I have a problem with folks who post, using chatroom type names, when posting to agentsonline. I am trying to figure out what the benefit to them is, to belong to a referral group, and no one knows who you are. How can we interact and help each other help each other and clients, when we don't even know the name of the person posting? I'm not complaining, I just want to understand the modus operandi of belonging to such a high-power group as this. Folks on real estate related environments are different than those who belong to general chat groups. We all learn from one another, and want to be in a position to help when the need arises. Many belong to RealTalk as well, but use their real names there. Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks
Carolyne
Real Estate in Brampton http://www.carolyne.com
C . . . I Am Organized http://www.MyBackUpBook.com


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Small Company but we're BIG in Brampton. Relocation Transfer packages for anywhere in North America Homes For Sale All Sizes All Prices

Well said Laura,
I think that you'll find a number of these concealed souls are product vendors trying to subtly flog their wares.
If nothing else it's refreshing to see a topic that has nothing to do with placement and google.
Cheers,
michael

Apologies Carolyne,
Got my names mixed up.
Too much sun on this bald head of mine today )
See you Friday at the BREB meeting.
Cheers,
michael

Speaking for myself, it just became a matter of habit. While I have never utilized chat rooms, with real time interaction (peeked into a few early on in Internet and saw nothing but bizarre exchanges, regardless of the room title), the majority of forum posts I encounter are in user name style and I signed up accordingly.
Even at own forum I am ~neodemes~ but I will happily introduce myself as Bruce Macomber.
I think most folks with usernames are following that same posting convention, not hiding devious motives. And what is in a name? A rose by any other name still smells as sweet and anyone can say they are John Smith, but that does not guarantee that they really are.

Just my 2 cents

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~neodemes~
Neodemesne: Your Real Estate Portal
Where Sellers, Buyers and Real Estate Investors Come Together!

Hey Bruce,
The point here is not the smell but the element of trust. In this industry we are always looking to expand our referral alliances to better serve our clients. What better way than in an online resource that is supposed to be dedicated to the realtor. If they can not be open to the idea of honesty here, a safe harbor, then there is a strong reluctance to refer a potential client.
Just my twenty five cents worth ... inflation don't you know


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LivingInOrangeville.com

C-CREC, ABR, RECS
1.888.255.1990

Just healty dose of paranoia
I think some of the same reasons Why you tell children not to give their names out on a chat room apply.


You know it is amazing what you can do on the net with just a real name, website address or ip.
Besides when you see your site design copied graphics and text by someone in a third world country you'll know why. I'd rather let them find it on their own rather than guide them to it.

I am more of a lurker and I rarely post anymore this is the most I have said in a long time.

A little about me

My background In 1995 I helped start one of Largest web design firms in my state.


In the old days 1994- 1995ish, I had to actually had to explain to people what the Internet was and how it could benefit them. How times have changed! In 1997 I started my own web design company. In 2000 I stopped offering my service to the public and did something that I would Call " A Neat Trick" Not only was I self employed but I was my ONLY CLIENT! I accomplished this by selling my Internet traffic to other companies.

Why Real Estate?

When I first starting my Internet Career, my favorite businesses to call on for sales were real estate agents, real estate companies and custom home builders.

LAST Year from the fear of becoming socially retarded ( I spend a lot of time in front of a computer up to 10+ hours a day). I was looking for something different to do online that involved a little more human contact so I did a little research on the different Industries and was amazed to find out how little the online real estate market has changed.


I also found that most real estate agents, brokerages, builders and/or their web development companies still had yet to grasp how to market real estate online. But in fairness to do it right it can get expensive.

When All you do sell is web site traffic you do learn a lot about how the habits of Internet surfers and how Search Engines work. I did alot of research online before I decided to go and get my real estate license. I visited many of the major sites like realtytimes.com a site that realtors visit for "expert Internet marketing advice" rolled my eyes a couple of times and made up my mind to enter the Real Estate Industry. Let's be honest, if the people running realtor.com didn't have that name they would be totally lost. Even some of the web's biggest real estate web sites are struggling and many have gone under. In an indusrty so large with their major sources of investment capital how the heck is that even possible?

Even Though I only started making my own web sites a couple of months ago they are really starting to kick in. However, I am just getting started I haven't even targeted the main key words yet like "statename" real estate.

I know a lot of you that are reading this post can beat me hands down when It comes to real estate knowledge. I am learning more about the the business everyday. My major strengths online are Internet marketing, SEO Search Engine Optimization, and Video Digitizing / Streaming and of course blowing my own horn.


I wanted to say Hello so, hello!

JR a.k.a MR Outternet™

Bruce,
I think your right. It stems from the early net days when everyone was afraid to use a real name. We all have web sites now with name and address's so what's the difference.
Bob Beverly
Durango, CO www.durangosbesthomes.com

Hey 2savvy, we have similar backgrounds! I was in software development, then the Internet, long before real estate. Also did web design and was big on SEO from back in the day (Remember doing SEO on Infoseek back in the day? That was a blast! Instant results!)

I'm still big on the Internet. A vast majority of my real estate leads come from the Net. It's all about the SEO!

On the subject, I think most people out of habit are accustomed to creating unique handles --- not necessarily to be anonymous, but out of habit. It's sort of a cultural thing on the Net. And some do really want to be anonymous and I can't really blame them. In open net forums, you don't know what kind of wackos are out there lurking. Believe me, they're out there! And wackos have an assortment of malicious things they can do to people they don't like (or just for the heck of it). So I can understand some people wanting to maintain their anonymity. It'd be different if this was a password-protected controlled forum.

Just my .02.

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Ruperto Elpusan, MBA, e-Pro
Broker/Officer
Beverly Hills-Malibu-Palos Verdes Real Estate
Torrance/South Bay Real Estate

2saavy
I'd be interested in having a look at your RE sites....curiosity factor.

I made some bold choices with my own site, starting by inventing a domain/business name that does not mention real estate or houses, and a twist on lead generation systems, in a real attempt to create something that is somewhat unique...not just another RE clone. I take a certain pride in my design work being from the ground up, not from templates of any kind. I've been told by some the site isn't intuitive enough as it requires reading to find out what it is about. I almost don't know what to say about that...I guess it will weed out the intellectually lazy?
If you have a chance take a look...would love some (free) professional feedback... ;-)

Michael wrote: The point here is not the smell but the element of trust....

Yup. I understand that...but like I said, its as easy to use a made up real sounding name, as a username. The bottom line is you don't really know who you are talking to on the Internet, even if they supply a name. There are no truly safe havens in cyberspace.

You know who I am...

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~neodemes~
Neodemesne: Your Real Estate Portal
Where Sellers, Buyers and Real Estate Investors Come Together!

[This message has been edited by neodemes (edited 02-29-2004).]

neodemes
I like the domain name makes it easier to brand when you have something orignal like that.

"I guess it will weed out the intellectually lazy?"

You don't want to do that you would get very few visitor.. lol

I think you need to redo you site navagation its pretty helter skelter.


You need a little consistancy there. People like to feel safe when they are navagating around the site. You start off with a drop down menu on the main index page then when you enter your site index.php that nav box is gone.
On some sites you want the visitor to get lost and click on a sponsor link so you can get money but if you want to have a good portal you might want to address the navagation.

I would also use one side for nav only and the other site for sponsor links. You have a lot ads which is cool I have alot on some of my sites to but if its your main site you might want to cut down on them.


Now I dont know when your counter re-sets if its daily than never mind this comment.
on this page http://www.neodemesne.com/software_etc.html the counter only says 27 and the number refreshes as the browers does. I think 27 is a pretty low number when your site is ranked so high on alexa ( good job on that)


What that would tell me is that I am not getting traffic to that page and I would try some testing on your navagation. But like I said if that's a daily number that wouldn't be as bad as if the counter started months ago at 0 and is now up to 27.

I like adsense links. I made more money using adsense in the first month than sponsors I found at cj.com in 6th months for "real estate related" products.

So really I would focus on the navagation you might want to add more "business or real estate" photos or clip art to. Even if your really not Donald Trump yet, you can still look like you are.. on the web. You only have 8-10 seconds to capture there attension and you can help them by having intutitive navagation.

That's my free advice anyway

Hmmm. I'd like to know how SEO can penetrate a market like Tampa, Clearwater, St. Pete, Florida. Everyone has a license down here.

You have mail

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Rich
Advertising, Marketing & Virtual Tours

Just to follow-up...

Has anyone else noticed another big shift in Google's algo in the last week or so? Case in point: These forums used to be ranked #1 but today I see this site is listed around 6 or 7.

P.S. My spelling is atrocious this morning.


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http://realtor.wilkc.com
and
The Real Estate Forums

[This message has been edited by Florida_Associate (edited 03-15-2004).]

BTW,

Carolyne ... this is Casey Wilkening, from Tampa. © 2004, All Rights Reserved.

2savvy -

Hey, looks like I lost track of this thread!

(Lost track of my login, too. Now I'm neodemes1 - but still Bruce. )

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I've made a lot of changes to the site (though the navigation is still not consistent - oops)

Added in a free FSBO service recently, too.

I hope all have been great since we last talked.

All the best!