Lethbridge, AB

Clearly Lethbridge

Today I had a meeting with Doug, a salesman for Clearly Lethbridge, a new online directory and marketing website that has launched in Lethbridge. The intention of the site seems to be to create an online directory of local businesses and to act as a central hub which will help to increase the search engine optimization and placement of each of the advertisers through the cooperative efforts of all. This is much like many of the online directories which attempt to do the same thing for businesses within specific categories, except that in the case of Clearly Lethbridge, the common thread is that all of the businesses are local to Lethbridge.

The company has some solid backing and is an extension of Clear Sky, who is a media company which operates several local radio stations. This should help Clearly Lethbridge enjoy some longevity while it attempts to build an advertiser base. There have been other Lethbridge business directory websites that have come and gone, some are still sitting dormant on the internet. A few of them have been good ideas, but have not continued due to the constant need to solicit advertisers and to keep content updated. Hopefully Clearly Lethbridge will have better luck.

At this point in time I declined to purchase advertising on the Clearly Lethbridge site, primarily because I accomplish much the same goals through my blog here, in addition to my other websites:

LethbridgeLoans.com

LethbridgeRealEstateBlog.com

LethbridgeRealEstateOnline.com

I also do a substantial amount of social media marketing through twitter, facebook, and other sites. My web content is often syndicated out via over 400 directories and another 400 RSS feeds. Because of the combined reach of these sites and their syndication, the content that I publish reaches thousands of people.

As a simple test, I am writing this blog at 1am, Friday Nov 20th, 2009. I would expect that if you were to search "clearly lethbridge" tomorrow on your favorite search engine that this very post would already be indexed and ranking at or near the very top. Try it out and see if my marketing is as effective as I claim it to be.

I wanted to make a new Lethbridge real estate website that I could use for doing some testing of some fancy geek technology that I have been messing around with lately. Of course, when you are setting up a website primarily for experimentation and it is in total development, you don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

I chose to use a point2 template site, bought a godaddy domain, did a redirect, and spend an hour putting up the following website:

http://www.lethbridgerealestateonline.com

Now I will admit the site isnt pretty and sure wont win any awards the way it looks and functions yet, but it does have a few key components in it that I plan to build upon and see what I can achieve with them. It is about 2am on the 5th of November, 2009 and I am curious how long it will take to get that website spidered into google and ranked. I plan to spend about 2 hours this weekend doing some optimization, and then let the site sit for a week.

The end of November I will tweak the site and add more content to it and see if I cant push it into the top 20 searches for my local real estate market. That will be quite an accomplishment if I can do that within a month, but it is a great goal and I think I have a plan and the tools to achieve it WITHOUT spending a single dime on marketing.

Testing 1 2 3, lets give this a shot.

I would love feedback from anyone who clicks on it. What parts need work, what parts look okay the way they are. I am a bit of a rookie HTML programmer, but can do enough clean it up if suggested.

Lethbridge Open House

Lethbridge real estate, mortgage, and open house info. Stop by this property and talk about Lethbridge real estate, mortgage financing options, or about real estate investment options. I am glad to talk about what is going on in Lethbridge with anyone who finds it as interesting as myself. Come check this home out and lets meet face to face.

Open House

Saturday October 17th, 2-4pm

2509 18 ST North LETHBRIDGE

2509 18 ST North LETHBRIDGE

Come check out this Lethbridge open house, this is a great family home in an excellent location. The home features a large fenced and treed backyard for the kids, 2 car parking off the rear lane for dad, a freshly renovated kitchen, living room, and dining room with sliding doors out to the deck for mom. Upstairs, the master bedroom has a full 3 piece ensuite, 2 more bedrooms for the kids, and a renovated main bath.

The 2 lower levels feature a large playroom for the kids, laundry area, storage area, a rec room, and a 4th room which can be used as a bedroom or office, plus a brand new 3 piece bath too.

This great family home is in move in condition and ready for a new family. It is located at the very end of a cul-de-sac and so the street is free from traffic and safe for the kids. This nice and quiet location yet close to shopping and tranportation and is great for those who want peace and security and know the value of location location location.

Are you shopping for a home on the Lethbridge MLS?  Or wanting your home sold on the Lethbridge MLS?  Or just curious what MLS is?

What is the MLS^®?

When you want to buy a car, the pressure’s on to make the deal with that salesperson at that car dealership. You won’t hear about what’s being offered at the competing lot down the street.

That’s the exact opposite of the MLS^® used by REALTORS^® across Canada. In fact, MLS^® is all about REALTORS^® cooperating with each other, no matter what company they work for. MLS^® is a complex system that boils down to big advantages for consumers: cooperation and marketing among REALTORS^® mean better chances for you to succeed.

MLS^® was created 50 years ago to help Canadians wanting to buy or sell properties. You’re probably familiar with REALTOR.ca, the online property guide, but what began as reams of paper chock full of listing information and photos has become an online database of properties from across the country.

REALTOR^® members of the local real estate board pay for the MLS^®. That board operates the local system, while the umbrella group – the Canadian Real Estate Association – owns the MLS^® trademark.

Only REALTORS^® can list on the MLS^® and REALTOR.ca, so if you’re selling your property, you’ll benefit from the wide exposure the listing will enjoy. Other REALTORS^® use the database to present the possibilities to their clients, potential buyers for your home.

If you’re in the market to buy or looking to sell, remember that the MLS^®, REALTOR.ca and your REALTOR^® can help make your dream a reality.

Lethbridge Weightloss and Fitness

This is probably the worst part of the year for people to be thinking about weightloss. Thanksgiving is over, we all ate way too much. Halloween just passed and we all have buckets of candy and treats sitting around the house. The cold weather is coming and outdoor activity levels is dropping off rapidly.

In Lethbridge, we have several fitness facilities yet still have much of our population who struggles with weightloss. Perhaps it is due to the large number of fast food outlets, or maybe it is just due to inactivity. Regardless, having a control on one's health and fitness can not only add years to your life, but also improve the quality of life substantially.

I have to admit that I am one of the worst offenders here. I have had memberships to Lethbridge Gyms and Lethbridge fitness facilities. I have had periods of time when I went a few times a week, times when I went every day, and times that I paid $50 a month for a memberhsip to a fitness facility that I never seemed to go to.

There are many health and fitness scams out there. Yes some of them work temporarily and some of them may even work effectively but with no real proven reason or study of their other long term effects. Common sense dictates that the human body is designed to consume good food, burn energy, and work towards natural efficiency. To lose weight and improve fitness a combination of an improved diet and increased activity is the foundation which success is built upon. All the supplements in the world, diet pills, magic shakes, fruit drinks, etc will do nothing if you do not have the base of good nutrition and healthy activity.

At times when my business is booming I know that I let my own commitment to health and fitness suffer. I think we all do this. I need to get some Lethbridge weightloss and fitness planning back into my schedule. I look forward to putting a plan into action and using my blog to keep me on track.

Robert May