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Introducing Active Rain Outside Blogs
Last week my blog design series was interrupted by a "lecture" to try an get the off topic posts under control. This week the interruption is for a much nicer reason. Unless you've been on another planet for the past few days you've probably seen, read and tested out the new AR outside blogs.
Active Brad

If for some reason you missed it, take a look at Brad Andersohn's very clear/detailed intro & instructions...
ActiveRain Launches Outside Blogs - How Do You Get Yours?
Since this is new, there will probably be a few bugs and wrinkles to work out in the coming days/weeks. After testing it out, here are a few things I found that might help you get your AR outside blog looking the way you want it to look.

Testing Things Out

To test drive the new AR outside blogs I put together a quick header and did some tweaking of the graphics. You can see mine at http://garaughty.activerain.com/
As with anything new in technology there are always things to be adjusted, fine tuned and fixed, so keep in mind that in the coming days and weeks a lot might change. But for now...
Apparently, SIZE does matter!!!

One of the BIG issues was a problem with uploading header images. There was a conflict about dimensions, apparently size does matter! The problem seems to have been resolved and the winner is...
742 pixels W X 105 pixels H
If you make your blog header image too large or too small there's good chance it will be stretched to fit the dimensions, that will distort the image or... if you make the image too large, parts of it will be cut off so sticking with the recommended image header size of 742 X 105 works best.
Question & Answer about "sloppy" title text

A few people seem to be having problems with the TITLE TEXT in their outside blog. i.e. a comment over at Brad's post reads "I cannot adjust the font or size of the typeface in the title and it is a big sloppy mess...can't find anywhere that tells me how to do that either...HELP PLEASE!"...
Right now the text/font size is fixed and can't be changed. The simple solution is to to keep your title text short and you won't have a "sloppy mess".
Again as with anything new (especially technology), it usually won't work perfectly on day one. Having patience goes a long way. The bugs & problems are being addressed.
The Sidebar Photo

The sidebar photo doesn't seem to have any issues as long as you use the dimensions of 189 pixels W or more. I tested several images with different height values and all seemed to work well.
Coming Soon... free background images for AR Outside Blogs

As we did with the AR Blog Customizer (Pimp Your Blog part 2), for anyone who doesn't have the time or patience to design their own blog header, we'll be giving away a variety of free custom designed background images that you can use on your AR Outside Blog. Just add text! I just want to be sure the image header size stays at 742 W X 105 H before we put them online for download.


Really connecting with people on a blog takes more than just throwing together a few property listings. If you give them a reason to interact with you, you'll have a much better chance of having them come back again and again. Here is an excellent example by Diane Aurit in her post...
Localism Idea: Restaurant Reviews!
Shy about video?

Are you shy about posting with video? If you haven't seen it yet, check out Mary Anne Daly's fun and entertaining look at dealing with webcam shyness...
Overcoming Webcam Shyness-Here's How I Did It
LOL Sally!

And another great example by Sally Cheeseman of testing out the video thing, making it real, human and fun. Something we can all relate to. Check out her video post I Really Crack Me Up ...hahahahahaha!

In no particular order, here are some of the best Active Rain marketing posts from this past week...
- "Listing Exposure" - Creativity in a Challenging Market by Rich Jacobson
- Snickers, Zeros & Zagnuts- Lessons from the Candyman by Chuck Willman
- GET Permission to Use Pictures, Video & Testimonials of Clients by Sally Cheeseman
- HOW DO I PRICE MY HOME TO SELL? by Yvette Smith
- Tips for Writing Good Copy for Web Sites by Vicki Pedersen
- Just a Few Personalized Give-Aways To Get The Creative Juice's Flowing! by Leesa L. Finley
- An Oldie But Goodie - City-Data - Have You Visited Lately? by Leesa L. Finley
- 8 Great Ways to Reinvent the Old Pre-View Home Tour! by Lola Audu
- Nurturing the Internet Lead -- Part 1/Preparation by Nicki Conway
- Press - One of the Keys to Success by Julea Joseph
- Will Your Real Estate Peers Eventually Overcome Their Social Phobia? by William Johnson
- Has blogging helped you become a better professional & expert? by Jeff Belonger
- EMOTIONAL CONNECTION is key to forming relationships with prospects by Kay Steele Faulk
- Testimonials Kick A$$! by Jason Sardi
- Flickr + Video = Happy Denver Relocation Clients by Steve Scheer
- Listing Presentation Out, Video In by Margaret Woda
- TIPS TO MAKE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY- NEWS WORTHY by Allison Stewart

- Increase your online presence & SEO with BusinessCard2 by Bill Gassett
- Domain Names as We Know Them Will Never Be The Same! by Bobby Carroll
- Just found a new site to advertise listings by GITA BANTWAL

- Makeover2Takeover Contest Update by Active Rain
- Tuesday Truths.....Accomplishments don't have to be Tangible by Kathy McGraw
- Do you want to know the secrets to success on Active Rain? by Jan Evett
- Is Life Really Good??? Life IS Good! by Ray Nellum

If you would like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing projects, branding partnerships or tutorials on creative ways to use new medias and technologies like widgets, etc... please subscribe to our blog using the button below...

For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com
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Marti.....you are one of the best resource centers that I know of.