Ebay has launched a new widget feature to their system that allows you to add an auction item to any blog or real estate agent website quickly and easily. Here is a listing I found in San Francisco:
Details can be found at http://togo.ebay.com
The TechCruch review can be found here.
Interesting website that will take an image of your face and tell you what celebrities look similar to you. In my case it seems that the closest I get is 60% similar. Want to create your own? You can do that here.
| http://www.myheritage.com |
May 7th 2007 is shaping up to be a great day. If your looking for the opportunity to learn more about the Ubertor software, ask some specific questions about your website and attend the Real Estate Technology Meetup then May 7th is your day.
All events take place at Ceili’s Irish Pub in downtown Vancouver
4:00 - 6:00PM - Ubertor Training Session (details here) Instructor: Dara Sklar
6:00 - 6:45PM - Social Interaction with Agents, Ubertor Client Service Team, Approved Vendors (cash bar and food available)
6:45 - 7:45PM - Presentation by Jordan Behan on “Kicking Ass and Taking Names in Cyberspace”
In the past, agents from Victoria, Whistler, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, San Francisco and all over the Lower Mainland have come out to attend these events.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
The Wall Street Journal’s online real estate website has posted an article about “Taking Home Photos That Will Draw Buyers“. They give you some tips on the use of photos online, editing software, tips for shooting photos, plus more. We even got to add our two cents at the end of the article.
1. Lighten up.
2. More is better.
3. Get a clear shot.
4. Go pro.
5. Give it your best shot.
6. Edit.
To read the article just click here
Mike Andruff of RE/MAX is using YouTube to showcase a video of him discussing why team real estate is a great option for home buyers and sellers. Take a peek, it is an interesting way to get your message out.
Mike Andruff - www.teamandruff.ca
Ian Watt of Century 21 has created his own YouTube Channel with the RealEstateChannel to interview different personalities about their expertise as it pertains to real estate. This is a great idea as it opens up Ian’s brand to other businesses client bases. Here is his latest interview with my brother Mike Jagger of Provident Security talking about condo security.
Ian Watt - www.ianwatt.ca
Vancouver’s Brent Chapman has a spoof video on YouTube. Embedding has been disabled so you will have to visit the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HANTJ1JlNbc
Vancouver Magazine writes about the differences and similarities between Vancouver, BC and Seattle WA. It is interesting to see their side by side comparison.
“We work in commodities; they work for Microsoft. They earn more; our real estate costs more. We have less violent crime; they have less property crime. Seattle and Vancouver have major differences, sure, but you could also argue that no two cities are more alike, right down to their kooky burrito joints, touristy public markets and gentrifying port-side neighbourhoods.” - from vanmag.com
…complete comparison here…
The Freakonomics guys have their say on the real estate market and the effects of Google. It will be interested to see where Google is going with their real estate related tools. Here is an interesting comments from the Freakonomics blog:
Google and the other big players have a very long term view of this service, while the everyday realtor doesn’t think more than 45 days out.
Combine the different business goals with increased competition and a poor market and we have a really fun drama starting to unfold.
Many clients call me asking why they can’t find their website when they search a specific phrase in Google. I always ask them, well do you write about that phrase in your website?
If not, why do you think Google will know what your website is about.
Want to know the keyword density of your website? Add your domain name here:
You will see a Keyword Cloud.
A Keyword Cloud is a visual depiction of keywords used on a website, keywords having higher density are depicted in a larger fonts. Ideally your main keywords should appear in larger fonts at the start of the cloud.
Keyword Density is the percentage of occurrence of your keywords to the text in the rest of your web page.
It is important for your main keywords to have the correct keyword density to rank well in Search Engines.
Don’t like what you find?
Here are 4 things you can do to change the results:
1. start blogging about the keyword phrase (ie. Want to be found under “Portland Condos for Sale” then start writing about “Portland Condos for Sale”.
2. update your home page content to be more specific. Long copy works well. Check out www.ianwatt.ca
, he does this well
3. ensure your website is tied into Google Sitemaps (ask Ubertor Client Service Team for more information)
4. add a new page on your website specifically focused on the keyword phase that your interested in
hat tip: realstock
The official Google Blog announced a new feature to the Google Maps system that enables anyone to create a custom map for their website.
from the Google Blog - “Map-making: So easy a caveman could do it”
My Maps, a new feature that makes it quick and easy to create your own custom Google Maps just by pointing and clicking. You can add placemarks, draw lines and shapes, and embed text, photos and videos — all using a simple drag and drop interface. Your map automatically gets a public URL that you can share with your friends and family, or you can also publish your map for inclusion in Google Maps search results and for use on your real estate web site.
Why does this matter to you?
- you could create a Google map of all the restaurants in your farm area
- show where every loft building is
- map out the dog parks in a certain neighbourhood
There is so much more you can do. It took me about 5 minutes to create a map of a couple of restaurants in the Yaletown area of downtown Vancouver. You can see the map I created here.
Want to know how to make a map for your real estate agent website? Click Here to follow Google’s easy to follow instructions.
UPDATE - CNN writes about “Googling your Date”
Google your name! What do you find?
This is an important thing to do. Your clients and potential clients are “Googleing ” you - don’t you think you should know what they are finding?
Here are a few examples:
I started by Googleing myself (Stephen Jagger) and found the Ubertor blog, my Meetup.com profile, one of my personal websites, a few Meetup.com groups that I’m part of and the Yankee Blog Swap that I took part in a few months ago.
I Googled “Kris Berg” and found her blog, her website, a blog she contributes to and a few music references.
I Googled “Marty Pospischil” and found his website, a couple of his niche web sites, a blog article about him and a few other references to him.
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Don’t like what you found? Quickest way to change it is update (or create) your profile in some popular social networking websites. Start with meetup.com, upcoming.org, activerain.com and linkedin.com. Update your profile by adding some pictures, biography, testimonials, etc. Give it a few weeks and the Google yourself again.
