Simple.  Many local advertisers have become comfortable using self-service online tools like Google AdWords and Facebook Ads for display advertising. They are also using Craigslist to promote their listings which requires a lot of time and effort. Oodle Pro provides a simple, self-service platform for local advertisers to get more exposure for their listings across the hundreds of sites in the Oodle Network.

Cost-effective. In today’s difficult times, local advertisers are looking for great value. Oodle Pro will initially be available for real estate agents and is priced at $15/month – a price point justified in time savings alone. Oodle Pro for Brokers, Property Managers, Car Dealers, and Employers will be rolling out in the coming months.

Social. It’s critical to help local advertisers harness the potential of social media. Word-of-mouth is a local advertiser’s number one form of marketing. And when done well, social media is very effective at amplifying word-of-mouth referrals. Unfortunately, it’s pretty confusing and time consuming to figure out. We’ve built tools to make it easy — and we’re just getting started.

Oodle Pro offers:

A simple, powerful platform for promoting listings online

• Tools to automatically upload listings (rather than type them in by hand)
• Reports activity happening around your listings: how many times listings are viewed, responded to, shared or commented upon
• Listings automatically distributed across Oodle’s network of over 200 sites including Oodle.com, Facebook Marketplace, Classifieds on MySpace, AOL Classifieds, etc. as well as on GoogleBase.

The ability to easily harness the power of social media

• Listings are promoted within the classifieds marketplaces on Facebook & MySpace (powered by Oodle) where they are seen by the entire community, not just friends.
• Profiles are directly tied to the listings, enabling local advertisers to promote both their brand and their listings.
• Listings are automatically shared on Facebook and Twitter providing added visibility. As consumers share and discuss listings with their friends, they gain valuable viral exposure.
• Social identity is also leveraged outside of the social networks. Listings on Oodle are tied to all their profiles on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
• Facebook Pages and MySpace Profiles can automatically be enhanced to showcase listings.

As MySpace focuses its brand on music and entertainment, it’s transitioning many of its “channels” into applications – including classifieds. What does this mean for MySpace users? Now, users can more easily find Classifieds in the MySpace Apps Gallery and place it on their home page. More significantly, it will be easier for Oodle to introduce more social functionality into the classifieds experience. This has proved to be very popular on Facebook Marketplace – and we expect to see more of the same on MySpace.

The knitted mittens, which retail for $10 a pair, are one of the must-have mementos of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. They match the mittens that will be worn by the 12,000 torchbearers who will carry the flame to more than 1,000 communities during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, starting in just one month. Net proceeds from every pair sold will complete the funding of the five-year Own the Podium 2010 initiative, which provides Canadian athletes with top equipment and training for the 2010 Games. Any additional funds raised through the Red Mittens campaign will support a variety of athlete- and sport-based initiatives.

The mittens feature a white Maple Leaf in the heart of each palm (perfect for cheering and waving!) and the Olympic Rings and Vancouver 2010 stitched on the outside. They are a unifying element that knit together Olympic torchbearers, Canadian athletes, Canadian fans and Olympic supporters around the world.

Purchase yours today before they sell out.

The Oodlers spent the last weekend at CEO Craig Donato’s property in the Sierra foothills.  I went along as faithful photographer and (unintended) playmate of what seemed like 30 Oodle children.  Everyone had a great time, and we couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather or a more beautiful place to experience it.

All Pictures copyrighted by Oliver Wolfe.

Historically, conversations around published content lives within the comments section. This enables the author and the people looking at the content to engage in a discussion.

Social classifieds, however, offer people the opportunity to talk to their friends about listings they find in the Facebook Marketplace or in their newsfeed. Shouts support these conversations by prompting users to ask questions, share witty or helpful comments or to poll their friends with a question.

For instance, let’s say I’m looking for a new apartment. I may see one that I love and ask my friends, “Great deal?” or “Is this a good neighborhood?” and my friends could easily share their feedback such as, “I would totally live there!”

We are also tweeting all of the listings posted directly into our network onto Oodle’s Twitter account. This will enable users searching on Twitter to have access to hundreds of thousands of fresh, relevant classifieds listings each day. So whether you are looking for a job, rental, house, car — or something else, you will be able to search Twitter using keywords matching your query (e.g. Burlingame Honda Accord) to find relevant, real-time matches.

In both cases, tweets link back to listings tied to online profiles from Oodle, Facebook, MySpace, etc., so you get a better idea of who you are dealing with.

More interesting Twitter-related features coming soon. Stay tuned as classifieds get more social.

_ _ _

A Fishing Trip

The Idea

Father’s Day is all about appreciating the Father – and hanging out with him is probably the best way to do that.  I used to love fishing with my dad when I was little, and something like this would be perfect to spark back old memories and good times.  Plus, fishing is never really about the fish, is it?  Fishing is an excuse to hang out and have some good conversation.  That combination sounds like a great gift to me.

Bar Stools

The Idea

So maybe the old man isn’t what he used to be.  Maybe he doesn’t have it in him to make it downtown to the bar.  That doesn’t mean he has given up on social drinking altogether!  Bring the bar to him.  Buy a couple of bar stools, a bottle of Jack, and a good CD.  Get a friend to bartend.  Spend the night catching up over some bourbon and good music.

Golf Pull Cart

The Idea

It might be my southern upbringing, but golf to me is a way of life for any man over 40.  Seeing as stubborn pride is a stereotypical powerful thing with men, your father or husband might not be willing to admit how hard carrying that bag has gotten for him over the years.  Save him the embarrassment of using a golf cart and throw in for an in-between solution.  Now he can still walk the course, but the shoulders and back get some much-needed rest.  Get out there and play a round with him Sunday.

Corn Hole

The Idea

Well-known among the pastel-wearing college crowd, corn hole is a game that requires a fierce competitive spirit, a spare hand for beer, and almost no athletic ability.  You toss some sacks into a hole a few feet away.  Sounds about right for the ideal Sunday in the sun.  The guy in the link above will design the boards however you want, so be creative.  Personally, I would design each one like a golf-themed tie, to remind Dad what I could have gotten instead.

Paintball

The Idea

Be careful with this one.  I set this last item aside for the father-son relationships with a bit of tension, as paintball will resolve all former, petty arguments.  Because really, what arguments with your father are really anything more than petty?  Ultimately you’ll get over it, and buying two paintball guns is effectively skipping part of the process.

What else would you like to see us do? I’d love to hear your thoughts on what we should be doing with Twitter on Oodle — or how people can use Twitter for classifieds.

Give us a shout.