 2008 · 13 Comments 

Many of you have already realized that WordPress has many benefits over a traditional Website. To start you are in full control of design, content, and distribution. Plus you can integrate any IDX MLS search unlike many template Website providers that only offer one solution.  You could argue the only WordPress limitation for real estate agents has been the difficulty of displaying listings in an attractive and useful format…until now. Introducing Great Real Estate!

Great Real Estate is a new WordPress plug-in designed to assist real estate agents in displaying and marketing their listings online. This free plug-in was created by Roger Theriault; a developer/Realtor. To recognize the full potential of this plug-in, you should Read more

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Are you missing lead generation opportunities with your IDX MLS search tool?

By Reggie · June 22, 2008 · 9 Comments 

As a real estate agent over the past few years you’ve been hearing more and more about buyers turning to the internet as part of the home search process. According to the California Association of Realtors, in 2007, 72% of home buyers actively used the Internet for home search.  Which means that you should be looking for new and innovative ways to enhance the online consumer’s shopping experience on your Website or blog.   Great user experience doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice strong lead generation tools.  Quite the opposite, you need the perfect combination of both.

If you think you may already have such a tool, ask yourself the following questions. Do you offer consumers the ability to visually search neighborhoods on an interactive map interface? Do you combine home details with state-of-the-art tools such as Google Street View? How about providing school and community information tightly bound with home details? Do you offer consumers more than one way to keep updated on new homes in your area?  Have I peaked your interest?

Recently I had the privilege of Interviewing Robert Luna, Director of Business Development for Diverse Solutions about their blistering hot IDX MLS search tool titled dsSearchAgent. With Robert, I focused my questions on lead generation, RSS and Read more

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How to Add Podcasting to Your Real Estate Blog

By NikNik · June 14, 2008 · 18 Comments 

You may have noticed we recently made a commitment to podcasting here at MyTechOpinion.  If not, look just below each of our posts and you should see the podcast player.  Podcasting is simply a way of distributing digital media over the Internet using RSS.  And for real estate agents who are looking for that next social medium to boost their blog success, perhaps podcasting is just what you need.

Podcasting can enhance your blog content and your online visibility. Strengthen the bond you have with your current audience, as well as reach a new audience. And, give your blog readers the flexibility to listen and obtain your expertise on the go!  Podcasting is even an affordable and pretty seamless option when it comes to integrating a new social media tool to your blog. So let’s get you started already!

Get equipped! Prior to your first audio podcast you will need the following equipment. Read more

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Add Cyberhomes To Your Real Estate Website, Blog or Single Property Site

By Reggie · June 2, 2008 · 17 Comments 

As a real estate agent looking to keep buyers and sellers on your website, blog or single property site, you realize the importance of providing local data that provides transparency to your market. Nevertheless finding the right data can be a daunting task. Not only does the data need to be accurate and updated often, but it needs to be presented in a way that encourages consumers to interact with it.

Today I’ll be sharing the Cyberhomes Smart Frame which will allow you to search by city or zip code then retrieve a unique URL to be framed into your site without cost. Although before I do, let’s review some of Cyberhomes strengths:

+ Over 100 million searchable properties with AVM
+ 575,000 records updated monthly
+ School scores
+ City boundaries
+ Neighborhood charts and graphs
+ Interactive heat maps

Ok, now let’s look at the steps needed to get the Cyberhomes Smart Frame on Read more

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Does Your Real Estate Blog Need a Side of Widget?

By NikNik · May 20, 2008 · 16 Comments 

Are you looking for a value add for your real estate blog or Website? Many widgets promise the world (MORE READERS), but sadly many fall short of maximizing their intended goal. When it comes to adding valuable content and tools to your blog, try a widget that compliments your niche. Just don’t try them all.
 
Many agents rightly focus on a niche or specific target market when it comes to blogging. So, why not add a widget that provides local content, events, and even property listings. Hyperlocal aside, even adding a news widget with a larger content scope (say, nationwide) adds value to readers who check both local and national market info.
 
When thinking about adding a widget to your blog, you may want to ask yourself:  (1) Does this widget provide helpful information? and (2) Does this widget foster interaction and build your network?

Some options for you:

Property Search
Give consumers a home search tool they will come back for Read more

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