iHomefinder 7.0 Launches!

We're excited to announce that iHomefinder, the software that powers the MLS search function on your website, has released a new and better than ever version of their software. Making the change is completely optional, and more importantly, completely FREE!

So what's it all about? Essentially, it is a new version of the tools you already use, built on an AJAX framework, which provides a more interactive and more modern user experience. It also has an updated, clean and sleek Web 2.0 look and feel - and we hear time and time again how much this helps lead conversion.

The property search features have been reworked to allow a more logical flow to the search process.

The results pages integrate the use of larger, visually appealing and interactive maps much more prominently.

The listing details pages now have a photo carousel and slideshow options, more map options, and more engaging lead capture buttons.

Other pages that have been revamped include the Property Organizer, Hot Sheets, Featured Properties, Agent Bio pages and more.

If you would like to see the changes implemented on your website, just let us know. We'll take care of it for you right away.

Custom Hot Sheets

Hot Sheets give you incredible flexibility to create custom pages of listings that highlight what you want to promote and what visitors to your site want to see.

You can publish Hot Sheets on your live website or email links to private hot sheets to clients.

You can showcase your favorite listings, a niche market, area expertise, best bargains, foreclosures and short sales ... whatever you want to feature!

You can also add comments to each listing to add value to the listings and communicate what you think is notable about each property.

Hotsheets work one of two ways, one is "smart" or "dynamic" hotsheets, which display all of the homes that meet a specific set of criteria, for example, only 4-6 bedroom homes on the oceanfront in Nags Head. When a home comes on the market that meets the requirements, it would automatically appear on this hotsheet.

The other way is to add homes by MLS number. You could create a hotsheet called "Foreclosures" and add all current homes that are in this category to it by listing their MLS numbers.

On either type of hotsheet when a home sells it will come off of the hotsheet automatically.

It's just another way your website can make you look like the expert that you are!

Again, these are entirely free, and easy to set up. Let us know if you need any help adding hot sheets to your site.

Capture Leads with User Registration

Your site's User Registration tool gives you control over how, when, and where you prompt your site visitors for contact information.

You can configure User Registration to prompt your site visitors to sign up after a set number of searches or after viewing a certain number of pages. You can set the prompts to a variety of levels from completely optional registration all the way to requiring a valid email address that's verified via an emailed link they must click on.

You can adjust these settings at any time to determine what works best on your website.

To do so:

1. Log in to your Admin Panel
2. Select the Clients menu and choose User Registration at the bottom of the drop down.
3. Select one of the five Lead Capture Strength options:
   Off: The user is never prompted to register with your site, but can opt to register using one of the regular sign up forms.
   Ultra-Light (One-Prompt): The user is prompted once, but given the option to ignore the registration request and continue searching.
   Ultra-Light (Multi-Prompt): The user is prompted to register, but given the option to ignore the registration request and continue searching. Once they hit the pre-set limit of searches, they will be prompted again.
   Light: The user must register when prompted and then they may continue searching.
   Heavy: The user must register when prompted and then wait to receive an email from the system. The email contains a link back to the page that was being viewed prior to the registration. This method ensures that the lead provides a valid email address.
4. Scroll down to the next section and select the Trigger Points that determine when and with what frequency you would like to prompt your site visitors.
5. At the bottom of the screen you can also customize the registration message that your site visitors see when prompted. Or, you can simply use our default registration message.

That's it! Visitors to your site will be prompted to register based on the settings you've just configured, allowing you to capture them as valuable new leads.

After enabling this feature, you can review the Visitor Registration statistics in the Summary Report of your Control Panel. These numbers will help you understand how many of your visitors are being prompted to register and how many of those prompts are resulting in a registered lead.

Make the Most of Your Automated Emails

Another feature that you may or may not be taking advantage of is the ability to customize the emails that go out to your subscribers on your behalf.

You can customize both the way the email looks - adding your logos and colors for branding - as well as the information that is contained in the emails.

Changing the text on your outgoing messages is a simple and easy way to add a personal message to your clients each time they receive an email from you.

To do so, go to your Admin Panel and click on Account Set Up and then select Email from the drop down menu. Click on the Email Customizations tab, and you can add your own message to the header and/or the footer of each of the different emails that go out on your behalf, such as the Daily Email Update or a Registered User Sign-Up welcome email.

Changing the layout/design of the emails and adding your company logo is another great way to extend your branding into their email box every time your site auto-emails your clients, too. However, it's a little trickier than simply customizing the text in the emails.

Which brings me to....

The Special DEAL!

If you'd like to present a professional, well-branded message to your customers every time they hear from you through your website, now's the time!

For just $75 we will build a custom template with your logo, photo(s) and contact information prominently displayed and professionally arranged - and set it up to be used with every automated email that goes out from your website.

To see how many times your emails are going out to your clients, simply log in to your Admin Panel and click on Reports>Email Updates. And this is only your Daily Email Updates for the selected time frame. You can even see how many emails were sent out versus how many were clicked through to view listings.

Converting more of the emails received to click throughs, and in turn to buyers, starts with professional and attractive design. And you won't find a better price than $75!

Call today and we'll get started tomorrow!