I'm always looking for ways to illustrate my topic with visual images.  The reason?  We think visually ~ in images, and an image conveys immediate understanding in a way that words alone cannot.

This morning, I'm hiking in Agua Caliente Park.  It's an hours' drive across Tucson from my home in the Tucson Mountains.  I'll be photoblogging about it later, and I'll want my readers to have a sense of the physical and ecological context of the photos.

Google Maps will provide the tools I need for my Localism readers to understand what I want to convey:

• Where the park is located
• What the surrounding terrain is like
• How they can get there from anywhere in or around Tucson

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TUTORIAL:  How to make a map like this for your Real Estate business:

Use this method to bring people to you ~ to your open house, your listing,
a favorite restaurant in your town or city ~ in short,
to any place you want your reader to find.

Step by step

1.  Google your destination.  I googled "Agua Caliente Park Tucson."

2.  Click "Get Directions."

3.  Zoom in and out until you have the map level of detail that you want.

4.  Use Snagit or Print Screen to capture and save your image as a .jpeg file.

The fun part:

5.  Open Microsoft Powerpoint to a blank slide.

6.  Import your picture, and size it to fit the screen.

7.  Using the powerful tools available in Powerpoint, give the image a border, add text boxes, photos, word art, etc. to create the final image.   (You can bring any element of the final image forward or backward until you're satisfied with the final result.)

8.  Once again, use Snagit or Print Screen to crop your final image and save it in a folder.  Since I started blogging for Localism, I've created Community Folders to organize my images.

That's it!  Go forth and blog!

EDIT:  I used this method to create my AR Profile Photo with the signature.

EDIT:  To answer your questions on this post, here's Part 2

How Do Automate The Process of Publishing Your Active Rain Post to FB, Plaxo, LinkedIn...

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I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Mortgage Lender.

NMLS #223495

SUNSTREET MORTGAGE llc ~ Mortgage Bankers, Not Brokers!
Offices in Scottsdale, Tucson, and Nogales, AZ, and Albuquerque, NM.

Call me on my Blackberry  (520) 349-9090

photos copyright Mike in Tucson

terrain map courtesy Google