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	<title>MLS Listings for CT Real Estate with the CTMLS</title>
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	<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com</link>
	<description>CT REALTORS search helpful tools and learn about CTMLS</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:04:29 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Gain Insights Into Writing Great Property Descriptions</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/22/gain-insights-into-writing-great-property-descriptions/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/22/gain-insights-into-writing-great-property-descriptions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:01:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[copy writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently read this article that had some great information on writing quality Call-To-Action sales copy. I have included the slides from the post below so you can look through them. I wanted to use that as a jumping off point to talk about your property descriptions. While these descriptions are not true sales copy, you are looking for someone to see the property descriptions online and take the action of contacting you to learn more about the property, so some of these rules can be applied. First the rules: 5 Tips On Writing Compelling Call-to-Action Copy View more presentations from HubSpot Internet Marketing So, how can you add these rules to your property descriptions? 1.) Start with subjects and verbs: Instead of starting your property description with something like this, &#8220;Beautifully appointed kitchen with all new stainless appliances,&#8221; try it like this, &#8220;Step into the kitchen of your dreams which features all new stainless appliances.&#8221; 2.) Include numbers: This should be a pretty easy one to incorporate into your property descriptions. Why not try something like, &#8220;Relax in the 400 sqft. living room,&#8221; instead of &#8220;large open living room.&#8221; 3.) Use adverbs sparingly: Given your limited space when writing a property description, this is a really important one to keep in mind, you don&#8217;t want to overdue the adverb usage, but certainly where it makes sense will help you save space. Changing &#8220;this area is very popular with&#8230;&#8221; to &#8220;this wildly popular area&#8230;&#8221; saves you some space and is much more concise to read.&#8221; 4.) Headline length 90-150 characters: Your headline will always be the property address, so take this advice and use it in the first sentence of your property description. Use those first 90-150 characters to grab the attention of the buyer. You can use, &#8220;Walk right in to this 2500 square foot dream home,&#8221; to catch a potential buyers attention rather than, &#8220;Large home with expansive living room and kitchen.&#8221; 5.) Be less technical, more practical: If you only use one of these suggestions, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use this one. Boring copy will instantly turn a potential buyer into a lost lead. We actually talk a lot about this in our Internet Marketing classes and people who make the change in the way they write their copy see near instantaneous results. Think about writing something like, &#8220;Enjoy a cup of fresh coffee while overlooking your one acre of beautifully wooded yard,&#8221; instead of something like this, &#8220;Large deck opens to one acre wooded lot.&#8221; Which one makes you want to move in? Try some of these techniques and let us know if you realize any results from them in your marketing of CT real estate. Share your feedback in the comments below.]]></description>
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		<title>The Next Generation of CT Real Estate</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/21/the-next-generation-of-ct-real-estate/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/21/the-next-generation-of-ct-real-estate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eastern CT Association of REALTORS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greater Fairfield Board of REALTORS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greater Hartford Association of REALTORS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greater New Haven Association of REALTORS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Service Centers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1453</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Throughout the month of March, I will be traveling to our service center locations throughout the state to bring to you the next generation of tools you&#8217;ll be using in the field over the next few years. It&#8217;s a very exciting time here at CTMLS because we believe these tools will help you run your business more efficiently. So I am thrilled to be heading out across the state to get your take on these tools and how you&#8217;ll use them in your everyday business. Find the session at your service center below: Greater Hartford Association of REALTORS® Monday March 12th, 2012 from 9:30a-10:30a, 11a-12p, 1p-2p, 2:30p-3:30p Register here or call (860)561-1800 Eastern CT Association of REALTORS® Tuesday March 20th, 2012 from 9a-10:30a Register here Greater New Haven Association of REALTORS® Thursday March 22nd, 2012 from 12p-1p Call: (203)234-7700 to register Greater Fairfield Board of REALTORS® Wednesday April 25th, 2012 from 1p-2p Register here If we&#8217;re not scheduled to come to your service center, please let us know that you&#8217;d like for us to schedule a training and we will do our best to get something scheduled asap. You can learn more about what we&#8217;ll be covering at the sessions and get a jump start on some of the new tools here. If you attended this session at the Midd-Shore Association of REALTORS® we&#8217;d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.]]></description>
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		<title>Five MLS Tools US Presidents Would&#8217;ve Used If They Were REALTORS®</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/20/five-mls-tools-us-presidents-wouldve-used-if-they-were-realtors/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/20/five-mls-tools-us-presidents-wouldve-used-if-they-were-realtors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:52:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[CTReal.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Data Co-Op]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MLXchange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Realist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abraham Lincoln]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John F Kennedy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ronald Reagan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1447</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It is President&#8217;s Day today. It is a day to celebrate patriotism and leadership. It is a day to sell cars. It is also a day to consider which MLS tools five of our past Presidents would&#8217;ve used had they chosen the career path of being a REALTOR® instead of being a politician. So grab a flag and start waving it as we take a walk down memory lane and look at what might&#8217;ve been way back in 1789. We start at the very beginning with the first President of the United States. 1.) George Washington &#8211; Mr. Washington was the first President and therefore we consider him an innovator and a man with a thinking ahead of his time. That&#8217;s why, if he were a REALTOR® he would&#8217;ve been one of the first to try out the new Fusion MLS system. We think he would&#8217;ve loved that it is cross-browser compatible and cross-platform compatible. We know he would&#8217;ve liked the speed and ease of use of the new system and there is no question in our minds that he would&#8217;ve really enjoyed the new photo slideshow view. We salute you Mr. Washington and your true leadership at the helm of our young nation and as a founding father of the future of our industry. 2.) Abraham Lincoln &#8211; The Great Emancipator used his incredible leadership skills to bring the country together around a common purpose and that&#8217;s why we think he would&#8217;ve taken full advantage of Data Co-Op. Mr. Lincoln would&#8217;ve loved the fact that he could go state by state to pull up listing data from all of the states that his MLS had an agreement with. For instance, if he were a member of CTMLS, he would&#8217;ve had access to all the listing data from the Rhode Island Statewide MLS. He would&#8217;ve been pleased with this evolution. Mr. Lincoln your courage is to be admired and your desire to bring us all together has made you a beacon of light in finding listings outside of our own MLS. 3.) John F. Kennedy &#8211; President Kennedy had a vision for pushing the outer limits of what was possible with his goal to put an American on the moon and win the space race. He achieved that goal and we believe, had he been a REALTOR® instead of a President, he would&#8217;ve had that same vision when it came to using Realist 2. With the same spirit that drove him to encourage the US into space, he would&#8217;ve encouraged himself and his colleagues to leverage this powerful tool to find distressed properties and dig deep into the tax records to make sure the state of Connecticut had the most reliable and accurate MLS data of any MLS in the state. Sir, you were taken from us too soon, but your legacy lives on in the real estate marketing of Connecticut. 4.) Ronald Reagan &#8211; Nicknamed the Great Communicator, President Regan helped to lead the United States in a time of great turmoil and was able to communicate his message to Russia clearly enough that he was able to watch as the Berlin wall eventually fell. That is why, we believe he would&#8217;ve used the tremendous tools available to REALTORS® in MLXchange to build an incredible CMA that would&#8217;ve communicated his message so clearly to potential clients that it would&#8217;ve been an inspiration to us all. As President Mr. Reagan you communicated our message to the world, as a REALTOR® you could&#8217;ve communicated your message to your clients through a stunning CMA. 5.) Bill Clinton &#8211; During his time as President, the Internet came into it&#8217;s own. By the end of his second term it was common place to &#8220;Google It&#8221; and the way the world communicates has forever been changed. As a true believer in the power of the web, we believe this would&#8217;ve led President Clinton to utilize his most valuable communication tool online to the betterment of his clients and that tool is CTReal.com. With the most accurate information online and an innovative new three photo list view, President Clinton, were he a REALTOR® would&#8217;ve recognized the unique and powerful tool that he had at his disposal. Mr. Clinton your vision for a 21st century in which the world was connected was an inspiration and your vision is magnified through the use of CTReal.com. Happy President&#8217;s Day to all.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CTMLS Training: New March and April Classes Added</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/16/ctmls-training-new-march-and-april-classes-added/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/16/ctmls-training-new-march-and-april-classes-added/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:52:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honing Your MLXchange Skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing 101]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing 102]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1438</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the spring market swiftly approaching now is the perfect time to schedule in your updated training with the CTMLS. Make sure your skills are top notch so you can offer your clients the best possible service this spring to get their CT homes sold faster. You can register for any of the classes here. There are some new things being offered in some of the classes. For instance in the Honing Your MLXchange Skills course you&#8217;ll learn all about the brand new Data Co-Op product that we are now offering which allows you to access MLS data from any device and using any web browser. Honing Your MLXchange Skills is being offered on: Thursday March 8th at 10a and Monday April 9th at 10a. Another new addition to our webinar lineup is our new Internet Marketing classes. Both offer great insight into how to take advantage of free services to optimize your listings on the web. In Internet Marketing 101 you&#8217;ll learn all about how MLXchange can help you optimize your listings and how to start your presence on Facebook. In Internet Marketing 102, we&#8217;ll go deeper into Facebook including how to build referrals on Facebook and we&#8217;ll also talk about the importance of blogging. Internet Marketing 101 is being offered on: Tuesday March 6th at 1p and Thursday April 5th at 10a. Internet Marketing 102 is being offered on: Wednesday March 21st at 10a and Wednesday April 18th at 1p. Have you participated in our webinars? We&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts on them. Share any feedback you might have in the comments below.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Walk Score Adds Neighborhood Intelligence To Your CT Real Estate Search</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/15/walk-score-adds-neighborhood-intelligence-to-your-ct-real-estate-search/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/15/walk-score-adds-neighborhood-intelligence-to-your-ct-real-estate-search/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[CTReal.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amenities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commute score]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CT homes for sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CT real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[walk score]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1410</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How many times have you been talking with a client who is looking for CT homes for sale and says to you, &#8220;I want to be within walking distance of some really great restaurants&#8221;? Maybe a client has been looking for something within a short distance to the local schools. Still other clients might want to be near the parks in town. It&#8217;s become a more and more common question for clients who are seeking out a new home based on the amenities that a particular neighborhood has to offer. It&#8217;s no longer good enough for you to provide square footage and yard size information to your clients, they want to know what kind of neighborhood they will be living in, before they even go for a showing. Welcome Walk Score to your marketing mix. Walk Score is a simple link on every listing details page at CTReal.com that allows you and your clients to see all of the amenities that are within walking distance from a particular property. A quick click will show you nearby restaurants, schools, parks, services, grocery stores and so much more, all plotted on a map for your viewing pleasure. But wait, there&#8217;s more. Want to know how long the commute to work will be from your client&#8217;s new home? Simply enter in the address of his/her office and Walk Score will give you the commuting distance, driving time, walking time and it will even calculate the driving costs for you. That&#8217;s right, Walk Score will tell your client how much it will cost each month to drive to and from work from his/her new home. As it&#8217;s name might suggest Walk Score also calculates a score based on what amenities are available and whether they are within walking distance of a particular property. So, a property in downtown New Haven is likely to have a Walk Score in the 80s to low 90s while a property in the Litchfield Hills will probably have a Walk Score much lower. This is just another added feature to help you and your clients navigate the CT real estate market. Go ahead&#8230;give Walk Score a try today. What are you waiting for, go perform a search and take it for a spin. Have you used the Walk Score feature on CTReal.com? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Ten Things We LOVE About REALTORS®</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/14/ten-things-we-love-about-realtors/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/14/ten-things-we-love-about-realtors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:42:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[REALTORS®]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[experts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Association of REALTORS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[REALTORS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1404</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Working with REALTORS® every day we get a good sense of how beneficial to the home buying experience they can be. We understand the incredible amounts of work that go into make a CT real estate transaction and so we thought we would take a moment to tell you about the Ten Things We Love About REALTORS®. 1.) REALTORS® are experts in their marketplace &#8211; if you&#8217;re thinking about moving to a particular town or city, just call up a REALTOR® and they will undoubtedly have the answer 2.) REALTORS® put their clients first &#8211; REALTORS® seem to be on call 24 hours a day always making sure they are available to help their clients with whatever they need. 3.) REALTORS® are connected &#8211; just ask for a good electrician or a good place to eat and a REALTOR® will point you in the right direction. 4.) REALTORS® have a team &#8211; most REALTORS® will be able to connect you with all professionals you will need to finish a real estate transaction. 5.) REALTORS® are ethical &#8211; members of the National Association of REALTORS® adhere to a strict Code of Ethics which guides their real estate practice. 6.) REALTORS® are educated &#8211; education is a central part of being a REALTOR® which allows these professionals to be informed on the latest in legal matters and other important topics related to real estate transactions. 7.) REALTORS® are charitable &#8211; ask any REALTOR® what they do in their spare time and you&#8217;ll hear a wide ranging variety of charitable organizations that he/she belongs to. 8.) REALTORS® have your best interest in mind &#8211; when working through a real estate transaction, you need someone on your side, a REALTOR® will be that person. 9.) REALTORS® are hard working &#8211; if you&#8217;re looking for something very specific, your REALTOR® will not sleep until he/she finds it. 10.) REALTORS® hold the key to your next home &#8211; figuratively and literally, you&#8217;ll get the keys to your next home from your REALTOR® What do you love about REALTORS®? Share your thoughts in the comments below and spread the word.]]></description>
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		<title>The One Tool You Are Not Optimizing To Grow Your Business</title>
		<link>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/13/the-one-tool-you-are-not-optimizing-to-grow-your-business/</link>
		<comments>http://ctmls.ctreal.com/2012/02/13/the-one-tool-you-are-not-optimizing-to-grow-your-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:43:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MLXchange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-mail marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ctmls.ctreal.com/?p=1310</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is one tool that you use everyday, that you are probably not getting the most out of that could really help you grow your business.  This tool is something you&#8217;re familiar with and something that you couldn&#8217;t do your business without, but maximizing it is a whole different story. I am talking about MLXchange. It&#8217;s true, there is so much you can do with MLXchange to maximize your listings for online exposure and drive more leads. Did you know MLXchange has a complete e-mail marketing tool built right into it? This is just the tip of the iceberg of what MLXchange can do.  There are so many features that you are likely not utilizing that if you did they would tremendously help you grow your business. Tomorrow, Valentine&#8217;s Day, I would LOVE for you to join me for our Internet Marketing 101 class which will go over how to utilize MLXchange to it&#8217;s full potential in growing your business.  You can register for it here We won&#8217;t just be touching on MLXchange, we&#8217;ll also be talking about some Facebook marketing as well, which will help you generate leads outside of MLXchange. There won&#8217;t be any boxes of chocolate, but there will be heartfelt appreciation for your attendance at tomorrow&#8217;s session which starts at 10a. Have you taken the Internet Marketing 101 class before?  Share your thoughts about it in the comments below. &#160;]]></description>
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