Homes.com and AgentAdvantage will be there too!

Stop by booth # 923 & 925 to register to win an iPod nano just in time for the Holidays! Come by and see what other gifts we have:

• Enjoy show specials on Homes.com & AgentAdvantage products
• Sign-up for FREE webinars at the AgentAdvantage Learning Center

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Facebook may be facing some tough battles ahead over their new SocialAds and Beacon programs.
The article touches on a hot button topic, because with the advent of all these popular social networking sites, the lines are blurred between opt-in and opt-out. These lines need to be drawn more clearly.
When a photographer wants to sell someone's picture, that photographer needs to get a copyright release, signed and sealed, from that "model".
There are no questions. No company will buy the picture without a release.
But Facebook is assuming that an opt-in agreement is good enough. That is the question for the courts.

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The National Association of REALTORS® 2007 Conference and Expo wrapped in Las Vegas on November 16 and thanks to the 30,000 agents, brokers, friends and family in attendance, Homes.com and AgentAdvantage enjoyed tremendous success!

This year featured hundreds of programs, exhibitors, and networking opportunities, plus Bill Cosby, James Taylor and more.

For the first time ever, Homes.com and AgentAdvantage.com exhibited with their sister companies, Advanced Access, eNeighborhoods and Number 1 Expert, to create the Dominion Pavilion.

By joining together under the umbrella of our parent company we were able to offer agents and brokers complete answers to their marketing and advertising questions.

Featured in the booth was a life-size slot machine set to give away one million dollars. It measured more than 6 feet in height and weighing more than one ton! It was a truly impressive sight.

While we didn’t give away a million dollars, we do have other exciting news!

On Wednesday morning, in front of leading industry journalists, Homes.com announced a merger with our print sister, Harmon Homes.

In the press conference, Homes.com Vice President Jamie Clymer and Dominion Enterprises Executive Vice President Ernie Blood outlined the opportunities this would provide for REALTORS® and how the re-brand of Harmon Homes publications to Homes.com would change real estate marketing. The merger increases the reach and flexibility of our products.

It was wonderful getting to meet with all you who were at N.A.R. and we look forward to seeing you throughout the 2008 calendar of events!

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Real Estate news runs the gamut. Let's lighten it up a bit. Let's get serious. There is some fun and insteresting RE stuff out there, but there is also some very sobering news as well.

Want to buy some real estate somewhere other than on this earth?

October foreclosure sales increased by 40 percent from September. That is wild.

Do you need a facelift for your marketing brochures?

Houston builders moving away from starter homes. And those starter homes are at $150,000 and lower. Wow.

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"Something is happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear..."
Maybe we do know what is happening, and it is the same thing that happens in this great country of ours all the time.

Entrepreneurs and the companies on a shoestring get the ball rolling with a new business model or idea, i.e. those who are making big and little money in the Blogosphere.

Once that ball starts to really move, the Big Dogs jump in dumping lots of money into what they see working.

Take Curbed for example. The small blurb about the site says, "In New York City, it comes back to real estate, rent and the neighborhoods we inhabit."

And the money being thrown at this site is quite astounding for a blog.

But it is not just a blog. It is really the attempt to create a brand from the blog. Getting the buzz going about the site the old-fashioned way: with money. Venture capitalists have thrown a purported $1.5 million at this site, and it has attracted big name companies like American Express and Volkswagen.

Getting brand recognition is key to a business that wants to thrive whether it is online or a brick and mortar business, and that is basic business sense.

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) held their annual convention in Las Vegas this weekend, and Homes.com announced that Harmonhomes.com and Homes.com will merge.

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This class is all about leads. Develop strategies for managing your internet leads through the first online training class in our Powersearch Series. This class, specific to Powersearch customers, walks you through tips to increase lead conversion and ways to effectively manage your internet leads.


We are offering the PowerSearch Series to current AgentAdvantage and Homes.com PowerSearch customers. If you are currently a PowerSearch client and have the password for class registration you can click below to register now:

Register Now! PowerSearch Series: Lead Management

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Facebook recently rolled out its plans for a new advertising network that uses the information of its subscribers. Each Facebook user opts in to allow Facebook to use their personal information, but does that allow using that information to advertise without written consent by the subscribers? Does checking an "opt-in" button act as a proper substitute for having written permission to use someone's pictures and content?
The state of New York may not think so. Read more here.

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November is here and all of us in the real estate industry know that can only mean one thing: NAR!

Just in case there’s someone out there that hasn’t heard, NAR is the National Association of REALTORS and they throw the biggest and best party, um, I mean, conference, of them all!

This year’s extravaganza is being held next week (November 13-16) in Las Vegas.

Homes.com and AgentAdvantage have packed up shop and are heading west to take part in the festivities. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but we pulled out the all the stops this year.

We have partnered with our sister companies, Advanced Access, eNeighborhoods and Number 1 Expert, under our parent company Dominion Enterprises.

And we are offering REALTORS a chance to win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!

You’re eyes do not deceive, that’s ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

We have a life-size slot machine just waiting for you to take a spin.

If you’re at NAR, come by the Dominion Pavilion (booth 926) and take a spin!

See you in Vegas (I’ll be the one by the slot machine)!

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If you’re at NAR, come by the Dominion Pavilion (booth 926) and take a spin!

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As I said Friday, getting traffic to your website is the key to this whole online thing.
The first two basics I mentioned last week that every realtor needs to generate traffic to their website:

1. Social Networking


2. Article Writing

And to continue with the list, another good way to help generate traffic to your site:

3. Online forums.

These are online niche communities that run the gamut. Get involved in your niche online community and become a known poster and expert. If you are a realtor or a broker, there are many sites online you can get involved with.
Another good tip is to

4. add links to those reputable sites that deal with your business.

As a realtor, you want to link to real estate blogs with good information. Information that will help you in your business will help others as well. Pass it on to your readers.
More to come!

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Our very own Vice President and General Manager of Homes.com was recently interviewed on Inman TV.

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Anyone can get a website these days.
Blogs have proliferated and many are free, so getting a presence online is not an issue.
But getting traffic to your website, that is the key to this whole online thing.
Here are some of the basics every realtor needs to generate traffic on their website:

• Social Networking. This is as basic as it used to be back before the world was "online". Get yourself known out in the online world. Myspace, Facebook and Linkedin are just a few of the social networking sites. Get a presence on them and get known.


• Article Writing. Sites like ezinearticles.com are an excellent way of gaining credibility and interest. Choose your niche and go for it! Set up a calendar of topics on which to write, and you can gain a loyal readership that will spread the news that you are the authority in your area of expertise.

Next I will add to this list of things to do to generate traffic to your website.

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