Did you know that you can generate a property report using Cyberhomes? Watch this quick video for step by step directions.

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What’s your opinion about ads on your website…good or bad? I was reading an article over on the Wav Group blog about ads and their relationship with conversations. The post highlighted research done by the Online Publishers Association and comScore.  The report points out that advertising on websites actually increases consumer engagement. So the big question is are you missing out by not having ads on your site?  

At a recent REBarCamp in San Francisco I shared my experiences.  I’ve found very interesting products as a result of browsing on my favorite niche sites and being exposed to their ads. But I believe I was interested, because the ads were relevant to the site I was browsing.  So in the real estate and home ownership space how do you attract those relevant advertisers? It’s actually a lot easier than you might think. LPS Real Estate Group has been radically growing its advertiser participation to the Real Estate and Living Media Network (REALM). So I asked Prem Luthra, Chief Development & Strategy for LPS Real Estate Group to share some background on the ad network, how to get involved and what’s makes the REALM so attractive. For Prem’s answers, watch this short video:

Prem Luthra, Chief Development & Strategy for LPS Real Estate Group

Read more about the Real Estate and Living Media Network.

Related NEWS: LPS Real Estate Group Announces Vertical Ad Network to be Branded Real Estate and Living Media Network

Long gone are the days of only doing SEO work to promote your website. Long gone are the days of only using email to connect with others. And long gone are the days of only visiting CNN.com to get your news. It’s pretty clear that the hottest new trend on the web to communicate is Social Media. From Tweet’s to Wiki’s and Digg’s to Vid’s, there is absolutely no stopping this conglomeration of social connections that feed into your life…unless of course, you’re behind the rest. But if you are, don’t worry. I have compiled a list of the top 10 things you should know about social media and why they are important. Whether you’re trying to promote a business or simply connecting with friends, these tips will help.

1. Explore - Get to know about many of the social media websites before just creating accounts all over the net. Visit the site, play around a little, and decide whether it’s something that you think will be useful or not. Will you come back frequently? Does it pertain to you? or is it only for a certain group of people (ex. Realtors)?

2. Stay Current – Social Media is constantly changing. The most important thing you can do is know whats going on and where social media is heading. There are always new apps being developed and new tools to communicate and spread information.

3. Update Frequently – In the Social Media world, nobody cares about yesterdays news. Sites like Twitter show us that constant updates are necessary to keep others interested. Whatever networks you belong to, make sure you are updating frequently and sharing new information…. even if it’s once a day. If you are using social media for promotional reasons make sure your updates are genuine. Do not constantly update just for the sake of having more content.

Read the full story

I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter around Commissioner Poizner and the Department of Insurance. It’s clear they have been getting serious about compliance to the SB133 legislation—which basically states that no items of value may be given to real estate professionals. Recently a few people have been fined for illegal title marketing practices.

Now I’m not going to get into what’s allowed and not allowed, but I do understand that many real estate professionals are left totally confused on where to turn! For years agents have been able to tap their title company for sophisticated property profiles including transaction history, nearby neighbors, comps and tons of other marketing tools. That all stopped in California at the beginning of this year.

The Solution
Don’t fret, the same data you’ve been getting from your title company is now available via two websites: AgentPro247.com and LoanPro247.com. Read the full story

Google has added the option to restrict search results to images that are licensed using Creative Commons.  Although the feature is not represented in the advanced search options, it’s possible by using the search included here:

FIND CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGES

It’s possible to tweak these searches by simply coping the URL, for example replace the word “Landscape” with any word or phrase you want to search:

1. Reuse
   http://images.google.com/images?q=landscape&as_rights=(cc_publicdomain|cc_attribute|cc_sharealike|cc_noncommercial|cc_nonderived)
   
2. Commercial reuse
   http://images.google.com/images?q=landscape&as_rights=(cc_publicdomain|cc_attribute|cc_sharealike|cc_nonderived).-(cc_noncommercial)
   
3. Reuse with modification
   http://images.google.com/images?q=landscape&as_rights=(cc_publicdomain|cc_attribute|cc_sharealike|cc_noncommercial).-(cc_nonderived)
4. Commercial reuse with modification
   http://images.google.com/images?q=landscape&as_rights=(cc_publicdomain|cc_attribute|cc_sharealike).-(cc_noncommercial|cc_nonderived)

Are you interested in implementing social media into your real estate business, but not sure how or where to start, make sure you join Cyberhomes on April 21^st at 10am.

We’ll be looking specifically at Facebook as a marketing tool.  Did you know that more than 100 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day further positioning the social networking giant as a new and growingly respected communications channel?  With these incredible numbers and the fact that Facebook makes it easy to engage with a large but targeted audience, real estate agents are finding Facebook to be a valuable way to engage and connect with consumers.  But how should you best implement Facebook into your business? This webinar is designed to expose 12 Facebook marketing strategies you can implement immediately!

Here are a few strategies you’ll learn:

1. How to better organize your network and target your conversations
2. How best to display and share real estate data
3. Learn best practices for authentic engagement
4. Learn how to prioritize your daily social media marketing tasks

Below you’ll see where the Facebook growth by age group and gender between January and March of 2009:

Don’t forget, REGISTER HERE:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/681697514

Whether it’s a large conference or a local event, making new connections is a critical part of the relationship building process. How have you gone about this in the past? Are you walking away from events with the connections you want? Or are you the fly on the wall? Try implementing these tips for your next event:

1. It all starts with planning ahead! Choose the sessions that you want to attend; research speakers and their backgrounds. This will make small talk easy once you’ve made the introduction!
2. Pick your technology! Are you going to be taking photos or video? Charge those batteries. Think about streaming the event with Qik.
3. Find out if your event has a hash tag, use the hash tag to communicate with others via Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms.
4. Connect with attendees via social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr). Remember this can be done from your mobile device!
5. Help colleagues and friends make new connections by via an introduction when appropriate.
6. Take lots of pictures! These make for great sharing opportunities later. Upload to sites like Flickr and Facebook.
7. Approach your favorite speakers and make the connection…in person. Make sure you get their card!
8. When you have a questions…ask them!
9. After the event, search hash tags, friends and event name to see what’s been said about the event. Comment where appropriate.
10. Share your favorite events highlights on your own website or blog.