Morgan Carey's Blog: All Categories

One of the most popular threads recently at the Real Estate Webmasters forum iss titled "MLS Committee moves to ban "MLS" from Realtor sites". It's about the MLS boards now having the authority to restrict their members' use of the acronym "MLS" (Multiple Listings Service).

Why would the MLS boards want to restrict use?

Great question, and each MLS board will likely have a different answer for you – but the general defense of this action is that the MLS board does not want consumers to get confused between THE "MLS" for a particular area, and a Realtor's website.

Their argument is that if Realtors are allowed to publish phrases like "Search the Minneapolis MLS", they are misleading consumers and web surfers, because on a Realtor website, one typically…

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I have wanted to set up this system for a while, and with the impending launch of REW Blogs V2 - I think it is a great time to start brainstorming and establish a dialogue with the member regarding the finer points of the system.

What is REW Dollars (Name may change)

Basically - it is a ratings / points system that actually rewards the members as opposed the Active Rain points system where they basically play upon the members competitive spirit and ego's to want to have the most points and bragging rights.

Now don't get me wrong - REW Dollars can be bragged about as well - but the major difference is that they can actually be used / redeemed for products and services that real estate agents / brokers etc require to run a successful  business.
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You have likely arrived at this page because you have a notice in your account that your REW Blog has been flagged for a violation of the REW Blogs terms of service. This blog post will inform you on how you have this flag removed so that you can get back to taking full advantage of all that REW Blogs have to offer.

Before getting into how to have the flag removed, let me first explain why we have a TOS and why it is important that every member abide by our rules and policies.

#1: User experience: It is very important to any serious blogging platform that we convey at all times a sense of professionalism and access to high quality information without all the spam or self promotion that tends to plague lower quality FFA blogging platforms. At REW… Read Full Post

I was talking with some friends the other day regarding a new Gated Community called Woodbury Junction in Orange County, New York and one of them mentioned that they "heard" (And I am only repeating what they "heard" I do not know if it is true or not) - that the sales manager of the Woodbury community was emailing real estate agents who were (well within their rights) reporting about this exciting new community, telling them that they are not allowed to write about the community on their websites because they are showing up on search engines for searches such as:

• Woodbury Junction
• Woodbury Junction, Orange County New York
• Woodbury Junction Community
• etc

IF this is true (And I am not saying that it is) - the sales person from… Read Full Post

As many of you noticed we launched the new REW design V 2.something and have all sorts of new sections - one of the more prominent ones is the new MLS board search - which allows users to search all of the MLS boards that Real Estate Webmasters services in terms of providing custom IDX solutions.

Now Reed has been workign hard populating the thing, and we aren't even close to done - but I had never actually sat down and counted, so I did - and wow I was quite surprised! So far I count that we have entered and currently service no less than 77 different IDX feeds covering even more MLS boards.

Here is what poor Reed has had to compile so far: Lots more to come ABOR
ARMLS
BAR
… Read Full Post

And we are lucky to have him!

CK has graciously volunteered to sit on the judging panel with me to judge the SEO component of the REW Blogs contest.

For those of you who don't know him:

CK Chung, aka Kid Disco of SEOdisco.com, started optimizing websites before he even knew what SEO was. Utilizing his schooling, knowledge, logic, and instincts, he implemented what he later found out to be along the lines of the best practices for SEO.

Beginning his professional career by performing search marketing for over 100 real estate agents, CK quickly fell in love with SEO and conducted research and testing around the clock. As a result of his work ethic, enthusiasm, and proven experience, CK went on to become the lead SEO for a number of high-profile… Read Full Post

This is the first installment in a series of posts I have promised in order to help REW Bloggers create the best blogs possible and hopefully win some really great prizes in the REW Blogs Contest.

The topic of this blog post is how to properly use the "Relevant Reading" (Formerly named "links" ) section of your REW Blog.

I renamed this section in an attempt to further educate members in terms of the purpose of this section and to help them understand that it is not just about sending yourself backlinks, the true purpose of this section is to provide your readers with access to other great external websites that cover complimentary materials to those being posted at your REW Blog.

Now the most important first step to using this section of REW… Read Full Post

Everyone seems to love contests. I know I do, so I came up with one where everybody wins, and two lucky bloggers win big.

The contest

It's pretty simple, actually — the person with the best REW Blog post wins!

The contestants

-Anyone in the real estate field (you don't have to be a Realtor) who is interested in free web development and improving their blogging skills.
 

The point

The purpose is to have a really fun contest (with some great prizes) and to encourage participants to learn about creating a great blog to promote themselves and their business. So, everyone who competes is a winner, because during the contest you'll be learning and developing the skills you need for reaching out to your prospects.

The prizes (more details at the…

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