To read more about the 410% likelyhood that free mobile apps have the ability to access your personal data, click here.

The post Are your Android apps spying on you? appeared first on PROTech Florida.

Every single week, without fail, REALTORS® call me, wondering how they can get more out of their website. Ninety percent of those calls revolve around how they can get ranked better by search engines, and end up getting better organic results for the keywords that are important to them, and pertinent to their marketplace.
Every single time I have this conversation with a REALTOR®, I first bring up blogging. Before I can say my next words, I am interrupted with, “I’m not a blogger. I don’t have time for it, don’t like it, and that will never be part of my online strategy.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

If you want to get more web traffic and rank higher in organic search, you HAVE TO have a blogging strategy.

You cannot argue with me on this point, and there is no stance you could take to prove otherwise. The fact remains that new, fresh, original content is to search engine crawlers what jingly keys are to babies. They love it, want it, and can’t get enough of it. The rewards for a regular content creation strategy can be huge.

Today, I am going to give you five quick ways you can blog on your website without becoming a blogger.

1. Comment on others’ posts or articles

This is a slam dunk, no brainer. You are always reading and taking in media. Whether it’s newspapers, blogs, Youtube videos, or anything else, you are taking in media. Much of this media, I would venture to guess, is directly related to your marketplace or profession.

When you read this content, create a quick post that comments on what you read, whether or not you agree with it, and why you think it’s important. Once you do that, leave a link to the original article, so your readers can check it out themselves.

2. Use your brokerage’s weekly meetings for content

If you are part of a brokerage, you are no doubt required to go to weekly sales meetings. On top of that, you most likely participate in a weekly tour meeting, as well. I have spoken at hundreds of brokerage and tour meetings. I truthfully cannot recall a time that there wasn’t some sort of handout given to everyone, related to important national news, local issues, or real estate market statistics.

Use this information to your advantage. Scan it, drop it into a blog post, and quickly comment on it, discussing what it means, and why it is important to read. In a brief paragraph or two, you could have a great post that will take no longer than three to four minutes to complete.

3. Feature local merchants in your marketplace (build blog content and good will at the same time)

Video is everywhere and is used for advertising huge corporations, as well as the local mom and pop business around the corner. Do a quick search on YouTube, find these videos, and then feature them on your website.

Write a quick endorsement or blurb about the business, and you’re done. You’re building market specific content on your blog, as well as building good will with merchants in your community.

4. Do the “Seth Godin”

Are you familiar with Seth Godin? If you’re interested in ramping up your inbound marketing (which, if you want more organic web traffic, the answer is “yes”), you should check out Seth’s blog.

Seth frequently posts a very short thought of the day (he actually posts every day). The tone of them is an ongoing story that he is telling. No doubt, as he encounters people in his day-to-day business and personal life, those mini-posts are formed.

You can post a quick nugget of information, factoid, or a little known real estate tip you may learn when talking with a home inspector, going to a signing at the title company, or speaking with a client or prospective client. My guess is that there are MANY things you could quickly write a blurb about.

5. Post a Photo of the day (what inspires you?)

This is an easy one. You most likely got into real estate because you love homes, helping people travel the home sale and purchase waters, and the community in which you work. A great, contextually relevant thing to do is snap a quick photo of something (e.g. a new business, a beautiful park in your farm area, a new home remodel in your farm area you think came out great, etc.). Post the photo in a new blog post and make a quick two to three sentence comment about it.

These types of posts will not only be interesting to people in your marketplace (after all, they will all be relevant to them, as they are of the local community), but also give you deep, niche specific links that will turn up in organic search results.

Not that hard, is it?

So as you can see, there are easy blogging ideas everywhere that don’t “actually” require you to be a blogger. If you can get “the B-word” out of your head, and give any or all of these suggestions a try, I guarantee that in two or three months time, you’ll see big time results.

The post 5 Ways to Blog on Your Real Estate Website Without Becoming “a Blogger” appeared first on PROTech Florida.

I explained that by keeping your site up to date and publishing new relevant content often you can raise your page ranking with the major search engines and push down stale or irrelevant content.

Call PROTech at 7227-344-7767 for search engine optimization support.

The post Protecting your brand appeared first on PROTech Florida.

The post Are You Recognizing the Trends in Your Market? appeared first on PROTech Florida.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center, also known as “IC3,” warned users about malware known as “FinFisher” that can remotely control and monitor all communications on a phone. FinFisher lands on a phone when the user visits a bad web link or opens a text message posing as a system update.

The IC3 is also warning Android users to watch out for another spyware called “Loozfon,” which tries to steal address book contacts. The malware gets on a phone if the user clicks on a popular fake money-making, work-at-home opportunity through an e-mail. Clicking a link directs the user to a website that can put Loozfon on your phone.

To keep a phone bug-free, the FBI encourages all mobile phone users to carefully review a developer or company before downloading applications; be cautious of any location that wants to enable geo-location; don’t connect to unknown wireless networks; and enable a passcode screen that locks the phone after a set time of inactivity.

The FBI also encourages users to get malware protection for their smartphone.

Source: “FBI Issues Android Smartphone Malware Warning,” Forbes (Oct. 15, 2012)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

The post FBI Warning: Android phone users: Beware of bug appeared first on PROTech Florida.

Back in the 90′s, it was one of the few free email services. You know, back when probably 5 out of 10 people didn’t even know what you were talking about if you used the term ‘email’ in the first place. And it was free? What? How did that work? It was a business model that seemed impossible to maintain. 

And while ‘free’ may still have not fully lived up to its promise as a business model, it soldiers on. But poor old Hotmail was swallowed up by Microsoft. And then it became MSN mail. Then Windows Live mail. And then…a lot of us moved on. 

Google released Gmail, with its (theoretically) unlimited amount of storage back in 2004, along with actual functioning spam filters, and a slick web interface (back when email mailboxes were only something along the lines of 50mb, that was a huge deal!). Yahoo followed suit with limitless storage, as did most other ‘free’ email services, in an attempt to keep up.

But somewhere along the way, Live mail (nee Hotmail, nee MSN mail) lost people along the way. Too few features, limited mailboxes, ungodly amounts of Spam (some of which may be the result of Microsoft themselves), and just general lack of new car smell as email services went. Oh sure, people probably held on to their accounts (I did), but never really used it. 

The irony in all this is that for business use, Microsofts email client/CRM/Calendaring program, Outlook – largely remains the gold standard. But it’s a desktop program, not web-based email, and never the twain shall meet, right? 

Not if Microsoft has its way with the release of Outlook.com, a hybridization of Outlook and web-based email. Microsoft has been moving its product offerings towards the web for some time ( ‘the cloud‘, if you prefer), and some say it can’t come quickly enough. Initial reviews seem to indicate that Gmail is the main inspiration, but there are enough similarities to the tried and true Outlook interface that newbies won’t feel completely out of place with it. 

Of course, this release will dovetail together with the anticipated release of Windows 8, Skydrive, and Office 365. All of these offerings will utilize cloud computing to some degree, and it only stands to reason that Outlook.com will figure into it some way or another. 

Microsoft is a little late to this party, but they’re bringing some interesting stuff to the table. Read their press release about it by clicking the link below, or just hurry on over there and claim your Outlook.com address ASAP so you don’t have to be “JohnDoe1347″ or something.  

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/2012/jul12/07-31Outlookcom.aspx

I signed up for an account and got my first and last name without too much hassle, and was fairly impressed with the basics. Up to 7gb of Skydrive storage, free access to online version of Office apps, nice interface (though you couldn’t have waited at least a day to flood my sidebar with ads, Microsoft?). Oh yes, that’s correct. Nothing in life is really free, especially email. Expect to see ads, most likely the targeted-to-message-relevancy type that we’re all so used to do these days, in exchange for this shiny new service. 

 Kind of makes you miss the old Hotmail days, doesn’t it? 

The post A positive Outlook from Microsoft appeared first on PROTech Florida.

The post Wow, great deal from PROTech! appeared first on PROTech Florida.

Instagram, The little company that could. After being in existence just a few short years, Facebook bought the fast-growing photo-sharing app for 1 Billion dollars. That’s billion with a capital B. 

With the purchase will likely come more integration with Facebook, where Realtors already have a strong presence. But what about within the MLS? It’s probably a given that you want your listing photos to be as representative of the property as possible, and adding nifty filters would probably be against the rules, right? 

Well, it doesn’t look like it. Article 4.5 of MFRMLS’s MLS rules concentrate on the fact that there must be at least one photo, and that the photo cannot violate anyone elses’ copyright, and can’t contain identifiable signage that would direct a consumer back to the listing agent or brokerage. 

But you still wouldn’t do it, right? What possible good reason could there be? 

Well, for one thing, filters are very ‘in’ right now. You see it all the time, photos of buildings, food, vacations, all framed with a 60′s Kodachrome or 70′s aged look to it. Some filters punch up the color saturation and make certain things ‘pop’. But surely, that would distort someone’s view of the property, wouldn’t it? 

Maybe not. 

My feeling is that the power of Instagram comes from emotional ties people have to old family photos. There’s something familiar and inviting about them. The power contained within old photo albums (that everyone has at least one of), containing family, friends, and memories, is readily available to anyone with an Instagram account and the app installed on their smartphone.  If you could apply that sort of power to your listing photos, what possible reason would there be NOT to? 

But really, as the MLS is concerned, it’s probably better to stick to clean, clear, non modified photos and save the Instagram pics for Twitter and Facebook, right? 

Maybe, maybe not. Are you already using Instagram for your listing photos? Sound off in the comments. 

Do you not have Instagram yet? Check out the link below: 
http://instagram.com/ 

The post How old is that picture anyway? Should you Instagram your listings? appeared first on PROTech Florida.

But what about value? You can buy a couple cheap Dells or HP’s for what an iMac or a Macbook Pro will run you, right? Sure, they don’t have the cool factor of one of those sleek, shiny Apple products, but saving money has its own appeal, doesn’t it? 

Isn’t there something in between? 

Vizio thinks so. 

Vizio. Yeah, that’s right. That company that sells those bargain-priced HDTV’s you bought at Costco a couple years back. That name you see on the row of TV’s at the sports bar (or any place that puts up a lot of TV’s for cheap). They’re getting into the PC/Laptop/Tablet segment now, and they’re attempting a level of style combined with value that is rarely seen at this price point (between $899-1299).

What’s more is that they’re trying to eliminate a big source of frustration for consumers: Crapware. Or Bloatware. Whatever you want to call it, it’s the software that comes pre-bundled on your computers default installation. Why? Because the manufacturer of your bargain computer gets paid to include it. Want a clean operating system without the crapware? Normally you have to pay extra just to get it. 

Vizio’s CEO, Matt McRae, says,  “Retailers charge $50 to clean an image that they themselves ruined.”. Vizio machines will come ‘clean’ at no extra charge. 

Interested in Apple-type style with the familiarity of Windows and Dell price points? Read more at the link below, and look for Vizio PC’s later this year at your local big-box retail store. 

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/15/3076519/vizio-reboot-pc-american-hdtv-success-do-it-again

The post Meeting in the middle: Vizio straddles the line between high-style and high-value in the PC market appeared first on PROTech Florida.

For this reason, many members I’ve spoken to over the years have gone with ‘unlimited’ plans whenever available, but with the advent of data-hungry smartphones on the rise, most major carriers have either phased out these offerings, or plan to. 

Verizon recently unveiled their ‘share everything’ plan, which carries a flat per-device fee along with tiered charges for data usage. Voice and Text are still ‘unlimited’ in these plans, but the part that varies based on usage is the ‘data’ portion. 

Where does the data portion come into play? Any time you use the internet via browser, check email (including the downloading of attachments), watch videos, pull down files from the cloud (dropbox, box.net, iCloud, etc), you’ll be using your data allotment. Everything else is either voice or text. 

http://techland.time.com/2012/06/13/verizon-share-everything-plans/

Clearly, Verizon sees data usage becoming more valuable than voice or texting, so they’re lowering the prices on these and putting the bulk of your bill elsewhere.  

You shouldn’t make a decision on a plan like this without having some idea of what your average usage is per month, over at least 12 months. 

So what do you think, Verizon users? Will you switch to a plan like this, or will they have to pry your unlimited plan from your cold, dead, smartphone-holding hand? 

The post Unlimited plans in the crosshairs – Verizon reveals ‘Share Everything’ plan appeared first on PROTech Florida.