Home : Blogs : Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit : Dmitry & Maureen: Moving Metro Detroit

How About a Blog Tour?

Looking for blogging ideas? Looking for blogging connections?

I know I am not the only one out there who maintains a separate blog dedicated to my local market. I've talked about mine fairly often. It's on my mind a lot.

And this morning, Colleen Kulikowski had up a post about touring new listings in Florida.

I thought I would somehow combine the new listing tour with my current obsession with that 'other' blog, and extend an invitation to the rest of you. If you are actively working on another blog, outside of ActiveRain, and you want to participate, please join me. Even if you don't have another blog, there is no reason you can't join us.

I am sure we will all find some inspiration on this little journey.

Here is how I see this working:

Put a link in the comments here with your 'other' blog's URL.
If you have a post that you think we would particularly enjoy, use that as the landing page. But the main page is just fine too.
I will stop by any blog that is posted here.
If you post your own blog here, I ask you to visit some of the other blogs on the list. If you add your blog early in the comments, please stop back again later to check out the new additions.
When you are out visiting, leave a comment to let them know you stopped by.
Optional: You might consider adding someone to your blogroll. If you don't have an outside blog, you could add them to your "favorites" on your blog settings.

I don't think any of us will end up stranded on a desert island with Thurston Howell III, and it won't take three hours.

Who wants to join the fun?

Posted by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit on 10/05/2006 09:50 AM

Comments (89)

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89 Comments on How About a Blog Tour?

OCT

2006

My tour, so I am first in. MiOaklandCounty.com . The first post is not my favorite, so keep on reading.

That's a good idea guys! I don't have any other blogs though :( GOD knows that one is enough :)

Scott

MF, I was thinking about asking to do this. My "other blog" is sadly neglected. But I would love to have you visit. Give me 5 minutes to post something then stop by.

http://thedenver.blogs.com

KK, great minds think a like.

Great idea...I'd like to go on tour...can i get my own "roadies"?

My "other" blog is www.NorthFultonBlog.com. I've been duplicating some posts between it and AR as i get into the AR groove. I've got to find a different voice for the two blogs.

I duplicate some stuff too, Kevin. I like the feedback I get here, and I can modify if I need to for the other blog.

You might want to make sure you are logged in to AR next time, so that we can click on to your profile to know who we are talking to.

I'd love to have anyone stop by my other blog Columbus Best Blog and tell me about whether you or your community celebrate Columbus Day.

Columbus Best Blog Why do we celebrate Columbus Day? It's not the most recent entry... that's about How we celebrate Columbus Day. Who celebrates Columbus Day here. It is a weekend long celebration here but we don't do a parade (NYC does) we don't do fireworks...

Great idaea Maureen Francis

Yes, wonderful idea.

I've been doing a "big" blog for a while, called: MoveUPtoNaperville.blogspot.com

And, so far, I haven't used any of my AR material on my 'rea' blog. In fact, one of my clients said that I should be working for the City of Naperville.

I'm enjoying learning the history of the area and I now notice things when I drive by...with a "hmmmmmmmm....would this make a good blog post?"

My most famous blog post was the information on the Illinois Deed Provider Scam/National Deed scam. Everytime they send out a letter I get tons of people reading my blog. Just unbelievable!

Great idea, but here is the only place I am Blogging... Time restraints and all.... Thanks for mentioning me...

WebNewsForUs was designed to cover some online and offline marketing issues. Some topics that agents really need to pay attention to that have been talked about in the past are the Realtor(R) trademark, Lead generation companies, and some SEO topics.

Hope you enjoy the blog.

Any and all are welcome to cruise The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.

It's a mixture of everything--local stuff, national level, weak attempts at humor, weird photos and more.

Now me and the Little Buddy are off for a three hour tour!

Hmmmm. Gilligan and my comment fruit is "Date". Brings up the age old question.... Ginger or Mary Ann?

Looks like Jay just got stranded on my blog. Sidebars are suddenly down!

Thanks for the tip,Jay. I found a widget for the tags. I'll post it as soon as I get the sidebar thingy under control.

Ken and Kevin, my first trips to both your sites were well worth the time.

Eileen and KK, I've been enjoying you two for a bit longer. But I'll be back!

It's important to understand that quality links to blogs and sites outside of AR are worth just as much as the personal connections we make here. Reading and participating 'beyond AR' will not only increase our networks, but also help us find tips, ideas and topics that we can bring back to AR.

My only blogging so far is on AR, but if anyone wants a quick break from real estate, here's a short list of award-winning blogs to check out.

As an aside, Justin from CREN blogged about Google Blog Search. There are 19,242 results for "Gilligan's Island."

I must confess... I've committed the sin of duplication on my "other blog"... but there are many things that I post on AR that don't appear on my other blog, and many posts that are geared towards clients that don't appear on AR.

So, here it is: www.hismove.com/blog

Sounds like a great plan to me. I'll go look at a few right now. Here's mine Cherokee Real Estate Blog.

Kevin - *great* blog. I wanted to leave a comment,, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out where to register.

My suggestion, if you're going to require registration to comment, would be to put a "register" link in both your "Meta" section, AND put a Register Page somewhere.

I don't require registration to comment as I think a lot of people won't hassle with it. If you're concerned about spam comments, there are WP plug-ins available that do a great job of controlling that. Try Spam Karma 2 or Askimet.

Well... I am glad I was not the only one who couldn't leave a comment on Kevin's blog.... I could not figure out how to register....

Great idea. I am new at this ('bout 3 weeks) so this wll help with ideas, etc. Have started several of my own blogs related to my business and hope I can keep up with them. Now, to start working my way through the posts (and blogs) above!).

Cheers

Jeff

www.FansofCoastalSanDiego.com

www.RelocationA2Z.com

Glad to know it wasnt just me who couldn't get in at Kevins blog

Hey Kristal, I just noticed I'm on your Blog. Thanks!!!

Maureen, I just posted on here but failed the human test! Anyway, great post! I don't have another Blog but did just take the 3 hour tour. Thanks.

My blog is The Eastern CT Real Estate Blog. I noticed several of you mentioned you post duplicate information here and on your other blog. I've always been told that you get penalized from the search engines for that....or is that an old wives tale?

Hi Linda,

I've also heard that... but I don't place much credence in it. There is duplicate content all over the web, and as long as you're not trying to spam the SE's with content it should be fine.

Justin, you don't have any idea what I did to my sidebars, do you??

hmmm... I see some text showing up on the far left side of your page on the bottom. Does that look like it's part of your side bar?

I've never had the pleasure of seeing your blog before with the sidebar intact so I don't know what it even looks like when it's normal.

Does everything look normal when you are in your wordpress site manager?

What did you do in the last 24 hours that could have changed something? Did it start acting funny after you made a post or was it just random?

If it was random, it's probably just an internal issue with worpress...

I'm sorry I couldn't be more of a help.

Mo - if you've recently installed a plug-in, you may want to deactivate it and see if the sidebar comes back. Some plug-ins don't play well with others and can cause goofy conflicts.

That would be great! Keep us posted!

10/05/2006

by Marguerite Crespillo

Edit

Delete

I certainly would, but I am not sure what you are talking about? Check back later and let me know.

Just sit right back and you will hear a tale of a fatefull trip that started from this tropic port on this tiny ship the mate was a mighty sailing man the skipper brave sure . . . oh yea The St. Paul Real Estate Blog http://www.stpaulrealestateblog.com

It is almost 11 month old with 292 posts.

Teresa, that song has been going through my head ever since I put this up. I was worried we might have some young pups on here who wouldn't know what I was talking about.

Sidebars fixed.

How'd you fix the sidebars?

Limey!

It was improper formatting in one post that I had editted today that messed it up. First test was to disable all plugins. Then I just went back into a couple of posts that I thought might be causing the problem and did some testing.

Nest time I host a blog tour I will make sure my sidebars have on their Sunday best before I invite guests!

But this was fun. I'm going to put up another one in a few weeks.

Check this out for tags.

The other blog is at blog.orlandoavenue.com I have also found linking from past blog items a good thing too..should do more of it.

Maureen what a KEWL idea!

You rock!

I wanna kiss you (no tongues!)

My "pretty" blog is:

http://realestaging.blogspot.com

PS: This is the FIRST blog I am bookmarking. I got some linking work this weekend to do.

Justin,

It seems that I cannot add comments on your blog? Right?

Craig wrote: You rock! I wanna kiss you (no tongues!)

She does rock. But Dmitry might have something to say about the kissing thing, tongue or not!

Looks like Justin has comments turned off. Why for Justin?

I noticed none of you people commented on my blog. *Sniff*, I'm deeply saddened by that.

What a great idea! I just signed up for another blog but have not as yet set it up or made any posts to it. I want to use that one for my marketplace, buyers, sellers, etc.

I will be very happy to visit the blogs listed here, and maybe someday, when I do get my other blog going, others will stop by to visit it, too.

Ann Cummings
www.AnnCummings.com

I commented on you Jay! Did you answer my question. Justin might have been getting spammed. I don't think Craig was receiving comments when I stopped by his blog either.

I have adjusted a few things on my blog, feel free to comment now. I never actually tried to comment on my own blog, what a pain it was. Explains why I had so few comments even with a lot of traffic.

I will still review comments before letting them go live, but that will only delay most by a few hours. Let me know if you have any other issues with leaving comments.

Thanks - Ken

Hello, new-found AR bloggers. Thanks to you all who visited my blog, but couldn't comment. I didn't realize that i had that switched off, but i fixed it now, so comment away.

I'm logged in now, for this comment, so you can see my profile.

I'm off to do my tour ... a watch the baseball game at the same time ;->

Is there a world tour on the horizion?

OK, I do not maintain this blog as much as I should, but I will try to keep it up to date from now on...

Solid Rock Mortgage Blog

I may have missed it, but did anyone suggest possibly getting permission from others to use their post on your other blog as well?

This could be a great way to help each other grow our web presence even further.

Just a thought.

WOW I am your 43rd comment! Good idea!

http://www.sellyourhomewithmargaretrome.blogspot.com/

Baltimore,Md.

Great idea but I'm not sure I understand the concept fully or at all :P But for my shameless submission here is my Marysville Real Estate blog.

Hey Maureen,

No, you can't add comments to my Blog. I received advice from a "How to" blogging article that if you aren't getting enough traffic for people to comment that it's better to just leave out that capability until you get enough traffic. It looks depressing when you have 10 articles on one page and not one comment.... lol

What do you think? Should I just allow comments anyway?

You guys have fantastic blogs and have given me inspiration to resuscitate one of my blogs that's on life support - SeattleHousingBuzz.com.

My other one does far better - SeattleCondosAndLofts.com.

Thanks to those who left comments on my blog, I have responded to your blogs.

It's nice to have real people visit.

I require my comments to be reveiwed first. Got tired of nothing but 'freaks and weirdos' stopping by...

I have bookmarked this post and plan to spend some time looking at everyone's "other blogs". I promise to support you all. Hopefully, when I get a 2nd blog of my own, you'll take mine for a spin!

OCT

2006

This is going to be an interesting read when I have a few more minutes. Now I'm to get my Friday post on my other blog finished before I have to head out to a showing.

Delaware Real Estate from a Dog's Perspecitve

Thanks for coming up with this topic!

OK, folks, I had so much fun doing this, and I learned a lot. I am going to host another blog tour in two weeks. Be on the watch for sign-up and new rules to better organize the thing.

And, Justin, I do think you should allow comments. I think that people expect it. I think you will see less empty than you think. I also think that if I run this blog tour every couple of weeks, it could get us in the habit of commenting on non-AR blogs too. Though I did have people asking me on my blog how many points they got for commenting...

Transparent Real Estate

We offer guidance to Realtors and real estate professionals so they can make the real estate transaction transparent to their clients and build more business.

Our latest posts, we call it the Blogger Starter series, are a series of very practical steps to start and build a blog.

I'm a latecomer, but I'm looking forward to the tour ... and the followup tours coming up... I think this is a great idea.

--pk

Thanks Maureen for the advice. I just changed the blog to allow comments. Here it is:

www.Hismove.com/BLoG

Thanks!

BTW, what is the record for the most number of comments on one post? This one has to be close to the record...

I don't know about all time, but you can check the record for the last 30 days on the blog dashboard. Here is the link for the last 30 days.

Doh! I didn't realize you could search by number of comments... you sort of... umm... dominate the category.

I think it's because most of your posts are interactive. They get the entire community involved.

good stuff...

Hey, I am all for community involvement! The comments are what I LOVE about activerain. Keeps you thinking. Also, I've noticed a big rise in comments in the last month. I don't mean on my posts, but on everyones.

Pssssssst! Wanna know a secret?

You can change the link to the "most comments in 30 days" and get any number of days you want.

The link to comments in the past 30 days is:

http://activerain.com/blogs?blog_group_id=all_blogs&sort_key=comment_count&date_key=30

You can change that "30" at the end to any number of days you want..... change it to 365, and you'll get ALL blogs ever posted (because AR hasn't been alive for a year). All 1,185 PAGES of them....

Elderberry wine

OCT

2006

Justin,

Just tried to leave you this comment, but I could not log into leave it for you on your blog.

Hey, the commment feature is nice. But wondering why it doesn't allow me to sign in with another identity. My blogger blog is dead, and there might be others out there without blogger accounts that would like to comment. Just a thought.

Blogger blogs can be set that you don't need a Blogger account...can't they? Eileen's is set up that way... I believe I left comments on MF's old blog. Yesterday I tried to leave a comment on Caron Mosey's husband's blog about him glueing his bottom together but ran into the same thing... of course maybe he wants to be careful about who comments..

Here is a follow up article you might like to visit.

Question. Does the number of comments a blog receive make it score or rank higher? Does the content of the comments affect the score or rank? Is blogging as mysterious as Googling?

do you mean within activerain or on the outside, Tony?

OCT

2006

Finally got a chance to complete the tour and have to say it is quite an impressive collection of blogs. Great job everyone!

toby

Toby... were you the Toby who commented on my blog this AM? I saw a comment from a Toby and thought Toby of Active Rain immediately... then I could not tell from the comment if it was you. Seemed like a local comment because it was about our Ohio pronounciation of French and German place names... but you are Pacific NW aren't you?

If it was not you, I must compliment you on the fact that when I see Toby I think of Toby on Active Rain... that's branding.

Which Toby are we talking :P I am getting all confused now...I am the Toby from WA, Toby Boyce is from Ohio so it may be him...at least you thought it was me and your right...that is brnading :)

OK Toby Boyce..Toby Barnett ...someone sent me private mail about this... Toby Barnett has obviously (to me) done a job on branding the name Toby for me.

I shoulda clicked on the Toby commenter before making a fool of myself.

Maybe I will be able to tell the Tobys apart now.... Or maybe I will still get them confused. There is also an Ohio blogger (non AR) named Tobias... his last initial is B.

Maureen Francis and I have the luxury of separate last name initials.

Toby Barnett you ARE the Toby B1 to me now. Toby Boyce I will have to pay attention to... but of course he would know how we pronounce Versailles and Berlin in Ohio...

Having the same initials does get things more confusing and as the network get larger this will probably become more common.

Toby Barnett and Toby Boyce... may I please associate with you so that in an effort to distinguish between the two of you I may more fully appreciate your writings?

Being the mannerless person that I am I would just associate with the both of ya except Kristal Kraft wrote a post saying you should ask.... before associating. Thanks in advance for considering me the opportunity.

Maureen M. in OH

P.S. Please say no privately via email rather than publicly because I am humiliated enuff over mixing up Toby B's already...

Associate away :) that is good etiquette but not necessary IMO.

Maureen - please feel free to associate away -- no issues from Delaware (the city - not the state).

Actually kind of enjoying the "confusion", its not like we're named Bob or Steve where there was always one other kid in school with the name. I went to a small college - and there was one Toby among the entire 1850 students beyond me -- and she made it pretty easy to tell the difference!

And Maureen - that was me that commented on your blog this morning.

So as to add to the confusion, I (Michigan Maureen, but not MM) associated with mr. Boyce...

OCT

2006

I can't believe it took me this long to find this entry... Good idea re-linking to it for those of us who must've been on vacation.

the Property Monger

Shall I count you in next time, Jon? And what do you think about the trackbacks???

OCT

2006

Teresa Boardman put together a squidoo lense of the blogs that participated in our blog tour. Visit her post here. Also, get more exposure for her lense, by digging it.

NOV

2006

Well, I may as well throw my Phoenix Real Estate blog into the pile. You've actually got a backlink in the "Don't Feat The Technology" post, Maureen.

I know Jonathan! I saw that yesterday. I'm trying to find some time to put up a thank you post.

This blog tour is over. We are doing them once a month. So the December one will come up soon. I hope you will join us then!

NOV

2006

Ah, I see the date now ... the old "add the old post to the new group gambit"!!!! :-)

psst...Jonathan... add your old posts to groups... it boosts the comments.. I have one with dogs which is going for the long tail award ... if I can beat out MF's blog with 135 entries and something Leanne says is "ewww."

You know the value of a picture of a cute dog works don't you?

Sorry Jonathan. Wasn't trying to bait and switch. Didn't want the group to look lonely.

MM, I am putting dog pics in all my blogs now, after seeing what it has done for your loooooooooong dog post. It's my new blogging for success strategy. Don't tell anyone, please.

hmmmmmmmmm.....Gratuitous use of pooch picturers to boost blog traffic? Watch out it could bite you in the butt. ;- (

Sorry I could not resist the pun.

I kind agree. That strategy is for the dogs.

Punnin' right back atcha, MM.

That strategy is for the dog? weak....

That strategy is for the birds!

Have you seen this blog? Gorgeous photo.

What time does the blog tour leave? Can I bring my camera? Where do we meet?

Shoot. My pun misfired. Bad memory. Mixed punaphors.

KK, I hope you packed a big suitcase. This is going to be a long blog tour. I am not sure when we will be back. Just let Larry know he can leave you messages here if he needs to find you.

There is a bonus pun in my last reply for those who know how to use their mouse.

dogs, birds, mice.... or mouse anyway...

I love her parakeet pics. My mouse did not misfire. It was just my pun. She had another one up of them early in the morning.

Did I miss the bonus pun? Or was it the birds?

AND!!!

What happened to the human test? I miss it!

You did not correctly enter the text of the graphic displayed. Please try again.

Do you see the bonus pun? I think the "you did not pass the human test" comes and goes because I thought it was gone and then I read it again.

I was trying to get an RTer addicted to Active Rain and failing. She is a member of AR but she does not like the fruits... doesn't get it.... thinks it's stupid... she tried saying what was in the graphic in the blog...an image in the actual entry... I tried emailing her, tried calling her to walk her through it. No luck so far.

I think I deserve bonus points (and I don't even like points) for my bonus pun....

Gotta go to a meeting. I'll be back to find th bonus pun in a few hours. If I survive the meeting :->

Now this is a really excellent and informative post! I'm grateful you took the time to detail the issue and at least one potential solution. Thanks for the post!

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