Realtor.org Re-post - Widgets: Fluff Up Your Web Site
http://www.realtor.org/rmotechnology/articles/2009/0902_technology_widgets
Author: Mike Antoniak
28 January 2009
23 January 2009
Exploring Plaxo
Hello All & Happy Friday! Over the last month or so I have been playing around with Plaxo ... what in the world is Plaxo? Well, it's a lot of things - really!
According to Plaxo's Help Center:
Plaxo is a lot of things. It’s mostly about synchronizing the things that you and your friends do all across the web in a single place without you having you worry about any of it. It’s also about staying in touch with friends, colleagues and family on a daily basis. It’s the one place on the web where you can look and see what photos your sister posted of your cute baby niece on Picasa, while finding out that your colleague Tom blogged about how he proposed to his fiance, and seeing that your mom added another book to her Amazon wish list. Now with Pulse, Plaxo has become a fun and efficient way to communicate with all of your friends, family and business contacts.
One thing you should know ... Plaxo assumes that you and your family, friends and co-workers are online already - blogging, tweeting, flickring and more. By connecting with these folks through Plaxo, you get a steady stream of what your connections are doing. Plaxo has elements of Facebook and LinkedIn, even Twitter, but it is different.
I am looking at Plaxo for contact management. Since breaking up with Outlook over Christmas, I imported all of my contacts in Plaxo. Currently, I also have my Plaxo address book syncing with my Palm Centro and my Gmail contacts. I see a ton of potential here ...
In my address book, when I click on a contact, I get a pretty robust contact record. Tabs include: Home, Work, Notes, Other and History. I can add all sort of info, including notes on my latest conversations with the contact and more. If my communication with the contact is through Plaxo, that information is recorded automatically for me. Plaxo will remind me of birthdays and anniversaries too.
I have my account pulling in my Twitter feed and my blog feed, so my contacts see these as well.
One of the best things about Plaxo is how you connect with people - as family, friends or co-workers. Your connections can be in more than one group, but you chose what each group sees of your information.
You do not have to be connected with each of your contacts in order to make full use of the address book features. With an upgraded account ... at ~ $50/year you can get even more features. Still exploring that part!
Have a great weekend!
According to Plaxo's Help Center:
Plaxo is a lot of things. It’s mostly about synchronizing the things that you and your friends do all across the web in a single place without you having you worry about any of it. It’s also about staying in touch with friends, colleagues and family on a daily basis. It’s the one place on the web where you can look and see what photos your sister posted of your cute baby niece on Picasa, while finding out that your colleague Tom blogged about how he proposed to his fiance, and seeing that your mom added another book to her Amazon wish list. Now with Pulse, Plaxo has become a fun and efficient way to communicate with all of your friends, family and business contacts.
One thing you should know ... Plaxo assumes that you and your family, friends and co-workers are online already - blogging, tweeting, flickring and more. By connecting with these folks through Plaxo, you get a steady stream of what your connections are doing. Plaxo has elements of Facebook and LinkedIn, even Twitter, but it is different.
I am looking at Plaxo for contact management. Since breaking up with Outlook over Christmas, I imported all of my contacts in Plaxo. Currently, I also have my Plaxo address book syncing with my Palm Centro and my Gmail contacts. I see a ton of potential here ...
In my address book, when I click on a contact, I get a pretty robust contact record. Tabs include: Home, Work, Notes, Other and History. I can add all sort of info, including notes on my latest conversations with the contact and more. If my communication with the contact is through Plaxo, that information is recorded automatically for me. Plaxo will remind me of birthdays and anniversaries too.
I have my account pulling in my Twitter feed and my blog feed, so my contacts see these as well.
One of the best things about Plaxo is how you connect with people - as family, friends or co-workers. Your connections can be in more than one group, but you chose what each group sees of your information.
You do not have to be connected with each of your contacts in order to make full use of the address book features. With an upgraded account ... at ~ $50/year you can get even more features. Still exploring that part!
Have a great weekend!
13 January 2009
Toolkit CMA Refresher - Trend MLS Listing Download
One part of Toolkit CMA that our agents struggle with is the Trend Listing Download. It's tricky, but with a little practice, you can master this task.
Login to Toolkit CMA
- Select the Listing Presentation radio button
- Click Begin
- Check off the documents that you want to include
- Click Next
- Enter your prospect information
- Click Next
Now - at the Load Listings page ...
1. Should say Trend MLS Blue (for the Trend users in the room)
2. Allows you to print instructions for this step
3. Click Import Property Data
- A Trend window will open, sign in (even if you have another instance of Trend open)
- Click on the MLS tab
- Perform your comparative property search as you normally would ...
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the properties you wish to include in your CMA
- Click Review Results or Refresh Results when you are ready to proceed
- Click on Export
In the Export box:
- Use the drop-down arrow to select 54 fields of data
- Click the blue Export button
A confirmation window will open giving you a link to your export. Click the link. This will take you to the My Account tab, specifically the My Exports section. Click on the long file name.
A Notice box will pop up ... You must click Accept on this notice that pops up if you want your data.
- In the File Download box -click Save
- In the Save As box – CLICK SAVE
*Do NOT change the path (where the file will save on your computer).
*Do NOT change the file name “mls_dataset”.
Another box will pop up that says, Download Complete. Close it. Close Trend.
Now you should see your properties being scanned through and then back into ToolkitCMA (where your selected properties will be listed).
Questions? Email me!
Login to Toolkit CMA
- Select the Listing Presentation radio button
- Click Begin
- Check off the documents that you want to include
- Click Next
- Enter your prospect information
- Click Next
Now - at the Load Listings page ...
1. Should say Trend MLS Blue (for the Trend users in the room)
2. Allows you to print instructions for this step
3. Click Import Property Data
- A Trend window will open, sign in (even if you have another instance of Trend open)
- Click on the MLS tab
- Perform your comparative property search as you normally would ...
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the properties you wish to include in your CMA
- Click Review Results or Refresh Results when you are ready to proceed
- Click on Export
In the Export box:
- Use the drop-down arrow to select 54 fields of data
- Click the blue Export button
A confirmation window will open giving you a link to your export. Click the link. This will take you to the My Account tab, specifically the My Exports section. Click on the long file name.
A Notice box will pop up ... You must click Accept on this notice that pops up if you want your data.
- In the File Download box -click Save
- In the Save As box – CLICK SAVE
*Do NOT change the path (where the file will save on your computer).
*Do NOT change the file name “mls_dataset”.
Another box will pop up that says, Download Complete. Close it. Close Trend.
Now you should see your properties being scanned through and then back into ToolkitCMA (where your selected properties will be listed).
Questions? Email me!
09 January 2009
Newsweek Article - Can Facebook Save Real Estate?
A must read from Newsweek - http://www.newsweek.com/id/178344
About the author, Daniel McGinn - http://www.newsweek.com/id/32320
About the author, Daniel McGinn - http://www.newsweek.com/id/32320
07 January 2009
So You're Connected - But Have You Reconnected?
We're all social networking these days, but I wonder if many of you have really reconnected with those you are connected with ... ?
With any social network, people you connect with are giving you a few key pieces of contact information. Are you adding this information to you sphere of influence contact list? If you reconnect with someone online, reconnect with them in your offline marketing.
In 2009, let's grow our sphere's - grab those email addresses and other contact information and start marketing to your new (old) connections. Remember, these people know you and like you already!
Take a look at Plaxo.com ... this is a social networking site, but I am looking at this site as a potential online contact management system. They have loads of info that you can store on each contact, plus ecards and some other fun marketing tools. I haven't connected with too many folks on Plaxo yet, but I uploaded my contact file and I am exploring some of the finer points of the site.
Plaxo has some neat features - I love that I can choose how to connect with a person by coding them as: family, friend or co-worker. It links seamlessly with my blog, my Delicious account and my Twitter feed. Plus, it syncs with my Outlook, Yahoo and Gmail accounts automatically. It feels more like a business application than a social application to me, but there are elements of both. More on Plaxo as I dive deeper!
Happy Thursday!!!
With any social network, people you connect with are giving you a few key pieces of contact information. Are you adding this information to you sphere of influence contact list? If you reconnect with someone online, reconnect with them in your offline marketing.
In 2009, let's grow our sphere's - grab those email addresses and other contact information and start marketing to your new (old) connections. Remember, these people know you and like you already!
Take a look at Plaxo.com ... this is a social networking site, but I am looking at this site as a potential online contact management system. They have loads of info that you can store on each contact, plus ecards and some other fun marketing tools. I haven't connected with too many folks on Plaxo yet, but I uploaded my contact file and I am exploring some of the finer points of the site.
Plaxo has some neat features - I love that I can choose how to connect with a person by coding them as: family, friend or co-worker. It links seamlessly with my blog, my Delicious account and my Twitter feed. Plus, it syncs with my Outlook, Yahoo and Gmail accounts automatically. It feels more like a business application than a social application to me, but there are elements of both. More on Plaxo as I dive deeper!
Happy Thursday!!!
Creating Your Custom URL on LinkedIn
Hi All - Happy Tuesday!
Now that many of you are on LinkedIn, I hope that you are using your profiles to the fullest! Everyone should create their custom LinkedIn URL, to accomplish this ...
Login to LinkedIn
Click on Profile
Click Edit Public Profile Settings
Type your name in the box (ie: StefanieHahn) with no spaces
Click Set Address
Now, highlight and copy the full link, it will look like this:
Use your LinkedIn Profile Link anywhere! Start with your email signature ...
Login to MailTrust
Click on Settings
Click on Composing Mail
Click on the Signatures tab
Click Edit to modify your existing signature
Paste in your LinkedIn URL
Click Save
Now, for even more FUN! Add a custom button (anywhere you can add HTML) with your LinkedIn profile information!
Back at Edit Public Profile Settings
Click on Promote My Profile with Customized Buttons
To select a button, simply highlight and copy the code, then paste in where you want!
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