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T’was the App Before Christmas
By Ryan Ozonian · December 8, 2009 · 2 Comments
Introducing our newest regular author and member of the MTO family, Ryan Ozonian. Ryan is a recent USC communications graduate. He may be young but he’s already making waves! As a licensed REALTOR®, he worked for a top Prudential Broker in Orange County for the last 3 years. He is also the Founder and Chief Creative of BonzoBox, an interactive bookmarking homepage. Reggie brought him onboard at Cyberhomes where they worked on social media strategies together! And we’re excited to announce he is working with us as Director of Business Development!
Ryan enjoys playing golf, spontaneous traveling, spending time with his girlfriend and family, is a little obsessed with Japanese culture and is a fantastically creative writer…as you will see below! Please help me welcome Ryan by leaving him a comment! Read full story
Do you really think I’m visiting your Facebook profile to look for homes? Really!?!
By NikNik · November 11, 2009 · 45 Comments
Saturday night brings with it one of my most favorite TV segments…“Really!?! with Seth & Amy”. In this SNL skit, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers share their snarky take on current affairs. So in the spirit of “Really!?”…I’m going to shed some light on “Real Estate Listings Inside Facebook”!
Let’s start with obvious failures inside Facebook…at the moment!
MyRealEstateListings (there are 2 of them, as well as a few more similarly named cohorts) but they essentially all do the same thing- create a “MyRealEstate” or “MyListings” tab on your profile. You can then click on the tab (when was the last time you clicked on a tab) to view a lack luster interface of your manually entered listings from which you can then decide to click further to obtain details, which lands you on a third party site outside of Facebook. Click for more details, really!?! Read full story
How to Make Use of Twitter Lists
By NikNik · November 2, 2009 · 12 Comments
Twitter has been rolling out their new Lists feature to tweeps over the last few weeks. If you’re still waiting, be patient (or whine about it in the public stream like I did). The feature was made available to me last week and unfortunately I was so busy I had to wait until the weekend to play with it. But now that I have, I’m excited to share my experience and suggestions with you.
What are Twitter Lists?
Twitter Lists are nothing more than groupings of your tweeps based on categories you choose. For example: I have 3 lists thus far, (1) RE Rockstars, (2) Tech Influencers, and (3) Keepin’ It Real. Tweeps can exist in multiple lists, but at this point it looks like you are limited to creating 20 lists. Read full story
Goodbye Vista!
By Chad A. Johnson · October 30, 2009 · 14 Comments
It is complete. I am now 100% Vista-free. Let me tell you, it feels good.
Windows 7 seems lighter, faster and cleaner. It has breathed new life into my aging computers.
First Impressions
Microsoft has done a good job of simply refining Vista. At first, I was disappointed that Windows 7 is so much like Vista. After upgrading 2 computers and working with the operating system, I am glad Microsoft didn’t start from scratch.
Compatibility
As an early adopter of Vista, I dealt with software and hardware compatibility issues. This was frustrating and costly as many programs and peripherals had to be replaced.
Fortunately, everything that worked on my Vista computers is compatible on Windows 7. Read full story
AgentPress: The Ideal Theme for Real Estate Bloggers
By NikNik · October 26, 2009 · 13 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
Lucky Number 7
By Chad A. Johnson · October 20, 2009 · 5 Comments
Two and a half years has gone by very quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I was booting up my Windows Vista computer for the first time with excitement and anticipation. For me, it was like watching that summer blockbuster you’ve eagerly awaited in hopes of it exceeding your expectations. But, like most summer blockbusters, Windows Vista didn’t live up to expectations. It was a bloated and flawed operating system in many ways. Vista does have quite a few redeeming qualities. It was an improvement over Windows XP to the point that I never considered reformatting and going back the older OS (something I did shortly after installing Windows ME).
We are now back to a time of great anticipation. Hopes that Microsoft will redeem itself with the release Windows 7 abound. Will Windows 7 be faster? Will it ask fewer annoying questions? Will it work with all of my current software and hardware? With the Windows 7 release coming October 22, all of our questions will be answered soon enough.
20 Affordable Online Marketing Tips for Your Real Estate Business
By NikNik · October 9, 2009 · 11 Comments
This week I attended C.A.R. EXPO’s Tech Tuesday. I had a great time moderating a panel on blogging for real estate, but I was also asked to present “20 Affordable Online Marketing Tips for Your Real Estate Business”. I found it really hard not to dance, but I did manage to rap a little Beasties Boys!
I’m accustomed to presenting in a why-to, how-to style, but it was still fun to hit the audience fast and furiously with 20 takeaways for their real estate business. You may not like all of the following tips, but I wouldn’t expect you to. This list represents a wide scope of online marketing ideas, so (1) you’ll need to consider your current marketing plan and (2) decide which of the following can assist you best with your business goals. If you have a specific question about any of the tips, leave me a comment and I’d be happy to expand further! Read full story
How to Give Your Brand an Instant Facelift
By NikNik · August 27, 2009 · 4 Comments
Ever visited someone’s social profile only to find they are represented by a logo, building or their glamour shot, circa 92′?! Branding yourself online plays a key role in helping others learn about who you are and what you do. So don’t give people the wrong idea….that you are stiff as concrete or unwilling to age. People don’t connect with buildings and signs, people connect with people. And we can do an even better job of relating with each other if we are represented accurately. 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
Get Your Tweet On With Twitter for Real Estate Twits v.2
By NikNik · August 14, 2009 · 7 Comments
Good Twitter help can be hard to find. And when it comes to Twitter for real estate, it’s even more important to be led in the right direction or you’ll risk being labeled as a spammer. Your brand could be tarnished in real-time if you don’t learn how to reach out and connect authentically with your network. The good news is, I don’t want to see you become the latest fail whale. I’m determined to share top tools, engagement strategies and best practices to ensure your Twitter success!!! Read full story
Farming Twitter With DemandSpot
By NikNik · August 9, 2009 · 21 Comments
DemandSpot is a brand new Twitter tool that aims to help real estate professionals actually farm Twitter for local leads. Find locals based on location and keyword relevancy (house hunting, apartments, rent, condos, etc.). Search your location and actually connect with real people looking for real estate in real time! Read full story
The Tweet Plan 2.0
By NikNik · August 6, 2009 · 25 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
