Real Estate Geek Coach Tech Blog

Okay, now with almost 50 “friends” I’ve created my FaceBook Badge. Here is the first edition. I think it may be dynamic. Let’s see how it looks or…?

After avoiding it for awhile, I’ve finally stepped into the world of Social Media Marketing. I’ve fired up profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In. So, I’m back to blogging and we’ll study what works and what doesn’t.

Wow, a full day of finding out what I’ve been doing wrong in AdWords. Google put on a seminar up in Los Angeles with Brad Geddes of LocalLaunch.com . Lots of solid info with some real stellar tips. It still comes back to Keywords. I guess that is what has sunk some of my previous projects. Brad brought up a concept called Keyword Semantic Mapping. Cool idea although I choose the wrong site first and got a lot of porn spam.

The basic idea is very crisp. Lump keywords together in semantic families. This would allow you to either do SEO for a family of names or create a focused AdWords campaign.

Now the real question is how to do that for the average SEO guy.

I don’t know if I’m over-analyzing or under-analyizing the realm of keywords. A couple of months ago, I started my Domain Name Incubation project based on some pretty strong numbers found on WordTracker. And now there is a real shift in the family of keywords. Just when I think I see the light, someone drags it around the corner. More on this later folks.

It tis the season. And there is bound to be someone that you want to buy a unique gift online for. Check out GiftDomainName.com. When you need a really unique gift online how about a domain name? Giving someone their name or nickname as a URL might be just the unique, holiday gift idea they weren’t even thinking about. I’ve created several, one for my cool little Grand-Nephew http://www.lancejanssen.com/ and another for our friend Michael who is a larger than life guy with a nickname of Largicus . Not a bad investment for under $15.00 they can have their TLD (Top Level Domain) registered for a year. My company even provides free web hosting, email, forwarding and masking.

When I look around my office, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the gadgets we have. I was reminded however, of a real basic this week. A few months ago, I did some detailed research into a machine that would allow us to scan to pdf. Our title company had one and I tracked down their version on Ebay and bam! there we have it. This unknown piece of equipment soon became a mainstay. When our Transaction Manager pointed out how much she used it, I made a note of it. When my boss, Gary Kent needed a scan to pdf option, I noted it. Then it hit me, PAY ATTENTION TO THE TECHNOLOGY AT HAND! Gary already had a multi-functional machine, yes it scans to PDF and yes, Gloria already had a multi-functional machine.

Not a real lightbulb here, sometimes I like to state the obvious. Oh, and another thing, keep every manufacturer’s CD you can (and put them where you can find them). After downloading multiple drivers from HP, it was the original CD I needed to get the Windows 2000 professional machines to talk to the Multi-functional machine.

It is about time, Okay here is a bit of a rant. As a manager of a sales team, I am often times frustrated by the general lack of real estate knowledge the agents possess after supposedly passing Real Estate Principles.

I applaud CAR and Gov. Arnold for putting our bar a little higher. After all, it only takes a 3 unit college class and passing with slightly better than 30% wrong to be licensed to write a contract on a million dollar property. Shoot, it takes longer to get license to cut hair!

Real estate needs to be a profession, not a court of last resort for folks who want to make a quick buck or are unemployable in other careers. I’m sure I’ll have more on this soon.

Make sure to keep up on my real estate podcasts . And I am teaching my students a little about Domain Incubation with a writing assignment about several real estate markets that may be my next foray into a web domains incubation project based on some research in WORDTRACKER

Governor Schwarzenegger signs AB 2429 into law
Friday, Sept. 22, 2006

Governor Schwarzenegger signs AB 2429 into law; measure enhances
licensing requirements in real estate industry

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 22) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has
signed AB 2429 (Negrete McLeod), “Real Estate Salesperson Licensure,”
into law. The measure was sponsored by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS(r). AB 2429 will require salesperson applicants, after Sept.
31, 2007, to complete all three of the Department of Real
Estate-mandated pre-license courses prior to taking the license
examination.

Domain Incubation is a behind the scenes topic among white hat search enthusiasts. Some will research it using a variety of terms such as web domains incubation From what I have found there are a few tips on domain name registration that can make a noticeable difference in search engine placement for prime keywords

Among the tips we can explore will be

does it make a difference to web domains incubation if I use a dashed web site name?

What are the basic meta level tips to domain incubation ?

In the weeks to come I hope to add several of these points in the blog along with on www.white-hat-domains.com

Aye, What a grand idea. One day out of the year to celebrate the Pirate in us all…ARRRGH!

Check out my brief homage site

http://www.white-hat-domains.com/tlap.com

Now be quick about it or you’ll walk the plank!

In real estate we have our own language. We are second only to the military for a selections of odd phrases that convey complex ideas. For example we may call it a RPA-CA when we really mean our Real Estate Purchase Contract. We know that FSBO means For Sale By Owner and don’t even get me started on the intricacies of FIRPTA and Cal-FIRPTA.

What is my point? Be careful on your website to use clear “civilian” language. My real tip is a simple one. After you write your copy give it to someone outside of real estate and ask them to read it and see if they understand it.