Help for Real Estate Agents?

Zillow released a new API this week that allows users to sms/email an address to an email address at Zillow and get an immediate response on the value of a property. I tried it out with a few addresses, and it's not yet available in all parts of the country, but it works very well.

Real estate agents are catching on to this service, which may appeal to them more than RedFin. I think this could be a very cool new tool that will make real estate a lot more fun and will improve sales, and more importantly, value for home buyers.

Try a Zestimate today - just send the address like this:

124 AnyStreet
Anycity, AnyState 00000

to z@labs.zillow.com

See what you get. If nothing else, it's a lot of fun :)

Implementing Your Own Affiliate Program

While many home based business owners focusing on signing up as affiliates for other companies, have you ever considered running your own affiliate program? While it can be hard for some small companies to get started, particularly, if you are on a small budget, running an affiliate program can make the difference for extra sales.

AffiliateShop offers an interesting combination of a shopping cart and an affiliate program start-up with some really great features. You can set up several different types of affiliate programs, from CPA to percentages, making it easier for smaller companies to get this implemented.

Their directory also makes it easier for new affiliates to discover your company. This is a nice integrated approach that can help walk you through the process if you're new to affiliate programs. It's worth the managements tools alone, which can save you a ton of time and hassle.

Tip for the Day - Using Coupons to Maximize Online Sales

If you're running a traditional brick and mortar store, as well as an Internet store, there are some great ways to start sending more traffic to your site. Most local customers may think it's just easier to visit you, but you can introduce them to your site with a little incentive.

Start with your regular customers, and offer them a special 10% off coupon. They'll be more likely to visit your site, knowing that they'll save money. You can also offer a tiered coupon that will give them more discounts if they notify friends about your site.

Coupons work well for two main reasons. 1- you don't have to offer a huge percentage to create interest and 2 - it's a great enticement for your customers. Several online shopping carts, like Zen Cart and OS Commerce now offer the ability to automate the coupon creation process, making it really easy to start issuing coupons, either in print or online.

You can also use this feature to create repeat business with new customers, online or in your store.

A New Way to Ebay

Remember when eBay acquired Skype and everyone was wondering, "what were they thinking?" Well, they just released a new program that will integrate Skype into the auction process. This may just be a way to increase your auction performances and will definitely be of use to small business owners that rely on the service to increase their sales.

You'll now be able to add a little "Skype Me" button to your listing, but so far, eBay has limited the test to:

The following categories:

Automotive GPS devices Other real estate
Lenses & Filters Manufacturing and metalworking
Routers, wired Beds
Skype Devices Basketball-NBA
Internet Telephony Coin silver
Diamond solitaire rings Lost in space
Residential homes Radio control
Commercial homes Passenger cars

At least it is free, but you will need to register with Skype to use this feature. If your auctions have a lot of clicks, but not a lot of action, you may want to give this a try.