Positive Real Estate Professionals

One of our greatest features is the fact that we are constantly evolving. When we come across a great tool, we test it out to see if it fits our real estate network and would be a benefit. What is even better than that is when one of our members sends us a message on a tool they have come across that will be a huge benefit to our site. That actually occurred this morning and I would like to thank Ramona Strojevs of Burlington HomeForYou, your connection to Burlington ON real estate.

Ramona had came across a great application this morning and then pasted a link to that on my own wall on FaceBook. She had found Tynt. I immediately went to work checking out this new potential tool for PREP. My first instinct was that I really did not want to have a new tool that we would have to go through each and every account to get it added to our members’ sites. My first path was to go to WordPress.org and see if there was a plugin for easy integration. Fortunately, Tynt had been integrated into a plugin called easy tynt.

Once I got it loaded into PREP, I went to work testing it out. What I found was just extraordinary to say the least. In today’s world where people take content from your site without thinking much about it, this tool will alert you to that very fact. If you look to the left, you will see a screenshot from the plugin that I took this morning. If you can’t make it out, just click on the picture and it will open to original size in another window. Being able to track the content from my site that has been copied and applied elsewhere on the world wide web is a huge benefit. Also being able to tag that content with a license is an even bigger benefit.

With that said, the benefits do not stop there. Another great feature is the SEO benefits that you can actually track using this new tool. Each and every time that someone copies content from your site, you will get a link back to the original content. The more that this happens, the stronger your content becomes. However, it does not just have a positive effect on your content. It also creates more links to your site. That in itself makes the plugin well worth the time to set it up.

So, let’s talk about setting it up on your PREP account. You can ONLY use this if you have an account that is MAPPED. No sub domains or sub directories can be used. Once you are logged onto your dashboard, follow these instructions:

1. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu under ‘Post’ in WordPress.

2. Click on the Easy Tynt settings link in your WordPress settings to configure Easy Tynt. Easy Tynt will not work until this is completed.

3. Visit http://www.tynt.com and log in or register a new account.

4. Chose the options you are interested in. I suggest looking at the Attribution Link. We are using the ‘Attribution No Derivatives’ License.

5. Once everything is setup to your satisfaction, copy the provided “YOUR SCRIPT” code into the Easy Tynt settings in your WordPress dashboard. Hit “Update Options” and you are done!

Now that you have done that, all you need to do is login daily to check your stats. Everything else is done for you. Once again, I would like to thank Ramona for sharing this awesome tool with me this morning.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

PositiveRealEstateProfessionals.com now offers Video Blogs in conjunction with an account on our real estate network. The Video Blogs, just like the Photo Blogs and other additional blogs, can be purchased for a one time fee of $100. One of the greatest benefits of having this additional blog is that the page with all the blogs would be indexed and followed by the search engines, unlike tags or categories. In addition, you will be able to set the keywords for the Video Blog as well as each and every individual post that occupies space on the Video Blog. Any of these three blogs can be purchased from the main page of PREP.

So, what is a Video Blog, you ask. Video Blogging is also referred to as vlogging. Vlogging uses videos to create your articles as opposed to text. This creates a sense of internet television. Entries include videos or a link to the videos, supporting text, images, and other metadata. The best vlogging is done when the author provides a transcript for the article. These particular articles are drown with search engine juice. While it takes a little bit of work, the transcript can be keyword intensive.

In closing, if you are looking to increase your SEO without having to add a bunch of extra steps to do it, look into adding a Video blog or any of the other blog products that we offer to your PREP site. The additional potential for search engine juice is yours for the taking.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Over the last month I have discussed mastering search engine optimization with many of our members of this online real estate network as well as clients of R & D Art. In those conversations, it always seems to end with me telling them that to master SEO it is not all about the meta keywords that are in your site. Actually, that might be the weakest link to mastering SEO and getting the search engines to recognize you. With that said, I think the biggest problem is that people think they need to master Google and forget about Alexa, Yahoo, and Bing. Regardless what my personal feelings are on the search engines, I still have to pay homage to them.

If you notice, I have linked to several keywords in my first paragraph. However, only one of those keywords is something that I really key on for our real estate based site to show up in. That is: real estate network. Over and over, when we blog, we want to make sure that we are keying on this phrase. With that said, it is not certain that phrase that will drive readers to our site. We make sure that our articles are packed with keyword enriched content. I have said it many times before and I will say it again; CONTENT IS KING. No matter where you go on the net, anyone that knows anything about SEO will tell you this. Great content will win every time.

One of the things that I see that people do is have a very short post on their site or even worse, a recipe, and they hope that it pushes them up because they wrote a blog. Unfortunately, writing a recipe on a real estate site really is not going to carry much weight with the search engines. People might think you are more down to earth and come looking for more recipes, but frankly, the search engines won’t. It is the same with many topics that do not pertain to your main topic. The great thing about the main blog for PREP is that we can discuss SEO, SERP, blogs, social media, social media marketing, financing, the housing industry, and a world of other topics and still be point on. The great thing with a Realtor® is that they can discuss local events, neighborhoods, dining, schools, shopping, and much more and still be right on target. However, if your blog is about USDA or FHA, home staging, or home inspections, appraisals or home repair, then most readers are going to want the articles to be about that. They do not want to sort through all the fluff to get to the meat.

Here is one thing that I also see that people have a tendency to do; they write on a level that not many can understand. So many times I have had to tell bloggers to “dumb it down”. For those that do not understand that, it just means that you are probably writing on a college or doctoral level. I do not really know many people that understand that. The key element in this is to write on a secondary or grade school level. It means leave the 6 syllable words at home. With that said, don’t sacrifice your article for the sake of this procedure.

I would have to say the next thing that I see in bloggers that ask me why their sites are not showing up at the top of search engines has to be the lack of consistency. In the last month I have talk to two different bloggers in reference to this fact. One had 8 articles published and the other had 6. Both wondered why they could not be found on the first 3 pages in the search engines. Well, frankly, if I were only writing 8 articles over a 6 month period, I would not be found either. Blogging is not something that you can do just when you feel like it and magically appear. You have to work at it. And by working at it, I am not referring to 20 hours a week. However, being able to sit down and post 5 or 7 post during your downtime and have them automatically publish is a great feature. Not many platforms can supply that fact. But, even if you do not have that opportunity, 2 to 5 hours a week can still net you the front page of keyword searches where as neglect cannot.

Another thing that I notice that people have a knack for forgetting about has to be linking. Rich wrote an article about linking the other day and in it he talked about linking to some of your older articles. If you have not read that post, I recommend that you do. I have caught myself forgetting to use links in post, so it happens and I can understand that. However, if we want to get pushed up in the search engines, we need to link like crazy and I am not just talking about in our articles on this site. We do it to all of our sites. Use links to your other sites through your signature and then you can make sure that you have it covered all the time.

Now, this is where most people stop when it comes to SEO. PREP does not. This is where the power of WordPress extends to help push your SEO even further. This real estate network has a feature that allows for you to send trackbacks to other links that you have used in your post. This is a great way to get internal links built for your site, or maybe external links built using another site you own. Regardless, it takes linking to another level.

The last thing that I will talk about is the added feature of the All In One SEO Pack. For those of you that do not understand what this provides, let me state it like this. The All In One SEO pack gives you the added ability to optimize pages, post, and your site individually. Here are some features:

• Advanced Canonical URLs

• Fine tune Page Navigational Links

• Built-in API so other plugins/themes can access and extend functionality

• ONLY plugin to provide SEO Integration for WP e-Commerce sites

• Nonce Security

• Support for CMS-style WordPress installations

• Automatically optimizes your titles for search engines

• Generates META tags automatically

• Avoids the typical duplicate content found on WordPress blogs

• For beginners, you don’t even have to look at the options, it works out-of-the-box. Just install.

• For advanced users, you can fine-tune everything

• You can override any title and set any META description and any META keywords you want.

• Backward-Compatibility with many other plugins, like Auto Meta, Ultimate Tag Warrior and others.

In closing, mastering SEO is not something that will happen over night. I have seen Black hat tricks and grey hat tricks in SEO and I have seen both cost site owners their place in search engines when they are caught. In the long run, it is so much better to just do it the right way.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

A few days ago, a potential new member to PREP asked me why we were always talking about the additions and changes that we were making to our real estate network. He wanted to know how stable the network was or if we were spending our time fixing issues. The answer to that is real simple; Positive Real Estate Professionals is always evolving. We have made a commitment to our members and readers. That commitment is to provide the best platform that we can for ease of use for both the members and readers. To do that, we have to continue to research tools that are available to make sure that they can benefit us as a network.

With that said, PREP is once again going through a metamorphoses. The front page will be changing to more of a clean cut streamlined look. Registering to become a new member will also be simplified as well as the launch of a new Affiliate Program that will include tracking tools that will blow your mind. An Instant Chat function will be available for ease of communication with potential consumers. I could sit here and go over all of these changes, but why spoil the surprise. If you are interested, then you will need to wait until tomorrow. We will be writing a new post detailing out the changes as well as the new free and premium services that will be added.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

Many of you know the story of Positive Real Estate Professionals. However, there are still a lot of people out there that do not, this post is being written for you. It will tell you how we turned this real estate network from a dream to a vision to a reality. It has been a long road, but we have overcome many obstacles to get to where we are today. We have more than 50 members, almost 40 active blogs, a Google ranking of 3 and an Alexa ranking of 49,829 as of writing this article. I am often asked what this means for a new user. In simple terms, it basically allows you to start a web/blog site and get instantaneous results from it. That in itself is worth it’s weight in gold.

So, lets go back to November of 2008 when PREP was no more than a dream. One day I was sitting back thinking about all of the negative media and press that was swirling around about the housing industry. Whether it was all the foreclosures that were happening or all the builders running out of money and leaving subdivisions unfinished, the media would grab onto it and project their doom and gloom outlook. I sat down and talked to my business partner, Rich Dansereau, about the possibility of starting a website that was designed to counter the negativity. We decided to start Positive Real Estate Professionals at this time, however, it started as a single member site. Even though real estate professionals could join, it was not a real community. We had successfully turned a dream into a vision, but it was not complete.

In February of 2009, we decided that it was time to look at changing the system to one that people could actually join. We did not want them to be just be able to join the network. Even bigger, we did not want the to be able to just blog. We wanted to create a site where a new member would be able to have multiple options. A site where a visitor could read a REALTOR® blog, search for properties, request a CMA or information on relocation, and anything else that the member would want to provide. On top of that, we wanted to be able to add and offer similar features to loan officers, stagers, RE web developers, title companies, home inspectors, appraisers, and anyone else that has a business associated with or servicing the industry.

In March of 2009, we released the version of PREP that is currently standing. This is the version that we first dreamed of, then turned into a vision that soon would become a reality. We accomplished some great feats along the way, but none of it would be possible without the 57 members of PREP. I would love to sit here and name them out, but that would take all day. So, I will close it out with this question: What is keeping you from becoming a member today?

“Why should I join Positive Real Estate Professionals?” This is a question that I get asked several times a day. It is also a question that I will continue to get asked on a daily basis regardless of what I say in this article. However, I am going to attempt to answer many common questions about joining a real estate network like PREP.

I think one of the first things that people ask is why Positive Real Estate Professionals is a premium site and why can’t it just be free like some other real estate networks. Well, to answer that question, let me ask you this? What real estate network has personalized customer service that is 99% of the time reachable? Our customer service is not only there to help you get your site setup and  become acclimated to the network, but also to help you with SEO (search engine optimization), blogging ideas, and any other needs or concerns that you have about the network. To be able to supply that type of service costs money. We have kept the cost as low as low as possible at $100 per year. However, that introductory price will come to an end on August 31, 2009 and change to $150 on September 1st. Even with the price change, I still believe that it is a great value and the current members of PREP will tell you the same thing.

Another reason that PREP can be a great resource is its ability to fulfill virtually all of a real estate professional‘s needs in one place. What I mean by that is simple. Let’s use a new REALTOR® for example. If a new REALTOR® wants to be able to instantly gain Google juice, they are not going to be able to do that with their own new website. However, they can achieve that with PREP due to the power of our real estate network. One of the biggest differences with PREP is its ability to be your one stop website. You can integrate your IDX solutions, create custom forms to capture lead information, show off your featured listings on their own page, have an interactive calendar, accept requests for CMAs, and much more. PREP is not limited to just being a blogsite with a profile page. If a person wanted the site to appear as a standalone website while still gaining the power of the network, we can make that work too.

Another benefit of PREP is that our focus is on the Real Estate industry and reaching the consumers. We are not a social media therefore the only agenda that we have is Real Estate and its peripheral industries. We have chosen to make sure that our network stays that way. We feel that consumers come to us to find answers to their real estate questions, not political or religious agendas, nor what the scores of last night’s sporting events are. In keeping this focus, we believe that we will always be a great source for real estate information. While this may bring bad feelings from people from other networks, this was a choice that we made and one that we plan to keep.

Another advantage of being in a network like PREP is the Alexa and Google rankings. We have consistently been able to keep pushing these to become better. In less than 6 months, we have obtained a Google ranking of a 3 and an Alexa ranking less than 53k. At our current level of membership, these numbers will only continue to improve; the bigger the network, the better these numbers will get. For a website to obtain these numbers on their own would take a mammoth amount of work. As a member of PREP the only thing that you need to focus on is your blogging. We promote you, the member, daily.

Joining PREP is just a step away. All you have to do is complete the membership request process and you are on your way. Want you join us today?

Over the time that I have spent on the internet, I have seen many people employ this strategy when it comes to blogging and social media. The first thing they do is take the proverbial “big bite” out of social media and sign up for all of the networks they can not really understanding what they can do for them much less knowing how to use them. Many people think that they can accomplish so much more by doing this. However, it goes back to the old way of thinking that the fact of the matter is, ‘less is really more.’

We can use quotes like putting the cart before the horse, leaping before looking, or speaking before thinking, and they all can refer to what people do wrong in the social media avenues. While social media is meant to help you succeed in gaining exposure, it can also help bury you just as fast if used wrong. So, now that I have told you what people are doing wrong and what the consequences are, would it be nice to hear what path should be taken? Fair enough. Now let’s move forward and get the horse in front of the cart where it belongs.

Before you take the time to join the possible 200 social medias that are out there, you need to first create a strategy. So many times I have seen people get involved in Facebook only to get sucked in to all the games and extras that can really become distractions with a system like that. Instead of networking with potential clients, they are defending their Mafia family. The same thing can be said of Twitter. While Twitter is great to keep up with updates from people, it too can be a little addictive when it comes to tweeting. You can also get spammed to death if you aren’t careful. Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Mixx, and more are great for sharing articles. However, if you continuously share your articles, the other users in these systems can bury you so deep that there is basically no getting out.

So, with all of these road blocks, how does someone navigate through the land mines to get themselves recognizable on the internet. Well, I think the first part of being recognizable on the Internet is what I state in my article Internet Business Requires Internet Presence; creating a unique brand. Once you have been able to do that, then it is time to start blogging. Putting together a bunch of articles and just throwing them out there is not really smart. You have to think about what it is you want to say and then put it into words that people can understand. The last thing anyone wants to read is an article that talks over their head. Speak to the masses, not to the few. Once you have accomplished that, then it is time to move into the social media springs.

If you have the ability to be on a network like Positive Real Estate Professionals, then you have 50% of your job done for you, maybe even more. The network is designed to feed into Twitter and Facebook automatically as well as allowing you to tweet right out of your blog dashboard while never having to open another internet window. The biggest work that you have to do is set up your two accounts and then let it do most of the work for you. However, it does not stop there and this is where most people fail. In either of these systems, you have to create a following. It is great that PREP has their followings and you get to use theirs, but you also have to have your own as well. That means that you have to get into the system and locate not only people that would be interesting to you, but people that are interested in what you have to say. Once you do that, then you are ready to move forward.

Now, for the people that do not belong to a network like PREP, then you have even more work to do because you have to carry the entire burden yourself. If your system that you use can not be automatically integrated, then you have to share your articles with each site. Once you have figured out that part, it is up to you to get into the social media systems that you join and create a mutual following. The associations that you create will become important and you need to take this into account; if the person that you want to connect to is not very active, then they will actually just weigh you down. What do I mean by that? Well, when a person is not active and they sit on your list, then you need to get a least one more person to pick up the slack that the inactive one is creating. Now, before anyone jumps up and throws something at me, I am not saying to not friend these people. I just want you to understand what you are getting into in terms of social marketing.

So, in an effort to recap this article, let me give you an outline.

• Unique Branding
• Fresh relevant content
• Join a few social networks and learn the ins and outs of them
• Be active in the social networks
• If you do not want to be faced with this task, then pay the $100 and join a network like Positive Real Estate Professionals and let them do most of it for you.

Over my 22 plus years being in the working world, one thing that I have found to be constant that seems to rear its ugly head is indecision. Many times these people are referred to as “fence sitters” and lord knows, we all know a few. As for the real estate world, the National Association of Realtors® released this video a while back to make this very point.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41Ojn7XQHU[/youtube]

The issue with fence sitting is the fact that you are taking a chance of a lifetime and making it into a betting game when it comes to buying a home. Imagine having to go to your family and tell them that you lost the home of their dreams because you could not make a decision on whether or not to make an offer on the home. Then, just when you thought that the time was right to swoop down to buy their dream home, someone else already did. For me, that would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do.

With all that said, fence sitting is not just done when it comes to home buying. There are fence sitters when it comes to buying a car, joining the gym, joining a real estate network, or even marriage. The bottom line means that some people loathe indecision whether it is concerning something small or something large. The issue is that indecision is the graveyard of good intentions as I said before. In the end, people that are indecisive tend to lose out on things that can benefit them or make them very comfortable or happy.

I leave you with this thought: What have you been indecisive about?

Diversification is the KEY to success in the blogging world from a marketing standpoint. Lately I have been reading articles like Confessions of a Former “Google Tramp” and Are you placing all your eggs in 1 basket? (Series Part 1). Those two articles in themselves got me thinking of how many people experience this very issue. I would liken this very issue to a person that sticks their toe in a pool, then their foot, then up to the knee, and so on and so on. This is how some people treat blogging. They think that they can start one blog and it will take them to stardom.

Well, I am here to kill that myth. Something that a lot of people do not realize is the fact that your single website or blogsite can only gain you so many spots in a Google Search. This in itself is going to be a major issue if you are trying to dominate Google’s front page in your desired search. Over the last few weeks, I have been harping on topics that are in relation to this very topic. If you have not read them, then I definitely recommend taking the time to read them.I have listed them below.

Blogging is not just for “Mommy Bloggers” anymore.

Do you use your email signature to it’s fullest potential

Internet Presence; What is yours?

Does Your Blog Get You The Exposure That You Need?

Are you socially active?

Are you a social butterfly?

Become more search friendly

Let me stop before I end up with all of my articles on here. One of the key elements in each of these articles is diversity. In my opinion, diversification is what is needed to obtain the success that many need. This is one of the reasons that Positive Real Estate Professionals was changed to a Real Estate Network. Allowing people the opportunity to network with other professionals as well as reach more consumers is a great benefit, but it is also not the ONLY thing that you want to do.

Ultimately, the first and foremost thing that a person in the Real Estate Industry (or insert you industry here)  should do is to created their own blogsite/website. If you cannot do that on your own, then contact R & D Art and let them help you get it built. Once you have done that, then it is time to join some Real Estate networks like this one. They can help you get the following that you desire. They can also help you to diversify.

If you do not believe me when I say this works, then check out the newest page in PREP. Take a moment to see what our own members are saying about us.

I will leave you with this thought: Could you use more exposure?

Over my 20 plus years of being a part of the work force I have learned many things. Typically, I share that acquired knowledge with the people around me. In doing this, it also allows me to acquire knowledge that they have gained as well. It is from this sharing of knowledge coupled with the years of experience that I write this new article. It is this new article that prompts me to ask “Does your blog get you the exposure that you need?”

For most people, the answer to that question is a simple “I do well with my blog” and they move on. Well, frankly, what does ‘well’ encompass? In the business world, ‘well’ can mean that one out of two months you make enough to stay afloat. However, I do not know anyone in business that is ever satisfied with staying afloat. So, with that said, how do you increase your exposure and go from ‘well’ to ‘excellent’.

Let’s explore different avenues to achieve ‘excellent’. In the blogging world, you can seek out a site that offers a multi user network. When people hear this phrase, they always ask what it means. A multi user network is a social network where people can come together and share ideas or knowledge, exchange referrals, learn from the masses, and more. In a nutshell, it is a multi user blog. Understanding that seems to put everything into perspective when it comes to gaining more and more exposure.

The next avenue that one has to look at is what type of business that they are in. For the consummate Real Estate Professional, finding a place to gather is very important. Many Realtors, appraisers, stagers, title people, closing attorneys, builders, re molders, mortgage lenders, loan officers, notaries, etc, have made their own Real Estate blog, but it just does not seem to get the responses that they want. Being able to lock in with a Real Estate network that knows how to get the consumers to your front door is key.

One of the things that you have to remember is that just because you belong to a multi user network like Positive Real Estate Professionals, it still takes work to move up in the search engine rankings. Blogging on a consistent basis with relevant content is one of the keys to success. Being a part of the Real Estate industry gives you an inside track on the housing market and other Real Estate information. Having the additional tools that a site like PREP can and does supply is also another benefit and can get you the increased exposure that you ultimately seek.

So, in a nutshell, does your blog get you the exposure that you need and want? If you can not truly answer yes and you are in the Real Estate industry, then maybe it is time for you to join a Real Estate Network.