While many of you were close, no one was able to correctly guess the outcome of the game AND the final score of the game.
So, rather than just welch out and not award a prize, I placed all the eligible contest entrant's names into a hat and randomly picked a winner.
Drum roll please.......
The winner of the 1st Annual Craig Rutman Guess the Super Bowl Winner AND the Correct Score Contest is....... Mary Douglas of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado!
As if that wasn't enough, and lord knows it should be, you've also won an all expense paid trip for two to Pig's Knuckle, Arkansas!
Congratulations Mary Douglas!
Mary Douglas photographed just moments after hearing the news of her victory! Look how happy she is folks!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Super Bowl Sunday - Make a Prediction - Win a Prize!
Today is Super Bowl Sunday. It's practically a national holiday here in the United States. And I'll be observing it with a no work, no shave kind of day! Unless, of course, one of my buyers wants to write an offer or one of my listings receives an offer!
But other than that, I've cleared my schedule to imbibe engage in all the festivities of the Super Bowl!
OK my dear readers here's the deal. The rules to this contest are really simple. Pick the winner AND the correct score of today's championship game between the New Orleans Saints and, my favorite team, the New York Jets Indianapolis Colts.
Just post your predictions in the comments section, and on Monday morning after the game, I'll pick the winner. All predictions MUST be posted prior to the kickoff of today's game. As an added incentive, I'll post a blog with the winner's happy face prominently plastered on it!
Well that seems simple enough Craig! So what's the prize?
I'm glad you asked! The prize will be a sealed copy of my brother's CD, The Mitch Rutman Group.
Craig, that just seems like shameless promotion for your brother.
Right you are my friends! But truth be told, the music is really quite good, was produced by, and features, 3 time Grammy Award winning saxophonist, Jeff Coffin, and, it's free to the winner!
In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen by a random drawing held under the strictest security and witnessed by no less than the amount of people who are currently on the television show I'm watching at the time!
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Bob Marley, musician, singer and songwriter, was born on this day in 1945 in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. Founder of the most famous reggae band ever, the Wailers, Bob Marley was a huge proponent of peace and love among all racial lines; something that was consistently reflected in the lyrics of his music.
In 2001 Marley was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
As a freshman in college in 1980, I went to see Bob Marley and the Wailers at Madison Square Garden. It was not only a great concert, it was a lesson in peace, love and equality.
Sadly, it was one of his last U.S. shows. Marley passed out while jogging in Central Park shortly after those Madison Square Garden shows. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered a melanoma had spread throughout his body. After 8 months of treatment, his condition worsened and Bob Marley died at the age of 36.
Today I celebrate the life and music of Bob Marley. Please join me and enjoy this video of Bob Marley and the Wailers as they perform one of their classic songs, Lively Up Yourself.
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Watch What You Post Online...Or It May Be Misinterpreted!
Everything you post online these days is subject to the scrutiny of the masses. You have something important to say. Say it properly or it can be misinterpreted.
As a fervent lover of the English language, I often chuckle at some of the grammatical errors I see in blog posts, Twitter feeds and even in the newspaper.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the incredible amount of misspellings I come across on MLS listings and the flyers some agents put in the homes I take my buyers to!
There is a very handy tool called the spell checker on most document creation programs, and there is even a grammar checker too! Use them! There is no excuse not to!
Here is an example why the proper use of grammar and punctuation is a good thing... and won't lead to your message being misinterpreted!
(This post has been spell and grammar checked
to insure that my message won't be misinterpreted!!!)
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday Would You like Cream or Sugar With That, Ma'am?
A group of artists, in Sydney, Australia, along with 3,604 cups of coffee, and a lot of dedication, put their heads together and came up with this giant Mona Lisa. The shading was achieved with varying amounts of milk in each cup.
An example like this just goes to show that if you have the desire and the dedication, and you're all hopped up on caffeine, you can achieve almost anything!!!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Well folks, it appears that Punxsutawney Phil has made his annual forecast....and the news isn't good for those of us who are looking forward to an early Spring.
Apparently, groundhog Phil, in the presence of approximately 12,000 loonies people, saw his shadow today, signifying that there will be six more weeks of Winter to deal with.
Of course, if you live in Alaska, you don't celebrate Groundhog Day, or worry about the Spring for that matter, as former Governor Sarah Palinsigned into law that February 2nd is Marmot Day!
Marmots for those of you who thought you weren't going to learn anything new today, are ground squirrels native to Alaska. Since there are no groundhogs there, marmots have taken center stage every February 2nd!
Personally, I don't rely on rodents for my weather predictions. I prefer to consult the all knowing, all seeing, Magic 8 Ball for prognostications of this sort....... and for all my major decisions!
But if you're going to rely on a rodent, or the Magic 8-Ball to choose a Realtor to help you buy or sell a home, you might as well just pick a name out of the phone book. Hey, how bad a decision could that be? I mean, after all, Punxsutawney Phil gets it right about 30% of the time!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Yes folks, it's true. We really do get some occasional snow here in the Raleigh/ Cary/ Apex area. In fact, in an average year we get about 7" of the white stuff. However, for the past few years, we've had no snow accumulation at all. Sure we had a dusting here and there, enough to close our award winning schools or cause delayed openings, but certainly not enough to go sledding or even make a snowman!
But tonight, beginning around midnight, and lasting all day Saturday, the Raleigh/ Cary/ Apex area is scheduled to be blasted with a real live winter snow storm! Predictions have us getting anywhere from 5"-10" of snow! The grocery store parking lots were packed; the home improvement stores were buzzing with folks buying up sand and de-icing pellets; and, after taking out some high ticket home buyers today, I'm sitting home just waiting for the storm!
If the roads are safe, I'll be out tomorrow taking pictures to share with everyone....right after I make a snowman and get in some sleigh riding of course!
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Well my technologically challenged friend, a widget is a small application that can be embedded into your blog or website page to make it more visually appealing. There are millions of these fun little widgets available on the web, and most of them are free! They come in all shapes and sizes and have many different uses.
If you look over to the right hand side of my blog, you can see that I've installed a "recent visitors", a "local information" and a "V-Flyer" widget to my sidebar. Although there are many websites out there, Widgetbox is a great place to start when looking for widgets for your blog.
OK, Craig, I like them! But how do I embed a widget into MY blog?
I'm glad you asked! This little tutorial will guide you through the whole process. You can thank me later!!!
Time Required: 5 minutes Technical Skills Required: If you can turn on your computer, you're 1/2 way there. Cursing Factor: 1 or 2. But only if you stub your toe in the process of following this tutorial. Amount of Alcohol Required: Probably none. But have some handy just in case!!!
For starters, go to Widgetbox and find a widget you'd like to add to your blog. For the purpose of this tutorial I chose a simple clock to install. But don't worry, mostly all widgets install the same way.
Click on the clock to get to the page that has the widget code. I'll wait....
OK, ready? Here we go.
On the right side of the page that opened, customize the colors, etc. Leave the width and height as they are for now. You can always change them later.
Once you have the look you like, copy the code under the tab that's labeled MySpace.
Now, go to your ActiveRain home page.
Click on Settings.
In the box labeled "Blog Description" paste the code that you copied.
Click on Update.
Open your blog page and marvel at your newly installed widget, congratulate yourself for following the directions, never miss another appointment, and go find some more widgets to spice up your website or blog page!
Here's one that I tweaked a bunch so you could view it in this blog. I found it at Slide.com, and, as you can see, you can have some fun with widgets!
You can thank me now!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Twitter - Some Interesting Facts & Why You Should Be "Twittering"
While running around Cary and Apex, North Carolina with some very excited 1st time buyers today, I received an email from some company trying to sell me followers for my Twitter account. After hitting the delete button, and upon my return home, I decided to do a little research on Twitter...
First I went to Alexa.com, one of the best website ranking tools I've come across, to check out where Twitter ranks on the internet.
I discovered that Twitter is the 13th most visited website in the United States and 14th most visited site in the world. Over 600,000 web pages have a link to Twitter's home page, and there are approximately 17 million Twitter accounts!
But why Tweet? Is it worth it? Will it bring you any business?
At first I was reluctant to even join Twitter. My theory was that if a 12 year old can type in something like, "I made brownies today and they were delicious!", then it's probably not a very effective marketing tool. But I was wrong...
My thought process on the whole Twitter thing changed when some folks who read one of my Real Estate Tweets contacted me. I asked them what it was that caught their attention and they told me they were just searching around Twitter and one of my ActiveRain localism blogs drew them in! On ActiveRain they read some more of my posts and felt that I should be their Realtor.
In short, yes, Twitter can bring you business! If you don't have a Twitter account, get one. If you do have an account, Tweet daily. You just never know where your next client will come from! Twitter is an excellent way to drive traffic to your website through the networking connections you'll make. Its simplicity makes it easy to post messages to, and there are dozens of free applications available to enhance your Twitter experience.
Below is a chart I made depicting the average age of a Twitter user. Although the average is still quite young, this demographic uses Twitter as a means to connect. Why not give them the opportunity to connect with you? After all, they will be buying a home someday.
This next chart shows that less than 15% of Twitter users Tweet on a daily basis. Why not be among the 85% who do?
By the way, I'd love it if you followed me on Twitter...AND subscribed to my blog! For those of you who already follow me or are already subscribed to my blog...Thank you!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
OK folks, now that the greatest team of all time, and, not to mention, my favorite team, the New York Jets Indianapolis Colts is heading to the Super Bowl, I need your help in getting me there!
So here's the game plan....
For a mere $72,320 for a fully catered suite for eight in Miami's Land Shark Stadium, I can go to the Super Bowl!!!
Now, the way I figure it, if everyone of the currently 171,928 members on ActiveRain each contributes $0.42 cents, I'm in! Naturally I'll need hotel, meals and air fare too. Oh, and a little extra for entertainment. But we can work that out later!
I know it's been a tough year, and I completely understand if you can't come up with the money right now. So, I've decided that the top seven contributors to the "Get Craig to the Super Bowl" fund, will be awarded by being my guest in the suite! And, as an added bonus, to the top contributor, I will wear a t-shirt bearing the logo of your Real Estate business. Of course I'll have to put my Peyton Manning Jersey on top of it, but think of the pride you'll have knowing I'm helping to promote your business!!!
You can make your checks out to the "Get Craig to the Super Bowl" fund. Or, as an added convenience, I've included this handy PayPal link for you to make your contribution.
See you at the game!
Let's go
Jets
Colts!
About The Author
Craig Rutman is a North Carolina Residential Real EstateSpecialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Raleigh - Cary – Apex metro areas; or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.
To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.justnchomes.com
Call me TODAY at 919-349-9530
Email me with your Raleigh - Cary – Apex area questions
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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