TypePad Explained - The Next Generation

Well, wouldn’t you know it…right in the middle of some great “series content” blogging, TypePad launches it’s “Next Generation” platform.  Which is actually (for the most part) an improvement over the previous format. So, what I’m going to do is take some time out to learn all about the new platform then I’m going to be doing free webinars once a week to do TypePad specific training.  I’ll save the webinars and provide links to them here in the future.

In the meantime, I am teaching all four of my courses in December - Blogging for REALTORS, Search Engine Marketing, Online Social Network Marketing, and a New Course - Marketing with Video.

Check out the Calendar Online at my Website - www.BleedingEdgeTech.com.

Rob the Tech Guy

Wordpress 101: Installation and setup

Welcome to the next instalment of “WORDPRESS 101″, the series aimed at you - the beginner Wordpress blogger - to help you set up your own self-hosted Wordpress powered blog!

In last week’s article, Wordpress 101: Introduction, we covered the important first steps of choosing hosting and installing useful web development tools on your PC (or Mac). Hopefully you were able to follow these steps and are now ready to get on with the exciting stuff!

Coming up:

• Downloading Wordpress to your PC/Mac
• Create a database and associated username and password
• Configuring the wp-config.php file
• Uploading and installing Wordpress

As a companion to this article I heartily recommend that you read the detailed installation instructions provided on the Wordpress site, specifically Installing Wordpress. The Wordpress Codex contains a wealth of information on how Wordpress works and how to use it, and the instructions provided in this link are comprehensive and cover a number of different hosting environments.

Decide where to install Wordpress

“On my web-host, of course!”, I hear you ask. And you are right! But before we do any installation a decision needs to be made about where to install Wordpress within your hosting. You have two choices:

• If your web site will be entirely Wordpress powered, you should install Wordpress in the root directory of your web-hosting. Different hosts identify/name the root directory differently, eg httpdocs, home, web etc. Refer to the instructions provided to you when you signed up with your web-host. These will tell you where your public files (ie those visible to someone browsing your web site) should go.
• If you have an existing non-Wordpress web site and wish to add a Wordpress blog alongside the existing site, you should create a new sub-directory within your existing root directory eg mydomain.com/blog, and install Wordpress in the new /blog directory.

A number of web-hosts offer Wordpress “pre-installed”. If this is the case, take a break, make yourself a refreshing cup of tea and come back to the later sections of this article…

So, for the rest of this article I shall assume that you are starting from scratch, without an existing site, and that you be installing Wordpress in your hosting’s root directory. Let’s begin!

Download the latest version of Wordpress

Download the latest version of Wordpress, which is version 2.6.3 at the time of writing, from Wordpress.org.

This is the official home of Wordpress and the ONLY place you should ever download Wordpress from. Never download Wordpress from any other site. There are some bad people out there who do nasty things like hiding spyware, redirects, and all manner of other web-nastiness in download files. Download it only from the official Wordpress site. Understood? Ok, end of lecture…

Once you have downloaded the Wordpress zip file, unzip the file into a folder on your desktop, ready for the next stage. The contents of the folder created after unzipping should look something like this:

Ignore the funny foreign language!

Create a database

Before uploading Wordpress, you need to create the database in your hosting. Web-hosts vary in how they let you do this, therefore what follows can only be a general guide, so follow their instructions and do the following:

• Create an actual database and give it a name.
• Create a database user and password.

The database name, user and password can be whatever you want them to be but, to be as secure as possible, don’t choose anything memorable. Certainly the database user name and password should be long and complex, with a mix of upper and lower case characters. The database password user and password are particularly important for your site’s future security - don’t make them easily guessable. In case you ever add other web applications to your site that use their own database, there is no harm in prefixing your database name and user with “wp”. This will help you in the future to remember the purpose of the database and username.

To avoid confusion, the database user and password we’ve been taking about have nothing to do with your web-host or FTP usernames/passwords. The database username and password are specific to using mySQL databases.

Once you have created the database itself, the database user and password, write down these details and keep them safe. We will need them in order to continue the Wordpress installation, and you will need them in the event (hopefully not) you ever have database or Wordpress installation problems in the future.

Configuring the wp-config.php file

Let’s go back to our Wordpress files, which we left sitting patiently in a folder on your desktop…

Open up the file called wp-config-sample.php using your text editor. Then immediately “Save As” and give it a new name of wp-config.php. If you followed my advice here you will remember that you should only ever edit PHP, HTML and CSS files with a plain text editor - never MS Word or similar.

Making sure that you are working on your newly created wp.config.php file, you simply fill in the database, database user name and password in the spaces provided in the file. Take care when editing this file, as even a missing quote mark will stop Wordpress running properly!

For the sake of demonstration purposes, let’s say you have created a database, user and password as follows (note that I’ve added “wp” to the beginning of the database name and database username):

database name: wpTqvi86Fg
database user: wpdDK5Tz
database user password: sJ65rFgpL3Edw

Find these three lines of code near the top of the file and insert your details as shown below:

define('DB_NAME', 'putyourdbnamehere'); Replace ‘putyourdbnamehere’ with ‘wpTqvi86Fg’.

define('DB_USER', 'usernamehere'); Replace ‘usernamehere’ with ‘wpdDK5Tz’.

define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourpasswordhere'); Replace ‘yourpasswordhere’ with ’sJ65rFgpL3Edw’.

Do not use the examples I have given you - they are just for demonstration purposes - use your own database details!

You also need to enter unique phrases in these lines:

define('AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');

define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');

define('LOGGED_IN_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');

Choose anything you like for these phrases - random characters, bizarre word combinations, a mix of the two, it really doesn’t matter provided they are long (say 20 characters or more), and are not memorable. For information, these phrases are used internally by Wordpress and you NEVER need to remember them in order to use Wordpress.

The final step in configuring the wp-config.php file is an important one for security. Look for this line of code:

$table_prefix = 'wp_';

Change “wp_” to something else - whatever you like, for example “rt3_” or “iudw_”. The reason for this is that every hacker out there knows that the default Wordpress database table prefix is “wp_”, and therefore can exploit server security loopholes to gain access to your database. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you change the prefix to something that is harder to guess.

Finally, save your file. That’s it! Your basic configuration is completed.

Upload Wordpress to your server

Open up your FTP client programme and connect to your web-host. You need a username and password to access your site via FTP and your web-host should have provided you with a default FTP username and password or, at the very least, instructions on how to create these from within your web-host’s Administration (eg cpanel, etc).

Once connected, upload all of the files to the root of your hosting. As mentioned previously, exactly how your folder structure looks like in your hosting will vary from host to host. For example, if your web host has told you that the folder “httpdocs” is your root directory, upload the folders and files shown in the screenshot (shown further above on this page), to the httpdocs directory.

Don’t forget to upload your new wp.config.php file too! It goes in your root directory.

The FTP upload may take several minutes. Check that all files and folders have been updated. If you are using Filezilla, you can easily confirm this by checking that there are no “Failed Transfers” in the FTP queue.

Installing Wordpress

“Er, haven’t I just done this?” Well, no, you haven’t quite - yet. At the moment all we’ve done is to upload the Wordpress files to the server. We now need to “install” Wordpress, during which Wordpress will automatically configure our previously created database (based on the settings we’ve provided in wp-config.php), create an “admin” user for Wordpress itself, and set up some default settings for your site.

To install Wordpress, open up your favourite web browser (mine is currently Google Chrome, but that’s another story - and perhaps a subject for another article, Candace?).

Then put this address in your browser:

mydomain.com/wp-admin/install.php

Obviously, replace “mydomain.com” with your actual domain name.

If the FTP upload went OK, and the wp-config.php was created correctly, Wordpress will now lead you through a couple more steps of installation before, hopefully, confirming that Wordpress has been installed successfully.

First, you should see this:

Enter the name of your blog or site and a real email address (this isn’t my real email address, by the way!). Also, uncheck the box which says “Allow my blog to appear in search engines…”. Why? Because we don’t want Google etc to start indexing the site until the site has content and is ready to be launched. Again, this is something that we shall get back to later in this Wordpress 101 series.

Click “Install Wordpress”. Wordpress will now set up your database and do some other “behind the scenes” configurations. This may take a few minutes, so don’t panic! If all has worked as it should, you should now be greeted with this screen:

You will see that Wordpress has created a Wordpress user called “admin” and provided a password. WRITE DOWN this password! You need it in order to login to Wordpress Admin area for the first time. Don’t worry, you can change the password later - but you must use it the first time you login to Wordpress Admin.

Click “Log In” and you should now see your site’s Wordpress login screen, like this:

Finally, login to Wordpress using the username “admin” (note: all lower case) and the password that you WROTE DOWN previously, to arrive at your Wordpress administration area (also known as the Dashboard, or backend):

That’s it! Wordpress is now installed and your web development future is about to really begin!

Enjoy the moment. Feels good, doesn’t it? :-)

Oops! Wordpress didn’t install

If, during the steps described above, you get an error message during the Wordpress installation process, you will have to abort the process and check the following before trying again:

• Did you create a database and database user and password in your web-host administration?
• Did you create a wp-config.php file?
• Did you enter the correct database name, database user and password in wp-config.php?
• Did you upload the configured wp-config.php file to your server?
• Did you upload ALL the files and folders from the Wordpress download zip file eg wp-content, wp-admin and wp-includes, via FTP?

Double check these steps and then re-try the installation routine.

Next time in Wordpress 101

Well folks, that’s it for this week. And my word, that was quite an instalment! Hopefully you have managed to follow all the steps and you now have a working Wordpress installation - congratulations! Have a nice cup of tea and put your feet up for a minute or two of well-deserved rest!

Coming next time:

• Get to know the Wordpress Dashboard
• Configure some basic Settings in the Dashboard

Finally, please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question or two via our forum. Happy web developing!

This article is syndicated from Studiograsshopper.

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Az Real Estate Blogging Network Meetup - December 18th - SEO Expert

Come join us for our monthly meet up for all real estate professionals eager to learn and share about blogging for business! AZ Real Estate Blogging Network is excited about December’s meetup and our featured speaker!

We have invited a SEO Expert, Emily Leach to share blogging tips to help optimize our blogs for our real estate blogs!

Stay tuned for further details and be sure to sign up on our AZREBN Meetup RSVP, there will be limited seating!

A Note on SEO - Top 7 List

The world of Organic Search Engine Optimization is as cosmic as the heavens. Mainly because the search engine companies want it that way. If you could cheat the system (and some people try), they couldn’t give the most relevant results (which is what they are supposed to do).

Also, unless you have tons of time to spend on keyword optimization, tracking your competition, massaging your keywords every week/month it may not be the highest and best use of your time. So here is my “focus on the things that matter” tip for you in the form of a top 7 list (in no particular order):

1. Title Tag - This is what displays at the top of the IE7 browser window (All the way at the top). Make this meaningful and include words that you might like to get searched for.
2. Description Tag - This is not (always) displayed on your page, but is used by some search engines to catalog your site and sometimes it is used as the short description in the search results page.
3. Keywords Tag - Come up with about 20 good keywords (3-5 word phrases are keywords too). Eliminate prepositional phrases like “for” and “of” as well as conjunctions like “and.”
4. Large Type - The type that is the largest on the page (referred to as “<h1> Text”) is important to your users as well as search engines. Try to include things you would like to be searched for in these.
5. Body Copy - The actual text on the page…oh…your site is all flash and pictures…oops…not good.
6. Links - Having links to other websites is good. Don’t use “click here” to link. Try to make keyword phrases in the body copy links to good sites.
7. Navigation - you should have a site map of some sort on your homepage. On a blog this is often a “categories” list, but a user (and a search engine) should be able to find every other page on your website from the first page.

Again, these are in no particular order because each search engine operates (a little) differently.

Enjoy!

Rob the Tech Guy

Wordpress 101: Introduction

Welcome to part one of “Wordpress 101“, a new series of articles aimed at you, the beginner Wordpress blogger, to help you set up a blog using self-hosted Wordpress. Over the next few weeks I’m going to explain what you need to do to set up your hosting, your Wordpress installation, how to install themes and plugins, and give you a basic introduction to HTML and CSS.

Although Wordpress is surprisingly (for a technical web platform) intuitive - once you get to understand how it works - it is true to say that the learning curve can appear rather steep, and the amount of information available on the web daunting, if not overwhelming. Hence this series! Step by step I shall take you through the key elements and help you get your site up and running with as few headaches as possible!

Who should read this?

This series is aimed at people you may have already tried a hosted blogging service, such as Wordpress.com, but who are now looking to have total control over their site, and wish to dive in and host Wordpress on their own web-hosting. Throughout these articles I am going to assume that you have little or no technical knowledge, but that you are comfortable using a computer for every day tasks.

You will have to learn at least a little HTML, CSS and even a smattering of PHP. But don’t be put off by this. These are simply tools to deliver our web site content and as with any tools, it is simply a matter of learning how to use them. And don’t worry, this series of articles will help you with all of this.

Before we begin, it is worth mentioning that I am not going to discuss which blogging platform is best, or the merits of self-hosting vs hosted solutions. You can find plenty of articles elsewhere on AZREBN which discuss the relative merits of the main blogging platforms. So, if you’ve read this far I am assuming that you’ve already made the decision and:

(a) you want to use Wordpress

(b) you want your site to be hosted on your own servers.

(c) you already have a domain name registered.

Great! Let’s begin…

Congratulations! You’re a web developer!

It’s true! You are! From now on you are going to be hosting and developing your own site. You will be delving into template files, stylesheets, learning about Wordpress tags, and starting out on a very rewarding journey. Congratulations!

But before we get too excited (after all we haven’t done anything yet), there are some basic things we need to do before we get stuck into the nitty-gritty…

• Get web-hosting
• Get some basic development tools installed on your PC/Mac

Choosing a web-host

Excuse me! What’s a web-host? A web-host is a company which stores all of the files that make up your site, and makes them available to computers connected to the internet. Usually, but not always, your web-host is also responsible for managing your domain name - but this isn’t essential as it is possible to rent webspace from one web-host and the domain name from another.

If you’ve searched for web-hosting on Google you will know that there are thousands of companies out there offering a myriad of services and prices. Daunting, I know. There are only 2 really important things you must consider before choosing your web-host:

• Support - this is essential as it inevitable that you will need some support at some time. Do they have a telephone hotline, or an email or “ticket” system with a guaranteed response time? If not, look elsewehere.
• Technical specifications - there are some minimum technical requirements in order to run Wordpress. Clearly, if your host doesn’t meet these requirements you will have problems.

Oh, and there is a third really important thing: you get what you pay for. State of the art servers, top quality security, rapid and knowledgeable support staff all cost money to provide. So, avoid really cheap hosting plans, spend a little more with a reputable company and you shouldn’t go wrong.

Web-hosting specifications

As mentioned previously, Wordpress has some technical requirements from your web-host. Use this list when selecting a web-host.

• Apache servers run on Linux. Avoid Windows servers.
• PHP 4.3 or greater (PHP 5 is always good to have)
• MySQL 4.0 or greater
• A minimum of 5 MySQL databases. Although you only need one database for Wordpress itself, if you add a forum it will need its own database, and you might want to host more than one blog using sub-domains in the future.
• mod_rewrite module enabled on Apache. Don’t worry about what this means - but you need it.
• FTP accounts - for uploading files from your computer to your webspace.

The current requirements for running Wordpress can be found here.

Development tools that you must have

In the final section of this week’s Wordpress 101, I’m going to recommend the development tools that you should install on your local computer. These will make life easier when you are customising your site.

• Text / code editor - you will have to edit Wordpress theme files during the course of your site development. Whilst it is perfectly possible to do this with something like Notepad, a proper text editor makes life much easier, thanks to syntax colour-coding, line numbers, maybe even versioning (to help you track changes to your files). I use Homesite, which is an Adobe product, but there are others out there, many of them free to download and use. Whatever you choose, do NOT use a word processing programme like MS Word or any other “Rich Text” editor. MS Word and the like are perfect for writing a letter, but a no-no for coding as they introduce all sorts of hidden code which will mess up your beautifully crafted pages. You have been warned…
• Firefox - if you use only one browser, this is it, no question.
• Google Chrome - it is always worth testing your site in several browsers and Chrome is largely built on the same platform as Safari, the browser for Macs.
• Install the Firebug add-on for Firefox. This is a “must have” accessory and helps you diagnose CSS and HTML problems in your Firefox browser.
• Install the Web Developer add-on for Firefox. Another useful tool that enables you to “see” how your code is being dealt with by the browser. A good compliment to Firebug although, personally speaking, I find that Firebug gives me 99% of what I need.
• Install Filezilla Client - free to download and use, this is needed in order to upload files to your web-host.

That’s it! The essential list of software which you need to have on your local computer. Download them, install them, play with them and be ready to use them in the next instalment of Wordpress 101.

Coming up next…

I hope this first article has whetted your appetite for running a self-hosted Wordpress site! In the next article in this series I shall cover:

• Installing Wordpress on your server
• Customising the wp-config.php file
• Adjusting the Settings in your Wordpress Dashboard

In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment with any requests for specific topics you would like to see in Wordpress 101. Happy web developing!

This article is syndicated from Studiograsshopper.

Twitter and Twitterank

The Twitter universe suddenly went wild on November 12, 2008 when an application called Twitterank was suddenly unleashed on an unsuspecting world.  Within hours, the application spread virally and consumed so much of the server resources that it was rendered un-workable for a while.  Within a short while, twitterank became the top search term on Twitter Search and it hit the top 20 on Google Trends for searches there.

Suddenly a viral rumor began to spread … ZDNet declared the application to be a phishing scheme and warned users not to give their userid and password to the application.  “Did you check your twitterank? … Change your password!” declared user after user.

If you do use twitter and want to check your Twitter Rank you can visit

http://www.twitterank.com/

… but we do recommend that you change your password, just in case, then change it again after you get your ranking.

The word twitterank is still the most searched term on Twitter search but it seems to be dying down on Google.  If you want to see who said what to whom over the past few days and try to dissect the entirety of this viral social media phenomenon you can find most of the articles and comments here and here.

Bill Austin

Social Networking Results From the Past Year

The recent NAR convention reminded me that it was about a year ago in Las Vegas, at the time of the previous convention, where I decided to get out and meet some of my peers in the “blogoverse.” At first, I was a “lurker” for quite some time. I quickly learned that, blogging and social networking was so much more than “pimping” listings. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t really expect to find any real value in this ”over hyped” type of prospecting. I had read about blogging but didn’t have a real grasp of it’s true meaning or usefulness. I did have an idea for a “hyper-local” niche but wanted to learn more and effective ways to take advantage of it. Heck, the term “hyper-local blog” didn’t even have nearly the buzz as it does today but I knew I was on to something. I began to read more and more and would comment on an occasional post or (gasp) even try to write something once in a while. You see, in the beginning, my niche idea was going to be “just” a web site. We think it will be a really cool site (soon) but, bringing in the blog aspect to our project has been WAY more fun and successful than I could ever have imagined!Here is kind of what has happened over the last year.

I decided to try and learn from the “best” bloggers and most knowledgeable people I could find. The following people have really been helpful to me or have been someone I have come to respect their work. (in no particular order) While there are others, I have personally met each one of these people and truly consider them friends. If you are new to blogging, you “need” to read all you can from each of these people. Heck, even if you are not new to blogging, you “need” to know these people. Following is a “small” list of some of the country’s best bloggers that I can call my friend. I truly believe I can pick up the phone and have a great conversation with each of these people at any given time. (more common to “talk” with them via Twitter or their blog though)

“The” Jeff Turner. One of those guys that really “gets it” when it comes to social networking. When Jeff talks about this stuff, it is really easy and beneficial to listen. Jeff and I have had some really great discussions here in Tempe, in Las Vegas and in San Francisco. We have had some fun and I appreciate all he does for so many people.

Ines Garcia. The Miamism.com blog absolutely rocks. They write about the community and show pictures that really make you feel like you want to live in their area. Serious, when I think Miami, I think of Rick and Ines Garcia. When I think of a friend that has done a great job branding a community, I look at the ways they do it in Miami.

Ok, this could get really long so, I’ll just mention a few more of my faves that are my friends across the country and then some here in the valley.

Daniel Rothamel, the “Zebra” rocks the stripes! Also works with Inman News. He is a “big deal” with an amazing personality.

Dustin Luther, amazingly talented and brilliant! Ever heard of a little thing called Rain City Guide? Did I mention brilliant?

Todd Carpenter, a pioneer in the mortgage business and a blogging supah star.

Pat Kitano, another truly brilliant mind and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. I feel truly blessed to be able to participate in Pat’s seminars on Social Media. You really need to participate in these knowledge packed sessions, they WILL help your business. Sign up for the series NOW!

Nicole and Reggie Nicolay, they know how to “sell” social media. Tons of fun, loads of talent.

Heather Elias, a smile to die for and a blog that rocks.

Mike Mueller, my “roomie” in Vegas. HUGELY talented, a great “people person.”

Ginger Wilcox, she is a great example of “giving back” to her community. Read her blog!

Brad Coy, really understands how to use social media. A good friend.

Andy Kaufman. sorry but just, “wow!” you gotta get to know this guy.

Laurie Manny My friend, opinionated, controversial & fun. “Google” Long Beach Real Estate. enough said.

Ricardo Bueno, this star is rising fast and doing some GREAT things!

“Active” Brad Andersohn: I really enjoyed meeting Brad at the Inman Connect real Estate Conference in San Francisco. Brad has helped me on several occasions and I am grateful to call him my friend.

“Active” Rich Jacobson. Great guy, we had a chance to talk for quite some time at the “Blog World Convention” in Las Vegas recently. Rich gave me some great ideas on how to effectively use Localism. We will be implementing them in the very near future.

OK… those are great people I have met from all over the country. Below is a short list of some of the bloggers (and people) locally that I have become friends with.

Calie Waterhouse, Jay Thompson, Dru Bloomfield, Christoph Schweiger, Paul Slaybaugh, D Patrick Lewis, Candace Robinson, Justin McHood, Steve Belt, Phil Sexton.

Of course, this isn’t a “complete” list of the friendships I have made and I know I will kick myself for leaving a few out. I almost didn’t write this because of that fact. I really do believe this is a great list of people and, who knows, next year, I might write an even longer post to share.

So, in summary, why should YOU blog? Why should YOU engage in “social networking?” The reasons vary as greatly as anything but, I will tell you this: It works. These friendships I have made are priceless and the benefit to my business is truly exciting. We each, in one way or another, can help each other and that is fun. Sometimes, a “helping hand” is as simple as someone linking to my blog. Sometimes, it is generating a great referral base of qualified and successful agents. Without my blog, I would probably not have met these people and would probably not have recently been featured in the Arizona State Press, contacted by the Arizona Republic, or had the opportunity to be in November’s issue of REALTOR(R) Magazine. Soon, I will update Rail Life with some of the other recent “press related” benefits we have had from writing a “silly little blog.”

Please feel free to check out some of the social media sites below and to add me as one of your friends or contacts. As one of the writers for the Arizona Real Estate Blogging Network, it is my goal to help share as much information as possible with you. Please join us at our monthly meetings.

Nick Bastian on LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

TypePad Explained - Part 7 of Many

Typepad series of tutorials offered by Rob Gibbs, blogging instructor for real estate professionals. This tutorial will cover how to add and order your content using regular templates.

1ParkPlace or Diverse Solutions?

Mark Ryan, Broker, CRS, ABR just recently wrote a great question that is so detrimental to our business. Making decisions that will effect our online presence and ways to reach out to prospective clients using IDX solutions. As he is deciding what IDX platform to use he poses the quesiton below.  I thought I would share my response as I am a huge fan of Diverse Solutions.

If you find yourself in the corner and trying to decide which direction to go, do as Mark did and ask those that are using the products.

I, personally don’t promote spamming up someones comment section (Sorry Mark) and had no intent, but I write with a lot of passion when it comes to Diverse Solutions.  Not only do they provide great features, the consumers can do the following on your own site/s with so much ease!

* Unrestricted access to all properties

* Receive property updates for your searches via Email

* Save your favorite properties * Add your own notes to listings

* Create and save your personal searches

* Keep track of properties you’ve viewed

* Receive updates through a RSS reader

Via Mark Ryan, Broker, CRS, ABR:

WHAT TO DO???

Ok, it looks like they are both good but can anyone give me input after having used both?

How about the good and/or bad of each for the one  you use?

How was the set up if you were the FIRST in your MLS to set up?

What I LOVE about both is the ability for spiders to index the rss feeds… that is WHY I am looking to go with one of them… So, unless there are other IDX providers out there I know I want one of these… IF there are other options WITH the RSS feed and ability for spiders to INDEX the post… please let me know.

Thanks and looking forward to hearing a lot of great feedback!

Here is my response:

Mark - I personally can say many wonderful things about Diverse Solutions!! I, like you searched out several options with 1ParkPlace &; Diverse Solutions and others. After trying many and working with the customer service reps with several of the companies mentioned above, there is no question there is a huge difference in my opinion.

I went with Diverse Solutions for several reasons, the look, the ability to customize and the flexibility of the features was the highest priority.  Obviously I wanted ease of usability for my prospective clients too!

The fact that Diverse Solutions is constantly working to improve it’s product is appealing to me as well. Most recently this week they have rolled out a new update and the newly added features are fantastic.  Staying in the front of the pack in the IDX industry is a high priority with DS and I’ve seen the progress they are making daily. Surely something to keep an eye on!!

You mention RSS Feeds, I use these to death, a great feature you don’t get with most other providers!!  I have them built into my blog pages, I send them out to my buyers, I place them within the body of my emails, posts and various posts within Activerain too!

The modules are awesome and I love the ease of use to pop one into a page. I have my Diverse Solutions Search IDX Page on two sites and pay one price!! I use the links everywhere, in fliers I create and the search results I get are picking up dramatically!

The Admin control panel is so user friendly and helps you keep all your contacts so organized. The Agent Chat is so awesome and it sends vistors comments to my cell phone (SMS) with a text if I’m not at my computer.

The card and newsletter program, email campaigns and all the added features are so amazing. All this in one place is fantastic.. The best part for me is that the support is above and beyond what most companies are willing to offer in the technology field. I am all about Diverse Solutions and if you need any questions answered personally please don’t hesitate to contact me direct …

I know several associates and brokers that use it and I believe I can speak on their behalf, that Diverse Solutions is on the cutting edge and leading the pack for IDX solutions for us Real Estate Professionals!  Best of luck in your decision! (sorry for the lengthy essay here, but I truly am a huge DS Fan)

Candace Robinson (comment response November 13, 2008)

If you have any questions regarding Diverse Solutions and would like some help setting up your blogs, websites or other sites, please don’t hesitate to contact me direct at 480.202.3558 or Candace@AZREBlogs.com

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AZ Real Estate Blogging Network Meetup - November 19, 2008

Come join us for our monthly meet up for all real estate professionals eager to learn and share about blogging for business! AZ Real Estate Blogging Network is excited about November’s meetup and our featured speakers!

Jay Thompson, Broker, Avid Phoenix Blogger with Thompson’s Realty will be organizing a FAQ session for bloggers on blogging and marketing for your online presences! Jay has been blogging for almost five years now and comes with great experience and so willing to share his knowledge!

Also joining this month is Dave Smith a fellow Realtor from Tucson, Dave will be sharing his experience with building several WordPress blogs such as Real Estate Blog Lab that offers basically a laboratory for blogging. Dave offers great advice, tips and how to’s on blogging. Dave will be sharing his experience, successes with his blogging and online presences!

Justin McHood with Arizona Mortgage Team will be speaking about Social Media Networking and how it became a permanent fixture to his business plan! How he got started and how it has helped his online presence.

Please mark your calendars for our AZ Real Estate Blogging Network for November 19, 2008 meet up from 10:00 a.m to 12:30 pm. Lunch will be served!

The Wednesday mid morning workshop will be RSVP only with limited space. Be sure to sign up with our group within the MeetUp.com platform. You can reserve your seat with AZREBN MeetUp group here.

SPONSORS:

Fidelity National Title - 60 E Rio Salado Pkwy - Tempe, AZ 85281

Map to Fidelity National Title

Justin & Tammy McHood - Arizona Mortgage Team

Please be sure to RSVP as soon as possible and spread the word! We encourage inviting others to join our Meetup group and also find us on your favorite social networking group.

See you in a few weeks!

Candace

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