The Mind Of Minion needs a virtual home to park some visual art. Here it is, our new Team Blog: CyberMinions.net. This venture in comic relief is brought to you by the ActiveRain Groups Club Chaos and the AR Cartoon Network. Mind you now, it wont be up and running for at least 24 hours because I have to finish the basic premise and populate that puppy with some original content. There are two posts over there, this being the third. By the time the Ladies of the Rain log in, who knows how many posts will be over there by the week end. :-)

Laraine and Michelle are the editors. You may want to let them know since I haven't told them yet (LMAO). Poor babies. They had no idea what they were getting into when I started playing in my sketchbook with Ms. Viggiano. You are really going to have to read the comment sections because the conversation is a hoot and the pages of my sketchbook are being embed there one response at a time. It's time to release another page (LOL). I've been delaying because I realized all that work is going to need a virtual home. We are going to be playing artistic games for a while so it's only fair to warn you we have plans for you... so consider yourself warned... ;-)

BTW, I do recall threatening to videoblog. I guess this puts me one step closer to that particular bit of mischief... Hmm... I may have to start filming those Skype par-tays you guys have been hearing about. Little Minion TV may also be moving in as well (LOL). Can't leave the PDD-NOS Autism shorties out. Step by Step and Global Play may be unofficially joining the group. I love intellectually drop dead gorgeous minds and would be remiss in my minion duties if I didn't high-jack Stella Yukhan and Susana Isakharova for interviews. Smart and funny gets me going every single time. Mangigly the I-talian once stated that people count on my misbehaving. Hmm... now there's a thought that needs to be explored in more depth (LMAO). We may have to do another sleep over at Susan Mangigian's house. She's a wonderful hostess and threw the best Skype par-tay I have ever attended with Sheldon Neal and Melody Botting. If I were to ever film one of those I would want Mangiggly live and hosting that puppy. Seriouly!!! (LOL)

Needless to say we have some very interesting playtime plans for the Summer regarding several anticipated events. I have a tremendous amount of digital film that needs editing and lots of new ideas brewing. The OBMR is turning into a quarterly magazine. Dung Fly Pie is about to become part of a real estate comic book created by the communal writing efforts of Laraine Shape, Michelle Viggiano, Toni Rae and Carolyn Tann-Starr. Contact Laraine directly if you want one of her limited edition Dung Fly Pie calendars. How cool are they? Very! I am watching my mailbox for one right now. I may have to frame it (LOL). I love their stuff...

I may be tapping other talent as we roll along. So many blogs, so much material ripe for illustration... I'm betting that as you have fun with us you'll come up with your own original content to spice up your outside blogs. There's more to real estate than writing market reports, people. We aim to prove even a market report can be full if illustrated improperly (that was not a typo - LMAO). ;-)

We may be expanding into other areas with a little help from our friends. Did I mention I like to draw? It's part of my eye candy addiction. You never know what you're going to get with me until I decide to do it. Sometimes, I even do what other people want. That's what makes being an artist who happens to sell real estate so much fun.

The Lovely Wife will have a very interesting collection along with Broker Bryant. First I have to finish the Jeanette Neerpat and Michelle Viggiano collections. Every writer gets their own theme... I am simply responding to a little blog banter. They certainly know how to keep me interested with the things they say. I bet the TLW/BB fans are dying to know what we're doing. You'll find out once we decide to show you and we will. Anticipation is a beautiful thing so there is a whole bunch that is going on that I simply am going to fail to mention at this time (LOL). :-)

I do have reasonable cause to believe that Toni and I will have a lot to illustrate over the coming months... I may also be begging Paul Slaybaugh and Andrew J Lenza to jump into the writing fray. When it comes to cartoons, I prefer drawing because its so much fun. Can I write? Sure, but do you really want me to? Think about it... I've been known for saying all kinds of stuff, am a bit quirky and soooooo easily amused (LOL).

It makes more sense for others to write. How could I not pick the brains of some of my fave writers? How can I not poke fun at life and real estate? It is almost time for me to go so I will do the Wordy C disclaimer on a follow-up post. For now, just remember we Ladies of the Rain are capable of producing just about anything we can imagine... BTW, we have very vivid imaginations... so be careful what you ask for because my counterparts and I may give it to you in spades.

Laraine gave me permission to start the Dung Fly Friday ball rolling with "Flyroid." Enjoy, but don't touch. Snagging pictures is a copyright violation and will trigger a serious Lenn Harley style response. We consider our work our virtual babies and will hunt down anyone who kidnaps or tries to exploit our virtual children. This is their home. They live here. Only we get to take them out to play in the merchandising and licensing arenas of our choice.

Everyone retains and reserves their own copyrights so if you need to contact the individual writers and artists regarding a work, please feel free to do so. :-)

Michelle Viggiano   Laraine Shape   Carolyn Tann-Starr

ClubChaosAgents.com   Outside Blog Minion Report

OBMR Facebook Fan Page

So, what do you get when you add 1 House Hag, a Real Estate Dog and a Dung Fly? The ActiveRain Cartoon Network's favorite cartoon artist and writing team of Laraine Shape and Toni Rae.

What do you get when you add the incomparable Toni Rae to 3 Rainmakers who love 1 House Hag, a Real Estate Dog and a Dung Fly? A brand new real estate comic book with a quirky, wickedly delicious sense of humor. Laraine and Michelle are stellar writers. Toni Rae and C Tann love to draw... Mix in a little George Hartman and you have a book waiting to be born.

Can you really imagine what would happen if Michelle Viggiano and C Tann-Starr hooked up with Laraine Shape and Toni Rae? Flyroid is pretty mild compared to what's coming next (LOL). Stay tuned for the George Hartman, House Hag, Ralph the Dog and Maggie interviews on the subject.

The Outside Minion Blog Report may never be the same again. It has a new home: CyberMinions.net (coming to a Team Blog near you in 48 hours...) ;-)

http://agentgenius.com/real-estate-technology-new-media/real-estate-search-google-to-punk-your-local-mls-is-it-possible/

"Hello Realtor.com! Can you say “first comprehensive national MLS”? Google can." With a quote like that how can you not read AgentGenius.com? (LOL) I love AgentGenius.com. I've said it before and I will say it again: must read, must read, must read (LMAO).

It really is a great article. Seriously... ;-)

Life With Wee People: First Day of Summer School for the Little Minions was Mad Fun

Spent $190 in the Toys R Us back to school sale. Stephen was a pip to shop with. Dude was claiming backpacks, lunchboxes, movies (LOL). "I want that one," could be heard from one end of the warehouse to the other. Of course when I pulled out the Nikon dude clammed up like he was hiding state secrets. Contrary little bugger. Minions. Gotta love 'em. ;-)

The Mommy Conference is always my favorite part (LOL). That's the part of the show when we get back together in the afternoon wondering where the hell our children are between spoofing on how our day is going. My day went well (except for the friggin' bee sting on the right side of my face because Mr. Bumble decided he wanted to live in my hair - WTF?)

Wonder what tomorrow will bring... Stay tuned for the continuing saga of life with wee people (LOL). It's Summer time. We go out every day when the weather is nice. BTW, got a birthday party coming up. I hope my face stops burning soon so I can attend this family event. People keep offering to pee on me. Does that work or are they trying to tell me something? Maybe I should go now because the cartoons in my head are starting to have a field day with this (ROTFL).

OMG - it still hurts when I laugh. That is sooo not right. Got a remedy? Share please... Seriously. ;-)

My friend Lenn was kind enough to make this post available for a re-blog. :-)

Chris Elizabeth Griffith: Effort To Protect Consumer From Bad Appraisal Creates Havoc

Originally published 4:01 p.m., Friday, July 3, 2009 Updated 4:01 p.m., Friday, July 3, 2009

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jul/03/chris-griffith-effort-protect-consumer-bad-apprais/

I love this link. It takes you to a very interesting article written by Chris Elizabeth Griffith, one of my favorite writers. (BTW, if you are on Facebook you can join her fan page here. ) She talked about the fact that the communication with appraisers is done strictly with the lender-bank though an “appraisal management company.”

Want to know what whomps about this particular scheme cooked up by the government that is backfiring big time for consumers? Cick the above link. Bet you learn something new today (LOL).

I wonder if you are going to be as pissed off as I am about this? Seriously... It's a brief but good read. Something needs to be done about this now.

Outside Blog Minion Report:

Search Engine and Social Media Optimization

ClubChaosAgents.com     TannStarr.com   Outside Blog Minion Report    OBMR FB Business Fan Page

Social Media Optimization is the name of the game. If you want to play, you have to do something remarkable to engage your audience while working within the confines of the community rules of your social platform(s).

People only talk about what makes an impression on them. How is your blog affecting your readership and what does the aggregate of your collective social media accounts say about you? ActiveRain, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter... it doesn't matter which platforms you choose to use, what matters is what you do with them. You can do anything you can imagine if you put your mind to it. If you stop short of obtaining your goal it is because you have decided to do it and you should not blame someone else when you have given up and moved on.

There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. Seriously. I do that all the time between serial comments (LOL). Recently, I decided that I am going to grow my network while helping my friends improve their statistics as well. After all, who wouldn't want to improve their life if they could? Realtors do more than sell, sell, sell (LOL). We have dreams, hang out and socialize just like you do and worry about the future of the economy, the price of gas and if our wee people will want to go to college when they grow up. Hang around with the ActiveRain group Club Chaos and you may discover we have mad fun doing our jobs when we are not having blog post therapy, transversing the web, being transparent with our grief (members only post), mini-ranting or being an Uber Cool Professional.

Socialization always makes life more interesting. Some professionals don't believe in the power of blogging, but I do and I want to go one step further and harness that virtual power to maximize my efficiency regarding working smarter rather than harder. What's the point of search engine optimization if a writer neglects  social media optimization? Duh? Now there's a virtual oxymoron for ya' (LOL). We are soooo having that conversation during Wordy C SEO Bootcamp. First on the agenda: Viral Marketing.

Viral Marketing is what I playfully do in the ActiveRain group Club Chaos. According to Wikipedia, "Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, on-line communities and community websites. Methods of SMO include adding RSS feeds, social news buttons, blogging, and incorporating third-party community functionalities like images and videos. Social media optimization is related to search engine marketing, but differs in several ways, primarily the focus on driving traffic from sources other than search engines, though improved search ranking is also a benefit of successful SMO." Social media optimization includes Viral Marketing where word of mouth is created "through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites." You can read the entire article here. The links are brief, direct and to the point.

Brief, direct and to the point may work well for me today. Our social media experiment continues and we need more Facebook business fans to prove that word of mouth is a viable bloggers option when writers initiate a call for action.The cool thing about this particular call to action is that the results are measurable. (1) we know ours views, (2) we know our clicks, (3) we see the business fan page subscriptions rising, (4) readers are free to choose to fan everyone up indiscriminately or fan the work of writers they'd like to keep track of, (5) the trends clearly indicate the readers are spending more time auditing our blogs and selecting individuals who make an impression on them, (6) people have un-fanned writers after spending more time there and realizing fanning people indiscriminately to trade links is not a viable option.The cool thing about number 6 is I have received some very interesting e-mail about reversing associations and un-fanning people.

The feedback on this project has been tremendous. I am thankful  for everyone who has participated so far and ask that you continue to pay it forward by sharing this project with your friends, family and readers. Feel free to link back if you like. We are trying to build our network of blogs and discover who has been supporting us. We're also playing a social media game, experimenting with harnessing the power of the Internet regarding the virtual marriage of Search Engine and Social Media Optimization. My goal is to prove a point and win a social media bet. I have an agenda and make no bones about it (LOL). ;-)

So far 26.92% of the pages selected are currently over 200 members. We need 51% (or more) to prove our point. I will be very busy working on several virtual campaigns today and certainly could use a little help from my friends. We want to be fanned up by dinner time. The final tally will be updated then and the marketing results published. :-)

Last Wiki quote: "The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create Viral Messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being passed along." I need you, the reader, to go to this post, check out the links for the Facebook business fan pages listed and click on their "info" tabs to select their websites/blogs to see if you'd like what we write and may want to subscribe to someone new or just show some moral support for people working hard in this recession AND PASS THOSE LINKS ALONG.:-)

BTW, writers love feedback and comments. I am looking forward to hearing from you and finding out who you fanned up. We are monitoring 52 businesses and their blogs. We check the stats every couple of hours. We're running down the clock on this project so I need you to act now. :-)

Go check out my list of Facebook peeps. You just may discover that you'd like to subscribe to someone you've been reading a while, bookmarked, have RSS feeds on 'em, but never gave them the acknowledgment that you really do enjoy their work. Sometimes something as simple as a friendly hello will keep us revved up and writing. Wanna make a bunch of bloggers happy today? Fan us. Lets us know you're out there in a different, more personal way and not just some random view stat in my daily analytics. :-) 

Hey Rainers: Come Out And Play In Our Social Media Facebook Games! It's a lot more fun than you think and you may discover some stellar writers. ;-)

Club Chaos is having a field day reviewing business fan pages to subscribe to. How could we not extend an invitation to more Rainers and the Public to participate? The guys have been flipping quotes and acting very silly regarding my social media bet by teasing, "How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." or not. This bit of nonsense has been dominating my e-mail (LOL).

In case you are wondering what is going on, you can get yourselves up to speed here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1134555/random-seo-musings-and-other-activerain-facebook-and-google-trivia and here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1137816/i-just-made-an-extraordinary-seo-bet-so-don-t-prove-me-wrong-

Blogging can be a lot of fun when you are promoting your favorite agendas, friends and business associates you admire. It can take some very interesting turns when you have an agenda. BTW, I have an agenda. Seriously! Go ahead. Click the above two links and find out what it is if you haven't already (LOL). ;-)

It's even more fun when you put your money where your blog is. I'm betting my virtual friends will come through before the deadline. I am even bringing our readers into the mix to boost up the Outside Blog Minion Report Facebook fan base and the Facebook fan base of all of the writers on my list. Its about being introduced to something new and participating with your blog writers. Sometimes we're quite serious. Other times very playful. I am kinda between both right now because I love playing on-line with my friends plus my tweet-peeps have been very responsive to the project. We've been cracking mad jokes in DMs and IMs. I have them checking out various websites and received some great advice regarding widgets and upgrades I may start using.

Social media experiments are always interesting. I am looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. This post is one of many I have enjoyed initiating and will probably cook up some new communal writing projects because I like David P. and what he has done. Seth Godin is very interesting as well. One could say I've been inspired (LMAO).

Seriously! I've been highly entertained with this one from Twitter. Go check it out. :-)

Feel free to also check out these writers and fan them if you like them. Don't forget to fan the Outside Blog Minion Report if you enjoy the writing. It's doing very well on Localism, ClubChaosAgents.com and in ActiveRain. We will appreciate your acknowledgment of our work and I hope you will take some time to visit our websites. There are some very interesting links within our virtual pages so check out our INFO. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised if you spend a little time exploring what we are about. Just because I am a Realtor doesn't mean I only write about real estate. As a matter of fact, I may shock you when you discover just how few market reports I post on-line. I'm usually spoofing on my kids and playfully high-jacking posts between working the market and being a creative artist.

A few virtual owners are brand new at building their business pages while others have been around for a while. I'm in the middle so I could use some advice as well. If you don't blog, are curious, would like to but don't know where to start, feel free to contact me and I'll help you get your bloggers butt launched into cyberspace with a little help from my friends (LOL). My friends are mad talented, which is why I made the social media bet and enjoy bragging about them. They help me all the time, so you have to give credit where credit is due. Need instant access? I'll be your tweet-peep. Go follow @CTannStarr in Twitter. :-)

Regardless of the length of time we've been writing, we all have one thing in common. That one thing in common is the realization that social media has got to be part of your business plan... You have no idea what you are missing out on if you ignore the opportunity to have fun while you share and express yourself during the marketing of your brand. Who ever said the two couldn't be effective and fun? Business does not have to be boring.  Puh-leeze! I am having a blast introducing you to some interesting writers and a whole lot of people did not make this list. I deliberately went after the ones who are talented but underexposed. After all, you can't make a social media bet without testing the social media waters (LOL). I will be updating the post from time to time because so many of you asked for the tally to see the progress of how effectively we are expanding our network of blogs. Feel free to create your own lists to share with the global community and create your own experiments to market the brands and issues of your choice. Kudos, congrats and introductions are always nice. Why not dive in and support your friends as well? :-)

The freedom to vote is a beautiful thing. It doesn't matter if it's an election, home owners association, or club. What matters is the freedom to choose, be heard and be counted.

While you are enjoying your 4th of July I hope you will take a moment out of your busy day to vote for a few people who have been working very hard in this recession. A subscriber always means a lot to a writer because that means an anonymous reader has decided that what we do is worth while enough for them to stick around and add us to their RSS feeds. A fan is even better. Fans interact with writers. Our subscribers and fans inspire us to share more, inspire us to want to write more interesting works for our readers so we can keep them coming back engaged and willing to comment. Writers that don't receive encouragement eventually write less, blog less, then fade away.

Wordy C is here to stay. She could use a little help with this bet. Can ya' help a blogger out? ;-)

For those of you who are new to Facebook, there are additional links to our blogs and professional websites available on our FB "info" tabs. Here's the current running tab of fans subscribed since we started playing the game. I will update the numbers again on Sunday, July 5th around 6:30 PM (just before dinner).

1. Derek Overbey Roost [ 375 fans ]

2. Ines Hegedus Garcia Miami Real Estate [ 259 fans ] and Miami Beach Real Estate [ 195 fans ]

3. Brad Coy San Francisco Real Estate [ 313 fans ]

4. Brad Nix Maxell Real Estate [ 158 fans ]

5. Jay Thompson Phoenix Real Estate Guy [ 180 fans ]

6. Roland Woodworth Clarksville Real Estate [ 36 fans ]

7. John Novak Las Vegas Real Estate [ 139 fans ] and Henderson Real Estate [ 117 fans ]

8. Ann Cummings Portsmouth NH Real Estate [ 186 fans ]

9. Cristal Drake Fullerton Real Estate [ 180 fans ]

10. Melina Tomson Burnham  [ 62 fans ]

11. Sheila & Kristin Moran Sisters That Sell [ 156 fans ]

12. Jo Soss Kitsap County Real Estate [ 40 fans ]

13. Missy Caulk Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk [ 312 fans ]

14. Kelley Koehler Housechick [ 186 fans ]

15. Jekyll Island [ 1,643 fans ]

16. Lizette Fitzpatrick Lizette Realty [ 58 fans ]

17. Amanda Durbin Hall DFWAgent [ 75 fans ]

18. Pam Westover Pugmire Dream Homes in Idaho [ 258 fans ]

19. Dee Milliron Nofziger The Danberry Co Realtors [ 108 fans ]

20. Josef Katz Trump University [ 1,280 fans ]

21. Robert Suarez Jr LuxProp.com [ 126 fans ]

22. Christine Donovan Donovan Blatt (new) [ 43 ] and Donovan Group Realty [ 45 fans ]

23. Cheryl Johnson Bob Taylor Properties, Inc [ 67 fans ]

24. Lane Bailey  Lilburn Dwellings [ 77 fans ] and Social Media Breakfast Atlanta [ 21 fans ]

25. Susan Milner Cape Coral Real Estate [ 184 fans ]

26. Jeannette Neerpat Broward County Review [ 67 fans ]

27. Sandra Bechir Cummings Connecticut Shoreline Real Estate [ 170 fans ]

28. Chris Elizabeth Griffith Bonita Springs Real Estate [ 116 fans ]

29. Lisa Heindel West Bank Living [ 316 fans ]

30. Mana Tulberg Ventura County Real Estate Talk [ 96 fans ]

31. Jan Evett Northwest Florida Beaches [ 189 fans ]

32. Adam Waldman Fandemonium (new group) [ 46 members ]

33. Inman News [ 913 fans ]

34. Jeremy Blanton Jeremy Blanton Consulting [ 181 fans ]

35. ActiveRain Corp [ 2,904 fans ]

36. Carolyn Tann-Starr Outside Blog Minion Report [ 57 fans ]

37. Ian S. Greenleigh DriveBuy Technologies [ 26 fans ]

38. Erica Ramus Schuylkill Real Estate [ 23 fans ]

39. Gina, Bob and Betty of The Serena Group [ 25 fans ]

40. Nicole Nicolay Business Pages How-To [ 415 fans ]

41. Chris Fisher StagersLIST.com Expo [ 36 fans ]

42. SarahGray Lamm NC Realtor [ 14 fans  ]

43. Shaun Rice The Ruby Slippers Team [ 85 fans ]

44. Julie Chapman Coastal Georgia Real Estate Chapman Realty [ 26 fans ]

45. Rita and Brian Burke Kenna Real Estate (new) [ 45 fans ]

46. Dan Chapman and Associates Atlanta Attorneys [ 5 fans ]

47. Jeff Belonger The FHA Expert [ 903 fans ]

48. Sheldon Neal Bergen County NJ Real Estate [ 8 fans ]

49. Margaret Rome (Rome page) [ 217 Friends ]

50. Jeani Thomas Richie EXIT Hill Country Realty [ 36 fans ]

51. Christine Bohn Gainsville Florida Real Estate [ 23 fans ]

52. Marilee Lovejoy Official Page [ 113 fans ] and Hope Inc [ 36 fans ]

My friend Richard was kind enough to make this post available for a re-blog. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." was a quote I learned as a wee people. I have always loved that partial quote and the rest is even better.