We are excited to announce the addition of FrontDoor as a syndication partner for Residential for Sale Listings. FrontDoor is the newly-launched and highly anticipated real estate website of HGTV, the television network that gave us House Hunters and Designed to Sell. Following the lead of those shows, FrontDoor takes a comprehensive approach toward the buying and selling of a house.  In addition to listing millions of properties for sale around the country, it provides useful, accessible tips to sellers about raising home values, home staging, and other topics, and to buyers about what to look for when shopping for a house. 

We recently completed an extensive review of all the widgets we offer and made a number of changes and fixes that improve the look and performance of the Flash version of those widgets. The Flash version (as opposed to the Javascript version, which we also generate for each widget) is the one most compatible with the largest number of websites. Changes we made include a streamlining of the contact information and photo and logos on Basic Gallery and Basic Flyer widgets; the removal of Price and Location labels when those fields have no values in them; a better display of summary information for each listing; improved alignment of the widget title and flyer titles on the vertical Recent Listings widget; and improvement of the scrolling function on the premium Sliding Gallery widget. Here are a few examples:

Widgets are an effective and (best of all) easy way to create more exposure of your listings because you can easily embed the HTML code for the widget in your website, blog, and/or social network profile.  These improvements we made should give vFlyer users all the more incentive to configure widgets and put them on those sites!

Many of you have probably noticed changes to your vFlyer account homepage since Thursday morning. We did an overhaul of the account homepage and made it into a dashboard where you can access the Craigslist HTML for any of your flyers, email and print any of your flyers, access the HTML for any widgets you’ve created, and more. You can think of your account homepage as a kind of “mission control” for your vFlyer account, which is how it should be! Now you no longer need to go through multiple steps to get the Craigslist HTML for a flyer, track the activity of a flyer, or do other flyer-related tasks - it’s all right in front of you when you log in to your account.

We hope this makes using vFlyer even easier. If you have feedback for us on the new dashboard, let us know.

If you’ve ever had your unsaved work on a flyer lost because your session expired while you were writing a long description, then you know how frustrating it can be. That’s why we recently introduced an autosave feature in the Flyer Editor and Photo Editor that automatically saves any work you’ve done on a flyer after 29 minutes of inactivity (or activity only in the description field). It’s still a good idea to click the Save Draft button every ten minutes or so in case you encounter a network problem or some other error, but the autosave feature provides added security against losing work you’ve done. 

Note: The autosave feature only applies to the Flyer Editor and Photo Editor.

Many of you have probably seen already that vFlyer now supports Wellcomemat as a video host. Wellcomemat is a kind of social networking site built around videos and devoted to the Real Estate market. You might call it “YouTube for Real Estate.” Thousands of real estate agents and brokers and other people selling houses use Wellcomemat to host the videos they make for their houses and properties. Now, as a vFlyer customer, you can embed Wellcomemat videos right into your flyers! It’s easy - just follow these steps:

1. You’ll first need to open a Wellcomemat account. It’s free and it will allow you to upload videos to the site.

2. Once you’ve created your account and uploaded a video to Wellcomemat, click the MENU button in the bottom right corner of the video.

3. Click Get URL/Link, then click Copy URL.

4. Log in to your vFlyer account and create a flyer.
5. In the video section of the Flyer Editor, select Wellcomemat from the drop-down menu and paste the URL for your video in the box.

Note: Video embedding is available only to vFlyer business subscribers (vFlyer Starter and above).

Trying to get more done in less time? Of course. That’s why we recently introduced a multi-photo upload feature for any flyer created on vFlyer.com. It makes uploading gallery photos a snap! Simply click the Setup Photo Gallery link in the Flyer Editor and then click the Upload Multiple Photos link. From there, click the Browse button and select the photos you want to upload while pressing the Ctrl key. Once you’ve selected your photos, click Upload. Voila! Your gallery photos are uploaded in one fell swoop.

Many of you know I have done several posts in the past couple of weeks. I am a big fan of podcasting and think there are plenty of applications for podcasting in real estate. I just did a post on the Geek Estate Blog on some of the basics of real estate podcasting that is worth checking out for those interested!

My post touches on several podcasting applications and distribution strategies worth considering.

I just did a post on reasons to podcast on the GeekEstate Blog that I think is worth checking out!

I recently started podcasting and found that it has many applications in both real estate and blogging. My post summarizes some of reason I love podcasting including:

• You can it anywhere and anytime.
• You can do it as many times as you want.
• You can keep it real.
• You can blog it.
• more..

Last week Inman New released a list of the 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers. Our good friends at Sellsius Real Estate, the thought leaders that they are, have put out an equally important list of top bloggers - 12 Top Women bloggers in Real Estate! (They did one in 2006 as well). Actually ran into the latest list while visiting the Real Estate Tomato!

I was very pleasantly surprised that I recognized at least half of the folks on the list as being as vFlyer “all star” users, including Missy Caulk, Ines Hegedus-Garcia, Kristal Kraft, Teresa Boardman, Laurie Manny and Maureen Francis. As I started speaking with some of them and listening to their great insight, I decided to turn my conversations into a podcast and to reach out to everyone on the list.

The result is 12 podcast interviews in which the 12 Top Women bloggers in Real Estate share their backgrounds, their intro to blogging, and their advice to fellow bloggers! All of these interviews were unrehearsed and most happened “on the spot”, some while busy agents where driving from a closing, or at a conference - so please excuse any inconsistency in sound quality and understand that some of the interviewees had time and other constraints working against them.

I will confess that I had a blast speaking with all of them and they all share great insight and advice in their interviews so I would strongly recommend listening to as many of them as possible!

Podcast Interviews:

	Diane Cohn (Chase International) Play: or Diane has developed a great business slant on blogging after she discovered the lead generation potential of the Internet. Diane talks about valuable learning resources for bloggers, the need to develop focus, and other cornerstones of real estate blogging. Links: Blog | ActiveRain
	Frances Flynn-Thorsen (RealTown/Realty World) Play: or I was impressed that Frances is currently involved with over four different blogs and is quite the blogoholic. Frances talks about the need to take a risk and really connect when having a conversation and worry less about SEO. Links: Blog | ActiveRain
	Ines Hegedus-Garcia (Coldwell Banker) Play: or Ines got involved in blogging a little over a year ago after hearing about blogging from a professional photographer. She then joined ActiveRain before launching her own blog. Ines also recently did a great post on real estate blogging and stresses the importance of persistence and reading other people’s blogs. Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery | ActiveRain
	Kris Berg (Prudential California Realty) Play: or Kris and her husband got involved in blogging after seeing the success of Rain City Guide, which according to Kris is the “gold standard” of real estate blogs! She was also determined not to be “left behind”. Kris shares a lot about the less tangible benefits of real estate blogging and the need to be “true to yourself”. She is also a contributor to the BlogHoundBlog. Links: Blog
	Kristal Kraft (The Berkshire Group) Play: or I talked to Kristal as she drove around the city and she shared with me how she developed her blogging skills over the last 4 years. Kristal also makes a couple of great suggestions on being hyperlocal and keeping a journal of your blog ideas! Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery | ActiveRain
	Laurie Manny (Prudential California Realty) Play: or After playing a little phone tag, I was glad I got a hold of Laurie. Laurie has some great advice on getting started, the role social networks can play in blogging, the importance of SEO as well as the need to go local! Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery | ActiveRain
	Maureen Francis (SKB Sotheby’s International) Play: or Maureen has been blogging over two years and got first involved in blogging about 4 years ago when trying to create for her daughter’s baby book and got hooked! Maureen makes a great point about “finding your own voice” and using blogging as a social networking too. Maureen was one of our early users. Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery | ActiveRain
	Missy Caulk (RE/MAX Platinum) Play: or Missy shares her background and tells us now she got started in blogging. Like many others, Missy talks about the important role ActiveRain has playing in her blogging as well as her plans to add a local real estate blog to her list of blogs. Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery
	Rhonda Porter (Mortgage Master Service) Play: or Rhonda was almost “forced to blog” less than a year ago and suggests “not thinking about it” too much and being committed to the process. Links: Blog | ActiveRain
	Roberta Murphy (Murphy Group) Play: or Roberta got into blogging on ActiveRain but soon with the help of Jim Cronin of Real Estate Tomato expanded into additional online properties and is now blogging on 3 platforms - wow! Roberta stresses the need for commitment and finding a honest voice - after all, blogging is about “having a conversation” with your audience. Links: Blog | ActiveRain
	Sharon Simms (RE/MAX Metro) Play: or I spoke with Sharon late Friday (both of us where on our cellphones) about how she got started in blogging. Sharon learned about the success of blogging from one of the organizations she was involved in. Among other things, Sharon recommends getting involved in ActiveRain and Localism as part of the learning process. Links: Blog | ActiveRain
	Teresa Boardman (Keller Williams Integrity Realty) Play: or Teresa has the additional distinction of being selected as one of Inman’s Top 25 Bloggers in Real Estate. Her blog is known for its tangible results and Teresa explains how she got involved in blogging as an experiment and gives some good advice to prospective bloggers. Links: Blog | vFlyer Gallery | ActiveRain

Click here for page 2 of this post that contains a summary of some of the great insight these bloggers where able to share with me about real estate blogging.

My podcast with Drew earlier today, as well as my recent exposure to real estate podcasting solutions (this was one of the categories I missed in my original Real Estate 2.0 landscape post), got me thinking about one of the great features that all vFlyers have - the ability to integrate content via external links.

For those who don’t know, A podcast is any type of audio file that can be delivered via your computer, your iPod, or an MP3 player for playback. For real estate agents, podcasts are simply a new take on the audio narration. As with audio narration, potential buyers can play back the podcast while viewing property’s vFlyer.

Because a podcast is usually a link to an audio file (mp3, mp4, i.e.), you can add it to your vFlyer as an external link (Example). Adding external links is easy. Simply click Add Link in the Links section of your flyer and provide a title and the URL to your audio file.

You can check it out for yourself on this vFlyer by clicking here.

There are a number of free or inexpensive podcasting services that let you record an audio narration describing your property by simply using your phone or cellphone to call a toll-free 800 number. These services include Odeo, Gcast, and Podomatic. You can find a more comprehensive list here. You can also use professional real estate podcasting services like MLPodcast (MLBroadcast).

Technorati Tags: Podcast, vFlyer, Real Estateaudio

Drew Meyers of Zillow was kind enough to invite me to do a podcast about vFlyer, the thinking behind the 62th edition of the carnival of real estate and corporate blogging in general, one of my favorite topics. You can listen to the by podcast by clicking the icon below.

Thanks to both organizations for the great coverage!

Rob Scoble of PodTech was kind enough to feature vFlyer on his daily show. Here’s the interview he did with me as well as a demo of vFlyer.