I’ve been playing around with a new resource everyone should have a look at. Real Estate Wiki is essentially the largest online collaborative encyclopedia for the real estate industry. It’s free for registrants and, currently, you can add inbound links back to your own websites and blogs!

Real Estate Wiki serves home buyers, sellers, home owners, the millions of professionals that serve them and the real estate industry as a whole. Real Estate Wiki was apparently launched January ‘08 with several thousand entries, definitions, acronyms, biographies and FAQ’s about the real estate industry and the home buying, selling, renting and home ownership process.

It’s apparently the culmination of a group of real estate professionals dedicated to laying the groundwork for what means to be the the industry’s preeminent resource. These folks felt resources like Wikipedia.org, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia, had such a broad scope that they didn’t successfully serve a users’ ability to drill down into industry specifics.

Real Estate Wiki is known to be a privately funded, non-profit venture and it’s not affiliated with the Wikipedia Foundation; however and similar to Wikipedia.org, it hopes to gather support from real estate industry volunteers that believe in collaborative web- based resources. Particularly, folks that appreciate a great free real estate resource for everyone to use.

Even if you’re not using your domains and subdomains, no one else should use your property as an advertising opportunity.

Here’s a great piece on the subject, including how to identify it and then protect yourself - How to Protect Your Business From Nefarious Subdomain Hijacking. SEOBook’s Aaron Wall is ‘by all means’ recommended reading!  For link building techniques and general search engine optimization info he’s generous with his knowledge

Is Open Source software an advantage versus Proprietary software? It’s a great question we’ve been asked and I’ll try to address it below, but for starters we consider Real Estate Blogsites [in affiliation with Kinetic Knowledge / Kinetic Blogs] to be a comprehensive Business Blogging services company. We assemble, host & integrate agile ever- evolving WordPress blog platforms for our clients, who benefit from having some of the original WordPress development team managing it all. We also include 4 tiers of ongoing education, highly proactive customer service and then we also offer SEO- trained Ghost Blog writing services, image- based video tour build/ placement in YouTube, Traffic Analytics software integration and much, much more 

To further set this up, let’s define Open Source & Proprietary Software with the help of Wikipedia.org:

‘Open Source software is made available under license (or arrangement such as the public domain) and allows users to use, change, and improve the software. It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Someties free and sometimes not free, the aim of open source is to let the product improve, be more reliable or simply accessible, while still marketable.’

‘Proprietary software is any computer software with restrictions on use by its proprietors.’

But back to the core question[s]:

Q1: Is Open Source software, with a dedicated community of programmers, an advantage versus a Proprietary platform?

A1: It can be. With open source the obvious benefit is development cost efficiencies, but what’s also noteworthy is that you have many people solving similar problems. This way you don’t have to build everything from scratch yourself or rely on limited programming resources. There’s also the argument that Open Source solves problems in an open forum, rather than in a hidden one; therefore, it’s likely to be a very comprehensive and honest approach, free of most ulterior motives. According to Wikipedia.org, ‘Since Open Source software is open, all of the defects and security flaws are easily found. Closed-source advocates argue that this makes it easier for a malicious person to discover security flaws. However, most studies show that open-source software does have a higher flaw discovery, quicker flaw discovery, and quicker turn around on patches.’ And let’s face it, Microsoft has been hacked so…

Q2: Why would so many programmers dedicate themselves to an Open Source software platform?

A2: Well, for one they may be very savvy business people. By building and giving away great features or by solving problems for a popular Open Source software platform a programmer can generate exposure [potentially] to thousands. Many of whom may be business people so impressed they’d want to retain a reliable programmer for their own platform management or other interesting projects. There may also be collaborative opportunities in contract work arising from that same exposure and experience.

Q3: Is it simple to manage an Open Source software platform?

A3: This depends on what resources you have: to develop, host, maintain and evolve a leading- edge / reliable Open Source software platform there are challenges. Even for experienced IT people! Regarding Wordpress, there is more than one version. Officially there are two, but there are also a variety of open source variants and also variants of the original WordPress. Depending on which one you have, it may or may not have the latest coding update and/ or plugins, etc. These updates and plugin- features are constantly coming out of the community of Open Source programmers and are, in theory, manageable; however, manageable depends on you and/ or your resources. If nothing else, there’s a lot to know, to manage and to keep up with in an Open Source environment. Particularly if you want the most advantage possible in a competitive marketplace.

Q4: Is there a formal evaluation process for fixes, plugins and updates coming out of the Open Source community?

A4: Probably not, which means a business must either have experienced evaluation resources or retain them. Not to worry, there is a giant and dedicated community of programmers for hire.

Q5: Can a sophisticated business rely on a community of Open Source programmers?

A5: For great programming & features, sure you can! Based on our experience, virtually anything can be done; however, it’s unlikely any programmer would be accountable to the immediate service needs of a business without any agreed upon compensation. With software, most serious businesses need the accountability of immediate support when problems arise. In the case of a business blog platform, it’s a resource that has become ever- more crucial to marketing & public relations requirements. A sophisticated business should consider retaining experienced resources to leverage its’ advantages as well as those of the community.

Q6: Can Real Estate Blogsites handle my entire blog platform & service needs reliably?

Q6: Certainly we can and, as I mention above, we have some of the original WordPress development team on board. But, rather than take our word for it try John’s testimonial… "I had been blogging for some time using GoDaddy, which was extraordinarily cheap - $8 bucks a year for the domain and $4 a month for the hosting. Virtually no success had come from those efforts, so although the product was cheap, it was virtually a waste of my time & effort. They were able to import all of my previous data and articles into the new site and they designed the best blog layout for me! Great appearance and integrated links to my real estate website. Although pricing isn’t GoDaddy, the value brought forth by Kinetic far exceeds what you actually pay for. Traffic has dramatically increased; my skills and education have skyrocketed because of their education and leadership. Just like commissions, you get what you pay for. They will provide you with the professional appearance and knowledge to bring you successful results!" John Poltrock

Real Estate CyberSpace Society Interview discusses why Realtors are leveraging Business Blogs for better search engine marketing and for local brand awareness

If you have been thinking about why other Real Estate Industry Pros are leveraging a Blog for search engine discoverability and also as a means for local brand development you may find our interview with the Real Estate CyberSpace Society useful.

In the piece we cover Getting Started with a Blog, Web Sites vs. Blogs, Getting Your Blog Recognized, More on Search Engine Recognition, Interactivity, Creating Local Brand Awareness, and the general Advantages of Business Blogging for Real Estate Professionals.

Real Estate CyberSpace Society is a terrific organization dedicated to providing resources and programs to its’ Real Estate Industry members. They also put on a very innovative Online Convention & Expo.

Real Estate Blogsites, in affiliation with Kinetic Knowledge, is a leading provider of blog technology solutions, content, educational programs & services.

Real Estate Blogsites, in affiliation with Kinetic Knowledge, offers a low cost and very convenient Image-based Video Tour content creation service. Video Tours are a high impact approach to marketing your client listings, your local service and particularly your brand! They’re also easily optimized in YouTube, in Business Blogs and in Websites. What’s more, YouTube now pushes its content to Google Video and Google [search the whole web.] Examples include:

* Gateway Land & Development showing 12 of the top 20 video results for the search vail co real estate

* the same client shows a video in YouTube with over 715 download views

* Tucson Valley Real Estate showing 3 of the top 6 video results for the search tucson arizona real estate

* Wolcott, CO with voice over

* Edwards, CO with voice over

Real Estate Blogsites, in affiliation with Kinetic Knowledge LLC, is excited to offer the Real Estate marketplace a new comprehensive, affordable Business- blogging platform and educational service.

Real Estate Blogsites, in affiliation with Kinetic Knowledge LLC, is excited to offer the Real Estate Professional a new comprehensive, affordable Business blogging platform and educational service.

If you have serious business marketing requirements, you will find it both useful and cost-effective to have Real Estate Blogsites build & host your Business Blog. Our intention is to help you succeed by providing leading edge business blog solutions, ongoing education and support for a very affordable price.

Kinetic Blogs Monthly Service includes:

• Leading Edge Blog Platform
• Proactive [Human] Service
• Ongoing Education [regular client edu-email, monthly educational email newsletter & quarterly educational seminars]
• Unlimited Online Educational Knowledge- base & Support
• Weekly Real Estate content provision- 90 days FREE Blog content 
• Hosting and storage
• Real Time RSS Syndication
• Real Time RSS conversion to Email subscriptions management
• Unlimited Static Content Pages
• Unlimited Blogging Authorship
• Seamless Photo/ File Upload & Storage
• Important Content Categorization
• Complete Editor including Spell Check, Photo/ File Upload, etc.
• Ping Engine, Tag Cloud, Title & Content Meta- tagging, Secure Commenting … and much more

… $49 per month

Kinetic Blogs custom build includes:

• Design, build, feature configuration and integration with any existing website presence
• Domain/ URL host setup (A Record or CNAME DNS setup for custom URL)
• Ping Engine (New content search engine notification system)
• Tag Cloud (Topic, Key Word & Key Phrase org)
• Title & Content Meta Tagging package
• Complete Editor including Spell Check, Photo/ File Upload, etc.
• Five Static Pages Setup (i.e. About Us, Mgmt. Bios, Products & Services, etc)
• Captcha, challenge-response comment test
• RSS to Email Setup (For visitor subscribe via email)
• Two Inbound Content Feeds (Fresh content from sources relevant to your business)
• Two Basic Widget additions (widgets of your choosing, pending system compatibility)
• and many other advantages a Real Estate Professional should never have to worry themselves over

… $399 [one time fee]

Additional Service Capabilities include:

• VisiStat Human Traffic Analytics installation
• Google Analytics installation
• Real Ping Push to call
• Basic Lead Capture System installation
• Custom Header Design
• Supplemental Ghost Blog Writing services
• Basic Image-based Video creation, YouTube/ Google Video upload & optimization
• Additional Inbound Syndication Content Feeds
• Additional Widgets
• Content Links monitoring setup
• Additional Feed Registration [up to 95 Blog Directories & Search Engines)
• Blog Content Conversion import 

A Kinetic Blog is preconfigured for Search Engine Optimization and ever-evolving with a vast open source programming community. We retain some of the original WordPress development team so that our platform is meticulously designed, agile [updates, upgrades & plug-in solutions], up to the speed of technology and business class!

Contact sales@kineticknowledge.com for inquiries.

Is it a website, a blog, an MLS web search, stealth sites, email drips campaigns – so many options so little help!

I realize I’m just a lone individual and not even a Realtor at that, but I do have an opinion on the real estate tech miasma, so I figured why not share.  I worked in real estate marketing for 10 years before I became a biased provider of real estate blogging technology (full disclosure and for what it’s worth :)), so at the least I have a healthy understanding of the options.  I speak to Realtors day in and day out who display a pretty substantial level of confusion about all the available real estate technologies.  What is it that you really need? 

• A real estate website
• A real estate blog
• A blog and a website
• An MLS/IDX online search site
• Stealth real estate websites
• SEOists
• PPC
• Real estate videos
• Real estate podcasts
• Real Estate widgets
• Email drip campaigns and online lead management
• Social networking

Oh my!  The list is endless.  In my [very] humble opinion you can effectively get by with a fraction of this list.  More is not always better and there is very little magic in the real estate tech game.  Let’s jump in…

Blog OR Website, Blog AND Website
Ok, let’s just get this one out of the way.  Do you really need a website, a blog or should you have both?  Let’s define the two first.  I see a website as a relatively static extension of your brand – an online brochure if you will - a quick measure of your commitment and professionalism.  A blog is more of a dynamic component providing you with a sense of community and voice.  A blog however, is really just a dynamic website - a website that makes publishing fresh content to the internet incredibly simple.  You CAN build a blog in such a manor that it covers all the aspects that your static website would cover.  Meaning, your blog can (most likely - depending on provider) house static marketing pages as well as dynamic blog posts.  I like the marketing message and the level of professionalism that having a website conveys, however if you are constrained by budget I don’t believe a website is entirely necessary as a blog can pull the weight.  However, be forewarned – both a blog and a website should be considered a regular effort.  There is no way to find favor with the search engines if you aren’t committed to offering fresh, relevant content in either option.   

An MLS Search Component
I debated whether or not to put this first as I believe this is the most basic piece of your online real estate marketing package, but you can’t really benefit from this without a website, a blog or PPC so here it is.  Let’s think about online marketing.  We’ve got brand impressions, we’ve got visibility to your messaging and contact information, but in all, to be successful online we must have a way to capture leads.  With real estate technology, it’s quite simple, buyers and sellers want access to MLS information – for free and at their leisure.  The only way you can provide that AND get leads is to offer an MLS search using internet data exchange (IDX) technologies.  Unfortunately not all of you are able to do this; it will depend on the governing laws of your MLS.  Did you know that you could buy a “naked” MLS search component that has lead capture and management tools?  Here’s an example.  You don’t have to buy a website package deal to get full MLS search functionality.  Many providers offer just the plain search portal portion of the MLS with a back-end management system.  In my opinion, this is all you really need.  However, it IS important to weigh the data search functionalities of such tools.  In other words, the more mls data points you can search by – the more powerful your tool.  Be sure to ask the provider how granular you can make your MLS search and whether or not you’ll get unique links to those search results.   

So let’s review up to this point…

The Bare Minimum
Since a blog can technically perform the functions of a standard website, can look like a standard website AND will provide you with all the search engine benefits of blogging (if used properly!), you MAY be able to get by without a real estate website.  You will however need to institute a naked MLS search component so you have the ability to entice and capture online leads from your blog ‘site’.  Otherwise a blog or website will not get you much aside from branding.  Although I call this scenario, “the bare minimum” – it will give you pretty darn good coverage if you use the tools as intended.  If I were constrained by budget, these are the two monthly costs I would choose to carry.   

A Lead Capture System with or without Email Drips
Although lead capture management and drip email campaigns are great efficiency tools, they are technically a convenience.  It IS possible to capture leads using simple, direct email forms which are practically free.  This may be an area where you can start small and grow into more robust tools.  You likely won’t need a robust lead management system until you are generating a significant number of online leads.  But when you do hit the big time, these tools will be invaluable time savers.  This is an area for potential savings.

Stealth Websites
Stealth websites are basically just generic/unbranded entry pages that ask viewers to complete an extensive form before gaining access to a tool such as an MLS Search or Home Valuation.  They are meant to look ‘safe’ and unassociated to a Realtor and would often be used with a PPC campaign.  They are not effective at gaining search engine visibility on their own.  I won’t knock them because I’ve been told they work by many.  However, I do believe that you can easily ‘mimic’ or create your own stealth pages with a little creativity and maybe some help from your existing website or blog provider.  All you really need is some generic graphics and a well built email form and you’re on your way.   

SEO and PPC
SEOists (experts who suggest they tune your websites to be the most attractive to the search engines) certainly have their place.  However, much of what they will help you with is based upon common sense and can be achieved on your own if you are willing to put in the effort.  If you have a troubled domain, then definitely seek out the doctor.  However, if your domain is healthy, you probably don’t need to pay for this service from the onset. 

Pay-per-click advertising is great for short term or very specific goals.  If you use it, make sure you set a budget and stick to it!  PPC can easily get totally out of control.  I don’t believe this is a must as organic search results are completely attainable with the right tools and a healthy effort, but the strategy is up to you.  PPC will be effective at getting you an audience for predictable/competitive search terms.  However, you can expect this audience will most likely require lots of “lead washing”.

Video, Audio, Podcasts and Widgets
These things are the spice of life and I like them because they are relatively inexpensive to use.  They are not necessary but will help to boost anything you are already doing with the search engines.  Listings videos can be created from still photos and be uploaded to free portals like www.YouTube.com.  Audio can be done using free tools like www.utterz.com.  Widgets are a dime a dozen, are typically free and many out there will enhance your website or blog ‘stickiness’ and help you to generate more leads.  If you have the time/energy to pursue integrating any of these into your website or blog it will be well worth it! 

Social Networking
I know – everyone is busy, but this one is free and it can make a world of difference in the effectiveness of your website or blog.  What is social networking anyway?  It’s simply the idea of seeking out similar conversations and using existing communities and pertinent social networking sites to bolster your own blogs and/or websites thru relevant linking.  This could mean commenting on another blog or news site that is having a discussion relevant to a blog post you’ve written.  Or, it could also mean creating a free profile and regularly using Active Rain, My Space, Facebook, YouTube, Squidoo or hundreds of others.  My advice?  Start small - pick one venue and join in regularly.  Once you master one social network then consider joining some others.  You can also set up Google Alerts to help you in this quest.      

If I Could
If I were not budget constrained, what would I do?

• A simple, nice looking marketing website that allowed me the ability to create neighborhood pages containing a specific MLS search and map for that locale or I might just do a blog/website if I found the functionality I wanted in the blog technology (Yes, we CAN help you with this).
• A well configured, custom designed and hosted blog with a heavy linking strategy to both the website and the MLS search
• A very good MLS/IDX search component with lots of data sort options and a back-end lead capture and management component with email drip
• Regular listings videos uploaded to YouTube and embedded to blog posts
• Featured listings widget or MLS quick search for blog integration
• Hire a blog writer to provide a supplemental content foundation
• Create a healthy social networking footprint

Again, these are just my opinions.  Hopefully sharing them has been a benefit.  I’ll leave with one final thought.  There is no “magic” in any of these technologies.  If you buy them and then put in zero effort, they will not work (even your websites need to be tuned regularly!).  At the very least, if you make a monetary investment, you should also commit to the time investment necessary to make each component truly effective.

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Real Estate Blogsites exhibiting at the 2008 Colorado Realtor Rally

If you’re attending the 2008 Colorado Realtor Rally please don’t hesitate to stop in and see us at booth #036

If you’ve thought about blogging, have wondered about how it can help your business or maybe you would just like to have a look see we’d love to meet you :-) 

We’ll also be speaking on the ‘Blogging for Business’ panel at 2PM.