Internet Marketing Update: November 1st, 2007 : As usual, the Advanced Marketing Seminar went very well and everyone learned a great deal. Tonight I am posting the main notes from this seminar in the form of an article, "Key Word and Phrase Marketing" for easy reading. I will also be posting the very advanced section on connecting to the new RETS system (real estate transaction standard) and getting up to the minute reports from the CBR MLS. For right now, I am posting the source code to the script I demonstrated. I'll post an explanation article over the weekend. I'll also try to find time and post articles on Google Analytics and Google Maps Wizard. Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

October 16th, 2007 : I found a humorous website that helps explain how you 'work' a website to get better Google search rankings. What if Google had to design its own website to get a good PageRank?

October 7th, 2007 : During the Oct 4th, 2007 Beginners Internet Marketing session I mentioned the concept of 'The Long Tail'. [article] [wiki] [blog] This was first coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon.com or Netflix. Businesses with distribution power can sell a greater volume of otherwise hard to find items at small volumes than of popular items at large volumes.
Here is an excellent article from Practical Ecommerce discussing the concept as it applies to internet marketing. [article] Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

Internet Marketing Update: October 6th, 2007 : We're pleased to announce the date for the Internet Marketing Advanced Session. It will be Wednesday, October 31st at 1pm, again at the Columbus Board of REALTORSÆ. Sign up today, I expect this to be a very exciting session. We've reserved the main classroom for 3 hours, so the Advanced Session will go for 1 hour, then Identity Theft Consultants will present and we'll have plenty of time for Q&A. It should be great. Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

Internet Marketing Update: October 5th, 2007 : REMINDER: The notes for the Beginners Session are available here online.

Internet Marketing Update: October 5th, 2007 : The Internet Marketing for Beginners Session went very well, thank you to everyone who came. We had a good time discussing how Google works, why different webpages get more attention and how to get started on the world wide web.
As usual I brought my Nintendo Wii for everyone to see, but there were problems with the CBR network and we couldn't get it to go online. Nintendo has sold more that 6 and half million Wii consoles since last year now!
I have updated the notes for the session as well.

BrokerSearch MLS Gateway Update: September 9th, 2007 : I am very proud to announce new Google Local Search functionality in the Agenthelper BrokerSearch program. All participting brokers will see the upgrade immediately, allowing visitors to search the embedded Google Map for schools, churches, groceries and more - right on the same page! This is an exciting and tremendously useful addition and I will be adding more Google Map fuctions in the future. Check out the MLShelper.net Demo to see the new functionality.

May 9th, 2007 : In the process of updating my records with Bryan Dean, I've received an updated MLS/IDX permission form. This is referred to as the "Download Request Form" and replaces the dozen or so pages involved in the old permission packet. This is a great leap forward, and I give strong kudos to Byran and the MLS Committee for responding to the need for simplifying this process.

Internet Marketing Update: April 30th, 2007 : As with all competitive business I have need to check the common practices of other MLS/IDX solution providers regarding layout, ease of use and feature set. Imagine my surprise when I was checking Yahoo! Real Estate 'Homes for Sale (MLS)' powered by Prudential Residential Plus Realty and found 'Address Not Published' for all of the listings in Powell, Hilliard and, I imagine, everywhere else.
Contrast this with Yahoo!'s Real Estate Classifieds which show the full address and all the benefits. Their 'New Homes' and 'Foreclosures' also withhold the address.
This got me thinking so I wandered around to different broker websites powered by Wolfnet's MLSFinder, and found different results in addresses shown. One site does not show the address in the list of found homes, but does show it in the item view, whereas another only shows the address if the property is with that agency.
This is interesting, since I know first hand that missing address information is a serious pet peeve for many web savvy home buyers. By withholding the address these search solutions are annoying the very people they have spent all this money to attract.

Internet Marketing Update: April 27th, 2007 : The Columbus Dispatch is running a promotion on their ColumbusRealEstate.com website. They seem to have finally turned the corner on having a useful product, and are now allowing Columbus and Central Ohio brokers to include their listing inventory for free, much like Realtor.com has always done. The inclusion is the same basic level of information, one photo and you can pay for the priviledge of providing more useful information for their advertising vehicle. While this is clearly stuck in 1998, having another free channel to promote your listings should be a good thing, but then remember how bad Realtor.com has become? Also is it just me, or is the Dispatch maps adverse? Why no love for maps? Seriously, Google Maps is free. And wonderful. Also, the disclaimer is almost twice the size of the listing information. That is just annoying.
Learn more by contacting:
Kate Sumption
Online Real Estate Account Executive
ColumbusRealEstate.com
The Columbus Dispatch
614.469.6137 Phone
She can send your broker (if thats not you) the paperwork via email.
Caveat, your broker must give the Dispatch carte blache permission to access the MLS system on their behalf. There are no restrictions in the Third Party Vendor Access Agreement stating just how the information gained must be used. The MLS Committee has not provided any guidence or direction on this concern. This is true of all Third Party Access, including Agenthelper. In theory the shiney new RETS system should be able to restrict permissions based on user, but it depends on the vendor.
I wonder aloud how long it will be before Realtors become inundated with marketing schtick from our newest MLS Affiliates using the MLS data to pinpoint Just Listeds, busy Realtors, newbies, coupon packs for new buyers, mortgage offers for sellers... Just wondering aloud, people.

April 27th, 2007 : I've updated the Referral Advantage Program to better reflect how appreciative I am of your help in growing my business.
The Referral Advantage program is designed to give you credit for business you help bring in. We are here to help you grow your business, and we appreciate it when you help us grow our business.
The first services to go under the Referral Advantage banner are the AgentSite web service and Keep-In-Touch Subscriptions. When a confirmed referral made by you results in a successful subscription*, Agenthelper will credit your AgentSite or Keep-In-Touch Account for one of the following applicable rewards.

Remember to tell your friends and colleagues to mention your name when they call about Agenthelper services! We will ask specifically when signing up new members to indicate referral on their membership form.
* A successful subscription involves 3 months of paid service from a new member.

Internet Marketing Update: April 26th, 2007 : I found a great resource explaining Google's Page Rank system. Lots of good stuff here, but its long, so take it in stages. Enjoy. What Is Google PageRank? A Guide For Searchers & Webmasters

April 26th, 2007 : The 'Mechanics of Sales' seminar was great fun! I'm working on the notes and hope to post them tomorrow. Based on the great feed back (much appreciated!) I am going to turn this very long and dry seminar into a web based sales training module. This will allow anyone to register with Agenthelper, log in and track through the program on their own time. With a solid common language and foundation in sales I can then start holding the more active sessions on handling objections and even cold calling. (Yes, I know how to train for that also. ;-)

Internet Marketing Update : April 26th, 2007 : Nintendo updated the web browser for the Wii, it is no longer a 'beta' version. This is much improved. Here is a nice write up at Ars Technica Final version of Opera browser released for the Wii. My personal favorite new feature is the auto-hide browser buttons.

Internet Marketing Update : April 14th, 2007 : The Nintendo Wii has sold over 6 million units since its launch in mid-November, 2006. This is nearly 3 times as many PlayStation 3's from Sony and is rapidly gaining on the XBox360 in the next gen console wars. As I demonstrated at the March07 Seminar the Wii has a built in Internet Browsers powered by Opera Software from Oslo, Norway (more fun, useless trivia you can astonish your kids with when they beat you mercilessly at video games). While the PlayStation2 sits pretty with an installed base of over at 100 million, the Wii is outselling everything, including the PS2.
The Wii and its accompanying wave of 'internet ready' devices signals the final push for expanding internet access. We've all seen people using their cell phones to send text messages, or even pictures, but it was always crude and cumbersome. This is true because tiny keyboards are awfull for typing mesages and tiny screens are awful for looking at photos. The attempt to put the internet on your TV has failed in the past because your Standard Definition Television has a lousy resolution. The new Opera powered brower on the Wii leverages text rendering technology that helps reduce this. There is also the simple fact the High Definition Televisions are rapidly moving into American homes and have 3 times the screen space to show text properly.
This new wave of internet access makes use of the better screen space and the better bandwidth. In the home family room, the video console enables internet access, the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation3 and Microsoft XBox360 all have web browsers. While Microsoft has limited the 360 to viewing only approved content, this may change in the future.
All of this is piling up, and then you have the new Apple IPhone, slated for June, 2007. Describing the Apple iPhone is like chatting about the future. This cell phone will have everything. Video iPod, Visual Voicemail, Email, Camera, Web Browser, Maps, Weather... Kitchen sink. This is George Jetson's cell phone. The Palm Treo and the RIM Blackberry are built from Legos compared to the sweet, sweet technology powering this shimmering beauty. My hyperbole may be amusing, but I use my 69 year old mother as a metric for public enthusiasm. Yeah, she wants one. I am not joking. She doesn't have a cell phone so I bought her an iPod just to see if she was serious, and wow, she is serious.
The Wii and the iPhone are the avantgarde for this next generation of internet access. While both work hard to accomodate the wide ranging content that tumbles across the internet they will still have limitations that any website developer must be aware of. They are light years ahead of current mobile phone and WebTV experiences, but tiny screens and low resoultions are still issues that must at least garner awareness. Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

Internet Marketing Update: April 13th, 2007 : I've finally had a chance to update these notes, but decided to add the new material to the top as I jump start the Ask.Agenthelper.net blog. One item I stressed was maps and adding maps to your listings. Not a week later Google rolled out a major enhancement to their already robust mapping tools, making it effortless to create your own 'mash-up' maps with their new tools. These tools are amazing. I've only had a small chance to play with them, but I've made a little map to show the basics. You need a Google Account to make and save maps, but then you already have one for Google Base, right?
This is an impressive addition to an already staggeringly useful product. Just imagine setting up open house routes and realty association tours with Google Maps. You can make the maps private and invitation only.
As you can see there is already a nice write-up for the CBR offices and a photo. Is your agency office represented in Google Maps? If not, go get it done! (Or pester your broker! ;-) Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

April 13th, 2007 : Google adds Traffic and Local Business Center features to Google Maps. I understand what Traffic is supposed to show, but it doesn't support Columbus, Ohio yet.
From the Google Blog
"There's nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic when you have some place to go, so I'm happy to tell you about a new feature on Google Maps that can help. For more than 30 major U.S. cities, you can now see up-to-date traffic conditions to help you plan your schedule and route. If you're in San Francisco, New York , Chicago, Dallas, or any of the other cities we now include, just click on the traffic button to show current traffic speeds directly on the map. If your route shows red, you're looking at a stop-and-go commute; yellow, you could be a little late for dinner; green, you've got smooth sailing.
We can't make traffic go away, but we hope Google Maps traffic info helps you avoid it whenever possible."

The Local Business Center is also another step in getting local businesses more involved and available in Google Maps. You can easily add your business location and even post Coupons! Do you have a question for Agenthelper? Just Ask

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