Online Real Estate Marketing Blog

A Barn and a Beach Make the Perfect Sunday Outing in Avila

2008-08-12T19:00:46Z

The summer Sunday morning in Avila Beach was covered in a coastal haze, which had no dissapointing affect since that was perfectly normal for summer days on the Central Coast that turn out to be picture perfect by noon. This day was no different, and after pitching the shade tent for the babies in the family (which consist of infants and adults) and firing up the bar-be-cue, a great day of relaxing on the grass by the waves was well on it's way. Before long, the over-cooked burgers had been devoured and the over-cooked shoulders covered up, with even a few non-babies taking refuge from the sun under the shade tent. It's a good thing Avila Beach has great sidewalk shopping as well, where a host of local artists and craftsmen sell their creations along the boardwalk next to the waves. This is where the rest of our beach Sunday was spent before heading home.

On the way back to reality (another beach town a few miles down the road we call home), a stop at the Avila Valley Barn for frozen ollalieberries and ice cream made for a sweet cap to the day. The freshest in-season fruits and vegetables around, along with homemade sweets and treats, filled the bins and baskets as we walked through the barn trying to demonstrate restraint as the sweet aromas swirled through the air. Suckered out of $15 by the cutest little redhead and blonde boys I've had the pleasure to be called "Auntie" by, I not-so-reluctantly paid for the light-up wand thingies from the toy area of the barn on our way out. I didn't want to leave, partly because the day had been a slice of paradise, and partly because I knew that every step I took out of the barn was one step closer to Monday!

Avila is a great place to spend a weekend in the summer, but there are lots of other places in SLO County that are worthy of "Sunday Status"... where's your favorite?

Don't Get Down - Hustle While You Wait!

2008-07-18T20:14:11Z

"Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."

- Thomas Edison

I don't need to mention that the real estate market is not exactly "hot" right now. Everyone knows that; homesellers know it, buyers know it, the guy at Starbuck's knows it, and real estate professionals definitely know it. So I won't mention it.

But I will mention the fact that there is quite a lot of complaining going around about it. Sentiments like "Woe are we" and "It's his fault" might serve as some sort of release for those who feel frustrated, and understandably so. We want to know how we got here, we want to know who's responsible, and we want to feel a bit sorry for ourselves and the state we're in - that's natural. But let's not stop there.

In the meantime, let's search out ways to get around the current roadblocks, like Olympic Northwest Mortgage did in their recent blog post. So what if you don't agree with every suggestion that is offered up - that's not the point. The point is to get creative, get thinking, get marketing, get busy! There are many, many, many ways to get around the slump.

Even if you are not creative, hate video, and just don't do Twitter, there are still so many ways stay above water. Are you on Facebook? Do you create single property sites for your listings? Do you blog regularly? Do you use Squidoo and Hubpages to further promote your listings? Do you make sure you rank well in Google? The list of opportunities is endless!

So get out there and hustle while you wait for your market to bounce back!

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing syndication to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer syndicated professional profiles, blog widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members. I would be happy to discuss our services or answer any questions - just contact me here!

The Cost of "Free" - Are You Losing Leads from Ads on Your Free Site?

2008-07-16T19:27:42Z

Everyone loves free stuff. After all, why pay money for something you can get without forfeiting any of your hard earned cash? I am not the first to say this, and certainly will not be the last, but FREE always has a cost - maybe not a direct monetary cost, but a true cost nonetheless.

For example, do you use a "free" internet service to promote your listings? If so, you may be surprised at all the little extras that "free" comes with. Like competing advertisements on your listings, limited features and usability, and unnecessary time consumption. It makes no sense for a business to give away their services without getting anything in return... there is always a return.

How many leads, what amount of sales, and how much money might you be losing from visitors who click away from your listings to visit a competitor's advertisement? It makes no sense for you to let competitors advertise in your area, yet this is what you may be doing by using a "free" site or service.

Oftentimes, businesses or services will provide free features with some sort of purchase or membership. While this isn't purely free either, they are tools that are available to you at no extra cost, whether you use them or not. The monetary cost to you is disclosed up front, so you know exactly what you are paying for -- this type of "free" is great and should be taken advantage of!

Be sure to research where you put your time, effort, content, and listings, and evaluate the value of your free service. If it is an acceptable cost, you may have found your spot! If not -- if you are losing leads, sales, traffic and credibility -- then get out of there fast. Run away and place your assets where they will pay you back.

TRUE VALUE is always better than FREE.

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

Listing Syndication is Smart Work

2008-07-11T19:21:04Z

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment, and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."

- Thomas Edison

You are guilty of it and so am I. In fact, probably everyone who has ever made an effort to advance their career has been guilty of it. Wasteful, ineffective, and unproductive busy-work. That's exactly the type of work you produce every time you do something yourself that can be done more quickly and easily by someone else. For example, posting your property listings online - how much time do you spend?

"Wait!", you say, "But I save money when I do it myself. I could pay some service to do it, but why on earth would I do that if I can do it just as easily myself?" Well, if you truly can do it just as easily yourself, then have at it! But can you really?

At ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, busy professionals (ahem, you) can create a quality online property listing in 15 minutes from a pre-designed template. And the icing? The listing is automatically posted to over 30 online directories within 24 hours.

So for $12 bucks a month you can spend next to no time at all to promote your listings all over the internet, where over 84% of buyers start their home search.

Or for goodness-knows-how-many-hours you can do it yourself for "free".

How much do you make per hour? How much is your time worth? Are the things you've categorized as "free", really free?

Take a bit of advice from Mr. Edison, and remember, "seeming to do is not doing". Use your time wisely.

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

Your Great Idea is Worthless - Series Part 3

2008-07-04T15:57:03Z

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

- Thomas Edison

If you are just tuning in, this post is Part 3 of a 5 week series on how to "motivate and help real estate professionals think outside the box and try new things" with their marketing. Using quotes from the great American inventor, Thomas Edison, my goal is to inspire you to reflect on your current strategies and consider trying new ones.

So back to my title, "Your Great Idea is Worthless". I mean it, and ol' Edison's got my back on that. How many discussions, meetings, thoughts, or casual chats have you been a part of where a seemingly "great idea" was present? Did it ever come to pass? The answer to that question depends on whether or not anyone took action to make that idea a reality. An idea, no matter how inspired, no matter how original, no matter how potentially life-changing, will not amount to anything if effort is not applied. How many ideas have you had that were never realized because you let them just hang out in your head?

Now, not every idea you have is going to be great. There is nothing wrong with being reasonable, and weighing the potential pros and cons of something before investing time and money into it. That is different from doing nothing at all. But I challenge you to take a risk and give that inspiration a try! Post #1 in this series, "The Difference Between Permanent Failure and a Bump in the Road" addresses the fear that sometimes comes with trying something new.

Remember, just putting an idea into motion isn't enough, that's not the "perspiration" that Thomas Edison spoke of. You need to commit to it, work at it, and give it a chance to succeed. What great ideas have you had? What ideas have you heard of, that sound like they're great? Will you let them remain worthless, or become genius?

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

The Power of Providing People with What They Need

2008-06-27T20:31:46Z

"I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent."

- Thomas Edison

Sounds simple, right? We all have needs; we need a car, we need a mobile phone, we need a faster way to travel, communicate, and do business. Our needs are what have driven technology and advancement for centuries. So the question is, do you know what your clients need? Let's hope so, because oftentimes, they haveno idea what they need! Remeber, you are the experienced professional, and first and foremost, your clients need you. Now, what else do they need?

With recent reports showing nearly 85% of homebuyers searching the internet for homes, you definitely need to market listings there. Are you? Do you utilize listing syndication, single property websites, blogging, search engine ranking, the MLS, and all of the other internet tools at your disposal?

Also, with technology advancing at a rate faster than ever, are you connected in all the ways you should be? Do you use blogs, mobile features, and virtual tours? Do you know what a "widget is? Let's hope so, because these are the things that will not only allow you to keep up with your competition, but to also stay a step ahead.

Remember, in order to give your clients what they need, you need to know what that is. Best of luck in your search to give people what they need!

*Many of the tools listed above are offered at ClassifiedFlyerAds.com.

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

The Difference Between Permanent Failure and a Bump in the Road

2008-06-23T13:39:23Z

**First, let me apologize for the delay in posting this. My younger brother got married this weekend, and the onslaught of family from all over the country got the best of my time. The rest of the series will be posted on Fridays, rain, sleet, snow, or out of town visitors ;) Now, on with it...

"I have not failed. I've just found a 10,000 ways that won't work."

- Thomas Edison

Some people get a thrill from new experiences; new challenges, and the prospect of the unknown have an invigorating affect on them and inspire action. For some others, however, the prospect of "new" is one of fright and anxiety, something to be avoided at all costs and with all effort.

Why? Why are most people so afraid to try something new? There are many possible reasons which, in part, probably depend on the person's past experiences, influences, and innate personality. I'll make the argument that most people are reluctant to try something new because they are afraid that they could fail. Notice I didn't say that they were afraid that they would fail, just that they could fail. The mere fact that there is a possibility of failure often deters people from even trying. What a tragedy!

In a recent post by marketing expert, Seth Godin, he proposes:

"The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all."

So I propose this:

Don't let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new.
Instead, expect that every now and then you will, as Edison puts it, "find ways that don't work". When you experience those "bumps", reflect upon them, learn from them, and use them build confidence and do things better the next time.

Is there something you've been wanting to try in your real estate marketing campaign, but have been holding back because you weren't sure if it would work? Try it! Don't let the fear of failure, or the fear of others perception of you, or the fear of anything hold you back!

The next post in this series will be called, "The Power of Providing People with What They Need", is inspired by the second of my favorite Edison quotes, and will be posted this Friday.

I'll leave you with this video of the song "Dream Big", by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband:

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

Single Property Websites Offer a Marketing Advantage

2008-06-18T20:17:49Z

In a tough real estate market, agents and realtors need to have an edge when trying to market listings. It can be argued that this edge should be present in any type of market climate, and that is a very good argument indeed. But what better time to start?

While Classified Flyer Ads offers several tools to help real estate professionals obtain that marketing edge, one of the most innovative and sought after tool is the single property website. Put simply, a single property site uses a property's physical address as the website url. For example, if your client lives at 723 Mulberry Lane, the website address for their listing would be www.723MulberryLane.com.

There are three major advantages to having a single listing website:

1) It makes you look good. Your clients will be impressed that you provide a website that is dedicated exclusively to their property for sale. Impressed clients make for great word-of-mouth advertising.
2) It makes the property look good. With the listing placed on an exclusive website, homebuyers will notice the professionalism be encouraged to see the property as valuable.
3) It makes the property accessible. The single property website url can be posted on the sale yard signs and marketing materials for the listing. Any onlookers driving by or recipients of the listing flyers can easily browse the website for photos and info about the property.

At ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, single property websites range from $8.99 to $19.99 and come with your branding, local area information, maps, school data, and more. Members can simply choose the single property site add-on after creating their online flyer. No additional setup is needed!

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

What We Can All Learn From a Great American Inventor

2008-06-18T18:25:34Z

I really loved Darren Rowse's (ProBlogger.net) recent post entitled "What Thomas Edison Can Teach You About Blogging", in which he recounts 11 notable Edison quotes that can inspire blogging success. With potential influence in many different areas of life, these sayings got me thinking about how they could be applied to Real Estate and marketing one's business or oneself (which is my area of interest and, coincidentally, my profession). So I've decided to write a short series on the top 5 Edison quotes that I think can help professionals market themselves, their listings, and their business.

The quotes that Rowse referenced are quite inspiring in and of themselves, but even moreso because of the person who originally said them. Thomas Edison overcame arguably the toughest kind of adversity; people telling him that he could never do what he set out to do. In addition, he failed several times in all of his ventures before ever producing something that was popularly accepted. The harsh combination of nay-sayers and actual failures should have crushed him - but it did not. One of my favorite Edison quotes really exposes his persistent spirit and unwillingness to give up or give in:

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

What a great perspective - so simple, and still, so profound. This quote will be the topic of my first post in the mini-series entitled, "The Difference Between Permanent Failure and a Bump in the Road."

I will be discussing the tools that are offered at ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, as well as basic inspiration, that can motivate and help real estate professionals think outside the box and try new things. I'm excited to get going, and the first post will be this Friday, with the rest following each Friday for the next 5 weeks. Hope to talk to you there!

I work in marketing and communications for ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, focusing on tools and internet technology for real estate professionals. Our most popular tools offer competitive search engine placement and online listing distribution to over 30 real estate directories. We also offer blog profile syndication, widgets, and virtual tours - free to all subscribed members.

Do Homes Really Sell on eBay?

2008-06-05T18:25:18Z

At ClassifiedFlyerAds.com, we recently implemented a feature to help eBay store owners promote their stores and products online. This prompted me to get more familiar with eBay and do some research (I didn't want to be the only clueless one in the office!). So there I was snooping and poking and lurking my way around eBay, when I stumbled across the 'Real Estate' category.

Now, Classified Flyer Ads has been providing eBay posting html for real estate flyers for a long time, so I knew in my head that eBay listed homes for sale. But seeing it in action just struck me as surprising. There were homes for auction bidding as well as "buy it now", commercial properties, residential, land and more! Wow, do people really look for homes on eBay???

The reasoning side of my brain started to kick in and I start asking myself all sorts of qustions, like:

"Do serious buyers search eBay for real estate?"

"Do real estate agents commonly list there, or is it mostly FSBO?"

"Is eBay an effective venue for selling real estate?"

Mostly all of the listings had several bids on them! I must say, I learned something new today, and am more and more intrigued as I go...

Have any of you had any experience with listing, selling, or buying real estate via eBay? I'm so curious now and would love to hear your stories!!

Spotlight on Members Success - ClassifiedFlyerAds.com

2008-05-07T19:03:22Z

Using Free Tools to Succeed

Last month we started a Member of the Month feature where we highlight a member who has used our marketing tools to succeed. This month, the selected member, Travis Newton, is someone who often uses our Ad2Cell feature to find leads and get in touch with them right away.

He places his unique text code on his For Sale signs, and buyers text his cell phone with the code to receive instant info about the property. This is just one of the many marketing tools that come free with membership, and Travis really takes advantage of all the tools at his disposal.

Travis Newton is a Realtor in Clark County, Washington who stays on top of the advances in Real Estate marketing in order to remain competitive in the industry. Congratulations Travis, and best wishes for your future success with ClassifiedFlyerAds.com!

ClassifiedFlyerAds.com Real Estate Marketing Tools

One Membership - Endless Free Tools

Property Listing Syndication - Your property ads will be syndicated to top directories, search engines and live feeds. Our system provides your ads with top exposure across all the major search engines and vertical directories. Free with any subscription plan. View latest top positioned flyers >>

Search Engine Optimization - All property flyers created on ClassifiedFlyerAds.com are automatically optimized for search engines for free - and over 80% of all flyers appear on the first page of Google. Members can also choose to purchase additional optimization which guarantees top Google ranking.

Single Property Websites - Single Property Sites have proven to be a very effective way to market listings. These sites allow the web address to be the same as the property address, giving them the attention and exposure the seller is looking for. Additional cost.

Virtual Tours - Our virtual tours provide choice of color and background music, links to property details, local area info, maps and more. Members can upload up to 20 pictures for their virtual tour. Free with any subscription plan.

Flyer Tracking Reports - Tracking the success of an online flyer is imperitive to see where the ad is most effective. Our reports show links clicked per source, detailed urls, and call and email history which show who called or e-mailed you from your flyers. Free with any subscription plan.

Syndicated Blog Profile Page - When you complete your profile page, it's automatically syndicated to top directories and feeds which greatly improves your ranking in search engines. Add profile info, articles, comments, feeds, links, click-to-call and more. Each flyer created will have a link to your profile page. Free with any subscription plan.

Widgets - Gain additional exposure and convenience by using our widgets on your websites and blogs. Choose from map widgets, listing widgets, calculator widgets, click-to-call widgets, virtual tour widgets, and more. Free with sign-up, no subscription required.

What the Heck is an RSS Feed and Why Should You Care?

2008-04-23T19:03:02Z

You’ve probably heard the term RSS Feed before, but maybe don’t quite understand what it is or why it’s useful. The fact is, an RSS feed is extremely useful in many different ways and should be an integral part of any of your websites or blogs. In this post I’ll explain the benefits of an RSS feed and provide an illustrated example.

1. What is an RSS Feed?

Wikipedia describes it this way: “RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts.” Oookaaay… what? For many of us, this still makes absolutely no sense. Basically, an RSS feed pulls information from one source (like a blog), and posts it automatically to another source (like a website). So for instance, by putting an Active Rain RSS feed into a section of your own website, that section of your website will continually display the latest blog posts you’ve written on Active Rain. The transfer is done automatically and you need to do nothing.

2. Why is it important?

RSS feeds provide constantly changing content to your website (or blog, social network profile, or wherever else you put it). This makes your site more search engine friendly, since that is one of the best ways to improve your ranking (new content). Providing fresh content to your site is also important to your visitors – with fresh and relevant content they are more likely to return often. The best part about an RSS Feed is that once you set it up it provides new content for you – you don’t have to do anything.

3. How do I set up an RSS Feed?

Here’s an illustrated example of how to put your ActiveRain RSS Feed into your website:

Step #1: On your blog page, in the lower portion of the right column, you’ll see this little button Click on yours. Go ahead, I’ll wait ;)

Step #2: When you click on it, a window will open that looks something like this:

This is your blog in the form of an RSS feed page. Next, copy the entire url from your browser’s address bar, like so:

Step #3: Paste the full url into the RSS portion of your website.

Each website is different, but I’ll use one of my own blog profile pages as an example, so you can see what it looks like. From the member menu area, I’ll click a link called “Add RSS Feed”. See below.

Once clicked, this will bring me to a screen where I’ll paste the RSS Feed url (that I copied earlier), title my RSS Feed and give it a short description. See below.

Once I submit the RSS Feed link, the information from that feed is now automatically transferred to my blog page. See below for a screenshot, or visit the blog profile to see it live.

That’s it – the WHAT, WHY, and HOW of RSS Feeds. Hope I explained it well enough, and I’d be happy to answer any other questions you have. Good luck!

SocialSpark - The Next Big Thing?

2008-04-18T15:57:41Z

By now I think we've all heard the deafening buzz about the importance of blogging, online social networking, and the like. We've all heard how important Web 2.0 is to the online success of our business, and most of us here on Active Rain are taking part in that effort (or at least starting to). But before we can even get caught up, there's something new, like SocialSpark.com.

This service, as far as I can tell, connects businesses and bloggers. There are two main components to the site:

1) Bloggers - they build a profile and can have others rate them on their previous work or experience (similar to LinkedIn profiles), and

2) Businesses/Services - they post their blogging needs on the site and have bloggers bid to write (market) about their brand or service.

For a lot of us this might seem impracticle, especially since we here in the AR community do our own blogging. But as a marketing consultant myself, I must confess that the concept is intriguing. The site is very aesthetically appealing and seems to be very professionally done. I wonder about the popularity it might gain among those who don't have the time or the natural talent to blog effectively? And I know that there's already a marketplace out there for blogging for profit, but nothing I've seen is quite this comprehensive.

I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions on this (I haven't actually tried it myself). Has anyone tried it or heard anything about it? What do you all think of the basic concept?

What Do You Have To Offer?

2008-04-13T18:23:21Z

We just started this group and want to get the idea juices flowing!

Do you provide or know of any services or tools to help those in the Real Estate industry flourish? If yes, then leave a comment, or better yet, submit it as a post to this group! We are hoping for some truly successful, original, cutting-edge, and creative ideas and services.

And don't be shy! Go ahead and post your service, tell us about your website, share how YOU can help us!

Our Goal here is to become a "one stop shop" for everyone in the industry to use for valuable and helpful information. The group's featured posts will be a reflection of reader feedback, ensuring that the most relevant and helpful information is on top. We hope for this group to become a rich resource of services that is constantly growing and presenting new features and ideas. A place for everyone in the real estate industry to be able to come stop by, and leave with some great and practicle services and tools to use for their business.

Does anyone out in the Active Rain world want to throw their service, tool, or idea into the ring? POST IT HERE!

>> Join the "Marketing Tools and Services for Real Estate" Group

BAM! The Emeril Lagasse of Blog World - Customize the Look of Your Posts!

2008-04-11T18:46:36Z

After my last post, so many of you asked me how to change the color and size of the font!

Comment after comment asked how to change the look of the font and how to add pictures. I tried to provide help by commenting back on the same post, but it seemed to get lost! I promised to write a follow-up tutorial explaining some basic HTML, so others would be able to control the look of their posts. As I started writing the tutorial, it struck me...

Who really has time to learn HTML? And it's actually kind of boring stuff. How can I make it easier and less complicated?

In answer to the first question: no one. No one (at least not in this industry) really has extra hours of time just laying around for them to use as they wish. So instead of trying to explain some wierd computer language, I'll provide you all with an easy tool that you can use without having to learn anything new.

So, without further ado...

Here's an editor that anyone can use to add some flare to their blog. It's free, there's no sign up required, and no downloading any software. Just visit the page, and use the editor anytime you wish, compliments of ClassifiedFlyerAds.com (thank Misty for creating it - she's pretty much a genius if you ask me). I created this entire blog post using the editor. Just click here to BAM! your blog. Hint: be sure to read the part in the yellow highlighted box!

Hope this helps! Here's a sneak peek of what it looks like:

Our Member of the Month - Tina Merritt

2008-04-10T16:22:40Z

Tina Merritt - You Go Girl!

I thought it was very cool that an Active Rain member got
featured in our company's newsletter! So, I've just posted this
little blog to give props to Tina and say congratulations!

Here's the snippet:

We get very excited when we see our members take full advantage of our services. So excited in fact, that we've decided to start a "Member of the Month" feature in our monthly newsletters, which will highlight a different member each time that we feel really "get it". They've uncovered the other jewels here beyond just online flyer syndication, and use it to their advantage.

This month, we are proud to announce our first recipient of this honor - Tina Merritt! If you take a look at her blog page, it's not hard to see why we chose her. Tina has her blog profile page completely filled out with a map, links to her other sites and blogs, RSS feed, blog posts, and listings. She has also taken advantage of many of our other essential services such as, video tours, page one placement SEO, and Click-to-Call. In addition to being featured in the newsletter, Tina will be featured on our website and receive one month of her subscription at no cost.

Congratulations Tina, and here's to your continued success with ClassifiedFlyerAds.com!

>You can see the actual newsletter here.

So If you stumble upon this blog post, please stop by

and give Tina a thumbs up, high five, pat on the back,

comment on her blog or any other way you want to say Congrats!

How NOT to Post a Blog

2008-04-08T11:49:45Z

NOTE: PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOW-UP TO THIS POST TO FIND OUT HOW TO CHANGE FONT STYLE, COLOR, SIZE, ETC. IN YOUR BLOG POST!

Which of the examples below is more readable? They both contain the exact same copy (words), but are done in different styles. (You may want to save your eyes & skip to the second example, but I'll leave that up to you).

Example #1

Run-of-the-Mill Post Title

I really hope everyone reads this entire thing beginning to end, because the information I've shared here is so important and necessary to those in my niche - it could really help them out. Either I'm very knowledgable on this subject, and have lots of information that could be helpful to others, or I have a funny/touching/frustrating story to tell that others could relate to, or I have to share a rant that I just can't hold in any longer. I'm thinking that if I just put it all here in my blog in no particular order, style, or fashion, that others will be unphazed by the huge block of uninterupted text and be interested enough to keep reading, even though I started with a cliche and/or un-interesting title and opening sentence. I'm hoping that, even though I use super small font size, give no visual breaks in the copy, include no images, links, bold text, bullet points, or anything else that might give my reader a break, they will realize the importance of my blog outright; perhaps by way of telekinesis. I haven't tagged it or used any important key words anywhere in the content, but I figure that readers will find my blog on their own, magically. I'm aware that this post seems a bit long, even though it really isn't, and that it's probably due to the fact that I just keep writing on and on and on and on without stopping to breathe or start a new paragraph. But, instead of doing anything that might help my readers take this post in with a bit more ease, understanding, and enjoyment, I think I'll just keep it as-is, for fun. I'm probably not thinking about the fact that these people are reading things all day long, and that I actually have to compete for their attention. I'm also a little unaware of the fact that my readers are very busy people with several things on their list to complete befor the end of the day, or even the hour. If I kept this in mind when writing my important blog, maybe I would break it up a bit with spaces or pictures or something so it would be more enticing. Oh well, maybe next time.

Example #2

Catchy Title

I really hope everyone reads this entire thing beginning to end, because the information I've shared here is so important and necessary to those in my niche - it could really help them out.

Either:
1) I'm very knowledgable on this subject, and have lots of information that could be helpful to others, or

2) I have a funny/touching/frustrating story to tell that others could relate to, or

3) I have to share a rant that I just can't hold in any longer.

I'm thinking that if I just put it all here in my blog in no particular order, style, or fashion, that others will be unphazed by the huge block of uninterupted text and be interested enough to keep reading, even though I started with a cliche and/or un-interesting title and opening sentence.

I'm also hoping that, even though I use super small font size, give no visual breaks in the copy, include no images, links, bold text, bullet points, or anything else that might give my reader a break, they will realize the importance of my blog outright; perhaps by way of telekinesis.

I haven't tagged it or used any important key words anywhere in the content, but I figure that readers will find my blog on their own, magically. I'm also aware that this post seems a bit long, even though it really isn't, and that it's probably due to the fact that I just keep writing ON and ON and ON and ON without stopping to breathe or start a new paragraph.

But, instead of doing anything that might help my readers take this post in with a bit more ease, understanding, and enjoyment, I think I'll just keep it as-is, for fun. I'm probably not thinking about the fact that these people are reading things all day long, and that I actually have to compete for their attention. I'm also a little unaware of the fact that my readers are very busy people with several things on their list to complete befor the end of the day, or even the hour.

If I kept this in mind when writing my important blog, maybe I would break it up a bit with spaces or pictures or something so it would be more enticing.

Oh well, maybe next time.

~~Okay, so what's the moral of this story? Woops~~... Okay, so what's the moral of this story? Whatever it is you have to say, no matter how interesting, must look like it's interesting in order for most people to read it.

Here are some other examples I like:

Flip Video - Flop Video
Free Calculator Widgets
Monday Morning Gifts
The What and Why of Twitter
Blogger Startup Kit

I know the old saying goes,

"Don't judge a book by it's

cover", but, aren't the books

with the most interesting covers

the one's that you notice first?

C'mon Raindrops!

2008-04-03T18:18:53Z

From what I can see, there are less than 25 entries into the Active Rain Video Contest (which is 5 more than yesterday - yay!). As I write this, there are 81,588 (which is 99 more than yesterday - yay again!) members on AR... and only 25 entries? Really?!??

There are some very nice, funny, clever, and downright awesome videos entered so far, but there's lots of room for more, don't you think?

We just submitted our entry today, and it was our first video attempt ever! So if you think you can't do it, believe me, you can! Ours is pretty silly, but we had a lot of fun doing it, and now at least we know how. It's not too late to start (deadline for entries is Friday - that's today - at midnight). I'd love to see more videos before it's all over (they're fun to watch)!

Hopefully there's just a lot of procrastinators waiting 'til the last minute...

Oh yeah, and don't forget about the prizes:

1st Prize - 1 ticket to the Day with Seth Godin event in New York City (the proceeds from our ticket purchase have already been donated to The Acumen Fund) - Round trip airfare to NYC (For one person, $500 maximum) - Hotel accommodations for two nights.
2nd and 3rd Prize - A free video flip camera

So, c'mon raindrops, let's get active!

Real Estate Internet Marketing - Our Contest Submission!

2008-04-03T15:12:36Z

Wow! We've been wanting to get into the video craze for a while now, and this AR contest seemed like the perfect opportunity to get our feet wet. It was actually a very fun experience, and much more work than we initially anticipated :) So without further ado, here's our contest submission:

Please let us know what you think. Any feedback is appreciated, especially since this was our first shot (I'm sure we have a lot to learn). A post of outtakes is coming soon...

Thanks in advance for any comments!

How To Add an Automated CALL ME Button to Your ActiveRain Blog (Widget)

2008-03-21T20:06:47Z

This is a cool widget that you can add to your blog page (or anywhere) for free. It allows anyone to click the button on your page, which sends an instant text message to your cell phone with their contact information. It's a great tool to track where leads are coming from. Here's a quick step-by-step guide:

Step #1: Sign up for free at ClassifiedFlyerAds.com. It's literally a 2-step process and takes less than 5 minutes.

Step #2: Setup your Click-to-Call settings on your profile (choose 'Edit Profile' from left menu bar). Here's where you'll enter the cell phone number you want your Click-to-Call button to call. You'll also need to choose your cell phone provider from the drop down menu (be sure to click the 'Submit' button at the bottom!)

Step #3: Choose your button style. There's 6 different colors:

You'll want to enter a short name for the page you'll place your button on (ie. ActiveRain, My Website Homepage, My Listing Flyer #2, etc.). This description will show up in the text message when someone clicks your button, so you'll be able to see where your getting traffic from.

Step #4: Copy the html code into your blog, website, flyer, or anywhere you want your clients to have access to it. For ActiveRain, go to your 'Settings' area and paste the html right into the 'Blog Description' box. Be sure to press the 'Update' button, and voila!, you're done.

This is a neat and easy little widget that you can post to any of your blogs, listings, or websites. A visitor just clicks the button and a text message is automatically sent to your cell phone with the visitors name and phone number, as well as the page or site the visitor is coming from.

Try this one out below to send me an instant message!

Was It Worth Your Time?

2008-03-13T12:08:30Z

And will it be worth mine? If you read my last post, you know I am a "newbie" here on AR. Here's the thing - I'm also new to the whole blogging and online social networking thing in general. I realize that to make it work, you've got to be active and participate (duh).

So I created a profile the other day on MyBlogLog, and once I started making my way through the profile creation process, I realized how far behind I was! There's an exhaustive list of ~~platforms~~ ~~blogs~~ ~~sites~~ argh, whatever they're called, that I'm instructed to fill in to "acheive profile zen". Even though it seems daunting, something tells me that this will be beneficial to building my online presence. Plus, all of those blank spots make me nervous, and besides, I really want to get my profile zenned out.

So if you're as lost as I am you can stop reading now.

But, if you have any insight into which of these would be worth my time, please help a girl out! Here's the list:

Bebo
Blogger
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Flickr
FriendFeed
Friendster
Jaiku
Jumpcut
Kiva
Last.fm
LinkedIn
LiveJournal
Multiply
MySpace
OpenID
Pownce
SecondLife
Shelfari
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Textamerica
30Boxes
Trulia
Tumblr
Twitter
TypeKey
Upcoming
Wakoopa
Wink
Yelp
YouTube
Zillow
Zorpia

Whew! That's all of them (in alphabetical order). Some I've signed up for already, some seem like an obvious waste of professional time, and some I have no idea about. So please, if you are even a little bit blog, internet, or tech savvy, help me out!

Why Is It So Intimidating To Write Your First Blog?

2008-03-10T17:44:44Z

Okay, so I signed up on ActiveRain almost one full week ago after an invite from my employer. After less than a day of reading posts from others in the community, I realized that it's important to actually submit a post. There is so much written about the importance of posting to your blog and submitting comments, along with a fair share of frustration over the many users who sign up but never post. So needless to say, I knew I'd better get writing or wind up on the wayside. And since I've never been one to really like the view from the wayside (and since my boss is pretty good at the skill of prodding), I've finally mustered the courage to write my first blog here on ActiveRain.

But why the heck was it so intimidating?!

I mean, it's just writing, and chances are no one's really going to read your first blog anyway, right? I might understand my fear a bit more if I didn't know how to write well, and while I'm definitely no Keats, I can string a sentence together with some decency. So no, that wasn't it.

Maybe it was the fact that I felt I didn't have much useful to write about? I mean, there is an overwhelming amount of information, tips, and anecdotes already on ActiveRain that it's hard to see how I, a newbie, could contribute anything that others haven't already read about? But nonetheless, I did have ideas in my little head... lots of them, and I just knew it would be great once I got started. So no, that wasn't it either.

So maybe it was the whole fear of rejection thing. You know, once I did finally submit my first post, everyone would tear into it like wolves and leave the scraps at my door, saying how useless and unoriginal it all was. But ever since I got over the whole "obsessing over what others think of you" stage in junior high school, that's never really been an issue for me. So geez, that's not it either!

So today, even though I still haven't figured out why it's intimidating to write that first post on ActiveRain, I did it. I thought to myself, "Candis, maybe you should stop contemplating the deep reaches of the unanswerable question "why?" and just do it"! I guess the Nike people had it right all along (and I have the tendency to overanalyze things anyway).

So this is it. Please be kind.