I got an email today from a fellow writer who asked if she should offer project rates or standard hourly rates for her copywriting services. Some of her potential clients had been advised by a real estate coach to always get per-project rates. She asked for my advice.

For anyone who plans to hire a writer, you may want to consider the following, before signing on the dotted line: If you have a standard/recurring project (like writing a 250-word property description, if you are are a real estate agent) you can easily hire a writer and pay them “per listing.” But this is pretty “rote” writing and you aren’t pushing the creative envelope much. Some writers are willing to do other projects based on a per-word or a per-page calculation.

There are a few things you should consider on each of these “product-based” approaches to writing services:

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Are you bored with the same old “tired” farm materials? Do you want innovative and creative… but all you can afford is the service you already have? Is it the same service your competition is using — or a markedly similar one? Do you want your direct mail to catch the eye of your target market? And, are you on a shoe-string budget?

There is a way to make your stuff stand out… without a huge time and money investment…

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If you haven’t heard of the Net Neutrality issue yet, or you have not yet “grasped” the full impact of this particular topic, the time is now. A good way to “get your arms around” the complex and particularly important bit of legislation is to watch the recent Bill Moyers piece on what Net Neutrality means to the average American.

I’ve been harping on this on my personal blog for some time now, but it’s imperative that this issue become clearer for small business owners, Realtors(r), real estate agents, entrepreneurs, freelance workers, remote professionals and anyone with a stake in having unfettered access to the wealth of information available at fingertip access… at least what’s readily available for the time being. (more…)

I have had more calls lately on the topic of blogging than I could ever have imagined. Even my current clients are calling me saying “So you blog for that ONE client? Why aren’t you doing that for ME?!?!”

It’s a sticky situation for a writer and marketer who makes a living capturing and communicating the “voice” of her clients. Saying “I don’t recommend hiring someone to blog for you” has resulted in a slew of calls asking for me to do exactly that.

Go figure. (I think “reverse psychology” may be a marketing technique I should have pursued in the first year of my business – back when I was “hungry” and struggling!) Ah, hindsight…

So, what CAN I do to help you if you are new to the blogosphere? What WILL I do to help you launch your first blog? (more…)

Let’s say you have decided that blogging really IS a good idea. And, you are ready to have a blog on your own website. The only problem you face is an innate abhorrence of writing.

So you are looking for an easy way out. You ponder the options… and determine that you should hire someone to do your blog. After all, this will get you blogging (that really “in” thing to do for your online marketing) and will make the whole process as painless as possible, right?

WRONG.

Since I am a blog advocate (and a freelance writer), I’ve had quite a few inquiries lately about blogging services. Writing about blogging has resulted in a page one ranking on Google for blog writing services. But, Google is a fickle friend, so I don’t expect to retain that ranking for long.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying quite a bit of web traffic on this topic and I get quite a few questions on ghost blogging. I want to address some of those questions here. (more…)

Following a lawsuit by Adobe, Microsoft agreed to remove the “save as PDF” feature from the upcoming Office 2007 (also called Office 12) as delivered.

But, Microsoft is providing this option as an “add-in” which can be downloaded for free by users from the Microsoft download site. Recently, that “add-in” was made available.

If you want yours (and the ability to also save as XPS format) …
Download your copy of the “Save as PDF” and “Save as XPS” add-in for eight MS Office program formats here.

Enjoy!

First of all, let me establish that I am NOT a quitter. Frankly, I’m, too darn stubborn to give up at all… much less to do so easily. Now, with that said, I’ve been working with the new office 2007 for A couple months now. It crashes alot, and has several issues, but overall, I like, it. (At least up to the point when I tried to get Business Contact Manager to work)

Now, after two days of hell, I decided to keep two systems running – one with Office 2003 on my server-desktop and one with 2007 on my Tablet PC. At least this way, I reasoned, I could still use my Accounting program to get my billing out (I use SBA 2006) I gave up QuickBooks last year because, well, I hated it. I hated the double entry between my timer and my books, the extra hassles and the constant “gouges” from Intuit to upgrade. I decided to go with Microsoft to get all things in one place. I assumed that software that advertised seamless integration with it’s own programs would be telling the truth.

But I digress…

The fact is, I wasted yet another day of my life trying to get the BCM database to launch and I resent the hours spent on it. I resent the time researching… but most of all, I resent that I didn’t find a solution. I resent that today’s exercises in futility have made me feel like a failure and a quitter. because it’s now past 10:30 pm… and I quit! (At least for today.)

(I also hate when my seeking in the mobile arena knocks the wind out of my sails… especially during the weekend.)

I haven’t beaten the blogging drum in awhile, at least not publically. Of course I believe in blogging. It works for me, it works for others.

Like you, many of my clients come from referrals. The rest are a result of reading my articles and my blogs. It’s that simple. I preach blogging. I “walk the talk” of blogging. I do it and I encourage (and even coerce) my clients to follow suit.

I’m a believer, and I have a story to tell about a client of my own who is a recent convert. (more…)

It’s beginning now. I’ve been watching as the real estate market begins to dance on the edge of a sheer cliff and I hold my breath expecting a shaky, but undeniable plummet. I don’t think it’s merely a “natural” readjustment resulting from an overly inflated market (although I do think the market is terribly inflated). I think that a combination of economic factors, including a higher cost of basic goods (especially gas) have created a climate for a major housing market readjustment.

But I believe that there are other, more significant causes…
Let me be openly opinionated for a moment… (more…)

Today the kitchen has lost its position as the “heart of the home” that it enjoyed in generations past. According to a 2004 report on dining out, single professionals eat over 50% of their meals away from home. And, in recent trends data… the NationalRestaurant Association (NRA) reports that restaurant sales will rise nearly twelve-fold from the 1970 figure of $42.8 billion to a whopping $511.1 billion this year!

So, where does this leave you when you are trying to show a home? It makes it essential that you outline the ideal kitchen and help your listing clients ensure that their kitchen shows well.

Yes, some people are gourmet cooks, some families still eat dinner together every night, and some individuals consider their kitchen the only real place to “congregate with friends.” But many homeowners eat out more often than they cook at home. Add to that the number of meals that are “delivered” and the number that are eaten “en route” to work and school… and you may find that the kitchen has taken a back seat when you are showing a home. (more…)

It’s pretty confusing these days, as the House and the Senate battle, pass and amend the bills related to net neutrality preserving and abolishing online freedoms. What do I want? I want the government and the big business’ hands off my access to, what I consider to be, MY Internet!

What does this mean? It means if the government must get involved, I want it to protect my rights — not limit them and not sacrifice MORE of my personal rights and freedoms in the name of anything — economic development, national security or anything similar.

Wouldn’t it be nice if they would also quit naming bills in a way that they appear to support exactly what they try to abolish? Yeah, that would be nice!

So, if all this leaves you unsure what to tell your representatives, maybe the information below will help… now get active, get vocal, and be heard.

To learn more, go here: Roycroft Study on Net Neutrality and this news article on Net Neutrality issues that includes information on several of the bills in one place.

Visit http://www.savetheinternet.com/ and http://www.itsournet.org/ to get active online, now before Thursday comes and goes… also be sure to contact your particular representatives a.s.a.p. The Senate Votes this Thursday.

Real Estate Articles Being a real estate agent is challenging especially considering the industry’s technological intensity and the current climate of economic uncertainty. It’s especially taxing for successful agents and Realtors® who are considering redefining their business. If you plan to hone only one skill this year, select the one that will make a huge positive difference in your business, your success, and your quality of life. Become an expert decision maker.

Let me explain… (more…)

If you are considering redoing a bathroom before putting your house on the market, or if you are a real estate agent advising clients, you may be interested in the latest survey on… of all things… what people hate in bathrooms.

A UK plumbing company hosted the survey and secured over 1300 responses. To learn more visit PlumbWorld.com at: www.plumbworld.co.uk/info-107.

The virtual tour phenomenon has gone pocket-sized and portable in the form of Video Virtual Tour Podcasts. Cutting edge real estate agents are now offering virtual tours in new, smaller and easier-to-use platforms, says Internet Marketing Consultant Angela Parker of www.WickedWordCraft.com, who specializes in helping real estate clients find new, innovative ways to market homes.

“As our society becomes more mobile, our demand for information follows suit,” said Parker. “The real estate industry must meet these demands by creating new, more convenient ways to deliver what clients need and want when they are shopping for a new home.” (more…)

As a real estate agent, technology is important to you. You use it every day to conduct
business, do research, access potential clients and to communicate. You know technology use is growing. What you may NOT know is that technology and home offices are quite possibly one of the biggest selling points a house can offer.

While family size is still declining, the number of people working full-time or part-time from home (and those executives that need full-office access from home) is on the rise. (more…)

The health problems that I thought were fixed have returned, and the timing kinda sucks, since I’m still out in the Rockies. But, I’m taking this time to do a bit more research on the Tablet PC I’ve been salivating over for several months and I’ve discovered (and been reading like mad about) the new UMPC products (Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers). Computing is an exciting field at the moment. Things are really “hopping” and I’m fascinated with the new breakthroughs. Now, I think I know why I’ve not already purchased the Tablet PC.

The Tablet is the first Technology advance/toy that I’ve wanted for an extended period of time that I’ve NOT purchased. Usually, I’ll salivate for a week or so, then bite the bullet and buy the device. Not so this time. And now I think I know why…

If you want to learn more about UMPCs as a general “class” of machines, you can visit the Microsoft site. If you want to learn a bit more about the individual models of UMPCs, you may want to hit some of the user and fan sites that are springing up all over. For instance, I found the following sites in my perusing last night when I couldn’t sleep:

http://umpc.com/
http://www.umpcbuzz.com/

You may also want to check out the following news release – http://www.mil-embedded.com/news/db/?2873 - the first mention of a “rugged” UMPC for the Military market, which makes all kinds of sense to me.

One device the OQO can be reviewed online here. And the Samsung device is now available (but on backorder) at BestBuy.com. You can read the PDF Owner’s Manual online to get the details. However, that model is a Celeron chip and the memory and HD space is lower than some of the other options available on, for instance, the EO by TabletKiosk. And, although the batterylife of the EO-V7110 seems to be problematic in the first release, the rest of the reviews on this particular little gem are pretty exciting. See a review here. What turns my crank about this one? It’s a Centrino chip for starters. (I despise celeron anything) Then try a 100 GB HD – at 7200 speed! (an upgrade, of course) or a 160 GB HD (at 5400 – for the same price) *decisions, decisions* and up to 1GB DDR2 SODIMM! (also an upgrade). But that means I’d have a pretty cool little mobile Tablet PC with a touch screen, 100 GB of fast-access storage space (or 160 gigs running a bit slower) and a mass amount of onboard RAM in something that I can slip into a smallish purse – or the side of my backpack when I’m on the road. HEAVEN! :O)

For those of you that don’t need or want a “souped-up” version, you can get one of these little beauties for under $1K. (My version more than doubles the price.) But another big reason that I think these little beauties will sell is a lower price point than the current tablet PCs and a price point more “in keeping” with the current laptop market — but adding the additional size and functionality convenience factors.

Although I don’t think these devices are perfected by any stretch, I think this is a whole new breed of device that mesh pretty closely to my definition of ideal. I also believe with a better battery life, that it may be a perfect choice for real estate professionals, agents and brokers — as well as techno loving writers such as…. ME! These little devices have the advantages of the “write-on” screen of the tablet PC operating system and the connectivity required of most brokers and agents in the field.

As these become a little less obscure and blend more into the mainstream, I fully expect these devices (labeled Origimi Devices) to become the mobile professional’s best friend. I also expect a serious upswing of adoption by the teen and early 20’s market for entertainment devices with the bonuses of online connectivity and office/classroom productivity. With the capability of keyboard and larger monitor, these devices may even become the “main computer” for many folks. The touch-screen also allows thumb-input for when you don’t have the time or desire to hook up a keyboard.

For now, keep an eye on these new devices… exciting things are happening in the mobile world!

Ok, you have been in real estate long enough to have endured a few listings that you would
rather NOT have landed. Let’s call them ugly ducklings, shall we? Now, how do you market them? Here’s how you can invite people to recognize their potential and help the homebuyer see them as a swan! In the same way we make lemonade when life deals lemons, you can find something good about any property – no matter how flat it may seem at first glance.

It’s not just tiny homes or homes “out-of-step” with the neighborhood that need special care. In fact, I’ve helped market multi-million dollar listings with bedrooms that left me astounded.

“THAT is the master bedroom? The bedroom in my first apartment was nicer!” My solution? I don’t mention the master bedroom. Instead, I highlight the triple-sized whirlpool with adjustable jet streams in the master bathroom with the marble steps and the heated towel racks. Accentuate the positive and simply ignore the negative.

In smaller, less dramatic homes, you may need to create positives by altering your potential buyer’s perspective. You may not have the luxury of ignoring difficult features. And, it’s not a matter of sticking the term “handyman’s dream” or “fixer-upper” on it and calling the marketing plan complete. Nor, is it convincing the seller to list it below market value, so you have a chance of turning it over quickly.

Remember, every home has something charming about it. It’s your job to find that “something” and frame it attractively for display through your marketing approach. Here are a few tips to do just that:
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Last month we covered how to select an excellent URL to help build your brand. Since April 26th is World Intellectual Property Day, I wanted to cover a few pointers on how to protect your own intellectual property, your brand, your current projects and even your future endeavors. Here is how you do it …What is Cybersquatting?

Cybersquatters are individuals or companies that buy registration rights for popular, trademarked and established business names with the purpose of reselling to the rightful owner or diverting traffic from the rightful brand-owner to other sites. A few years ago, this was only a problem for large, national and international companies… think “McDonalds and Wal-Mart” – but as the importance of local search increases, cybersquatting for smaller company names and typosquatting (purchasing variations and misspellings of popular names) will be on the rise. This means there is an increasing threat to smaller companies like yours. Brands like yours. Names like yours. (more…)

The majorsearch engines now give less “weight” to keywords on your index page’s keyword meta tags. This is good news for those who have quality content, first-rate incoming and outgoing links and for those with thoughtful, effective URLs and excellent metatags in general. Here is how choosing the right domain names can make a big difference in your Web visitor count.

For those relying on heavily on the keyword metatag, those still stuffing location names
into links on the index page, and those still cooperating with “link farms”… the day of
reckoning (and loss of ranking) is probably already upon you.

However, keywords in your domain name and in your title meta tag still carry a great deal of “umph” with the search engine crowd. So…

• If you are rethinking your focus…

• If you are concentrating on your best services in a busy real estate office…

• If you are targeting your ideal client type…

• If you are planning to accomplish your 2006 goals with your website…

…you should carefully consider the URL you plan to use.

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Now normally, around this time of year, I get the urge to update my look. But, it’s usually an update of my website’s appearance. Something new added, a new touch, something to make things work a bit better or look a little more attractive. (more…)