Real Estate Marketing 2.0

Templates suck.Isn't that what people say?That must be why there are so many template sites out there.Let's face it, marrying cross browser compatible code with good design is not something that you can't whip together in an afternoon.It's one of ...

There are many arguments on both sides of this issue, what do you think about an open source listing service for the real estate industry.

Is social media taking up too much time?  Have you got a successful strategy?Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr ... the base updatesFriendfeed, delicious, last.fm, upcoming, qik ... the channel updatesVimeo, bambuser, foursquare, cr...

Using video for SEO is a great way to get found quickly online. You can shortcut a ton of link back activities with a couple of well titled videos that then link to the appropriate page on your website. Don't be afraid to use redirects to make n...

I've got a killer report that I've created that shows you step by step, what you need to do to instantly dominate the search engines using "REAL TIME LOCAL SEARCH". With just a few tweeks, you can automate your social media posting and take contr...

Mobile Video Blogging From Inman Connect 2010 I've been playing with this new app for my phone called "bambuser", it's pretty cool it lets you do live broadcasting from your phone, direct to the web. There's feature with the site which lets you ...

First prize is a CadillacSecond prize is a set of steak knivesThird prize is "you're fired".The famous Glengarry Glen Ross speech is a classic that really does a good job of laying out the basics.A = AttentionI = InterestD = DecisionA = ActionThe ...

StrataXL is going to New York City!We've been selected as a Start-up Alley paticipant at this year's Real Estate Connect Conference.Every year the most innovative, best and brightest in real estate technology and marketing from throughout north ...

StrataXL Builds Real Estate Focused Community Websites for real estate brokerages, agents, buildings and developers. We build social media enabled websites that help get neighbors talking. Our sites encourage community participation by prov...

Rick talks about reselling his real estate business in the future and why he likes the fact that the LiveIn sites don't promote a specific real estate agent.Have you thought about reselling your real estate business?Have you bought someone else's ...

Rick Stonehouse has been in the real estate game for quite some time, never one to follow the heard, he got off direct mailers and other forms of print marketing a long time ago.Over the last 4 years, Rick has poured all of his marketing money int...

Is it time to update your web technology? Are you ranking at the top of the search engines for your area? Join Web Strategy and SEO expert Riel Roussopoulos as he walks through best practices for website technology. How to use on and off site b...

Vic has been in the real estate business for many years and recently stepped down as managing broker at Sutton West Coast.We spoke with Vic recently about our community marketing strategy specifically and more generally about the social media and ...

I'm trying to be nice here, but it's one of those things where I really wonder what people are thinking.The Curb appeal is pretty important when you're listing a home, here's a good example of things you'd like to avoid.

Seth Godin is a well known marketer who recently published a book called Tribes.It's well put, but not a new idea.  We've seen grass roots movements and other such influences over the years that have moved everything from policy changes to p...

This is a short video that I made using Jing on how to configure a button.Hope you enjoy.

Many of you know that i've been growing our community sites here in Vancouver. We've added the ability for other agents to list themselves and show their properties in the websites, this means that a true representation of the area can be made. ...

List building is a part of every marketers job, and real estate agents are ultimately marketers.As the old saying goes, the money is in the list.See the video as I explain to you the concept and you'll see how a little bribe can go a long way.&nbs...

Watch this video and see how I can get 100's of new leads in just minutes.Finally get the power of the web working for you, this tool will ferret out new buyers and listings for you like nothing I've seen before.Order Lead Magnet NowThis is strong...

Thought this was pretty funny, this would be the agent from hell.There was a part that hit me though towards the end.  He's talking about tire kickers.How would you handle this differently?

This is the first time that we've done this but I think it worked pretty well.We'll improve it in coming open houses, but building in an auto responder with the area info, listing details and comparable area listings, sent to their email address, ...

This is a short post where I'll show you how I put this form together using google docs.It's not a real job, so please don't apply.There is a video below that shows the process.Loading...

 Advertising vs Referral commissions.

Take a minute to fill in our survey and see what people think.

 If any of you have followed my twitter feed, you'll notice that fairly soon after, I follow you back.This is with the help of a little automation help from a great piece of software.In addition to automating my follows, it can schedule tweet...

Of course this would be dependent on what area you are selling real estate in but here in Vancouver the numbers work out something like this.We've been struggling with a monthly recurring fee and in the end, compared to the expected return on inve...

Always interested in what agents are looking for, please take a minute to answer these questions for me.Loading...

 Retweet Give Away | Get a Report on how to dominate google local search just for following.

This video is an interview with Rick where he outlines the ways that the internet has changed his business and made it easier to do his job.

There have been several new leads that have come in of late from the livein sites.  We have not really started to do any specific marketing for them, this site (commercial drive house for sale) specifically has not been marketed and is delive...

3 years in the making and our community software is almost ready for a release.We're going to have a "LIFE TIME LICENSE" sale for a very limited release of names.What's this?  Simple, you pay one price, and then you never pay again.  For...

I hate to pick on people .. but I had to point this out as a waste of money.Facebook and google adwords can be good traffic sources to get people to your listings, but you have to know how to do it right.Always create a landing page with a contact...

Watch this video about local real estate agent Ian Watt and how he markets himself using online tools.This is a guy who "get it"If you'd like to replicate what he's doing... read our book and get on the list at YourFarmer.com

Watch this video where I outline how our system works and how we've been promoting it to grow it.This is early stage, but very happy with the overall success and reaction. Move the Free Line as Eban says.Links we talk about in this video are : htt...

How Has Real Estate Marketing Changed?

This is one of those simple things that can have a dramatic effect on your rankings. You can download my report on Social Media Marketing for a detailed list of social bookmarking sites ...

Seems like simple advice doesn't it?I know it sounds simple but how many of us do it?It's so easy to simply walk away and focus on something else when you don't get immediate success, but in the end where does that leave you?Watch this video, if t...

Something that you will find, especially if you join something like LiveJournal, Jing, ActiveRain, Inman, or linkedIn is that users just like you have created communities for people with common interests.There are communities for just about any su...

Here's a great technology that makes it simple to hold a live video conference.http://ustream.tvI had a few ideas about how you could use this to get more exposure including hosting a live telecast about market conditions, making a show out of loc...

10 ways to make your real estate listings go viral In today's market, you need to take advantage of every opportunity you can get to gain more awareness for your name. One of the most tried and true forms of advertising your name and...

If you're not using twitter yet ... start now!!!If you are, you should check out this tool to set up an AUTO FOLLOW on twitter.That way, whenever someone follows you on twitter, you can follow them back (good for growing your business, don't bothe...

This post about the yellow pages "bleeding more money into online advertising" caught my eye this morning."Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (I...

I am going to give away some pre release copies of my new book - Real Estate Marketing 2.0I've written a new book on Real Estate Marketing 2.0It's packed with tips that I've learned over the last few years working in the business.I'm planning to s...

This is a brief history of where the idea for the "LiveIn" websites came from.

In the end, it's really all about "what's in it for me" right?  Let's get into the nitty gritty details.Besides the fact that you'll be growing your presence and your reputation in the community, skyrocketing up the google ranking and getting...

Take a look at how easy we make it for you to be the local area expert.Press the arrows to flip through the slide show.

 Real estate marketing does not have to be an "in your face" thing.  There are many ways to work your way into people's awareness.  Try to find ones that don't involve making them call you for information.

If your website was a car, you'd want to put some oil in it at this time of year, and make sure you've got all weather tires on it for the coming season.Bring us in for a SEASONAL WEBSITE TUNE UP.We'll take her for a spin, listen for clunking soun...

Rick sold one of his listings in record time and the owners credit his strategy and cutting edge tools.  Nice for us.

 I love these guys, common craft is great at explaining things in simple, easy to understand terms.They have a great show you should check out called The Common Craft Show.With no further ado, I'd like you to see this simple explanation which...

 This video was made by our good friends down at Media2oIt's designed to go onto both the yourfarmer.com and the agentxl.com websites. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

It's great when you see your work giving you results.We've been working on optimizing our google performance for our AgentXL application.Having the MLx(can't use due to cease and desist letter from CREA for trademark reasons) number show up in a g...

 I wanted to mess around a little bit with the concept of putting the coaching for how to sign up for things, right into the application.We should be able to create these types of interfaces to help users with adoption.(course some better lig...

 A few months ago, I spoke to a room of people about web strategy for Real Estate Agents.Someone captured it on video and after reviewing it,  I thought it would be good to share it here.

 This is a little slide show that I did up to show how search engines work and how you can do your own keyword research.Pay particular attention to slide 6 - it's got all the links to "the good stuff".This will help you research the popularit...

 Conducting a first formal training group that arose suddenly this week. A quick crack at laying out the steps for the beginner Realty Agent using AgentXL toolsets, we first cover Adding/Creating New Contacts, and then Adding New Listings to ...

 While there are surely many replies to this question, we have defined it basically as cultivating community and creating a permission marketing system that attracts leads to you, rather than forcing you to go looking for them, they come to y...

Have you done your Keyword Research? Do it before you build your site, not after. Even before you buy your domain name.

Web marketing takes all sorts of forms, but at the end of the day it's about letting your audience find you and connecting with them in a personal way that is more than just a sales letter.  Giving them something of value in exchange for thei...

This is an interesting post about Localism.com which is the community facing part of the Active Rain Network, a realtor focused website."It is a social network based around communities," said Jonathan Washburn, ActiveRain CEO. "We're trying to bri...

 This is a series of screencasts that outline the way to use community groups in your real estate marketing.

 I discovered this last week and have been very pleased to see it's positioning in the market place as I think it is a great validation of our Community focused LiveIn websites as a marketing tool for realtors.

Recently discovered a company called Dominion that is a total validation for our business model in my opinion.Proof that we're definately on the right track with how we've positioned our technology.

This is a good outline of StrataXL's "Live In" brand of community websites.How they work, where we're going with them and what we're looking for.With an average referral commission over $1K the benefits can add up fast. See the full screen version...

Take a tour of the agentXL back office and some of the functionality and applications of the AgentXL platform.