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blogging: ActiveRain Success Story: The Times They Are A Changin' - 12/04/10 03:49 PM
Previously, on ActiveRain...
I wish I had thrown a date in the ActiveRain Success Story (quoted below) that I wrote. It seems like I wrote it about fifty years ago (I haven't even been alive that long, despite what you may think), but I'm guessing it was somewhere around a year ago, maybe more. My time at ActiveRain has been fruitful; bringing me clients, friends, and contact with all sorts of influential people in the real estate industry. It's garnered me recognition, both as a Realtor® and a blogger/tech-geek. It's made me money and cost me nothing (other than a few … (6 comments)
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blogging: 31 Days To Build A Better Blog - Improve Your Blog By January 1st. - 11/29/10 11:57 AM
You CAN build a better blog.
You've probably heard me talk about 31 Days To Build A Better Blog a few times and you know I'm a big fan. Having run the challenge on this blog and RErockstar.com (as well as covering my efforts as part of the Build a Better Blog Group), I not only had a good time doing the daily tasks, but learned a ton of information from Darren Rowse, one of the most recognized names in blogging (if you don't read his ProBlogger site, you're missing out).
Through the course of the challenge, Darren gave us a … (9 comments)
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blogging: New Look For "States" Page Causes A Ruckus. - 07/19/10 01:29 PM
Don't mess with Texas.
I happened upon Karen Anne Stone's post, "Once Again Active Rain "Fixes" Something that Wasn't Broken!," before it was featured and before I had even seen the new look for the States page. After reading the post and comments, I had to see what all the ruckus was about.
What I found was a neat, clean looking page that encouraged involvement from consumers and members alike. Gone was the "pat on the back" of who is number three or fifty, which might "de-motivate" some people, but I think to myself - if that de-motivates them, then are … (14 comments)
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blogging: Don't Let Me Down: Soci@l, Ben Kinney, and Blogging - 07/01/10 11:49 AM
It's not always sunshine and roses.
In my previous post about Ben Kinney's Soci@l, "10 Days of Pain for 1 Day of Closing," I highlighted one of the sections of the ebook that I really enjoyed. Never one to give half a picture, I thought perhaps I might discuss something I didn't like about the ebook.
Ben Kinney is obviously a talented guy who knows his stuff and although I agree with him on many points, there is a distinct point in the chapter "effective blogging – writing content that ranks and gets read" that I can not endorse.
Spending your … (10 comments)
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blogging: Go Ahead and Impress Me, I Dare You. - 06/30/10 05:59 PM
The theory of "Called Shots."When Brad Andersohn introduced the new "Called Shots" badge on ActiveRain a few days ago, I thought it was a great idea. The potential to flag posts for feature status has always been there and I've used it many times in my time here at ActiveRain. While there is always a raging debate over what gets featured and why (and who), the idea is to write great content and give readers something of value in each in every post.With the introduction of a coveted ActiveRain badge dangled in front of the network's members, I suspect the flagging … (50 comments)
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blogging: A past post reminds me of five great blogging lessons. - 06/25/10 06:00 PM
Sometimes you have to look back.
I was searching for a post that I wanted to send someone today and while looking through the lists of posts, I saw one that I couldn't quite remember. I knew I wrote it, but I just didn't remember what it said.
Taking a few moments to read through it, I thought it was a interesting look at where my mind was (in this case, on September 16, 2009) and where I was in real estate and more specifically, blogging.
I was just about to hit my one year anniversary at AgentGenius and I was … (13 comments)
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blogging: If you didn't read it, you can't truly react to it. - 05/05/10 12:57 PM
Have you heard a single word I said?
Immediately after reading the title, I suspect everyone will think that I am talking about me, but I'm really just making a generalized statement here. It occurred while reading a post by a fellow ActiveRain member that (strangely enough) was a re-blog of something I had written. I had forgotten the post, so I quickly re-read through the re-blog.
The fellow blogger had written a great intro to my post and shared some of their thoughts and feelings about what I had written - in my opinion, the only way re-blogging should … (73 comments)
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blogging: ActiveRain - Thoughts on Recent Dark Days. - 05/04/10 12:27 PM
Has the darkness ended?
Obviously, if you've been on ActiveRain for more than a minute in the past few weeks, there's been a lot of talk about the dreaded downtime that has made ActiveRain an aggravation at times. I've been blogging here since late 2008 and have had an up and down relationship with ActiveRain. On one hand, I love the opportunities it has provided me and I have enjoyed the many people I have met through the network. On the other hand, I have been frustrated by the reoccurring problems and sometimes have been forced to wonder if the SEO … (9 comments)
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blogging: ActiveRain Proxy Errors Plague San Antonio Real Estate Blogger. - 03/29/10 11:52 AM
photo courtesy of twicepix
I haven't blogged here nearly as much as I should - even though I'm trying.
Unfortunately, just about every time I do show up to do some blogging here on ActiveRain, I wind up with the dreaded Proxy Error. With my schedule being what it is lately, I just don't have time to sit around and hope the Proxy Error will be cleared in a few moments. It's a shame too, because I do love ActiveRain, but even reading blogs has become affected by the errors.
ActiveRain, please make some upgrades somewhere to end this madness … (14 comments)
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blogging: Plagiarism Is Not An Acceptable Art Form - 02/23/10 05:25 AM
photo courtesy of fengergold
Cut, copy, paste.
I logged on this morning to read through the news (I'm trying to make a bit more effort to get back here more often) and was running through the featured articles, when I saw it. I was sure I was having a weird case of deja vú or something. I ran off to my Twitter account to check a recently favorited article on Inman news. My check only confirmed what I suspected. Word for word plagiarism. I'm still trying to wrestle with the idea of it. No source attribution, no comment that it … (126 comments)
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blogging: I see a lot of new faces. (Why I need to be more active.) - 02/11/10 12:36 PM
photo courtesy of peyri
Why subscribe to a quiet blog?
Some of you may remember me lamenting about my blog's status as a "ghost town" and really not much has changed on that front. I've been busy as you can imagine with my own site and blog, RErockstar.com, which has been going great. When I logged in to ActiveRain today, I did notice there were quite a few new subscribers to my blog, which intrigued me a bit. Who are these people and why did they pick a quiet blog to follow? Seems like an interesting choice to me.
I … (10 comments)
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blogging: Think long tail search isn't important? Guess again. - 01/26/10 05:57 AM
It's been quite a few days around here.
If you're not a regular reader of my RErockstar.com blog or a resident of San Antonio, you may not know the story of the Hills of Rivermist sinkhole (aka "slope failure"), but it's a story I've been following with great interest and concern.
Simply put, we've had a landslide here in San Antonio and it is affecting several homes, residents have been evacuated, and the city of San Antonio and Centex (Pulte) Homes are trying to figure out why it happened and what to do about it. It's a nightmare for the homeowners … (74 comments)
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blogging: It's Like A Ghost Town Over Here - 12/19/09 08:19 AM
photo courtesy of Mispahn
No one ever said blogging was easy.
I haven't posted here tons recently. For a guy who managed to dive right in to blogging, I feel like I've neglected my ActiveRain blog a lot recently. Sure, there's been holiday parties, me tearing an ear drum, me pulling a muscle in my back, and the usual things that get in the way of our blogging activities (we call them "life"); but none of that usually stops me. To be technical, none of that has stopped me either.
Lately, I've been concentrating a lot of my writing efforts … (29 comments)
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blogging: Fugazi And Real Estate? New Post At AgentGenius. - 12/02/09 07:39 PM
photo courtesy of intangibleArts
Welcome to my iPod.
My latest article at AgentGenius covers some musical ground for me. As a huge fan of Fugazi growing up, I learned a few things from watching them play live. In a recent situation, I was reminded of how Fugazi reacted to situations in the turbulent late 80s post-hardcore scene. While they were a rather PC band, the late 80s scene was rather messy and violent at clubs and venues up and down the East Coast. Being a witness to much of it, I enjoyed Fugazi's fresh take on dealing with differing opinions … (0 comments)
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blogging: What Do You Get When 166,213 People Take The Day Off? - 11/26/09 10:31 AM
Thanksgiving - a day of rest for most of us.
Not many people write loans, shows houses, or close transactions on Thanksgiving Day here in America. I bet there's a few transactions occurring, but overall the real estate world is dead today. There's plenty of us checking our Twitter streams, sending emails, and blogging about Thanksgiving...but overall, the American real estate industry is silent.
So what happens when so many people stop going about their normal routines? I'll let this screen shot explain it all:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ACTIVERAIN!
… (22 comments)
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blogging: What time is the best time for blogging? Do you have a pattern? - 11/06/09 06:10 AM
photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks
I woke up early...again.
I sat at my computer, checking emails and reading blogs as I usually do while the coffee working its magic. Once I was fully awake, I began to ponder what I would write today. Blogging for me is an all day affair - I don't have just one blog to write for, so I tend to write several different posts a day. As I considered this, I thought about how I write and what time it is when I write it. I had never thought about it much, but it seemed to … (11 comments)
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blogging: I'm all out of words. Comments are hard to come by. - 11/05/09 06:51 AM
photo courtesy of stev.ie
My commenting isn't nearly what it used to be.
I've slowed down on commenting a lot. I hit the blogs I subscribe to just about everyday and usually take a peak at the Featured Posts once or twice a day. I even scroll through the blog list to see what's been written by those I may not know. I do a lot of reading. Commenting, is a different story.
Why you might ask?
Well, the first (and obvious) reason is that I'm busier than I once was. I've got a lot more going on. Not just … (18 comments)
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blogging: Quick thought: Disclosure on Twitter - 11/04/09 03:21 PM
image courtesy of Twitter, croncast, and rerockstar
I'm not great at quick thoughts.
I was having a discussion today with Doug Lazovick, Jeff Turner, and Kris Smith about Kris' (@croncast) useful tool, CMP.ly which I've written about previously, "A quick and easy way to satisfy new FTC disclosure requirements on your blog - CMP.ly" when a thought that had been in the back of my head for some time came to the surface.
In the comment above, you can see Kris quotes "http://cmp.ly/4" at the end of his Tweet. This particular disclosure (CMP.ly Disclosure 4), states:
Employee/shareholder/business relationship
DISCLOSURE … (4 comments)
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blogging: A quick and easy way to satisfy new FTC disclosure requirements on your blog - CMP.ly - 10/26/09 06:48 AM
photo courtesy of hyku
FTC handing down $11,000 fines? Yikes!
When first announced, the changes to the FTC Act of 1980 caused quite a stir throughout the blogging community. The idea was that if you were endorsing a product, you had better disclose your relationship with that company. Were you given a free sample? Did they let you keep that $5,000 product in exchange for a glowing review? After many for-profit bloggers were seen as becoming the mouthpiece for advertisers and more or less company spokesman, the FTC decided to step in and stem the tide of possible false claims … (12 comments)
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blogging: Ambassador Series: Google Has A Short Memory - Why Consistency Matters. - 10/20/09 06:08 AM
photo courtesy of Google Analytics and RErockstar.com
Will you miss me when I'm gone?
You've all heard it before, your blogging needs to be consistent to matter most. The veterans shout it from the rooftops all day long, yet when you're new to blogging it's hard to see why. No one's reading your blog anyway, right? Wrong. Google is always out there, day and night - reading everything it can get it's hands on. (Note: when I say "Google" I mean all search engines and not just the mega-giant that I prefer to all others.) Google never sleeps.
Google does … (18 comments)
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Matt Stigliano
San Antonio,
TX
More about me…
Kimberly Howell Properties (210) 646-HOME
Address: 21252 Gathering Oak, #100, San Antonio, TX, 78260
Office Phone: (210) 646-4663 x 210
Cell Phone: (210) 240-6222
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