Top 10 Articles from December

While December is typically mellow, this year two content series encouraged a lot more activity. The first, our Holiday Deals series, highlighted discounts and giveaways on real estate tech tools, one of which appears on this list. The second series, a countdown of the best articles of 2012, was overwhelmingly popular. While we've excluded those from this list (they would have dominated it!), you can view a summary of the countdown here.

But before you check out those must-reads, have a look at December's most popular original articles:

1. Real Estate Websites Do Not Generate Leads - by BrokerageU
Is your website helping your business the way you expected it to? The reason might be that the person who sold you your website left out one little, but valuable, piece of information: Your website will not generate leads for your real estate business.

2. How To Create Marketing Emails From Scratch - by Point2
Email is a powerful tool when used correctly. Having the right message land in your customer's inbox at the right time can have a dramatic, positive impact on your business, while a half-baked or broken message can banish your future mailings to the spam folder forever. While it is easy enough to whip up a quick n' dirty message in Outlook or Gmail and hit send, there is a world of little things you can do to elevate a good message to a holy-cow-I-have-to-have-it kind of message.

3. Crush Your Next Open House with Social Events - by Zack Hanebrink of BoomTown
Do you still do open houses? I've heard mixed reviews lately on their effectiveness. However, if promoted the right way, they are a great source for buyer leads, along with establishing your brand in the neighborhood. It takes more than directional signs and a balloon in the yard to promote an open house.

4. 4 Keys for Working With Buyers - by Meg White of REALTOR® Mag
Have you ever dealt with an unreasonable buyer who seemed totally clueless about their responsibilities in the transaction? Ever gotten to the offer table only to have them say, "What do you mean, 'earnest money?'" Ever thought it might be your fault?

5. How to Add Depth of Field to Your Photos - by Stephen Schweickart of VScreen
Why is depth of field important, you ask? Good question. Depth of field allows your camera see the way the human eye does--with your subject in focus and the background softly unfocused. Think of all the amateur snapshots you've seen where the subject blends into a busy background! Using depth of field instantly creates more professional looking photos.

6. Facebook real estate marketing is a must as a Facebook search engine looms - by Suresh Srinivasan of ReachFactor
We've been studying Facebook's influence on search engine optimization for a while now. All signs seemed to point to a day fast approaching when social media would mix with search engines to deliver very personal search results. In fact, Bing scored a deal with Facebook last year that seemed very promising. But for all that promise search hasn't much changed. At least until now.

7. A Look at Top Producer's Newest Features - by RET Staff
Top Producer has added some slick functionality to their program. We attended a recent webinar where host Steve Pacinelli unveiled the new updates, scheduled for release this month, and revisited the program's strengths. Read on to see what we learned.

8. The 10 Best "How To" Guides of 2012 - by RET Staff
This year saw no shortage of great educational content here at RE Technology. These ten easy-to-digest "how-to" articles will keep your mental juices flowing well into the new year.

9. Holiday Deal: Free Relationship Management eBook from Contactually
The eBook teaches REALTORS® the importance of managing their relationships with their current and past clients. By using these tips, REALTORS® can stay top-of-mind with prospects without having to invest large amounts of time. These lessons will help agents earn referrals and repeat customers, which greatly increases business opportunities, revenue and overall happiness.

10. What is Instagram? - by Homes.com
Not sure about Instagram? Have no fear, here's a quick introduction. Instagram is kind of like a social network through the "lens" of photography. You upload images of whatever you like under your name, edit them with artistic color filters, and 'hashtag' the photos with words or terms trending in Instagram.