Announcements
For the most up-to-date announcements about Point2 Agent check out the Point2 Agent Blog. Recently, we posted about our latest software update and upcoming changes for early 2009.
Visit the Blog
Featured Site
www.joycetawes.com
In addition to the design, this website caught our eye because of the use of custom content. Individual neighborhood pages with specific community information can encourage visitors to browse a website for a longer period of time.
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Featured Listing
This month's Featured Listing is an early 1900's home situated on one of Saskatoon's most prestigious crescents. The 36 listing photos capture the character of the home beautifully.
Listing Agent: Darrell Bartko, Realty Executives Saskatoon
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Featured Neighborhood
Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland, TX
 
Danny Frank of Keller Williams Realty - Pearland has included specific community information and photos describing the neighborhood of Shadow Creek Ranch.
Make sure your own Neighborhood Expert page contains rich community information and well-taken photos.
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Featured Blog
www.joejanus.com
Joe Janus' blog has a custom header graphic that ties his blog in with his website.
Learn more below about adding a custom header graphic to your own Point2 Agent blog.
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The Power of Blogs: A Custom Header Graphic
One of the biggest challenges in having a website is to provide a reason for online visitors to stay on your website and to return. One way to drive traffic to your website is to have a professional-looking, content-rich website that provides the essential listing and real estate information your online visitors want. Another way to generate traffic is to have a blog where you can share information related to real estate and pertinent information regarding neighborhoods, local amenities, upcoming events, and more.
Keeping a consistent look between your website and your blog helps to establish a professional image and will ensure that your online visitors are continually seeing your brand. By creating this familiarity they will remember you and the services you provide, and hopefully will go a long way to turn those visitors into hot leads.
For step-by-step instructions for uploading your own custom header graphic to your blog visit the User Manual.
by Riana Back, Education Specialist
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Simply the Best
A Quick Guide to Taking Good Listing Photos
Bad photos irk me somewhere deep down inside; similar to that feeling you get when forced to watch another living body sustain unnecessary injury. Yes, some photos are so bad that they are somehow actually capable of causing me physical pain. The recent onslaught of online photo sharing (which, by the way, encompasses anything and everything a person could possibly take a picture of), has made public some of the most atrocious and/or boring images of all time. For instance, I once clicked through a friend’s online album containing 140 photos; 110 of which were blurry, underexposed, or redundant.
With all the information available instantaneously via the web, we have to learn to share the best of what we have and little more. The internet is now so massive, that the common person only has time to see the absolute best of the best. There’s now more sites than ever whose primary purpose is to surface the most intriguing content on the web. Here’s just a small sample: Reddit, Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Propeller, Xanga, Furl – Damn… maybe even the best of the best is getting out of hand.
What I’m getting at is people are becoming conditioned to seek out only the best, and blur past the rest. The same is true when browsing real estate.
Potential buyers want to be impressed by their online, home-shopping experiences and deserve to be. I assure you that people will discredit a listing with no photos and limited information, even if it meets their personal requirements. Why? Because they have grown to expect more. It is imperative that your listing not be undervalued because of poor marketing workmanship.
Providing quality listing photos is statistically linked to the quantity of prospects generated. In layman’s terms, more photos = more prospects = more sales. So what can you do?
1) Learn how to take great listing photos, or hire someone to take them for you.
2) Keep the seller informed on when you plan on taking photos, what they need to do beforehand, and why it’s so important.
3) Never post bad listing photos, ever. When a new listing hits the online market you may only get one chance to make a good impression – then it’s old news. You want to be what’s hot and what’s new.
4) Never manipulate your photos to make a property look better than it actually is. You risk losing your trustworthiness, and may be setting buyer expectations too high.
One possible solution for #2 is to provide your client with a pre-shoot checklist. Here’s a freebie designed by yours truly: Point2 Photo Checklist. Feel free to use it as is, or design your own if you wish.
by Bryan Larson, Media Production Technician
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Exposure Engine™ Partner of The Month - REAMF.com
RealEstateandMortgageFinder.com is an online resource to help home buyers and home sellers find the best real estate and mortgage professionals in their area.
See how listings appear on REAMF.com
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AMP Holiday Promotion
Get A Grip Audio Solutions is in the giving spirit this Holiday Season and wants to reward you! Two lucky winners will receive three FREE professionally written, voiced and produced 90-second audio commercials for their Point2 Agent website!
Start the year off right! If you're a Professional or Premium Member and are interested in adding the power of audio to the listings on your Point2 Agent website, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for. Two lucky winners, one in December and one in January, will receive three 90-second commercials for the listings of their choice! Each package is valued at $477.00 for non-members, although Point2 Agent members receive special pricing at $381.60 - a savings of 25%, just for being a Point2 Agent member!
To learn more about adding the power of audio to your listings to maximize your website marketing potential, visit www.GetAGripAudio.com.
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Higher Learning from Point2 Education
Getting Started and Ongoing Resources
With the new implementations of Point2's Enterprise Solution with MLS's/Associations, Point2 has seen an influx in new members in the form of Agents, Brokers, and MLS/Association staff. In the Education Sessions that are being held for these new members, one question commonly arises:
How do I get started with my Point2 Agent account?
Great question, and one that has a variety of answers, depending on who you ask! Probably the best place to get started is our Getting Started Guides. These Guides walk you through a number of steps that will assist you in updating your website with pertinent contact information, displaying your listings, updating your website content, and managing your leads.
Each step also links to the specific User Manual page and Training Video for that activity, making it easy for you to follow along with a member of our Education Team. Since all resources are available 24-7-365 on our website, you have the control and choice over when you access these resources.
There are versions available for the following specific users:
These Getting Started Guides are also helpful to our current members who may have been with us for some time, as they will remind you to revisit some aspects of your website.
There are other resources that will be helpful on an on-going basis:
User Manual: contains detailed textual instructions and scrren shots on how to use, manage, and update the various features of your Point2 Agent website and complimentary online marketing aspects.
Training Videos: taking the information from the User Manual, the Training Videos integrate audio and video to cover the key aspects of the Point2 Agent software. The Training Videos are available on-demand and can be paused to accommodate your schedule and business demands.
New! Troubleshooting Guide: The Troubleshooting Guide provides troubleshooting steps to help users overcome problems that they may encounter.
Message Board: Ask questions, provide responses, or review information from others. The Message Board provides the opportunity to share experiences and gain assistance from Point2 Agent members and moderators through a variety of forums and threads.
New! Education Sessions: Point2 Agent Education Sessions use webinar technology for participants to see and hear a member of the Point2 Education Team go through a key feature of the Point2 Agent products, an industry topic, or other educational materials.
New! Point2 Education Site: A Point2 Agent site devoted to educational resources and sessions for our members, this website contains links to all of the above resources, as well as has further articles, blog posts, and information related to your Point2 Agent account.
Take a look at each of the educational and support resources to determine which ones fit with your learning style, and hopefully we will see you in an upcoming Education Session. Until then, have a very Happy Holidays!
by Tanya Spilchak, Education Coordinator
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The Buzz Around the Point2 Community
Looking for inexpensive (free) options to keep costs down? Our very own Chris de Jong explores a few open-source alternatives on the Point2 Agent Blog.
Visit our blog to join in the conversation and get the latest news from Point2 Agent.
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Using Video for Real Estate - Part 1
Real Estate Video
photo credit: alexpeters on flickr
Are you using all types of media to your benefit? As more and more consumers are turning to the internet first when shopping for real estate, it is beneficial to have your presence highlighted in every way possible, by using every type of media possible. That includes using video.
Like all your marketing efforts you want to make sure that everything you produce is of value to your potential customers.
Once created, a video can be displayed in a number of places online, including your website, blog, and social networks. The possibilities for what types of videos you can create are endless.
Consider the following:
Listing Walk-Through - In addition to high-quality listing photos, you can create a quality walk-through video for a listing. This can give potential buyers a different perspective of the layout of the listing that your still photos may not clearly illustrate.
Neighborhood Tour - Create a video tour of the neighborhoods you serve. Not only do you show potential buyers what their future neighborhood is like, but you also show that you are an authority on the area. This type of video would work great alongside your Neighborhood Expert reservation on Point2 Homes.
Informative Guide - If you are involved in educating the public (or maybe even other real estate professionals) about real estate, this is a perfect opportunity to share some of your insights with video. Do you have a business relationship with other professionals in the industry, such as a mortgage broker or real estate lawyer? You could create a video with them, sharing your combined advice for your potential customers.
Those are just a few suggestions to get you started. In our next installment we'll discuss some tips for video etiquette and recommendations for shooting your own video.
by Megan Lust, Content Developer
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Your Resources
As a Point2 member, there are a number of resources that are at your disposal at any given time:
 User Manual - contains textual instructions as to how to use, manage, and update components of your website and accompanying marketing aspects. Find it online at http://agent.point2.com/help
 Getting Started Guide - Not sure where to start? The new Getting Started Guide is a perfect way to get started with your Point2 Agent website immediately. Find it online under the Document Downloads area on www.Point2Agent.com or a direct link here.
 Training Videos - visually goes through the instructions and information that is found in the User Manual. Find the corresponding video on each page of the User Manual, or view the entire list
 Message Board - ask questions, provide responses, review information from moderators and others in the Point2 community. Find the Message Board here.
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