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This year in Georgia, I think the fall colors are better than ever! On a few of my morning walks, I tried to focus on nature and see the beauty! I decided some of those "natural wonders" would make up a nice little Wordless Wednesday post! So here goes...
Have you ever seen this many acorns/acorn caps on one little limb...ever?


This picture doesn't do justice to the fantastic brilliant red color of this maple tree!
I wear a Size 8.5-9 shoe... that's one BIG Oak leaf!!

This little leaf just caught my eye... looks like someone was trying to spray paint a peace sign on it! Or something like that

HAPPY FALL, YA'LL!!
You're Invited! 
Pull up a chair and Sit a spell!
Come on Down!
Its the 2nd annual Atlanta REbarCamp! (or is it the first annual, since the first one was the premiere / inaugural REBarCamp? ...I'm sure someone knows!)
Either way, some of the brightest minds in the Atlanta area are coming together on Friday, October 28th to share, learn, network and have a little fun!
This year we're meeting on the west side of town in Cobb County. (last year we were Downtown) And for those of you who have never been to Cobb County - our location is just around the corner from Atlanta's most famous landmark - the Big Chicken! (Yes, the big chicken. Only in the south!)
Go here and register - the fee covers facility rental and refreshments!
If you're not familiar with the area around the Big Chicken - take minute and watch the video directions! (compliments of Randy Barnes) Or you can copy and paste the actual link in your browser to watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfI7jMTF47o&feature=player_embedded
Wear comfortable clothes. Bring your iPad, netbook, laptop or a pad of paper, just don't forget your pen!
Plan to stay all day, half a day or as long as you want!
See you there on Friday!
The Holiday Season is right around the corner! And there are so many things happening... festival, plays, concerts, recitals, holiday home tours, Christmas Tree lightings... I could go on and on.
Every year, we collect all the local events happening in the Atlanta area and create a beautiful 2 month calendar. It's become a popular marketing piece for our local Atlanta clients. (And we hear their clients love receiving it!) 
It's a 2 month calendar that's filled with ideas and events for everyone - from families to teens to seniors. We feature all the traditional, regular advertised events like the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra or the Nutcracker Ballet at the Fox Theater. In addition, we also find wonderful events that are truly "hyper local" and ususally free!
Our graphics designer uses InDesign to create our calendar. But you could just as easily find a calendar on the Microsoft website and add your own events.
Or set up a jumbo postcard in Publisher! Find a beautiful photo to put on the front and float a text box over the photo with a list all of your favorite events! The hardest part will be narrowing down your list of favorites!
So give it a try! Create a local, custom Holiday Marketing piece and share it with your sphere and clients! If you're in the Atlanta area - please give us a call and check out our pricing for the Atlanta Happenings Calendar! 770.414.9393
Google – it’s one heck of a company with so many great ideas and products. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps, Calendar, Reader... the list goes on and on!
Did you know that Google has a Text Message "Search" feature? Even if you have a web browser on your smart phone, you might find Google's SMS search easier. For one, it's incredibly fast-- no clicking links and searching through results while you try to find your glasses! You use special keywords to get immediate access to information.
Here’s an example: text "weather 30329" to 466453 (GOOGLE) and instantly receive the current weather in Atlanta, along with a three day forecast. Cool! …or Hot! It works with any zip code.
Movie times, no problem! This little feature comes in handy when the gang says, “let’s catch a movie!” Just text "movies" plus the zip code for movie times in your area along with options to view more films, more theater times, addresses and phone numbers.
For the ‘directionally challenged’, who don’t have a GPS; you can get step-by-step driving directions in a text!! Simply text the word "directions [your start address] to [your destination address] I used this feature recently and it was spot on!
There are over 22 "hot search keywords" you can get your hands on information faster than searching via your browser and squinting to read! To see a demo along with all of the search features (and instructions on how to use them), check out the Google Mobile SMS page!
And of course, we have to use the disclaimer "don't text and drive" and “normal texting charges apply.” However we’re pretty sure most real estate professionals have unlimited texting or data plans today and that realtors are excellent drivers!
image source: wired.com
I've been noticing that more and more of my neighbors and friends are starting to compost or installing a Rain Barrel. Maybe it's a trend - maybe some folks fancy themselves as a suburban farmer. 
At my house, I have a garden! So it was a natural progression for me and my husband to start Composting and get a Rain Barrel. We started composting 5 years ago, because we have that famous Georgia red clay soil - and it needed some help!
Leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, potato and carrot peels, egg shells... you name it - we compost it! And what a difference it has made in our garden soil.
Then 3 years ago, we added a Rain Barrel. It's amazing how much water we collect during a 30 minute summer rainstorm! Having a rain barrel is a great way to water your planters throughout the summer without spending a lot of money on water.
When Georgia was experiencing a drought and there were strict water restrictions - our Rain Barrel saved the day for our garden!
So next time you're looking for a unique and "Green" closing gift for your suburban clients, this might be the ticket! For the DIY client, a Rain Barrel kit runs about $30 and Rain Barrels start at $100.
** Disclaimer: I'm not a tree-hugger or a "greenie", just doing my part to Conserve Water, ReCycle and ReUse!

As usual, Eleanor Thorne says it all! So it's just easier to Re-blog it!
You can bet I'll be working the 24 hour diet, bottle tan and makeup tricks for the Atlanta Virtual Rain Camp Meetup tomorrow!
Yes, it's tomorrow - Wednesday, September 7th - at Gordon Biersch in Buckhead! (not Midtown) Thom Abbott and Lynn Friedman got the party started, making arrangements to meet between 4:30-7:30PM.
The Virtual Rain Camp information is here. So mark your calendars, I look forward to meeting everyone IRL at Gordon Biersch!
*image courtesy of Gordon Biersch website Via Eleanor Thorne 919-649-5057 Cary Mortgage Loans NMLS #67179 (River Community Bank):
Next week Activerain is holding it's first Virtual Rain Camp - and with that event, they suggested local Ambassadors organize opportunities for the "Community" to meet IRL (in real life). So far, there are over 42 "Meet Ups," "Tweet ups," "Active Ups," Planned. The one here in the Triangle will be at a Local Winery, which I personally think will be cool.
Being a GIRL, I've obviously been thinking ahead about this opportunity to meet my fellow Rainers - I mean:
HOW AM I GOING TO LOSE 20 POUNDS IN 6 Days!?
So maybe nobody else has this feeling that their profile picture is WAAAAYYYY more flattering than they look IRL. It could just be me... I recently got my haircut, and I know I need a new profile picture - but if I change it NOW - then someone might recognize me when I go the the "Active UP" next week! (Can you hear the "Excuse-itise" creeping in?")
I was thinking last night that I could leave my picture like it is, and THEN I could just tell everybody that I'm NEW to Activerain! Then I woke up - and realized that because I've organized REBarCamp in our area for the last three years, a lot of the people here can already pick me out in a line up! LOL! Maybe the World's Fastest Diet isn't necessary, in order to go...then I started thinking, Oh No!
WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?
Since it's a VIRTUAL Rain Camp, it doesn't matter - I can just sit in front of my screen in my PJ's and my puppy, Lucky will curl up by my feet, and we'll be happy all day... but if I go to the ACTIVE UP, then I'll have to figure out what to wear! In reality, I'm bound to have ONE THING that won't look too bad... Right? I'm going to see people I interact with (for the most part) virtually. That means ANYTHING I wear could be new, and they wouldn't know!
Maybe I NEED a SPRAY TAN!
Oh wait, we did that at RETSO (Patty Keller, Debe Maxwell, Elizabeth Cooper Golden, Ann Allen, Connie Harvey, Laurie Davis, Lisa Archer,)! I know it's the end of summer - but I really don't have a great tan, so maybe over this long weekend I'll remember to get in the sun and I can be a little more "glowing,"
MY POINT IS...
There's really NO EXCUSE for NOT going to the local MEET-UP, TWEET-UP, ACTIVE-UP in your area! Yeah, we're all in the business. Yes, we are online looking for the same customer (sorta) - and we're using the same tools (AR)... but this is ACTIVE-FREAKING-RAIN, and THIS group of people is different from any other group, because of the Go Givers. If you are having problems getting your posts seen, if you want to know if Activerain really works, if you have questions about getting more fans on Facebook - or if you want to know how someone else is dealing with Appraisal issues - talk to your Activerain Friends. Come meet us in Raleigh.
(All of the other places Rainers Are Meeting!)
Activerain only has 1000 connections open for Virtual RainCamp. I've got a training room for 30 people in the Triangle - if you want to MEET and "Experience" the Virtual Camp together... LMK. Eleanor Thorne @isellmoney call or txt 919-649-5057 Be There or Be Square! LOL!
Postlets Pro.... Thank you Zillow!
Everyone loves "free" and this is a wonderful gift from the folks at Zillow. If you're not already using Postlets, mark your calendar for next week's training class hosted by Brad Andersohn. August 4th at 10AM PST. Click on this link for the registration!
Big thanks to Sara Bonert for sharing this info!
Patty Keller - AnotherME
The Virtual Assistants of Real Estate Via Sara Bonert {Real Estate Internet Marketing} (Zillow):
I am VERY excited about this one! First to get you up to speed... Last April Zillow acquired Postlets. Our first big upgrade was to offer the ability for agent to post for-sale and for-rent listings directly from Zillow to Craigslist (for free).
But now the BIG one.....Today, we're thrilled to announce that the Postlets Pro program is now free. That's right - we are opening up this program, which was previously a paid, subscription-only program, to everyone, for free!
That means that starting today, all new for-rent and for-sale listings on Postlets are free and will include:
- up to 18 large photos at a higher resolution
- a rich listings template with multiple tabs
- the ability to embed community information (i.e. Walk Score, school data)
- video capabilities
Previously, these enhanced listing features were only available to paying Postlets Pro subscribers. And, of course, Postlets is still committed to listing syndication, which distributes your listings across 13 real estate and social media websites.
Tabs on the new, upgraded Postlet and the ability to showcase up to 18 photos:


As a Landlord and Postlets Pro user, I hope you are as excited about this announcement as I am! Start uploading your for-rent and for-sale listings to Postletstoday, and continue to look to Zillow for innovative tools and resources to market your listings and grow your business!
If you want additional training on to use the Postlet product, the one and only Brad Andersohn will be doing a training webinar on August 4th for further explain the program.
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Wine Tasting Weekend in North Georgia!
There are some beautiful wineries in the North Georgia Mountains and I had the opportunity to visit several with my girlfriends the other weekend! We enjoyed a "Flight of Whites" along with lunch at Montaluce. With 5 glasses in the flight - needless to say our table was full of wine!
I recommend Three Sisters, Wolf Mountain, Blackstock and FrogTown too!

Link Building and Search Engine Optimization.(SEO) Today, the major search engines look for strong, trusted websites with links from their site to yours as part of the whole SEO ranking process.
As a realtor, you need to have these inbound links to augment your SEO (search engine optimization). However, most real estate agents don’t know where to begin when it comes to link building! And most don’t realize it’s a tedious and time-consuming task.
Good News! My friend, Eleanor Thorne has come to your rescue! Here’s a list of 60 Link Building sites that you can link to and start moving up the page on Google!
Yes, there are 60 sites and if you need a little help to get it all done, just let me know! This is the ideal project for a Virtual Assistant!
Via Eleanor Thorne 919-649-5057 Cary Mortgage Loans NMLS #67179 (Corporate Investors Mortgage Group):
I started this list very quietly in 2009 for some friends who were trying to build links back to their sites and profiles... It's been updated from the original list of 32 places you could link from to over 60. I did not address Facebook in this list - because everyone has their own strategy for that.
Although many of these sites are GREAT tools, and HUGE networking opportunities - This particular list is more for link building than anything else.
Here's how I suggest you use this list:
- First Set up a spreadsheet with the following columns Site Name Login Password Unique URL Profile Picture?
- Unique URL (or vanity url) would look like this (for instance) http://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorthorne It's important to have this list handy, because some places allow you to list where people can connect with you! (saves a ton of time) Ditto regarding do you have a picture there... updating your Avatar is tons easier if you know where it is!
- Try to complete 2 profiles a day for the next 30 days, filling in the spreadsheet each time.
- Remember that when the profile asks for your web address, or blog address, you can put in ANY URL you want people to land on in that space!! You can list your Activerain Profile Page if that's what you want people to see!
- The links below should take you directly to the place where you SIGN UP.
- If you have other links (especially LOCAL ones), suggestions, or find that a link does not work PLEASE leave a comment so I can continue to update this!
PROFILE Real Estate Specific
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1135403/how-to-get-started-on-activerain activerain
http://www.inman.com/user/register inman news
http://www.trulia.com/voices/ trulia voices - you can blog here
http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Create-a-Free-Profile-on-Zillow/ zillow
http://www.realseekr.com/ realseekr
http://realestatemarbles.com/ RealEstateMarbles
http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/signup/ REWeblog
http://www.realtown.com/ RealTown
http://shortsalesuperstars.com/ Short Sale Super Stars
http://www.erealestatesocial.com eRealEstateSocial
http://www.neighborcity.com/member-registration/ NeighborCity
Profile Other
http://www.plaxo.com/signup?page=2 plaxo
http://www.spoke.com/public/reg/signup/default.spoke;jsessionid=o1vfm3imlm9l?lep=homepage&lead_source=homepage®from=hp-btn1 spoke
https://www.jigsaw.com/Register.xhtml jigsaw
http://www.123people.com/ 123 people
http://www.bebo.com/InviteJoin.jsp?Member=N bebo
http://signup.zorpia.com/signup zorphia
http://www.squidoo.com/wizard/start squidoo
http://ryze.com/signup.php ryze
http://en.gravatar.com/site/signup/ Gravatar
http://www.peoplesearch.com.au/Detailed/112.html People Search (more international)
http://multiply.com/user/join/?&r=1255530463 multiply
http://disqus.com/admin/register/ Disqus
http://www.friendster.com/ friendster
http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php facebook fan page
SEARCHES
https://profiles.google.com/ Goolge Profile
http://www.google.com/places/ Goolge Places
http://local.yahoo.com/profile Yahoo Profile
http://www.bingbusinessportal.com Bing Business Profile
LOCAL
http://www.zoominfo.com/Registration/Register.aspx zoom info
http://www.meetup.com/register/ meetup
http://www.classmates.com/ classmates
https://www.yelp.com/signup yelp
http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/landing/signup.html Merchant's Circle
FORUMS
https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?.pd=c%3d1MKJL2Wp2e6fd5g2kpFG6jM-&.intl=us&.src=knowsrch&.done=http%3A%2F%2Fanswers.yahoo.com%2Fmy%2Fmy yahoo answers
http://www.linkedin.com/ linkedin
http://www.linkingraleighnc.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=register&Itemid=108 Linking Raleigh http://www.city-data.com/forum/register.php city data
http://www.mamapedia.com/mmp_join?auto_partial=register MamaPedia
BLOG SITES
http://technorati.com/account/signup/?destination=/ technorati
http://signups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=signup my space has blogs!
https://www.blogger.com/start Blogger (gmail)
http://en.wordpress.com/signup/ wordpress blogs
http://twitter.com/ twitter (micro blog)
VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/create_account youtube
http://blip.tv/users/create/ Blip TV
http://www.dailymotion.com/register#hp-h-8 Daily Motion
http://www.realestateshot.com/signup.php Real Estate Video
OTHER
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Wiki Wiki
https://www.last.fm/join Last FM
http://blip.fm/signup blip fm
http://brightkite.com/ bright kite
https://foursquare.com/ Four Square
Flickr The link for logging in to Flickr is Soooo long, I couldn't put the URL!
BOOKMARKS
http://www.stumbleupon.com/sign_up.php?pre2=nav_join stumble upon
https://secure.delicious.com/register delicious
http://www.reddit.com/ reddit
http://digg.com/register digg
ALL IN ONE SITES
http://posterous.com/ Posterous
http://ping.fm/ ping
http://alltop.com/ alltop (no clue how this works...)
https://about.me/ about.me
http://www.retaggr.com/register ReTag gr
Triangle
http://triangle411.partners.local.com/Default.aspx Triangle 411 (by WRAL)
http://inside919.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp? Inside919
http://www.4042.com/4042classified/index.php 4042
http://triangletweetup.org/find-local-tweeple/ Tweeple of the Triangle
http://trioutnc.com/ Tri Out NC
You can always call me, Eleanor Thorne, 919-649-5057 - I'm here to help! 8o) Oh... and by the way, when you are on the network, see if you can find me - I'd love to connect with my AR Friends! @isellmoney
![]() Last week, I wrote an article on AnotherME talking about different things you could do if you only had 5 minutes. Well, I found another one and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you.
Have you heard about Real Estate Coach Radio.com? It’s a cool stop on the internet offering 5 minute radio snippets specifically for Real Estate Professionals. Speakers include Kevin Turner, Bernice Ross, Jimmy Dague, Andrew Wooten and a host of others talking about topics relevant to the industry today. You just click and play!
There is a new show every day and you can download to an MP3 or pick up the iTunes version. It’s free to subscribe and what a fast and fun way to grab some food for the brain!
Do you have other ideas for things you can accomplish in 5 minutes?
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Patty Keller AnotherMe 770-414-9393 Real Estate Virtual Assistant Company
Atlanta,
GA
More about me
AnotherME, LLC
Address: PO Box 450784, Atlanta, GA, 31145
Office Phone: (770) 414-9393
Cell Phone: (678) 641-1468
Email Me
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