17 Single Property Website Solutions for Real Estate

By Reggie · September 18, 2007 · 10 Comments 

With real estate agents looking for more exposure online, the single property website technology has exploded. I have listed 17 Single Property Websites Solutions for your real estate business.

1. Agencylogic
   
2. Classified Flyer Ads
   
3. Individual Listings
   
4. iPropertyWebsites
   
5. ListingDomains
   
6. Listing Producer
   
7. Listing Producer Pro
8. MyMarketWare *Post Updated.
9. PropBlogs
   
10. Property Address Website
    
11. RealBird
    
12. Realivent
    
13. RealtyGear
    
14. Single Property Sites
15. Single Property Website
16. Spotlight Single Property Websites
17. Ubertor *Post Updated.
    
18. UniqueHomeSites
    
19. vFlyer

Do you know of any single property website technologies not listed? Please let us know.

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PSD2HTML for Coding Your Real Estate Blog Design

By Reggie · September 15, 2007 · Leave a Comment 

Do you have a design for your real estate website but need someone to code it? Of course you don’t want just anyone; you need someone that truly understands markup languages and search engine optimization (SEO) technology. If so, PSD2HTML might be a good answer for your needs. They will take your website design and create markup that looks exactly the same. With PSD2HTML you can ask them to pay special attention to site compatibility, dynamic HTML, CSS, and markup options. You can also specify your blog or content manager platform such as Blogger, Drupal, Movable Type, Joomla, Pligg, Typo3, and WordPress. PSD2HTML promotes an “8 working hour turnaround for the first page of the order”. Take a look at a few of their examples here.

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Real Estate Bloggers: Increase Your RSS Subscribers with Facebook

By NikNik · September 12, 2007 · 6 Comments 

If you are a member of Facebook, you have most likely been hugged, poked, or even superpoked by now. With over 2000 applications available on Facebook, it can be a daunting task to uncover the ones actually worthy of installing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fun and interesting…and covet my iLike Music Expert status. But recently I’ve taken advantage of a fairly new application that real estate bloggers may enjoy and benefit from. The Blog Friends application allows you to share your blog and feed with your Facebook friends, and your friends’ friends.

With Blog Friends, you can:

1. Track blog posts made by friends—on topics that interest you
2. Display those blog posts on your profile page
3. Increase your network of friends with additional blog exposure
4. Increase your RSS feed count with RSS feed icons on Facebook

So real estate agents, if you are already on Facebook, this seems like a win-win application to take advantage of now! Viral marketing techniques are often criticized and the word “viral” alone calls out for hand sanitizer. That’s why I prefer the term “spiral”. Spiders work quickly and efficiently when making their webs, so why shouldn’t bloggers do the same. If a spider can utilize the wind to effectively to carry its adhesive thread…then its only fitting to make Facebook’s technology work for real estate bloggers. So consider installing the Blog Friends application and let the wind carry your thread.

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A Touch of Mapping Technology for your Prelisting Package

By Reggie · September 5, 2007 · 5 Comments 

Are you using your past real estate sales to effectively market yourself in your prelisting and listing presentations? I have a cool mapping technology that will help you create a dramatic visual representation of your past successes. Microsoft Streets and Trips is a powerful software for creating mashups of your sold properties. It’s actually easier than you might think. Purchase Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 here.

Start by gathering a list of the real estate you have sold over your career. Get the list into Excel, keeping the street name, city, state and zip in separate columns. (If you have sold homes more than once, you can create two separate lists and color the icons a different color.)

Now to import the real estate sales, start by opening Microsoft Streets and Trips.

1. On the menu bar, click Data and then Import Data Wizard.
2. Next you need to assign each column from the excel file to a part of the address.
3. Select from the Data Type pull down to choose.
4. Once you’re done, click Finish.

If everything went according to plans you will now have the sold real estate all plotted on the screen in front of you. To finalize you may want to change the icons. Go back to the menu bar and select Data and then click Data Set Properties. In the middle of the new window you can change the Symbol or create a custom one. Now simply move the map to a region you would like to highlight and zoom in accordingly. You are now ready to print.

TIP: Print the map out on glossy paper for maximum appeal.

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Email Newsletters for Real Estate Agents

By NikNik · August 29, 2007 · 4 Comments 

Real estate newsletters are a very popular form of communication. Email newsletters can be a great alternative for busy real estate agents who want to try another marketing medium, save on printing costs and reach a larger audience. Brand yourself as the local expert and offer community information. Include your latest listings and inform your clients with real estate industry news. A concise newsletter with several small informative snippets is the way to go! In addition, you can direct your subscribers back to your website and blog, as well as capture new leads. But before you can do all this, make sure you have collected, and continue to collect, email addresses and update your contact database regularly. There are a variety of online marketing websites that can help you take it from there. Try these similar, yet different marketing solutions on for size:

1. Constant Contact
   Choose from a variety of professionally designed newsletter templates. You’ll need to insert pictures, contact info AND your own industry articles. Cost is based on your email list size. So the range spans from $15 a month for a list 0-500, all the way to $225 for lists up to 25,000! You can also create unlimited surveys and invite participation from your email list or website visitors.
2. iContact
   iContact is an email marketing service that provides you with the ability to design a template, insert your content, send, and track email newsletters, RSS feeds, surveys, and autoresponders. Pricing starts at $9.95 per month for 500 contacts to $699 a month for up to 100,000 contacts!
3. MyNewlsetterBuilder
   MyNewsletterBuilder gives you the ability to incorporate multi-media within your newsletter: virtual tours, audio tours, rotating banner ads, and custom template design. Free 60 day trial. Offers additional services: website design, RSS Feeds Setup, SEO, and more!
4. EmailFusion
   If you have even less time to create content and you don’t mind spending a bit more, EmailFusion may be the answer for you. Besides having some amazing looking email campaigns, they offer professional pre-written content for your newsletter. And for those of us who prefer original content, you still have the ability to insert your own content. With EmailFusion, you can easily manage your subscribers and receive real time reports with detailed analytics. Pricing on their packages range from $39.95/month to $139/month, all include a $99 one time set-up fee.
5. Zookoda
   Great solution for real estate bloggers! Promote your blog and your brand! With Zookoda, you can send a daily, weekly, or monthly summary of your blog content. You can also manage your subscribers and enhance your blog with custom a subscription form. For those of you that know a little HMTL, use their Zootags to customize your newsletter. (Format your picture, logo, etc.) Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE! (BTW-We use it and we like it!)
6. Create your own with a Publisher template!
   This is a great option if you have an assistant or work in a team. And FREE! Create you own Publisher template and have your assistant fill in the local and community info, featured listings, etc. Bloggers, just copy and paste your blog content into your newsletter template. Send your email newsletter right from Publisher (File>Send Email>Send this page as message) and access your Outlook database! And for those of you that are using Publisher 2007, you can take advantage of their new email merge feature. Once you have set up a template, it’s just about plug and play!

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Kyte Offers Online TV Technology for your Real Estate Business

By Reggie · August 25, 2007 · 4 Comments 

Video has been reshaping the Internet, and it’s no different for your real estate business. Think back to your listings online, what do consumers want? Enhanced content…right? They want multiple photos, home tours and now video. So the same could be said for real estate information on your website. A text-based story would work, but imagine an article with video and photo support. Could you prove your point better? Could you also brand yourself better? I believe so!

Introducing Kyte.tv; their technology will allow you to create your own FREE real estate TV channel and broadcast it to the world. Your TV channel can include still photos, slide shows, video, music, voice and instant polls to help enhance your online presence and in turn, provide you a competitive edge in your real estate business. You may choose to include videos outlining industry trends, steps towards home ownership, the selling and buying process, real estate investment, or even showcase local attractions & hotspots. Of course you would also include video tours and photos of your listed homes for maximum appeal. Why not also invite colleagues such as your preferred lender to talk on evaluating loans, and improving credit. The ideas are limitless.

Once your TV channel is built, Kyte will allow you to embed it on your website, blog or even Facebook. Then every time you update your TV channel using the KTYE.tv interface, your website and blog will be updated simultaneously. Kyte has also integrated chat technology, allowing your audience to leave comments promoting your website community.

If you are interested in leveraging the latest in Internet TV technology for your real estate business don’t wait; create your own channel today!

A few other companies providing similar TV channel technology:

1. SplashCast
2. Vidiac
3. Panjea

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vFlyer Offers Single Property Sites

By NikNik · August 20, 2007 · 7 Comments 

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RealBird’s New Features and New Business Model

By Reggie · August 9, 2007 · 1 Comment 

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Got Real Estate Questions? TruliaVoices Answers.

By NikNik · July 14, 2007 · 10 Comments 

Trulia launches answers to your questions with “Trulia Voices”. The Trulia community provides a place where anyone can ask real estate questions and get real answers from homeowners, real estate pros or anyone with an opinion on your local market.

To get started, visit Trulia online. Click on the “Trulia Voices” tab up top, then type your real estate question in the provided field. Update with your area info and submit. You will be prompted to register, if you haven’t already. Within seconds, your question is submitted to their online question/answer forum. You can view questions/answers that may be similar to your inquiries. If there are no like answers found, then just sit back, relax, and soon other community members from your area will begin commenting and answering your specific real estate question.

I asked the question, “Where do you find the school scores for your area?” Now, I already have a few favorite resources when it comes to that question (see past article: School Scores & More), but I wanted to test the Trulia forum to see if I would really get some quality answers. And within 10 minutes of submitting my question, I had some fabulous results. The first real estate pro who answered my question provided me with list a great list of websites. Two of which, I use and recommend frequently (GreatSchools.net & NeighborhoodScout.com). And the following 3 real estate pros also recommended GreatSchools.net, among others.

Trulia Voices makes it easy for anyone with almost any kind of real estate question get knowledgeable answers quickly. It’s quite a helpful forum, really. And, it was nice to see some familiar Trulia Voices: Pat Kitano, Kevin Boer, Brian Brady, Tyler Moxley, Maureen Francis, Trang Nguyen.

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New Email Stationery Technology for Real Estate Agents

By Reggie · July 6, 2007 · 8 Comments 

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Real Estate Agents with Verizon: It’s Time to Upgrade

By Chad A. Johnson · July 3, 2007 · 5 Comments 

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IDX Lead Capture Technology

By Reggie · June 30, 2007 · 9 Comments 

Should real estate agents capture or not capture a user’s information on their real estate website? This still seems to be a highly debated question. Thanks to Jeff Tomlin, of Point2 Technologies, for his coverage of “Why 95% of Realtors are leaving BIG money on the table.” Jeff talks about the trouble of “Baiting the consumer by providing basic information and then requiring contact information for more data.” Jeff also states what all real estate agents should be aware of… consumers are getting smarter online! They know the technology for public listing data exists, and if you don’t supply it freely they will likely leave your website to find it on your competitors. To prove the point take a look at the chart Jeff provides below. It displays Point2 NLS stats on leads generated as a percentage of unique visits to registration forms.” Look at the staggering decline in registration forms effectiveness since 2004.

Why have consumers shied away from user registration? On this question I agree with Jay’s opinion over at PheonixRealEstateGuy. He is a fan of the “Free Internet and Free Information.” Think about it, that’s what the Internet provides all of us. Imagine the last time you searched for information on any topic. Did you pass up a website that required you to register? I know I have!

So if I don’t make the consumer register on my real estate website, how will I capture the lead? When it comes to this question, I agree with Marrlow Harris at 360 Digest when she says “build a better website, add some good sticky content.” She hit on the essence of what we should all be trying to do via the Internet. Make your website content appealing by exploring a niche, localizing, and enhancing your data for maximum appeal.

It’s important to note that these findings will obviously be different for each real estate market. If all of your competitors require registration for MLS data, you will likely not see the backlash as quickly. But rest assured the Internet will continue transforming in the consumers best interest.

Please share your opinions!

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