DON'T FIGHT THE INTERNET!

Web 2.0 is a term that leaves a lot of us saying.. "Huh??"

Tim O'Reilly regards Web 2.0 as business embracing the web as a platform and using its strengths. O'Reilly considers that Eric Schmidt's abridged slogan, don't fight the Internet, encompasses the essence of Web 2.0 In layman terms
"Internet Good. Fight Internet Bad."
We all agree that REALTOR.COM is awesome and great for internet exposure. CENTURY21.COM is great too! However, there are tons of opportunities that we are missing!

For Instance... CRAIGSLIST! Before you pass jugement read this:

The site serves over nine billion page views per month, putting it in 47th place overall among web sites world wide, ninth place overall among web sites in the United States to over thirty million unique visitors. With over thirty million new classified advertisements each month, Craigslist is the leading classifieds service in any medium.

With this kind of exposure, shouln't EVERY LISTING be on Craigslist? Why NOT? It's FREE an OH SO EASY!

If you want to place snazzy full color flyers on Craigslist just go to one of these sites:

POSTLETS.COM
VFLYER.COM

These sites will help you create listing ads for Craigslist and AUTOMATICALLY post to :
Trulia,Oodle,Google Base,Vast,Yahoo! Real Estate, Zillow, Geebo, OLX, HotPads, DotHomes, Backpage, Lycos (via Oodle), Cyberhomes/AOL, FrontDoor

You can also create cool ads to post at CRAIGSLISTEDITOR.COM
DO IT AND WATCH YOUR BUSINESS EXPLODE!!

A Little More on Video Hosting

The past two entries have been talking about the importance of getting into blogging and video. I intend to add podcasting to the list but that is for another time. I ran across this great site:Inman News said this about Zipvo: ZIPVO.com launched a year ago as a database of real estate videos accessible by ZIP Code or town. Realtors can upload videos to the site for free, embedding them in IDX-compliant MLS listings or in social networking sites like ActiveRain, Twitter, and Facebook. Making videos and photo tours embeddable and searchable is the key to helping consumers find them.
Get on board, or get left behind... It's up to you. Contact me and I will help you ge started.

Start Blogging or DIE!

Well... you probably won't die, but your business will suffer and you will be sad. You have to admit, "Start Blogging or DIE!" is much more captivating as a title than "Start Blogging or Be Sad."

Oh... I am sure there are tons of questions: Why Should I Blog? How Do I blog? What do I blog? But before you get all Blogged down (hehe) with questions, let me assure you... It's not difficult.

I have a blogging class that will get you on the blogging track immediately. Soon you will be setting yourself up as the "go-to" realtor in your community or farm area. You will be landing on the front pages of Yahoo and Google. You will be the envy of your Non-blogging peers.

Contact me ASAP to schedule your blogging class. In the meantime, take a look at the video below that gives a nice, simple explanation to the question "what is a blog?"

Why Video Listings?? Because IT'S AWESOME!!

Ok guys... this is the deal. It's time to start getting with the times and start thinking like a consumer instead of like a Realtor. As a consumer I would LOVE to see video listings... and I do not think I am alone. According to NAR, the average age of a homebuyer is 39. And since I am.. ahem... very close to this age bracket, I think I have a good idea of what the average Joe Consumer wants to see.

The sad thing is that there are agents that still do not do a virtual tour for every listing... and now we are talking about video. Yeah, Grandpa.. they have moving pictures now!

Talk about differentiating yourself from the competition!!!

DONT WAIT! Go out and buy a Flip Video Camera (about $120) and take videos of your listings.
Upload them to YOU TUBE, embed them into websites, blogs, REALTOR.COM(see last post)

ASTOUND YOUR FRIENDS! IMPRESS YOUR CLIENTS! LAP THE COMPETITION! ATTRACT MORE BUYERS!!

OK... So you are not sure how to do it. NO PROBLEM. Just Contact me and I will help!

Century 21 United and Realtor.com

This week we rolled out the new realtor.com program. Our agents will now have the ability to showcase listings and gain awesome exposure. Realtor.com is the #1 Real Estate Website in the United States. They had over 9 million unique users in the last quarter and capture 84% of buyers hitting the internet.

We are learning the secrets of maximizing the benefits and how to get to the top of the searches on the site. Some agents have already already benefited from the enhanced program. We are reaching MORE BUYERS and MORE SELLERS than EVER BEFORE!!!

When the market gets tough... the tough work smarter. Enhanced Realtor.com and the new Century 21 IDX. (more on this later) will put our agents WAY ahead of the competition.

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