The ActiveRain Stuff You Won't Find Anywhere Else on the Web

"But I thought "Penquins" were suppose to be cute, fuzzy, warm, and harmless animals?" 

Google has changed some of their algorithms for SEO and SERP results.   It's a new algorithm update being referred to as Penguin.  When did all this happen?  Was your site hit?  Has your page(s) gone down in the search engine results?  Has this Penguin been spotted on ActiveRain and some of your blog posts?  If so, you'd want to know about it right?

How can you tell if you were a victim of Google’s Penguin and what can you or should you do if you were?  This is an interesting topic and will definitely leave you with a better understanding of how Google is now ranking and indexing websites and pages and how the Penguin plays into it all.

Does keyword density really matter?  Do meta-tags, titles, and back links really even make a difference anymore?  What if you don’t use keywords, links, SEO techniques, or any other technical traditions of the SEO underworld, will you still show up in Google? How are you suppose to keep up with all this SEO technobabble stuff and changes?

If you’re like me, then you’ll want to know...

Google is getting much smarter, much better, and much more efficient at finding ways and implementing tools and programs that keep the SEO Gods trying and guessing. My advice is to forget all that “gaming & black hat SEO stuff” and just focus on providing your readers, clients, and subscribers with great value-added and useful content.

Google Penguin Explanation Video if you’re interested, and How to Protect Your Site.

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Getting exposure to a sellers property is obviously a no-brainer, but simplifying the process, and finding more efficient ways that cost less that get you a higher return on your investment and efforts is just plain smart.

That's why I'm happy to announce that the Postlets Pro program is now free.  That's right, we are opening up this program, which was previously a paid subscription-ONLY program, to everyone for free!

Anyone who knows me will tell you how excited and passionate I am about Real Estate technology, but when I get to share a really cool product that totally "rocks" and has now been made available for FREE, I get more than just excited. 

"Postlets is a listing syndication site offering some really cool Real Estate marketing tools."

How To Post Your Listings on Postlets

1.  Create and setup your FREE account on Postlets.com

2.  Using the easy-to-use forms, create your listing

3.  The Custom HTML code allows you to post to classified sites

4.  Share your listing using the social media tools provided

5.  Listings will automatically be syndicated to several search sites

Now that Postlets PRO is FREE, look what's included in every new Postlet listing:

	Multi-page format. We've taken the standard template and blown it out into a multi-page website. Think of it as a standard postlet after an extreme makeover.  You'll love it!  See Sample
	Huge photos. How does 700x525 pixels strike you? For the non-techies, that's twice the width and twice the height of those in the former Postlets postlet layout. This is Huge. See Sample
	3x more photos. A picture is worth, well, you know. So "18" pictures will be a mouth-full. It's no secret that photos help sell, and Postlets gives you plenty to make your listings stand out above the rest.
	Slideshow viewer. What would be the point of having all those photos if you can't show them off. Postlets uses a best-in-class Flash slideshow viewer to put your property in the best light. Thumbnail previews, artistic transitions, simply beautiful. You know me and these gadgets....  lol~
	20 professional and stylish themes. Take a peek.
	Full-size embedded map. Large format Google Maps are seamlessly integrated into PRO listings.
	Neighborhood information. GreatSchools and Walk Score provide detailed maps and information about local schools and nearby stores, restaurants, parks, etc.
	Video integration. Embed a video that you upload to YouTube directly into your listing.
	Your branding on every page. Your personal photo and logo show up on every page. Big Smiles!
	MLS-compliant version. Use the optional non-branded version as the virtual tour with your MLS.
	Tracking via Google Analytics. Measure and track your visitor traffic to your listings by linking a Google Analytics account, this will also help you gain a better understanding of your audience.

Folks, this is HUGE!!  Many of you have paid for this service in the past and know it works.

Knowing that generating exposure to your sellers available property is the key to getting it sold, I'm confident that the Postlets syndication and marketing tools will be very beneficial to both you and your sellers.  NO MORE CHARGE! NO MORE COST! NO MORE EXCUSES!

Zillow recently acquired Postlets and will now be also providing some educational training and FREE support webinars at Zillow Academy.  See the training calendar on August 4th for more information and details, or you can just RSVP here if you'd like.  We'll cover a ton of great tips and how-to's in a single one hour session, and it's free too! Come check it out.

When I joined Zillow about 6-7 weeks ago, many friends and associates here asked me to keep them posted about my new position over at Zillow.  So far, it's been an incredible blast and the time has simply flown by.  I'm really enjoying the priviledge of getting to be in both places, Zillow and here on ActiveRain.  So what's been going on and what have I been doing?

In my recent adventures and explorations of Zillow.com, I've come across some really cool tools (10 to be exact) that some of you may not even know exist.  I didn't.  I'm sure I'm missing quite a few others, but I wanted to at least update you and mention these.  In my sincere and honest opinion, these are some of the most exciting and easy to use, and will deliver the most value.

Here you go, take a moment to look into these, I think you'll find them to be really cool tools.

1. Zestimates

What is a Zestimate?  I remember when the Zestimate was launched many years ago. Since then, many questions have been asked. Is a Zestimate an appraisal? My Zestimate is too low or too high, what gives?  How does Zillow come up with a Zestimate?  How accurate is the Zestimate overall? Here's the answer to all these questions and more.  Once you view and understand the Zestimate and how to use and discuss it with your clients and prospects, you'll see why I added it here.

2. Zillow Advice and Discussions

Whether you get or give "Pro-to-Pro" advice or local "Consumer Direct" advice, Zillow advice is one of the best places you can spend some time on the site. Got a question?  How about contributing to a discussion or starting a discussion of your own?  All Zillow asks is that you follow the Good Neighbor Policy when engaging with other real estate professionals and consumers.

3. Real Estate and Mortgage Widgets

This is one of the more exciting tools since I'm a real widget and gadget kinda guy.  Using some of these widgets and incorporating them into your sites and blogs can increase your traffic, bring more value to your readers, and provide you with co-branding on the Zillow site.  There's quite a few Real Estate and Mortgage widgets, take a look and see which ones will be right for your website or Blog.

4. Premier Agent

The Premier Agent membership on Zillow is exactly that. PREMIER.  Now that I've had some time to really investigate the program, evaluate the process, and witness first hand the results that members are experiencing, I stand behind the program 110%.  How can putting willing and able buyers agents in front of thousands millions of contacts that are looking at Real Estate and Loans ever be a bad thing? 

Basically, Zillow's Premier Agent Program connects buyers and sellers to agents. Flat out, bottom line!

5. Industry Directory

The Zillow Directory is the place for every face in the industry.  If you are not a member of Zillow and not in the Directory, it could be the single most grave mistake you'd ever make in real estate.  It takes 30 seconds to join, it's easier than checking your email, and it is absolutely free. If you haven't joined the directory, GO HERE TO JOIN.  Then come back after...

6. Zillow API data

Zillow API is a powerful tool that allows you an endless amount of possible data providing opportunities.  Here's one of my recent posts about API.  It empowers both the provider and the receiver with a great deal of value and on many levels.  Explore what you can do with any API, then think of the potential of what accessing and delivering Zillow API data might do for your business.

7. Zillow Academy 

Zillow Academy is ALL ABOUT real estate training and having a learning and support campus available to the industry.  To be honest, this is where I have been spending a great deal of my time, but don't tell Sara or Spencer that.  Seriously, they have helped and supported me in my efforts to put this all together.  It's starting to come along nicely. It's going to become one of the finest learning centers on the web.

8. The Zillow Profile

Like any site or network out on the web, (at least any worth their salt), you should need to have a decent profile setup.  That includes right here on ActiveRain. (hint hint)  Profiles on any site should always be evolving and changing, just like you do with the times.  Take advantage of the tools and options that come with many of these free opportunities and especially, make sure your Zillow profile has "Got It Goin On!"

Mine needs work too but it's not a shadow-face. lol Seriously, with no profile there's a lot to be missed...YOU!

9. Mortgage Market Place

What are today's rates?  Can I qualify for a loan?  My area is not like yours, that loan isn't available...is it?  Wonder if we can afford that house or not?  Come check out the Mortgage Marketplace, it's kinda like a farmers market.  You can walk around and check out all the fruits, vegetables and goodies that will feed the needs of your specific appetite.  Plus you can get help. 

There's nothing you won't find and if there is, let me know and I'll make sure it gets to the right ears.

10. The Zillow Blog

Did you know that Nicole Kidman... well, maybe I should just let you read for yourself.  Where do they come up with this stuff?  I have to admit that Diane Tuman is one of my favorite bloggers over there.  The stuff she comes up with and with Whitney and Lauren's contributions, there's never a boring or dull moment on the "Z" Blog.  You'll get the insides and the outside scoops when you RSS feed the Zillow Blog.

That's it for now.  If you have any questions or comments, just ask or call me anytime.  I'll report and update you on more later but until then, have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.  I look forward to seeing many of you at the Real Estate Marketing Summit and Town Hall meeting in San Diego at the end of the month. :-)

How To Improve your Video and Images for Higher Ranking in the Search Engines.

Acquiring SEO and traffic to your Blog or Website using great content, titles, descriptions, and keywords etc. has always been a subtle yet powerful strategy in the Blogging community.  Many new businesses and individuals don't start off blogging or creating websites with the understanding of how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) works, or why it might be important to their success. In time... they learn. We all do.

In my travels around the country teaching SEO, Blogging, and Social Networking, the one thing that is least talked about or questioned is the power of video and images. You hear "Content is King" but you won't hear or learn that video and images are the most viewed and sought after items on the Internet.  Could this be one of the reasons Google has links to them at the top of every search results page?

How do you get YOUR Video and Images to show at the Top of the Search Engine Results?

Matt Cutts from Google explains a few ways you can accomplish this.  He shares some great ideas and tips on using and adding meta-data and user generated content.  The idea of using captioning in Video is brilliant!  You provide the transcripts and youtube will auto-align the text.

Creating captioning is easier than you may think, Matt and others do this on every video and I can show you how.

Matt also shares some great ideas on how to use flickr, he gives some great examples and says “it’s almost like crowd sourcing!”  Flickr has great SEO but you need to understand how to use tags, descriptions and some of the tips in this video will assist you in knowing how and why.

If you create and use your own pictures, images, or video, and you want to get views, traffic, and ultimately generate leads and business, it's important to know a few key things including the SEO tips Matt shares in this video. It's also important to know that SEO isn't the only key ingredient that gets your material found on the web. Apply the concept that "Content Is King" to images and video, along with these tips and you've won 90% of the battle.

Some of you will remember my post awhile back about the "Future Real Estate Office or Brokerage."  This post and video received a ton of attention and though many of the comments reflected a controversial and expected response, others agreed and saw this type of technology and office being the future of Real Estate in regards to the traditional "Brick and Mortar" office.

Last month I wanted to follow up with this particular company to see personally, where they are, what they've done, how it's working, and most importantly, is this new "Virtual Office" technology really working for them and their clients?  It's easy to get excited about this type of technology and many will see why after watching the video below, but the REAL question is always DOES IT WORK? 

Come join me and a few others as we explore the "Virtual Office" concept, and interview some of the Brokers and Top Agents using this technology effectively in the *NEW* on-line world of Real Estate.  We'll be doing an update from our last interview back on December 11th, 2009, to see where this is all going except this time we'll be doing it "Live" at ActiveRain University.  You can come along and join the ride for FREE.

I have always been fascinated with this type of technology, but it's the service to the client that I see as an even greater value and a reason you may want to know more about this and join us for this class/webinar.  I'm giving everyone plenty of notice so there's no reason you should or can miss this.  Believe me, my first interview with these guys was amazing, I can only imagine where they have come with all of this by now.

The "Virtual Real Estate Office" Live webinar is scheduled for Thursday, July 22nd at 10:00am.
You'll want to "virtually" be there, the seats to this one will be gone fast.

REGISTER HERE NOW

Be sure to check out the AR University Calendar for other upcoming classes.

The Google Wonder Wheel Keyword Research Tool

...is a keyword research utility that was created by Google Labs and allows users to discover keyword searches that are popular and built around certain specific keyword terms.

Google's wonder wheel could be a great tool for helping writers to find new topics. The wheel can also help you dominate specific keywords and phrases in the search engines because it helps you write about the things that are the most searched for on the web using the most popular keywords or terms.

Here's How It Works:

Create your search in the Google Search Engine, then click on the "Google Search" button:

The results displayed will include sponsored and organic links:

To Access "Google's Wonder Wheel" Click on the "+Show options" Link at the top of page:

Scroll down the left hand side of the page untill you come to the "Standard View" options and click on the link for "Google's Wonder Wheel"  Wait for just a moment and the Wonder Wheel will appear on the page.  The links coming off the Wonder Wheel are popular and similair keywords, terms, and phrases that you can now use as "Titles" and "Topics" to write or Blog about.

Each time you click on one of the spokes "Terms or Phrases" a new Wonder Wheel will load on the screen displaying even more "keywords" and popular "search terms" These can be used for creating great content and getting you closer to dominating your Blog with those specific keywords or phrases.  Go deeper and further into the possible options and opportunities to make your Blog's content the most likely to be searched and found.

This is like having a road map or blue print for your Blog.  If you use Google's Wonder Wheel for a variety of search terms and keywords that you want to be found with, this should save you time and headaches "Wondering" what those "Words" and "Phrases" are.  There's always going to be great tools out there, and promises to help get you the best SEO results, but in my opinion, this is one of the best and most powerful I have seen yet.  Thanks to Google and Google Labs for making the "Wonder Wheel" available, and for hiding it so well, it gave me a reason to write this post.

ActiveRain University - How to Use Video and Youtube to Enhance Your Blog and Business

How are you using Video in Real Estate and on your ActiveRain Blog?
Are you creating or using Video Listings, Virtual Property and Community tours?  Does your video show up on Google Earth? Can your videos make you money?  Want to generate more traffic to your videos and visitors to your Blog?  This week at ARU, we are going to be sharing some things about video and Youtube that will be very beneficial to your Video library on Youtube and your Blog on ActiveRain.

Here's a few videos I had fun creating, Can you guess which one had over 2.2 million views?
(It probably won't be the one you think...)

Video Is important to your Real Estate Business
We're going to show you some Youtube video secrets and tips and how to use some of the tools that are available.  Youtube just changed their format and the look and feel of their site.  They've added a few things and moved some stuff around.  These are just some of the ways you can now optimize your video and channel, and we'll show you how.

7 Tips You'll Need To Know and Use

•   Creating Outstanding and Unique Content

• 

    Optimizing Your Youtube Channel and Profile

•   Using Keywords Cleverly In the right places

•   Adding URLS and Proper Hyperlinks 

•   Linking and Embedding Videos Everywhere

•   Video Sharing and Youtube Settings

•   Ping Your Youtube Channel
  

•   Do's and Don'ts of Embedding Video

•   Getting Beyond The 10 Minute Video Limitation

•   Getting More Visibility, Traffic, and Views
  

Learn useful techniques on how to use Youtube, one of the Top 3 most searched sites in the world.  Grow and promote your Blogs, Websites, and Local Business using video strategies that have worked successfully for others and have resulted in increased traffic, customers, and paychecks. 

Embedding video into your Blogs and sites is just one small key ingredient to using video and Youtube.  You don't need to be an expert at this stuff, but you should know what things work and which ones won't.  Come join us for a FREE "power-hour" of creating and using Video and Youtube for your Business, this will be one of our best video training and support classes at ARU.

Register For The Youtube Video Training Class

Google Gives Great GoGo Juice as a gift, and they're doing it on Virgin American Airlines

This will be my first post ever from a plane flying at an altitude of over 37,225 feet.  I just couldn't resist.  My options were to either sleep on the 5 hour flight to New York, finish reading "Crush It" by Gary V, or write a blog post. Well, here I am. lol~  I'm actually hoping that in the next five hours, I can accomplish a little bit of all three.  :-)

It was a really cool thing to arrive at the Virgin American Air gate this morning to see that they had Wi-Fi available for all us passengers.  Then I was greeted with a handshake and a smile from one of the Virgin Air employees at the front desk, followed by seeing my name in lights on the "BIG" board.  Wow, I have to say I got pretty excited, and was very impressed with their unique great customer service.  I really appreciated that warm and fun reception.

I can tell already this is going to be a great trip to RainCamp and Inman Connect!

    

First thing after boarding the plane, I run into Derek Overby and Mike Mueller, both nearly as excited as I am to get to New York. (Actually, Mike Mueller is behind me sleeping right now, but I know he's excited).  I just sent him an IM using this new "seat to seat chat" they have on board, but looks like Mikes getting his zzzzz's instead right now...

I digress.  So how cool is this that I am writing this post from seat 18D aboard a flying aircraft.  I have written many Blog posts and from "many" different places, but never while flying on a plane.  Here I was thinking and dreading the worst of a long 5 hour+ flight from the West to East Coast.  I sure am glad that Google has a hot thing going on with Virgin...wait...that doesn't sound quite right, but I think you know what I mean right?  FREE WiFi on a plane, Man I just love that they've finally able and doing this.

Now I'm spoiled, I will never want to fly without Internet Access again.  Google, please keep your "GoGo" coming, and provide it on all airlines, not just Virgin's.   You've got my vote, it sure is making the time and flight go faster, and it's much more enjoyable knowing my email is not getting backed up over the next few hours.  Thanks to Virgin Air and Google for bringing me my "first ever" Airborne Blogging experience.  I'll probably want to travel a lot more now and you both know where I'll "GoGo" when it comes time to "FLY!"

 

Looking forward to landing in New York in a few hours, and I'm really excited about being a part of both Inman Connect and RainCamp this year. I hope I'll get to see you at either one or both.  ...and I still can't believe I'm writing this while flying on a plane. :-))

Flickr and BigHugeLabs -  Here's one for all you folks in the ActiveRainPhotoBloggers Group

There are many great photography tools and FREE photo hosting sites on the web.  Flickr, Picasa, and Photobucket are just the first few that come to mind. I have used all three but have chosen Flickr for all my primary photo hosting for numerous reasons. One of which is that I can post to my photo Blogs right from Flickr with a single click of a button.

Another feature I like is that you can tag your photos and add comments as tags.  See the boxes I used to tag Jeff and Teresa?  Now check out Jeff's hand.  He was able to tag a specific section of the photo and leave a comment embedded in the photo.  What did the comment say?  Click on his hand to find out.

One tip I'd like to share about flickr is something that Jeff told me about last year while we were in Texas.  The SEO that Flickr photos can generate is awesome.  I have seen many flickr photos show up on standard Google searches just using keywords and tag phrases.  This particular photo was posted on Flickr last week along with many others from the REBarCamp in San Diego. 

This morning I received a Google alert about this photo that linked me back to a site called BigHugeLabs, which has some really cool and fun tools.  Since I love photography, I just had to check it out as I'm sure many of you will too.  Creating this chicklet below was just one of the cool things I liked at BigHugeLabs.com.

Check them out and see if there's anything there you can use as either a tool for your photos, or just for fun.  We have become a digital point-and-click shoot society that love to share those special moments and memories with all those we're connected to via our photos. Here's just a few more ways to make that experience a bit more unique, fun, and exciting.

There's tons of stuff there... it really is like a Big Huge Lab! 

Gift Center, Motivator, Pop Art Poster, Magazine Cover, Mosaic Maker, Movie Poster, Jigsaw, Photobooth, Hockneyizer, Letter from Santa, FX, Map Maker, Favorite Surfer, Mat, Pocket Album, Sunset, Badge Maker, Top Cameras, Calendar, Trading Card, Framer, Wallpaper, Color Palette Generator, Cube, Bead Art, Guess the Title, CD Cover, Random Photo Browser, Captioner, Lolcat Generator, Billboard, Photo Fortune, Slideshow, Writer, Blog Header, Gallery, On Black, Profile Widget, Scout, Flickr DNA, Name That Contact, Favorite Finder, Pool Cleaner

This was created using the "Motivator" link above:

BigHugeLabs also works with photos from your computer, Flickr hosted photos, and Facebook photos.

Google Groups - Create Discussion Opportunities with your Niche or Community

In researching some of the many tools that Google offers Web Based Business users, (over 45 tools) I discovered that Google Groups might be a great service for you, your business, and possibly your niche's or communities.  Some of the features are very powerful, and the SEO within Google Groups is very good. I tested it out by creating a Real Estate Technology Group and already have 3 discussions showing up on the first page of a search within Google Groups.

Real Estate Technology

Visit this group

Results 1 - 10 of about 4,320,000 for real estate technology

What is Google Groups?

Google Groups is a place on Google that you can discuss items online or over email, create rich custom pages, and customize your look and graphics. You can add images, links, create discussions, ask questions, and build a collaborative area to be shared with the world, or at least with those you invite or who find you. Make it public, make it private, make it any way you see fit to best serve your needs.

Creating Your Own Groups

What type of groups might be useful?  You could create a group for your family, your golf or bowling team, your Real Estate Company or your own Business.  Create a group for stagers, inspectors, or even custom homes and niche markets.  There is no limit to the type and amount of groups you could create.  Creating and starting a group is easy and it's FREE.  All you have to do is pick a Group name and then start inviting members to participate.  You can even post to your groups via email or right from your smart phone.

Extra Features and Tools For Google Groups

A promo box, your own Group URL, and an email address all members can use.

Public website	Get a promotion box for your website
Group address Group email	Current web address: http://groups.google.com/group/real-estate-technologies Current email address: real-estate-technologies@googlegroups.com

If you Can't Beat em, Then Join em

One thing about Google Groups is that you don't have to create your own, you can just join others. Find groups where you have experience or knowledge and can contribute, or even learn something new.  The possibilities and opportunities within some of the existing groups might even be better for some of you to explore?  You can search Google Groups for just about any topic and find something of interest available.  There's even an "Advanced Search Tool" that refines and filters your search.  There are many groups available that could benefit you and your business.

The Real Estate Technology Group

I just setup this Real Estate Technology Group yesterday to test and explore. Check it out, maybe join, and possibly contribute.  More importantly, I wanted to share, and just let you know these groups are out there and available if you need.  Why not create a community group for the neighborhood and allow your friends and neighbors to contribute their ideas and collaborate on some "fun" or even important local issues?  (the wheels upstairs should be spinning about now...)

Many of you focus and specialize on specific niche and target markets with unique customers, a Google Group could be a very non-threatening and fun way to get members of your community and target audiences involved.  Topics and discussions create and build great relationship opportunities, just like Blogging and social networking do.  What group could you create or join to benefit your community or business?

It's a Group, Do I have To Sit In A Circle?

Check out all the things that Google Groups has to offer then decide on your own if this is a tool or product you can use. If nothing else, at least join my Real Estate Technology Group so I won't feel like I did all this for nothing! lol~ Seriously though, I see some great potential and opportunities to use Google Groups as a way to do much of what we're used to doing already in this business.  Connecting with others, learning, sharing, growing and providing value to all those who come into contact with us. This could be a great conduit to connect directly with some of your clients and potential future customers.  The best part of these groups is that you don't have to drive there to sit in the circle!

Here's Google Everything
and Everything Google