Getting Your Blog Into A WidgetBox - A Video Tutorial

Your email inbox should be the greatest resource for blog post ideas.

That thought is certainly not original to me. Many have said this. They say it because it's true. It's certainly true for me.

The other day I received the following in an email from Anita Carrington: "How do I get the WidgetBox without ending up with your blog running on my page."

When I get an email like this, I often send back a quick response if I think it can be answered easily. If I've already answered the question in an existing blog post, I send a link. But if a followup question returns, that's usually an indication that I've either not answered the right question or I'm not seeing things the way the person who emailed me is seeing things. It also indicates to me that others may have the same question.

So, Anita, and anyone else who might have this question, this post is for you. :)


ActiveRain Tutorial: WidgetBox from respres on Vimeo.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 05/10/2008 12:36 PM   Comments (29)   , , ,  

@thelovelywife I Care!

twitter logoIt's not about what you're doing.
It's not about what I'm doing.
It's about what you and I are doing right now.

Like you, I didn't get twitter either. I was trying to make it something it wasn't and it's just not that complicated. 

It's about the conversation.

It doesn't matter whether it's here on ActiveRain or on Twitter. You, of all people, should know that.

Is there a lot of silly conversation on Twitter? Sure. There's a lot of silly conversation here too. That happens on social networks. It's how people get to know each other.

If it weren't for the silly conversations, the completely "meaningless" banter, you and I would not be as close as we are. If it weren't for the silly conversations, the off-topic hijacks, you and I would not be as close as we are. It's SOCIAL media. It's about being social. It's not about Google juice or SEO. It's not meant to be purely about business. It's social.

Saying it sucks without actually engaging... that's not the TLW [SVW] I know. The TLW [SVW] I know is always up for some crap. She's always up for truly getting to know someone else. She's a master of engagement. She understands how to connect on a real level. You'd rock Twitter. And I'd enjoy spending more time with you.

Twitter is about the conversation. Period. 

So, you want to have some good conversation?  I found a few people you might enjoy getting to know on a different level:

Oh, and about the opportunity crimes thing.

Sorry. I understand your point, but for those who are concerned, Twitter is safer than ActiveRain, if you want it to be. Just set your account to private and only those you allow to see it will see it. Block them and they can't follow you. If a stranger wants to see what you have to say here, all they have to do is become a member. :)

 

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 05/09/2008 02:06 AM   Comments (76)   , ,  

"You Can Blog That!"

As we walked around Whole Foods looking for organic versions of the stuff we usually eat, my wife, Rocky, incorrectly read the price on some organic chewing gum and I reacted to it in disgust. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something like, "That's ridiculous. Why would something be that much more expensive because it doesn't have any chemicals in it? You should write about that."

My 7-year-old then reacted to my response with the comment below. I about fell over laughing.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 05/03/2008 09:15 PM   Comments (44)   , , , ,  

Point And Shoot Cameras. The Wider The Better.

When it comes to digital point a shoot cameras,
bigger is not necessarily better, but wider certainly is.

One of the first posts I wrote on ActiveRain was titled, "Sell Your Camera On eBay & Buy This One."

That post was written about the Kodak v705, which, along with the Kodak v570, would still be my recommendation for a point and shoot camera. Unfortunately, Kodak decided to stop making both the v705 and the v570 and they are getting harder and harder to find. So I was forced to find another camera I could feel confident recommending.

My search led me to a brand new camera on the market, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35.

Comparing the Panasonic Lumix FX35 to the Kodak v705, I found it's features to be comparable, the photo quality slightly better and its 25mm wide angle lens is the widest currently in production, though not as wide as the v705's 23mm wide angle lens. Still, the review left me wondering if people were being fooled into thinking they were getting a wide angle lens when they really weren't.

The Wide Angle Claim 

Point and shoot cameras with a 28mm wide angle lens, like the brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, say they have a wide angle lens. And, compared to the standard 35mm lens, that's certainly true. But is it enough to capture a small room in the best possible way?

I wanted to see the difference in wide angle lenses for myself.

To do that, I purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 as well and borrowed Martin Rodriguez's Sony DSC-H9. (Martin's primary use for the DSC-H9 is not real estate photography, by the way.) The TZ5 has the very commonly 28mm lens that most point and shoot manufactures call wide angle, and the DSC-H9 has the standard 35mm lens. I compared them with the 23mm v705 and the 25mm FX35.

Here are the comparisons between the four different point and shoot lenses.

Sony DSC-HP 35mm Room Shot 35mm lens

Sony DSC-H9 35mm

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Room Shot 28mm lens

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 28mm

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 Room Shot 25mm lens

Panasonic Lumix DMC FX35 25mm

Kodak v705 Room Shot 23mm Lens

Kodak v705 23mm

Smaller rooms will show an even greater difference.

I used my family room as the subject matter, and it is fairly large, so you can imagine what a difference the FX35 or the v705 would make in photographing a very small room. In my opinion, neither the Sony DSC-H9 or Lumix DMC-TZ5 did this room justice. Only the 25mm lens on the Lumix FX35 came close enough to the 23mm lens on the Kodak v705 to get my vote of confidence. A wider wide angle lens makes a huge difference in your multimedia presentations as well. Here is a Real Estate Show illustrating how the different wide angle photos look when put in motion. Click on "more photos" to see them in static form.

My Conclusion?

A digital point and shoot camera with a 28mm lens can certainly claim wide angle status, but for real estate purposes, 28mm simply isn't enough.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 05/01/2008 12:46 AM   Comments (63)   , , , ,  

For Sale By Owner: Raise The Price Then Call A REALTOR®?

This was posted on Twitter by someone trying to sell his home himself:

For Sale By Owner"If I can't line up a buyer by May month-end, I'll raise the price and get a Realtor involved. Hope I don't have to do THAT."

He posted that in the morning on April 27th. Then, a little over 24 hours later on April 28th, he posted this:

"Got a buyer for my condo. They want me to hold the mortgage. Any advice?"

This is an intelligent, technologically savvy home owner in Arizona who wants to sell a home without using a real estate agent.

Why? We can only guess, of course, but it appears he's trying to keep from paying the commission. But he's willing to sell the home for a lower price to do so. In addition, he's found a "buyer" who now wants him to hold the mortgage. 

What would you say to this home owner? Why should he get a REALTOR® now and not later?

I know your responses may be longer than might be appropriate in a comment, so I invite you to write your responses as your own posts and link them here in the comments.

Maybe I'll forward this to him when we have a few responses. I mean, he did ask for some advice.


 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/28/2008 02:49 PM   Comments (85)   , , ,  

There's Gold Outside Of The Real Estate Blogosphere

The Kingdom 2.0 BlogOnce in a while I'm reminded of the value of stepping outside of my usual reading circles.

Like most of us, I get into ruts. There are several dozen blogs that I read religiously and going to them has become more of a morning ritual than an awakening. I know what to expect from those blogs. They're comfortable and they deliver. 

This morning, while reading Nicki Rothwell's Home Staging Blog, I randomly clicked on a face I didn't recognize in her MyBlogLog Reader Community Widget.  This took me to Jonathan G.

Jonathon has almost no content on his MyBlogLog page, but there is a link to his blog, The Kingdom 2.0. It's directed at pastors. Now, I'm obviously not a pastor, though in my early adult life at Grace College & Theological Seminary, I wanted to be one. So, the subject matter was of some interest to me and I liked the design. (That's key for me, by the way. I quickly navigate away from ugly sites.)

I perused through some of the content on the first page and quickly realized this was good, quality content. And because it was written for a different audience, I read it differently. I loved reason number 3 in his post Three Reasons To Use Google Docs As A Blog Editor and thought his "you're more creative than you thought" comment to pastors could have been written to anyone.

But the post that caused me to write this post was, 4 Easy Steps To Turn Sermons Into Blog Posts. I recommend you go read it for yourself, but here are the bullet points:

  • Cut The Fat
  • Stay On Topic
  • Inject Some Personality
  • Rewrite The Headline

Any blogger could benefit from keeping his suggestions in their brains when they're writing posts, not just Christian pastors. And here was the surprise for me. Jonathon Greene lists as part of his experience, "Tomato consultant." But I didn't recognize his face and didn't even know his full name until I started writing this post. And that serves to illustrate my point.

Sometimes You Need A Change Of Perspective  

I  can say with almost complete certainty that I would have passed over a post on The Real Estate Tomato with a title, 4 Easy Steps To Turn Your Emails Into Blog Posts. Why? It's not because it wouldn't have been well written, it's because I've read hundreds of posts in the RE.net with similar titles. Stepping out of the technorati and real estate blog ring forced my brain out of it's morning rut. I read the content differently.

There's gold outside of the real estate blogosphere. And like those miners who came to California in 1849, to find it you're going to have to travel into some uncharted territory.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/22/2008 09:03 AM   Comments (69)   , ,  

Editing Images For Your Customized ActiveRain Blog

ActiveRain custom graphicJeannette Neerpat used Twitter to cry out for some help last night.

She was having trouble editing the graphics she wanted to use in Brad Carroll's ActiveRain Custom Blog Builder. So I asked her to send me the graphics she was trying to use. As I guessed, they were not in the correct proportions and needed some work.

Well, since I don't make a living customizing blog graphics, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

I decided to edit Jeannette's graphics for her using online tools anyone could access and record my actions so that others could do it themselves. Since Jeanette was not the first person to ask for my help, making this video is a way of saving me from having to say, "I'd really love to help, but..." :)

If you're reading this on the post date, then you'll see the final result right here as the skin for this blog.

Jeannette's images were much smaller than they needed to be. This is why there are some of the quality issues in both the background graphic and the header image, but they created an acceptable customization in my opinion. For thoe of you coming around later, you may be able to see these exact results on Jeannette's blog, but my guess is that she'll probably want to play with this a bit and make it even better than it is now. So, the graphic above is an illustration of the what the final product looked like.

If you want to learn how to customize graphics yourself, here's the video.


Customizing Graphics For Your AcitveRain Blog Skin from respres on Vimeo.

EDIT: The specs for headers have changed since the recording of this today. Instead of 125 pixels high, the header must now be only 115 pixels high. Also, the entire portion of the video about using Flickr is now unecessary, since Brad has made it possible to upload the graphics instead of requiring that you provide a link. The photo editing tips in the video are still valid, as long as you use the new height for the header graphic.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/11/2008 04:44 AM   Comments (96)   , , ,  

Flickr Video Finally Arrived

The Best Just Got A Little Better


This video was shot with the Kodak v705 point and shoot. I'll add some higher quality video tomorrow and you'll be able to see it on my flickr page. The beauty of this embedded player is that I could choose to have no branding from Flickr at all. The current banner at the start, with my face, name and the flickr link, is optional.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/09/2008 02:05 AM   Comments (38)   , ,  

If Real Estate Is Local, Your Twitter Should Be Too: TwitterLocal.net

TwitterLocal LogoI awoke this morning to a Twitter timeline with a gem inside.

Laura Fitton ( @pistachio ) had just sent out a tweet about TwitterLocal.net. She said, "twitterlocal.com is going straight to the top of my answer to the question "how do I get started on Twitter and find people to follow?" Her tweet had an incorrect link, so I replied to let her know it was .net instead of .com. Her follow up tweet echoes my feelings exactly.

"Oooops www.Twitterlocal.net! The .com is a squattery mess. .net can rock your Twitter world. Sub in RSS to a city you're traveling to, etc." 

TwitterLocal Is A Twitter Search Engine

TwitterLocal.net allows you to search Twitter for people in your city, or a city you may be traveling to, and subscribe to a feed of the tweets based on that search criteria. Theoretically, this should alert you to any new users who come into the area, as the feed is gong to send you their tweets to your feed reader, if you choose.

Here's how it works. Choose the area you want to search for and a radius around the location. Maximum distance is 20 miles.

Twitter Local Search Radius

Then, view the latest tweets before deciding to subscribe.

TwitterLocal Feed Viewer

Once I've found the right radius, I can now go view their Twitter timelines. If I subscribe to their feed, I'll always know what their talking about, without following them, but the point of Twitter is conversation. So, by clicking on Christyv32, I'm able to dig deeper to see if I really want to engage in a conversation. If I do, I can simply click on the follow button and respond.

Follow on Twitter

It's All About Relationships.

It always has been. It always will be. TwitterLocal.net makes it easier than ever to find and communicate with people you can actually meet with face-to-face.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/07/2008 07:18 PM   Comments (60)   , , , ,  

The Key To Communication Is Desire, Not Technology

"I guess we have an open house this weekend? Just because we are out of state doesn't mean our Realtor should not update us."

Communication Is The Key To SuccessWe have more communication options at our fingertips than at any other time in history. Communication technology is so pervasive, we are left without excuses for sharing any piece of important information in a timely manner.

The consumer quote shown above was a "tweet" from ymiris on Twitter.  I don't have a clue what the back story is to this social message. It doesn't matter. In communication, perception is reality.

He's right even if he's wrong. He's right even if the Realtor® "tried" to update them. Why? Good communicators make it their responsibility to ensure that their messages are understood. They leave the listener with no doubts.

In my own personal experience, the part of the home selling process that should be the simplest - communicating about what's happening in the process - is the one that has been most disappointing to me. But it is not surprising to me. 

Effective communication has nothing to do with technology.

Effective communication is possible without being a part of the technorati. You don't need any of the latest, greatest internet communication tools that are available today. You don't need an iPhone. You don't need Twitter or a Facebook account. You don't need a MySpace page, Jott or Utterz.

You just need a desire to communicate. And maybe a working telephone.

 
Posted by Jeff Turner on 04/05/2008 05:15 PM   Comments (38)   , , ,  
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Real Estate Media: Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows)
Jeff Turner
Santa Clarita, CA
More about me…
Real Estate Shows

Office Phone: (661) 244-5812
Email Me
Helping real estate agents grow their relationships, their network and their businesses by effectively using evocative Internet-based services. I am the President and Founder of RealEstateShows.com.

The Real Estate Shows Blog

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