I often get asked “How can I differentiate my website from others?”.
Typically, I launch into the typical response that starts with “by adding more than listings”. What I mean is to create a web community with the website, creating a loyalty by providing service to consumers. Yes, this includes the thought of supplementing the website with a blog about local events, real estate as an investment or preparing the home for sale.
The other day, I received an e-mail from Don Kanare with a question about adding RSS to his website. I have thought about RSS for “hotsheet” publication from the MLS, but never considered it for a consumer website. I even thought about proposing it as a RETS extension.
In his letter, Don mentioned FeedForAll as a tool that could possibly add RSS. I have looked at tools like this yet. This is probably due to the fact that we are an Open Source shop.
[Update 8/29: Interesting thought. I thought I would stop at this point and listen to what others have to say.
http://support.open-realty.org/showthread.php?t=6202
The idea is not new but I still cannot point to an implementation.]
