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activerain: A beautiful day at the beach, a xylophone and an Activerain friend = A GREAT NIGHT! - 04/23/12 07:05 AM
Yesterday was the first 80 degree day in the Portland area and it made for a great morning of baseball, but then as soon as we were done there, it was time to head to the coast! WHY? Because we had to take my daughter to Newport for a Girl Scout event and we thought we would make a night of it.
So, the first thing I did was look up my Activerain friend Barbara Le Pine of Newport, Oregon and make an Activerain meet-up out of it. But, much to my surprise, she was playing with her Big Band that … (12 comments)

activerain: No meetings, no fanfare, just a day off (I think I will blog today) - 03/03/12 11:17 AM
It has been awhile since I have had a day off with no meetings and just had a chance to relax. But, today is my birthday and I’m getting that chance. I turned 42 today and I’m having a great day so far! I’m 70 lbs lighter than I was on my 41st birthday, I have a lot of great friends, clients and co-workers lighting up my phone with Facebook birthday wishes, then I get the Activerain Daily and there I am featured at the bottom wishing me a happy birthday.
But, the funny part is all I could think of … (24 comments)

activerain: I love the number 5! (Thank you) - 01/03/12 05:42 PM
Why would I say I love the number 5? Well, today the number five means so many thing, starting with today January 3rd, 2012. You see today is my 5 year anniversary on Activerain! Yes, 5 years of commenting, blogging and friendships.
But, let’s look at how the number five goes way beyond this 5th anniversary today! Back in June I took a trip to Seattle to speak at Raincamp and I loved it as I got to meet many new friends, but there was one thing I didn’t like… The pictures, you see, I realized how much weight I had … (117 comments)

activerain: I know you are watching me and I am also watching you! - 12/17/11 05:29 PM
One thing I love about Activerain is making new connections with other members around the country. One way of meeting these new people is finding new bloggers that I haven’t discovered yet and getting to know them through their posts. Also, another way is new people finding my posts and then commenting on my posts.
When someone does that, I will then check out their blog and comment on their posts and hopefully they have shared something about themselves that lets me know who they are and what they are about.  Each and every blog post is a small look into … (7 comments)

activerain: You my friends add color to my life… Thank you! - 11/12/11 12:28 PM

Each and everyday I meet new people and I truly believe that each and everyone of these people are brought in to my life for a reason. Some people I learn from, others become great friends and as always we have some that come in to our life just to remind us to be appreciative of the friends we already have.
But, no matter the reason you have come in to my life, thanks for adding color to it.
… (8 comments)

activerain: Friendship is sometimes found in unusual places - 10/27/11 10:58 AM

One thing I love about Activerain is all the true friendships I have made here in the rain. When I started with blogging, I thought I would meet clients, but never friends. Though many of us have grown in different ways online, we haven’t grown apart and I am grateful for those people that have come in to my life thanks to the internet and Activerain.
… (11 comments)

activerain: Friends, fun and a turtle all thanks to Activerain - 08/23/11 12:18 PM
One thing I’ve always loved about Activerain is the friends I’ve made. A few years ago, I had the chance to teach a class on Activerain up at here office in Vancouver, WA and that is when I got to meet the most amazing person and we have become great friends because of that class.

Well, this past weekend we got to have a great BBQ at my friend Jill Watts' house on the Washougal River in Washougal, WA. Now, this was a great chance to meet her family and even some of her grandkids and mother-in-law.

I do … (12 comments)

activerain: Social Media… Activerain now makes it easier than ever to share our posts! - 08/15/11 11:34 AM
OK, I love the new buttons next to our title of our posts! This new feature is awesome and really brings Activerain to the forefront of social media and blogging. Personally, I never thought it would have been that nice to have them all right there until I posted one of my newest posts to Google this morning!
  So, thank you Active rain for your newest upgrade and I do also have to say thanks for the stability lately, though a few couple glitches, the downtime has been significantly less than it was just a few months ago. (Even though … (5 comments)

activerain: Activerain Raincamp my family wasn't left behind! - 06/21/11 12:34 PM
As I left Raincamp today, I went out to dinner with the family. As I mentioned at camp, I always have dinner with the family. I have to admit we had it a little late today because our first choice of places to go was closed. Then we ended up going to Kidd Valley, I enjoyed the garlic fries at the Mariner’s game way too much.
Then they told me about their day with a friend of my wife and their time at a local park seeing baby ducks and just having a fun time without daddy. (For the record that … (16 comments)

activerain: Hmmm, what to do before and after Activerain’s 5th anniversary party… - 05/08/11 12:13 AM
I know I have some ideas that are coming to mind… Here is some pictures to give you an idea of what we plan to do in Seattle before and after the party that will take place. If you have some ideas, please feel free to share or heck if you know of a place that my family and I just have to check out, suggest it or better yet, invite us to get to know you (network) and show us around to your favorite Seattle hot spot.




Hope to see you all at the 5th anniversary … (9 comments)

activerain: What happened to my Activerain? What the heck is a Houseble - 04/01/11 04:15 AM

I was working on my Stats posts that I work with Thursday night and there it was at the top, it said “Houseble”. What the heck is Houseble and where is my Activerain. Now, I have all these pretty shirts that say Activerain, what to do with them.

OK, this raises a lot of questions for me. Is this going to change links within Google? Will Activerain become Houseble.com ? What does this do for our linking juice from places like Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.
I’m sure there is nothing to really worry about, but as … (19 comments)

activerain: You’re all about free advertising honey, so why don’t you? - 02/06/11 02:04 AM


My wife said this to me today and when I heard the words “You’re all about free advertising, honey, so why don’t you?” I had to think, why don’t I? You see, when I teach about blogging and social media I tell people how much free stuff there is out there to promote you and your business.
So, when my wife asked why I don’t advertise my listings on Activerain and their new listing feature, I didn’t have an answer for her. To be honest, I guess I have been just so busy with other things I never really … (18 comments)

activerain: As the sun sets on 2010, I want to wish you all a successful 2011 - 12/31/10 08:23 PM
Though over the next couple weeks I am assuming we will be losing a few members here in the rain thanks to the annual NAR dues not being able to be paid. (I hope I am wrong about this) I do hope you all have a very, very successful 2011.

Make a business plan, get an accountability partner and hit the ground running on Monday and you are bound to be successful. I thank all those who supported me in 2010 via their friendship, accountability and their sharing. Without you I don’t think 2010 would have been as successful as … (20 comments)

activerain: Activerain got me a commission check, not my blog, but the shirt! - 12/18/10 11:55 PM


I love Activerain and over my close to 4 years of getting drenched here in the rain I have gotten many commission checks, but this one wasn’t because of my blog, it wasn’t because of my photos either. It was because of my Activerain shirt that Bob Stewart gave me last year when I came to visit him at the Activerain headquarters in Seattle.

You see in the Pacific NW it rains and rains a lot. But, I’m not the kind of agent that wears a suit and tie, it just isn’t me. I’m more of a nice … (82 comments)

activerain: Fireside chat from the fireside, is that what you would call it? My chat with Bob Stewart and all of you - 11/19/10 12:44 AM
On Wednesday I got an email from Bob Stewart to be part of a fireside chat and to be honest I was honored, the only problem was and still is that I’m on vacation. But, being Bob and Activerain has given me so much, my wife said “Go ahead, call it a fireside by the fireside”

So, I’ve agreed to answer pretty much any question that is thrown out tomorrow. I’m not exactly shy and I’m not afraid to talk about what Activerain has done for me, my family and my business. I’ve made great friends, I’ve changed my business … (11 comments)

activerain: Are you blazing a trail that will still be seen 150 years from now? - 11/18/10 01:45 PM

I love Activerain, blogging and social media, but will what I’m doing now still be seen as inventive, daring, or be seen as a trail blazer in 150 years? Did you watch someone become successful by blogging and follow them trying to make a better life for yourself?
But, who really made it are the first people to blaze the trail. Now, am I saying abandon Activerain? HECK NO! Activerain gets business, but it also can help you blaze the trail ahead of your competitors if you just read, learn and do.

Many agents find great tools that help … (9 comments)

activerain: How do you find the cream of the crop when it comes to agents? Activerain of course! - 11/03/10 03:12 AM

How do I know this? Look around your office, think back to December 2008, how many of those agents do you still see in the office? Or better yet, how many of those agents are still even in the business? Would you say 75% of them are still at your office or are still in the business? If I could count the number of agents I met in December 2008, I certainly wouldn’t expect to see 75% of them still in the business.
The fact is, I did check and of the ones from 2008, only 43% of the agents … (37 comments)

activerain: OK, you got me thinking and now you are in trouble… New series coming soon! - 08/04/10 02:13 AM

What is the series based on? Hmmm well, I’ll give you a hint! As many of you know I’m not big on my picture, but a recent picture was taken of me that I actually kind of liked. Based on that picture, I’m going to start a series of photos just like it, but I’m not going to be taking the pictures, it will have to be my wife on these as you can see why from the picture below.


I hope over the next couple months of Wednesdays, that you will get to know Beaverton through my … (22 comments)

activerain: OK, I admit it, I got overwhelmed and forgot a few steps in getting readers to my blog - 07/06/10 10:49 PM

Since December 8th, I have had a very tough time blogging and I even really stopped using Twitter and Facebook. But, what that really did is lowered my readership and even lost me a few local Twitter followers.
As many of you know, I’m not all about getting the most followers, but getting the most local followers. The only way to do that is to write about local events, family, hiking, restaurants and other local happenings. Getting followers from around the country, unless they are planning to move to Beaverton, isn’t going to do much for my business. (Or … (24 comments)

activerain: I love making new friends, thank you Activerain! - 06/01/10 01:26 PM

One of the things I love about real estate is making new friends and I do mean friends. I met many of these people because of real estate and now we have game nights, go to weddings, graduations and unfortunately funerals.
But, Activerain changed things! People knew me before they even hired me, they knew about my family, my friends, my likes, my dislikes. It was like we were friends before we ever met, it was like an online dating service for agents.

My family was invited to a skate party with our now friends who we
… (18 comments)

 
Helping Families Home is a blog set up to help families find that perfect home for them. I have a family and I understand how hard it can be to find a home that everyone is happy with. Let me help you find that home and help your family home.


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