FlashMic - Great for Podcasting or Interviewing

One of the coolest gadgets to come out lately for recording audio podcasts that allows the user to be mobile and on the go but put out tremendous quality is the Flashmic Digital Recording Mic.

The price is pretty steep but if you record alot of audio it will pay for itself when you plug in and just download the audio to your desktop MP3 ready.

Technical Details

• Bitrates (MPEG) 384, 256. 192, 128 kbps
  
• Frequency Response 20 Hz - 20 kHz ± 1dB @ 48 kHz FS Linear PCM
  
• Microphone Capsule Omni-directional
  
• High Pass Filter Switchable on/off, 12 dB/octave @ 100Hz
  
• File Format Linear PCM: .wav, Broadcast Wave File (BWF). MPEG 1 Layer 2: .mp2, ISO/IEC-11172-3. Date / Time stamp is stored in file header. Filename generated automatically by DRM85, basic text string provided from PC software

How do you get listed in search engines?

How do you get listed in search engines?

Everyone asks, "how do I get to the top of the search engines with my Website"

I reply, "Has your Website been submitted to the search engine and is your Website packed with relevant good content?"

The answer almost always is "huh?"

The truth is if you want to put your average Website that might be bug free and have current information on a PPC campaigna and Pay for every click-through you get - YOU CAN BE #1 IN GOOGLE" until you account runs out of money.

Long term search engine place is called "Organic" and basically means what the work means. No frills, tricks just good content.

Search engines arent getting duped anymore with fancy software or SEO companies tactics. Google is a mult-billion dollar company and the rest of the crowd is up there so if someone is promising you first page "ORGRANIC" rankings if you pay them - RUN.

More to come ...

Best Digital Camera for Real Estate Agents (taking pictures)

That is a tough question because there are so many makes and models out there so I have decided to break it down into 3 categories: Tech Saavy Agent, Can get the job done but no frills and Please do it for me. Cost is a main component in my choices and video does not play a big roll into choosing a camera. Usually, the more a device does the worse it does any one thing well. I also do not take into consideration you will be shooting any virtual tours or using fisheye lens. Lastly, if you are a real estate agent you do not need a $1500 digital camera to do your job.

1. Tech Saavy Agent - Nikon has the best all around products that range from good 6.0 megapixel cameras to 10 mega pixel. The reality is the 7.2 mega pixel is overkill for what we are shooting. Personally, I like Nikon and Sony cameras because they work well and are intuitive.
The Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens that runs up to $500 but is a great camera. Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 8MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Image Stabilization Zoom runs around $400 and is a subcompact but is packed with features. The end result is almost always the same, plug into your PC using a USB or Firewire connection, download the images to your desktop and drop into the MLS who will resize and watermark the images for you.


2. Can get the job done but no frills = Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black) runs around $299. It is supercompact and takes great pictures. Point and shoot, plug into your computer using a USB or Firewire connection, transfer the images, edit them if you would like to then drop them into the MLS who will resize them and watermark them for you.

3. Please do it for me - = KKodak EasyShare C613 6.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom sells for around $99 that will do the trick. Point and shoot, Plug into your desktop cradle at home and the software transfers the images to your desktop. Drop them into the MLS who will resize them and watermark them and you are done.

Remember the more pictures the more exposure you listings will have.

Jason

Keyword "Las Vegas" grabs 14% in the Travel Destination Sector

It's not suprising but according to hitwise.com under the category Travel Destinations and Accomodations Las Vegas had 14% of the over-all search traffic.

The city of Las Vegas population just topped 2 million and in 10 years should top 3 million.

A little city in the middle of the desert has grown trememdously over the past 10 years expanding well past any locals memories. I remember chatting with a client who told me 20 years ago there wasnt anything past rainbow blvd heading west. Just desert he said.

It still shows as large master planned communities are being built in the north west like providence. From a local's standpoint it seems so far away and a 1/2 commute is out of the question.

My husband and I lived in Orange County for a while and he used to commute 2.5 hours to work each way from South Orange County to Santa Monica and survived. It all comes down to perspective.

See you on the Web

New 60 Minute Flip Video Recorder Available

Agents - Get your turn-key video recorder at Amazon.com. This little device does it all, record and convert it to Web ready video. Perfect for posting on www.youtube.com

Cox Tier 2 Support Fix

If you are experiencing issues with your email at home on your residential account take the following steps:

Send an email from your Outlook email or email aliases to the following email addresses with this in your subject line: remove my email from blacklist

thisisnotspam@cox.net

This is supposed to take your outgoing email address off the blacklist.

Cox Blocking email as SPAM (greylisting)

According to information on the Cox website, Cox launched a network-based anti-spam solution that will allow them to recognize and block spam from known spammers using rules-based methods and also white or black lists. Although the Cox High Speed Internet subscriber agreement prohibits customers from using the service to send spam or any other unsolicited mass e-mailings, they also block users from sending individual legitimate personal and private (non-spam) emails based on an undisclosed filtering scheme.

If you have a home account with Cox you may have seen the dreaded bounced email message telling you that your email to your client has been flagged as spam. In doing so they have added the information to their filter blocking outgoing mail to friends, family and clients.

Because you have a personal account and not a buisiness account you have no recoarse.

I spoke to cox and they told me to send the email to thisisnotspam@cox.net and that will remove the email from their filter but at this time I have not seen it work.

Outgoing personal mail being sent via cox mail servers is being bounced or sent to a black hole. You may think a potential client has received this email but in reality has not. You may send another and another. You client dosen't respond because they never got the first email you promised them. You try putting in a call but no reply. They have moved on.

Do not rely on cox to send important business email to potential or current clients because they may be filtering your emails and sending them to never never land.

Why you need to start blogging

You have probably heard everyone tell you that you need a blog, are you blogging, have you seen my blog... enough already.

If you are a full-time Real Estate professional you know you know you need to start blogging if you want to compete in today’s digital market.

If you specialize in a specific area or vertical market, focus on those topics specifically to give your viewers more bang for their "buck."

Once you start "Blogging" and create a rhythm of posts as often as you can but keep it fresh. After a couple of months you might want to think about adding photos, audio and video. Adding cool features is not especially high tech so don't be afraid of adding them.

There are may FREE blogging tools available on the Web. I’ve outlined a few below:

• www.blogger.com
• www.typepad.com
• www.wordpress.com
  

Thanks and if you have any questions, please email me.

Business Cards for REALTORS

Last, week I was at NAR for a week and saw a lot of business cards from around the country and for some reason REALTORS just don't get "Branding."

I beleive it is due to the fact most are married to a larger Brand like C21, Remax or Prudential and they feel that is what they are paying for so they do not Brand themselves.

I believe that is a mistake. A big one.

I Las Vegas there are over 17,000 agents with 20% doing 90% of the business so we figured there are about 4,000 active agents to compete with. The rest are part time or have no idea what is going on.

When you "Brand" yourself, it gives you independence of the larger brand and people will recognize you for whatever you are promoting. When creating ads, flyers, faxes, emails and of course business cards you must keep a consistant design and consistent message.

Use color cards at least 14 pt card stock, glossy or matte to really bring your message to live. The $40 big chain store cards are so over. You can get a 1000 cards for around $80 with design from most companies.

Invest in yourself and your Brand.

Jason

Real Estate Technology 2007 and Beyond

NAR convened on Las Vegas this week exposing REALTORS® from all around the world to new technologies and services focused on marketing in the new economy.

There were many different classes covering blogging to 360 degree marketing tactics serving up tools to compete in today's fast paced real estate sector.

888 Venture Group LLC had showcased their new Agent Branding Package along with a host of new products ranging from new fashionable 9pt linen business cards and new email marketing tools.

Over the next few days I wll be reviewing some of the new tools to hit the market and post my recommendations.

Jason