This week I was so busy with my real estate practice here in Silicon Valley that I'm just glad I got in a daily post on my blog, Live in Los Gatos. Most days were long, with multiple appointments. I had a couple of sales, and it was another week without a full day off. 
I tell myself that it's like being a farmer when the crops are good: count your blessings, don't grumble, reap the harvest while you can.
But today I only worked a half day and the rest was off. With my free time I went to our local park to see baby Great Blue Herons and to take a whole lot of photos - 54 in all! Of course I blogged about that today (see link above.) And later, I even took a nap in the afternoon. Tomorrow is a no-work day - it will be a welcome change of pace.
So in terms of my blog, the main progress was that I kept posting despite a lack of time and sleep. I believe it is better to be consistent than to be perfect.
Once again I fiddled with the formatting. I want to add a blogroll but have too many links already. Today I spent an hour trying to add a blogroll but made an html mess of things. I may have to ask Fran, my mentor, for help! She already knows I want to do that, along with some other things. 
A couple of weeks ago I shared with everyone here on AR that I was subscribing to Real Estate Shows, which is the fabulous product by Jeff Turner (yes, one of the coaches in this competition). Today I made my second "real estate show", this one about our local parks. It'll be in my Sunday blog but you can have a sneak peak here: Mary Pope-Handy's Photo Tour of Vasona Lake County Park and Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, CA.
Otherwise, I did a lot of blog reading and jotted Fran notes on the formatting changes I want. (I'm impatient for it to look perfect. She keeps telling me to just keep writing.) I did my level best to stay "active" in Active Rain.
So it's been reading and writing and reading and writing.
I'm learning a ton.
I'm also learning that there's a lot of conflicing information out there. Sometimes the conflict is between "conventional wisdom" and "your own voice".
I haven't entirely sorted that one out just yet....
Have a wonderful week, one and all.
And don't work too hard!
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Broker-Associate
Mary I snuck a peak at your real estate show. It's fantastic! I'm going to try one this week. I think you're on the right track with what you're doing and I'm enjoying the experience of getting to know Los Gatos through your site.
Apr 28, 2007 06:48 PM
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno - Los Gatos, CA
CRS, CIPS, ABR, SRES, Silicon Valley
Thanks Kelly!!
My son had wanted to show me that my computer could do slideshows for free, but I have to say that the subsciption to Jeff's Real Estate Shows is well worth the money. You have an easy format (though I admit I'd love it if there were longer shows templated, rather than the longest being 9 pics and 60 seconds - but today I did learn that you can add an unlimited number of "additional photos" and that's pretty cool), music that you can use without worrying about copyrights, text that goes where you want it to go, movement in the pics in, out, right left - all very cool features. And it's intuitive. You don't need to read a 3 inch manual to figure out how to do it!
I'm lucky to live in a town which is both small but diverse, so there's a little bit of everything (it's not "just houses" as some cities here are) and it's very photogenic. Before learning about Real Estate Shows, I had considered hiring a videographer to help me do a virtual tour of Los Gatos. That might still be an idea I'll persue, but for now, I'm going to plan to do one section of town, or one neighborhood, per RES. And I'll put them not just on my blog, but also on my websites. People using older computers often can't run virtual tours, but I bet they could still run these slideshows!
Pretty funny that I'm endorsing the product of a competing blogger apprentice's coach, isn't it? But it's deserved. I really have the sense that no matter what happens, we're all going to win as we learn from this whole process and from each other.
My son had wanted to show me that my computer could do slideshows for free, but I have to say that the subsciption to Jeff's Real Estate Shows is well worth the money. You have an easy format (though I admit I'd love it if there were longer shows templated, rather than the longest being 9 pics and 60 seconds - but today I did learn that you can add an unlimited number of "additional photos" and that's pretty cool), music that you can use without worrying about copyrights, text that goes where you want it to go, movement in the pics in, out, right left - all very cool features. And it's intuitive. You don't need to read a 3 inch manual to figure out how to do it!
I'm lucky to live in a town which is both small but diverse, so there's a little bit of everything (it's not "just houses" as some cities here are) and it's very photogenic. Before learning about Real Estate Shows, I had considered hiring a videographer to help me do a virtual tour of Los Gatos. That might still be an idea I'll persue, but for now, I'm going to plan to do one section of town, or one neighborhood, per RES. And I'll put them not just on my blog, but also on my websites. People using older computers often can't run virtual tours, but I bet they could still run these slideshows!
Pretty funny that I'm endorsing the product of a competing blogger apprentice's coach, isn't it? But it's deserved. I really have the sense that no matter what happens, we're all going to win as we learn from this whole process and from each other.
Apr 29, 2007 06:03 AM
thredUP.com - The Woodlands, TX
knitwit at thred UP
Hi Mary, thought I'd come check out your post. I'm doing something similar. My AR business plan. I'm doing a lot of writing for Localism right now. It is time consuming but hard work pays off in the end usually, right? Keep it up!
Apr 29, 2007 07:42 AM
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno - Los Gatos, CA
CRS, CIPS, ABR, SRES, Silicon Valley
Majestic Properties - Miami Beach, FL
Mary, I love your idea about including parks with real estate shows. I want to start using REshows more for local content and the final product is always so great. Glad to hear you had a busy week, it's a great problem to have....and about being impatient....I've been trying to launch my new blog site for 3 weeks now and it's not happening....very frustrating.....hopefully this week.
Apr 29, 2007 03:06 PM
Exit Realty Laredo - Laredo, TX
Homes for Sale in Laredo, TX - Texas, Realtor
Mary, you are doing very good, later on you will have to let me know about this :)
take care my friend
Apr 29, 2007 04:11 PM
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Broker-Associate
I just saw the video introduction on your profile just now. I'm not sure why I missed it before but IT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Perfectly said and perfectly filmed. All I can say is WOW!
Apr 29, 2007 05:17 PM
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno - Los Gatos, CA
CRS, CIPS, ABR, SRES, Silicon Valley
Dayton, OH
>"I'm impatient for it to look perfect. She keeps telling me to just keep writing.) I did my level best to stay "active" in Active Rain. "
Is it okay for me to say "ditto"? ;) Mary, you and I really seem to be having the same pains at the same time. And our coaches seem to have a eerily similar style. That's about all I hear from Greg these days "just write". I want to say "B, b, but, what about...(fill in the blank)? And darn it, he's always right, as is Fran, but I agree it's frustrating.
Your sight is amazing! I can't believe how much I'm learning about Los Gatos.
I'm curious about one thing about your style: how long do you spend on each post? I'm a slow writer (but getting faster!). I put in as much time as I comfortably can, but I'd like to add more research and information, but I don't want to be married to my blog. You must be quick. Any advice on compiling research? or is this all stuff you've known prior? Hope you don't mind me asking, and if you are not comfortable responding, I can live with that too.
May 02, 2007 08:40 PM
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno - Los Gatos, CA
CRS, CIPS, ABR, SRES, Silicon Valley
I type fast and write fairly fast. In high school I took Creative Writing, one
of the best courses I ever took. That class helped me write better papers
throughout college and graduate school. (One of my thesis readers was ecstatic
about my writing. Credit to Mr. Larry Johsens from Saratoga High, CA.)
When I do a community event or news item, I'm fast (unless I'm also using
photos that need to be resized). The historical ones do take awhile and I do
those once a week or so. I used to teach or just present a segment of "local
history" at office meetings from time to time and have some notes, but
obviously want solid info if it's out on the web forever....
Yesterday was a writing day for me. I worked on a lot of blog posts, did
research for others (I keep a notebook of topic ideas), and fussed with
formatting - a lot. But hopefully since I did a concentrated amount of time
yesterday, I can focus on real estate work instead for the next few days.
On average, if I had to guess, between reworking the photos (sizing, cropping
etc.), doing research, some posts take me an hour or more to write. I'm sure
there are some where I've spent 2 hours on it. The little community event
types take me 15 minutes or less.
It is a lot of time and if I'm not married to my blog right now, we are dating
heavily!!
May 03, 2007 01:28 AM
Exit Realty Laredo - Laredo, TX
Homes for Sale in Laredo, TX - Texas, Realtor
Mary, that's why :) that's your revealed secret LOL hahaha, we are not all like you, you type fast, you think fast, you blog fast, everything is fast fast fast !
May 03, 2007 02:09 AM
Dayton, OH
Hi Mary- I emailed you the long version, so I'll just post a Cliff Notes Version here: Thanks for the info, and you ROCK, Lady!
May 03, 2007 02:53 AM
Advantage Solutions Group - Tucson, AZ
Master Certified Coach to Motivated Agents
I like your comment about being consistent rather than perfect!
Although, for me, your blog is the picture of perfection. I'm enjoying watching this contest immensely!
May 05, 2007 05:40 AM
Rainmaker
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Mary Pope-Handy
CRS, CIPS, ABR, SRES, Silicon Valley
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