Jan O'Brien - Real Estate Coach

Avoid Copyright Infringement - Best Practice for Bloggers

Darren Welsh, Attorney for Prudential Americana Group Realtors in Las Vegas, posted on April 23, 2010:

TGIF Legal Tip: Blogs and Copyright Infringement

Darren discusses a recent lawsuit brought against a REALTOR for alleged copyright infringement.  Bottom line, don't take the entire article or work of another and post it on your web or blog site.  This practice is not okay even if you cite the source or post a link back to the original.

The best practice is to reference the post or article AND add your commentary, remarks, response, etc.  You could use a specific paragraph and always include a link to the original material.

According to Darren's research - the Las Vegas Review Journal's position is:

“You may use one paragraph and link back to the original article on our website. Thanks.”  Joyce E. Lupiani, Stephens Media Interactive, reviewjournal.com, lvbusinesspress.com, lvcitylife.com, casinogaming.com, viewnews.com, stephenspress.com. 702.477.3821

Another potential legal issue is the use of images, graphics and photos on your blog or web site.  Again, make sure you are using original material or you have the expressed permission of the publisher/owner of the material to use it.   Another option is to get an account with a service like IStockphoto where you can purchase quality royalty-free images for as low as $1.

Free Webinar from 1parkplace - Care and Feeding of your Successful Blog

Join me on this FREE Webinar... Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 10-11:00 am Pacific

In this workshop, Steve Hundley, CEO of 1parkplace and expert blog consultant will outline his personal and professional knowledge on successful blogging strategies.  He has not only has developed one of the most powerful blogging platforms in America, his clients include some of the most successful brokerages, teams and REALTOR’s in the business.  

Specifically the Care and Feeding of your successful blog will cover:

- How to determine your purpose and goals – This step is the most OVERLOOKED step for bloggers
- Blog planning road map – steps to success – even if you already started…
- Blog platform comparison – there are several out there and they all have pluses and minuses
- How to rise to the TOP of GOOGLE with your BLOG – the right blog & plan will skyrocket
- How to BLOG without lifting a finger – that’s right, you can now hire Ghost Bloggers!
- The anatomy of a blog post – dirty little secrets that Google won’t tell you
- How to generate high quality real estate leads from your blog
- Last but not least is how to track, report and measure your results for consistent improvement

Sign up NOW, even if you are not able to make the date and you will receive a link to the recording afterwards.

Even though this is a webinar, we do have space limitations.  Register ASAP.  And tell a friend.

The Fixer Upper Blog - Effective Blogging and Use of Link Posts

Nicole Adams' passion for blogging, construction and sharing valuable information is evident in her site and Fixer Upper Blog

The Fixer Upper is a blog which covers issues ranging from finance, energy, technology, home ownership and maintenance, and any other issue of importance to homeowners. In addition to the discourse we foster on this site, we also attempt to introduce you to other sites and blogs which are likely of interest to homeowners.

Nicole has researched and compiled a variety of blog posts that link to useful resources on the particular subject of the blog post.  She started with compiling and sharing information about accredited construction management programs.  Her site is an excellent example of how blogging about what you are passionate about really works!  She also has provided an excellent list of resources worth bookmarking and exploring further.

Here are a couple of examples:

The First-Time Home Buyer Guide: 100 Must-Read Blog Posts

Top 100 Blogs to Boost Your Sales Skills

Top 20 Home Improvement iPhone Apps

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter Training - May 7th, 9am to Noon

Blogging & Social Networking for Business

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Friday, May 7th 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Mountain View Mortgage Building

(215 – between S. Buffalo and S. Durango – off W. Sunset)
Not on Mapquest -Download a Map when you Register

$30 in advance; $40 at the door

Register online at http://business-blog-consultant.com/register/

Instructors: Jan O’Brien 858-9191

Kathryn Bovard 348-7191

Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…

• The anatomy of a blog – understand all the components
• 6 Questions to Consider before Launching a Blog
• Learn the 15 Top Tips for A Successful Blog
• How to generate leads using a blog and other social media
• Learn how to leverage FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and LINKEDIN

Bonus Materials: Receive a copy of:

• Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your blog
• Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value) A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Register & reserve your seat online:
http://business-blog-consultant.com/register/

Download BlogClassFlyerMay2010

2009 Best Blog Posts & Resources on Social Media Marketing, SEO, Social Networks

Tamar Weinberg of Techipedia compiled an unbelievably comprehensive and well-researched “Best of 2009″ summary of the best blog posts on social media, social networks, reputation management, branding, seo and more. This post is a must bookmark for reference and reading.

Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2009

Attention Las Vegas Real Estate Agents & Business Professionals!

Don't miss the Blogging & Social Networking for Business Workshop

Next Class Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Download the class flyer:  Blog Class Flyer Feb 12, 2010

Location: Robb & Stucky Community Room, (Town Square Las Vegas • At I-15 and the 215 Beltway )

Address: 6521 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89119
View Mapquest

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at: http://business-blog-consultant.com/register/

Best Content Ideas for Real Estate Bloggers

Are you considering starting a blog in 2010 for your Real Estate Business?  Or maybe you have a blog and need a little inspiration, some new ideas to spark your writing. 

Researched and served up from me to you - Your Real Estate Coach - some of the best posts I've found on blog content ideas for real estate bloggers:

• Chris Brogan - If I were a Realtor  Read this right-to-the-point post as well as the comments. Its about connecting with the community, being a local source about your area.  It's not about you and selling.

• NikNik (My Tech Opinion) -  30 Blog Post Ideas To Keep Your Content On A Roll

Print this post out for great ideas and keep it with you. Use this list and the next one from the Real Estate Tomato to start your Blog Post Idea Notebook.  Carry this notebook around with you.  When you get ideas, ad them to the list.  If you pay attention, you will become aware of things to blog about daily. 

I absolutely agree with and recommend NikNik's technique - I keep a blog notebook, sorted by my different blogs/topics and schedule time in my calendar to blog.

I’ve found the best way to maintain regular blog posts and fight “blogger’s block” is by creating a content posting plan. This is really nothing more than making an on-going list of content or story ideas from which you can pick and choose to create posts from. If you want to take it a step further, you could schedule time to write, as well as “read & research”.

• Teresa Boardman - Real Estate Tomato - Food for Fodder - 101 Real Estate Blog Topics 
  

...the trick is to take every day experiences, based on these topics and weave them into a post.

Teresa is an excellent blogger who has mastered the art of blending photos, real estate and community in her St Paul Real Estate Blog. 

And two more good posts fom the RE Tomato:

• 7 Crucial Tips To Developing Real Estate Blog Copy That Gets Read
• 9 Examples Of How Blogging Will Have You Overcoming Real Estate Objections

Recommended  marketing, tech, social media blogs for the Real Estate Industry to bookmark, subscribe to and READ...

• My Tech Opinion
• Real Estate Tomato
• Transparent Real Estate
• Geek Estate
• Future of Real Estate Marketing
  
  

Blog & Social Media Training Class

Kathryn Bovard and I are teaching our 3 Hour Nevada CE class "Blogging & Social Networking for Business" on Friday, February 12, 2010.

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Next Class Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Download the class flyer:  Blog Class Flyer Feb 12, 2010

Location: Robb & Stucky Community Room, (Town Square Las Vegas • At I-15 and the 215 Beltway )

Address: 6521 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89119
View Mapquest

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at: http://business-blog-consultant.com/register/

FREE Virtual RE BarCamp is 1-4-10; Social Media & Tech All Day Mega-Webinar

I attended the first amazing REBarcamp in San Francisco, August 2008 - held prior to the Inman Connect.  REBarcamp is now Virtual and still FREE and it's TOMORROW - January 4, 2010.

If you want to seriously get a jump start on how to integrate Social Media into your Real Estate Business --- sign up now!

Educating Real Estate Agents On How To Use Modern Technologies To Better Their Business Will Never Be The Same!

On January 4th, 2010 dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry converge to host most exciting event of its kind, the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is a 1-Day Learning Extravaganza.
From 9am until 4pm PST, three concurrent webinar "rooms" will each host 7 different sessions, for a total of 28 different presentations.
There is something for everyone and everything for someone, and best of all, IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited!

Click below to:
Register.
Learn more.
See who is coming.
Check out the Session Calendar.
Get sponsorship info.

Attendance is projected to be at least 1000 agents, nationwide.
Do not miss out on being part of this ground-breaking event.

Potential Session Topics Include:

Facebook for Real Estate
Twitter 101
Driving Quality Traffic to Your Website
Beginning Search Engine Optimization
Advanced SEO
Getting Started with WordPress
Advanced WordPress Techniques
Using Flickr for Real Estate
Using YouTube for Real Estate
LinkedIn Business & Referral Strategies
Selecting an IDX Company
Single Property Websites
Getting the Most Out Of Your Mobile Devices
The iPhone and Real Estate
Photoshop for Real Estate
Video Blogging
Video Listings
Advanced Twitter Tips
Preparing to Start a Real Estate Blog
Google Analytics and Traffic Statistics

...and much more, with new sessions being added every day.

And if that wasn't cool enough, individuals from around the country are volunteering to host In-Real-Life MeetUps for after the event.
Learn all day, and then meet to have a beer with local participants. This is going to be a blast!

We hope to see you there!

Business Blog & Social Media Class - Nov 13 - Last CE Class for 2009!

Blogging & Social Networking for Business Class

Are you ready to embrace and adapt to the Social Media phenomenon for your business?

Don't miss the last class of 2009!

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Friday, November 13th, 1:00-4:00 pm

Mountain View Mortgage Training Room

215 & Durango (Sunset to Butler to Building)

Click here for a MAP - Street Address not on Mapquest

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at : http://careerrealty.com/contact_training.htm

Instructors: Jan O’Brien, 858-9191 and Kathryn Bovard, 348-7191
             
Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…

• What is a Blog? Who Is Blogging? Why should You Blog?
• The anatomy of a blog – understand all the components and how a blog differs from a conventional website
• 6 Questions to Consider before Launching a Blog
• Learn the 15 Top Tips for A Successful Blog
• How to generate leads using a blog and other social media
• How does Web 2.0/social networking impact the real estate industry?
• Learn how to use FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ACTIVE RAIN and LINKEDIN to optimize and drive traffic to your blog!

Bonus Materials - Receive a copy of:

• Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your FREE blog
• Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value) A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Register & reserve your seat online now!

Real Estate Widgets for Your Blog or Web Site

Are you a real estate agent and BLOGGER?  Are you searching for ways to add interesting and compelling content to your blog or web site?  How about adding a widget or two to your sidebar?

In case you are not yet familiar with the term “widget”…

What is a Widget?

According to Wordpress.com…
A Widget is a fancy word for tools or content that you can add, arrange, and remove from the sidebars of your blog. Widgets make it easy to customize the content of your blog sidebar – the part of your blog to the left, right or sometimes top or bottom of your main content. So long as you’re running a widget enabled theme, you can customize what goes into those sidebars.

Here are the best real estate-related widgets I have come across…so far:  (Do you know of a great RE widget to add to this list?  Tell us about it in the comments.)

Zillow

• New Local Market Explorer Wordpress Plugin – Creates “City Pages” based on a mashup of these services -  Zillow market stats and info, Yelp, Walk Score, Flickr, School Data from Education.com. The plugin does not support neighborhoods or ZIP codes – Zillow is working on that for next version.

• Here’s the LME widget in action – I just installed it on my Business Blog Consultant  Wordpress blog:
  
  

• Real Estate & Mortgage Widgets – Make sure you have a Zillow Profile and you can Co-Brand these widgets for your site.  Zillow has a myriad of widgets to choose from including:  Mortgage Calculators and rates, Your Listings, Recently Solds, and some new ones for Home Buyer Tax Credit and Loan Modification qualifiers.

vFlyer

• vFlyer has the best options for displaying your listings on your site. Slideshows, Galleries, Flyers and More

Trulia

• Trulia has several widgets to incorporate into your blog or website. Click here for the page with all the Trulia widgets, screenshots and downloads.

Or here they are listed individually:

• TruliaCarousel Add real estate listings to your web site in an interactive and easy to use property carousel.

• TruliaMap The TruliaMap widget shows listings from you, the real estate professional, on a colorful, interactive and easy-to-use map.

• Trulia Snapshot With the TruliaSnapshot widget, you can show off Snapshot on your own website for free.

• TruliaVoices Broadcast your real estate expertise with the TruliaVoices Q&A widget – an easy way to show off your answers from Trulia Voices on your own blog or website.

• TruliaCalculator. This mortgage calculator widget adds great real estate content to your own web site or blog.

• TruliaHomeroll The TruliaHomeroll widget shows the latest properties for sale on Trulia in your local area.

• TruliaMinistats The TruliaMinistats Widget is a great way to keep your website visitors up to date on how prices are trending in your market.

• TruliaStats This widget is a custom chart of the average listing price and available inventory for any city or neighborhood in the US.

• TruliaSearchbox Now you can give your users the ability to search homes for sale on Trulia directly from your website or blog.

• TruliaChart The TruliaChart widget is a free chart for your website or blog that gives your users helpful market trends for your local real estate market. You can show listing price, sales price, number of properties sold or number of properties for sale for any US city.

The Power of Social Media for Business

If you haven't seen this video - take a look...Very powerful and compelling stats and facts about how social media is impacting us on all levels. 

Are you ready to learn more about Business Blogging & Social Media?  Don't miss our next CE training Class:

Real Estate Blogging 101

Wednesday, September 23rd, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
First United Mortgage Building Do not mapquest - The street does not exist!
(215 - between S. Buffalo and S. Durango - off W. Sunset)  Here is a MAP

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at http://www.careerrealty.com/contact_training.htm