vFlyer Blog » Awards http://www.vflyerblog.com The New Face of Classified Ads Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:46:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Custom Theme of the Week by Amanda Lopez of style|house realty http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/09/03/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-amanda-lopez-of-stylehouse-realty/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/09/03/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-amanda-lopez-of-stylehouse-realty/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:10:10 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=574 Our custom theme of the week comes to us from Amanda Lopez, broker/owner of style|house realty (I use lowercase letters here because that’s what’s used on their website) in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s a great example (the best I’ve seen so far) of how a text header can be used to lovely effect. In addition to uploading a branded header image, vFlyer business subscribers can easily add a text header to their custom themes right in the Theme Editor. Amanda’s text header (“your life. your style. your home.”) looks fabulous and fits perfectly with the aesthetic of her website. I also love the use of lowercase letters throughout the flyer, a nice contemporary touch in the age of Twitter. In general, this theme is well-integrated and balanced, from the background pattern to the colors to the great photos that Amanda uses.

style|house realty on vFlyer

Excellent work, Amanda!

Creating a great-looking custom theme can be super-easy with vFlyer’s Theme Editor. Take a few minutes to watch this video tutorial on how to make one, and then create your own!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/09/03/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-amanda-lopez-of-stylehouse-realty/feed/ 0 Custom Theme of the Week by The Green Car Company http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/27/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-the-green-car-company/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/27/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-the-green-car-company/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:58:40 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=547 If the past decade were a color, it would no doubt be green. Green is everywhere now: in supermarkets, on television, and of course in the auto industry. This week, we’re highlighting an awesome custom theme created by The Green Car Company, an innovative and environmentally responsible auto dealership located in Bellevue, Washington. The GCC specializes in diesel vehicles for biodiesel use, Volkswagen TDI vehicles, smart cars, bikes, and parts and service for eco-friendly cars. They also have one of the coolest dealership websites we’ve seen in a long time.

The Green Car Company on vFlyer

The GCC’s custom theme matches the branding on its website perfectly. I love their logo and the font they chose for the header text. Also, using different shades of green is a nice touch (and fitting!).

As I’ve said before, branding is key in online marketing. vFlyer’s Theme Editor provides an easy and effective way to incorporate your branding into your listings. Try creating your own branded theme today, or contact us and we can have our in-house designer create one for you.

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/27/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-the-green-car-company/feed/ 0 Custom Theme of the Week by Westgate Property Management http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/20/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-westgate-property-management/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/20/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-westgate-property-management/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:31:40 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=538 In our Custom Theme of the Week series, we’ve mostly highlighted themes that have a very different look from the 15 or so standard themes we offer (usually because they match the branding of the company or individual). But what about those users who like the way our standard themes look but also want to add their branding to the theme? This week’s custom theme illustrates how this can be done. It comes to us from Jerry Jennings at Westgate Property Management in Nashville. Jerry’s custom theme looks very similar to our Carrot standard theme: same background, fonts, and colors for the most part, all of which can be achieved through the Theme Editor. It also displays a simple, elegant branded header with the Westgate logo and slogan, a nice integration of an attractive standard theme with the branding capabilities of a custom theme.

Westgate Property Management on vFlyer

Jerry’s flyers also show high-resolution, well-staged photographs, an essential for excellent internet marketing of real estate and rental properties. The vFlyer online marketing service enables you to upload up to 26 photos per flyer, and the better the photos, the better the ad.

As always, keep those custom theme submissions coming. We love seeing all the great custom themes that our users have created. What a talented bunch!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/08/20/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-westgate-property-management/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Copper West Properties http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/07/30/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-copper-west-properties/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/07/30/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-copper-west-properties/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:06:43 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=497 This week’s featured custom theme comes down to us from Hood River, Oregon, where our friend Maui Meyer and Copper West Properties are located. Copper West Properties is a company that’s very much tied to the Hood River area and that connection to the place is a big part of its company identity. They created a wonderful custom theme that not only incorporates the branding from their website but also captures the landscape of Hood River. I especially like the backgoround image of a topographical map of the area they use. It makes perfect sense for a company for which its location plays such an essential role.

CopperWest Realty

Nice work, Copper West!

We’re planning to feature some themes for the summer in the next couple weeks, so if anyone has a summery custom theme they want featured, send them to us at support@vflyer.com. And if you haven’t done so, now’s the time to check out vFlyer’s branded listing tools and create your own custom theme today!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/07/30/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-copper-west-properties/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Northern Shores Vacation Rentals http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/09/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-northern-shores-vacation-rentals/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/09/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-northern-shores-vacation-rentals/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:39:40 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=420 We have another great vacation rental custom theme this week, this one from Northern Shores Vacation Rentals in Traverse City, Michigan. It has an excellent header image that integrates their logo, website address, and a brief description of their business very nicely. They also make good use of one of vFlyer’s stock background images (the wavey blue page background), available to any vFlyer user. And the colors of the theme convey the light, beachy look that they’re going for. Their flyers make me nostalgic for my days in Michigan (go Wolverines!).

Northern Shores Vacation Rentals

We’ll be returning next Friday with another custom theme of the week, so if you have a fantastic custom theme that you want the world to see, let us know by emailing support@vflyer.com and you may get your theme on our blog!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/09/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-northern-shores-vacation-rentals/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Mark & Corrina Bartikoski http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/02/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-mark-corrina-bartikoski/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/02/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-mark-corrina-bartikoski/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:06:45 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=417 Happy (belated) April Fool’s Day! This week’s excellent custom theme comes to us from Mark and Corrina Bartikoski of RE/MAX Results in Wayzata, Minnesota. They created an elegant, refined theme that matches the branding on their wonderful website, www.coolshax.com. The header image displays their logo and (prominently) their website address, a sure way to drive traffic to their site. And I really like the black and white gradient they use as their page background; it adds (to borrow a popular design term) drama to what’s already a lovely theme.

Bartikoski Theme

The photos in Mark and Corrina’s flyers are also textbook examples of how to present a property for sale. The photos are all high-resolution and the rooms are all well-lit and beautifully staged. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having quality photos in your flyers. Think about it: this is the first glimpse your potential buyers are getting of the property, and the photos are the first thing they’re going to use to evaluate it. If they see grainy photos of poorly-lit, messy rooms, it’s far less likely you’ll be hearing from them than if you have crisp, inviting photos in your flyer as Mark and Corrina do.

Excellent work, Mark and Corrina.

That does it for this edition of our Custom Theme of the Week series. As always, if you have a great custom theme that you want spotlighted, or if you’ve seen someone else’s great-looking theme, let us know by emailing support@vflyer.com.

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/04/02/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-mark-corrina-bartikoski/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Themes of the Week for The Hanover Company http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/03/26/vflyer-custom-themes-of-the-week-for-the-hanover-company/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/03/26/vflyer-custom-themes-of-the-week-for-the-hanover-company/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:00:44 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/?p=409 Happy Friday! We’re back from our Custom Theme of the Week hiatus to feature a set of themes that our in-house design team created for The Hanover Company, the national property management and real estate development firm based in Houston. The Hanover Company recently opened an account with vFlyer and wanted a different custom theme for each of their 29 apartment communities. Each property has a uniquely branded website that reflects the community’s modern, urban luxury, so it made sense that they wanted this same branding applied to their advertising content. With such great content to work with, our design team jumped at the opportunity, and within a week, Hanover had 29 branded themes ready to apply to each of its properties’ listings.

The Hanover Company Themes

The three themes shown in the image above nicely match the community-specific branding of the websites and make good use of the branded header to portray the feeling of living in each community. If you are a property management company and are looking for ways to better brand your properties’ listings, let us know by emailing sales@vflyer.com. For small fee, our design team can create a custom branded theme for each of your communities.

We’ll be back next Friday with another Custom Theme of the Week, so if you’ve created or seen a custom theme and think it should be spotlighted, by all means, let us know!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2010/03/26/vflyer-custom-themes-of-the-week-for-the-hanover-company/feed/ 0 Celebrating the Season with Holiday-themed Flyers http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/18/celebrating-the-season-with-holiday-themed-flyers/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/18/celebrating-the-season-with-holiday-themed-flyers/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:03:29 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/18/celebrating-the-season-with-holiday-themed-flyers/ This week, I decided to do something a little different in our Custom Theme of the Week series and highlight several great holiday custom themes that our property management users have created. As you may know, the vFlyer Theme Editor not only allows you to choose the colors and fonts of your themes but also to upload your own background images. The themes I’ve selected here all utilize holiday-themed background images (some of which are animated GIFs, which add a special twist) to great effect. I hope you enjoy these fun and festive flyers as much as we at vFlyer have!

Christmas Holiday Theme

Thanks to everyone who made such great holiday custom themes this season. And thanks to all the vFlyer users who made custom themes this past year. 2009 saw the creation of hundreds of custom branded themes, only some of which we showcased in our blog. We’re excited to see even more branded themes in 2010! If you’re interested in having a custom branded theme created for you, contact us at support@vflyer.com.

And finally, Happy Holidays from the vFlyer Team!

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]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/18/celebrating-the-season-with-holiday-themed-flyers/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Big Bear Cabins http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/11/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-big-bear-cabins/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/11/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-big-bear-cabins/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:12:23 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/11/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-big-bear-cabins/ Our custom theme of the week comes from Stacie Linka at Big Bear Cabins, a vacation rental company in Big Bear Lake, California. Big Bear Cabins has a stellar website and a well-defined brand that fits perfectly with the Big Bear Lake setting. Stacie’s theme nicely matches the website and works well with the excellent cabin photos she includes in her flyers.

Big Bear Lake Vacation Rentals

In vacation rentals, you’re selling not just a short stay in a house but the whole idea of a place, and Big Bear Cabins’s theme helps convey the sense of the rustic comfort of Big Bear Lake. Nicely done, Stacie!

As the holidays are almost upon us, I’ll be highlighting some seasonal and holiday themed flyers in next week’s post. If you have a winter or holiday theme that you want showcased, feel free send it to us at support@vflyer.com.

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/11/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-big-bear-cabins/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Tasha Moss at Urban Omaha http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/08/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-tasha-moss-at-urban-omaha/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/08/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-tasha-moss-at-urban-omaha/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:30:37 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/08/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-tasha-moss-at-urban-omaha/ While this post is coming a few days later than usual, I say better late than never. With that, I’m happy to announce that last week’s custom theme of the week goes to Tasha Moss at Urban Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Tasha has created a brand for her company that is fantastic. One look at Urban Omaha’s website shows you this. Tasha’s theme uses the same look and feel as her website and fits perfectly the type of listings she specializes in: modern, upmarket condos, lofts, and townhouses in downtown Omaha. And I love the simplicity of her header image: just the company logo, phone number, and website addess (in other words, the really important stuff).

Urban Omaha

If you’re interested in getting your own custom branded theme, vFlyer can help! We have in-house designers who can create a custom theme for you based on your specifications. If interested, simply email support@vflyer.com. The regular price for this service is $149. There is a special through the end of the 2009 for just $99.

We’ll be back this coming Friday with another Custom Theme of the Week, so if you’ve created or seen a custom theme and think it should be spotlighted, by all means, let us know!

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/08/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-tasha-moss-at-urban-omaha/feed/ 0 vFlyer’s Revamped Affiliate Program http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/02/vflyers-revamped-affiliate-program/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/02/vflyers-revamped-affiliate-program/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:18:33 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/02/vflyers-revamped-affiliate-program/ It’s been a busy season at vFlyer. One of the recent changes we made was an overhaul of our affiliate program, in which web publishers can earn money by referring people to vFlyer from their websites. We greatly simplified the process of setting up an affiliate account. You’ll now find an Affiliates link on our website that takes you to our affiliates page, where you can sign up to be a vFlyer affiliate. The sign-up process is incredibly easy and takes just a few minutes. Once you are appoved as an affiliate, it’s simple to place banner ads on your website (see the image below for some examples) or a simple text ad. We also provide you with detailed data on the number of conversions that have come from your website and how much you’ve earned. We’re offering a whopping 50% commission for the first four months of a monthly subscription and a 20% commission of an annual subscription for any conversions that come through your affiliate links.

vFlyer Affiliate Banners

Also, we tag any visitor to your website that clicks an affiliate link with a 60-day cookie, which means that if someone clicks your affiliate link or banner ad and then signs up for vFlyer within 60 days, you’ll still earn a commission.

If you have a website, blog, or other web property and are interested in promoting vFlyer and making some extra money, sign up to be a vFlyer affiliate! If you have any questions, please contact affiliate@vflyer.com.

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/12/02/vflyers-revamped-affiliate-program/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Sheldon and Rachel Hart http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/10/23/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-sheldon-and-rachel-hart/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/10/23/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-sheldon-and-rachel-hart/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:10:19 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/10/23/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-sheldon-and-rachel-hart/ After a brief hiatus of the CTOTW series, we’re back in style with a lovely custom theme from Sheldon and Rachel Hart of the Columbia River Gorge area in southern Washington. I love their header image: practically a work of art in itself, it contains a dramatic illustration and only the most important information that the authors want to convey to their potential customers, in this case, their website address. It’s beautiful in its simplicity and effectiveness. The rest of the theme, from the color scheme to the fonts they chose, are in perfect harmony with each other. And it’s just a great looking flyer, with high-resolution photos, a handsome logo, and a good amount of information; it’s thorough without being overwhelming.

Columbia Gorge

For a useful introduction to creating and using custom themes, take a look at this series of short video tutorials on our website.

Through the end of this month, we’re offering a free custom branded theme to any auto dealer or service provider with an annual subscription. If you fall under one of these categories, contact support@vflyer.com to claim your free theme. If you have a monthly subscription, we can create a custom theme for you for a discount price of $59.

Again, kudos to Sheldon and Rachel for making such a nice custom theme. If you want your custom theme spotlighted or have come across a custom theme that you think is great, let us know! We love to see the fantastic themes that our users are creating.

]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/10/23/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-sheldon-and-rachel-hart/feed/ 0 Custom Theme of the Week by Christa Ross http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/21/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-christa-ross/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/21/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-christa-ross/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:29:52 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/21/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-christa-ross/ When we received an email this week from vFlyer subscriber Christa Ross, we couldn’t help but admire her wonderful custom theme. As an agent with RE/MAX Select Realty in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Christa has done a fantastic job of branding herself as “Your Certified Green Agent” (as you can see on her very nice website) and has taken that branding and applied it to her vFlyer content in a very elegant way. Her branding is unique, instantly appealing, and truly contemporary. I’ve written before about the importance of branding yourself so that potential customers remember you and recognize your ads when they see them, but I can’t overstate how critical this is, especially when so many others are advertising their products and services online. If you have a website already with your branding on it (as Christa does), it’s an easy jump from there to creating a custom branded theme in the vFlyer Theme Editor. Creating consistency in all your online marketing content reinforces your brand and makes it more likely that you will increase your number of leads and, consequently, clients.

christa ross custom vflyer theme

Any vFlyer business subscriber can create a branded custom theme and use it in his or her Flyers and Account Profile. For a useful introduction to creating and using custom themes, take a look at this series of short video tutorials on our website. If you have an annual subscription, we can have one of our designers create a custom theme for you at no charge. If you have a monthly subscription, we can create a custom theme for you for a discount price of $79. If you’re interested, contact support@vflyer.com. Both of these offers are good through October 31, 2009.

We’ll be back next Friday with another Custom Theme of the Week, so if you’ve created or seen a custom theme and think it should be spotlighted, let us know!

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]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/21/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-christa-ross/feed/ 0 Custom Theme of the Week by… vFlyer http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/11/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-vflyer/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/11/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-vflyer/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:26:39 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/11/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-vflyer/ Over the last month we’ve been running a promotion for free custom branded themes to our new and existing annual subscribers. We got a flood of requests for themes from our members and were only too happy to supply them! The promotion ended at the end of August, but I wanted to highlight some of the great custom themes our designers created last month:

Though the theme promotion has ended, we are extending our discount offer of $59 for a custom branded theme for any vFlyer subscriber through the end of September. So contact support@vflyer.com if you’re interested in getting your own custom theme like the beautiful ones above.

We’ll be back next Friday with another custom theme of the week, so if you’ve created or seen a custom theme and think it should be spotlighted, let us know by emailing support@vflyer.com.

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]]> http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/09/11/custom-theme-of-the-week-by-vflyer/feed/ 0 vFlyer Custom Theme of the Week by Donna Baker at Dickson Podley Real Estate http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/08/21/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-donna-baker-at-dickson-podley-real-estate/ http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/08/21/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-donna-baker-at-dickson-podley-real-estate/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:30:00 +0000 asperling http://www.vflyerblog.com/2009/08/21/vflyer-custom-theme-of-the-week-by-donna-baker-at-dickson-podley-real-estate/ This week, I wanted to showcase a custom theme designed by our very own design team at vFlyer. It seems only fitting, given that this month we are offering a free custom theme to the first 50 existing annual subscribers who contact us and the first 100 new annual subscribers. (For more on this promotion, click here.) I chose a theme from Donna Baker at Dickson Podley Real Estate in Monrovia, California. Donna’s theme incorporates the design of her website (which is great, by the way) so that her vFlyer listings are perfectly integrated with her other web content.

Donna Baker vflyer custom theme 

While any vFlyer user can create a custom theme, and any business subscriber can create a theme using a branded header image, it makes it a lot easier to have a professional designer create a custom theme for you! If you’ve been considering upgrading to a vFlyer business subscription, or switching from a monthly to an annual subscription, this month is a great time to do it. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having consistent branding across your online marketing content, and this is your opportunity to get a custom branded theme for free! The promotion ends on August 31.

As always, we’ll be back next Friday with another custom theme of the week, so if you’ve created or seen a custom theme and think it should be spotlighted, let us know by emailing support@vflyer.com.

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