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How To Complete Your Active Rain Profile - Part II

By
Real Estate Technology with ActiveRain

This tutorial is to help you complete your Profile Page. There are (3) three sections on your Profile Page that you'll want to utilize to maximize the value and benefits of your page. The areas are "About Us", "Areas of Expertise", and "Testimonials".

It's good to have an idea of what you want your "Final" Profile page to look like when it's completed. I will breakdown the details of how all the tools and options work, but it will be up to you to be creative and decide how you want your final page to appear. Take a look at some of the samples provided in THIS POST! In my opinion, these sections are what can make your Profile Page your ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE!

THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS APPLY TO ALL THREE AREAS ON YOUR PROFILE PAGE. EACH AREA HAS THE EXACT SAME FEATURES AND TOOLS TO WORK WITH, WE'LL USE THE "ABOUT US" SECTION FOR THIS TUTORIAL POST:

  1. First, always be sure you are logged into Active Rain.

  2. If you forgot your password "CLICK HERE" for directions.

  3. Once logged in, Click on the "MY HOME" tab located at the top right corner of your screen.

  4. Now Click on (EDIT) next to the words "My Profile" on the left side of your screen.

Go to the first section which is: About Us - You can change this by clicking on [Rename Section], and then rename this portion of your page to whatever you want. For example, I changed mine from "About Us" to:

WELCOME TO YOUR NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR REAL ESTATE RELATED TECHNOLOGY & MARKETING

Here is a screen shot for reference that may help you. You might want to start with some simple text in the beginning, and then elaborate with photos, links, and HTML as time goes on. After viewing this post, hopefully you'll be feeling more comfortable with your navigational skills, and the tools that are available.

 

 


 

 


USING THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE TOOL BAR:

 

  1. Write some text in the "About Us" box to begin. (You can always come back and change it anytime)


  2. Highlight any section of the text with your mouse.

  3. Use the B, I, U  to make your text BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINED, or any combination of all three.

  4. To Use the strike-out tool, simply highlight the text with your mouse and click on  ABC it works like this.

  5. To change text "Fonts" and "Sizes", use these tools provided:


HOW TO USE THE TEXT ALIGNMENT TOOLS:

  1. This tool will keep all your text left justified

  2. This tool will center justify all your text

  3. This tool forces all your text to be right justified

  4. This tool causes your text to expand equally across your page


USING THE TAB or INDENT TOOLS:

If you want your text or images to be indented just as this text is here, you can use the   icon. Just highlight your text or image, the click on it.  Each time you click on it...

 It will TAB or indent your text evenly and consistently.

 If you want your text to go back to the left and align with previous text, just use the   tool to send it back to the left justified position.

This will allow you to create some really cool text layouts

It will also allow you to fill in some of the blank space on your page.

Being a little creative is what will set you apart from the crowd.

HOW TO ADD LINKS TO TEXT OR IMAGES:

  1. Links can be created to link text and images to other pages, websites, and videos etc. in other locations.

  2. Select the text or image you want to link. For this example, I will use MAKE MILLIONS as my text.

  3. Highlight the text MAKE MILLIONS with your mouse, then select the    linking tool.  The following screen will appear:


The final result of your text will look like this: MAKE MILLIONS It works exactly the same with photos, graphics and images. Try it, click on the screen shot above and it will take you to the same location as the "Text Link" does.

TIPS: The reason I select to have linked pages open in a "new window" is that if your visitor/reader closes the window, they are right back at your post. The reason I always use a "Title", when you hold or hover your mouse over the "text link" or "image link", the "Title Text" will appear. This is a great tool for sending a subliminal message. Try it, just hover your mouse over the image above...
To remove links from text or graphics on any Page, simply click on   and that will break the link or links.

USING THE BULLET POINTS & NUMBERING:

  1. Placing your cursor next to your text, click on the Bullet  or Numbering Icon. This will place a number or a bullet point next to your line of text.
  2. To continue using Bullets & Numbers, just press "Enter" and the next Bullet or Number will be created automatically.
  • To discontinue using Bullets and Auto Numbering,
  • simply click on the  or the or   icon one more time, and toggle the option off!

HOW TO ADD PHOTOS, GRAPHICS, and PICTURES:

  1. Place your mouse cursor where you want your "Image" to be placed.
  2. Next, Click on the icon.

  3. The window below will appear.

  4. Follow these simple steps to insert/edit your images:


HOW TO MODIFY, RESIZE & ADJUST APPEARANCE OF IMAGES:

Now if you want to wrap text, and make some appearance adjustments, follow these next steps.

Follow and repeat steps 1 - 3 above. Now click on the "Appearance" tab at the top of the window.

That will take you to the screen below:

Use the options available to modify, and adjust your graphic image or photo to your desired specifications.

 

 

***NOTE: Don't worry about Class and Style at this point, they will be covered in a future post.


USING THE ADDITIONAL TOOLS PROVIDED ON THE TOOL BAR:

  1.   This tool cleans up messy HTML code on your page. This is a section we will be discussing in an upcoming post regarding HTML. Not here, and not today.

  2.   This tool allows you to use HTML code anywhere you see this icon. We will cover HTML and all the tips, tricks, and techniques in the "Using HTML on Active Rain" post coming soon...

  3.  Now you've done all this work on your page and you want to preview how it will look, just click on this icon  to get a preview opened in a new window, and decide if you like what you see. If so, and you're all
    done editing, don't forget to click on

  4. The final tool and Icon I want to share is the "Spell check" tool. DO NOT take this tool for granted. Many of us are great spellers, (not me) but when you're typing/blogging out your thoughts so quickly, it's easy to make a typo. Use the "SpelChck" ... see what happens if you don't?!

You can check out PART I of this post called: "How To Setup Your Active Rain Profile." Watch for the next "TUTORIAL" post titled: "How To Create & Upload Video on Active Rain"


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Comments (150)

Liz Moras Migic
Chilliwack, BC
Chilliwack, British Columbia - Realtor

Ive been doing this for a while now and yet there were still things I learned!  Thank you!

Jul 01, 2009 10:12 AM
Jen Bowman
Keller Williams on the Water - Holmes Beach, FL
Realtor - Anna Maria Island & Bradenton FL

Thanks for the tips Brad! I just went and did some editing on my profile.

Jul 25, 2009 12:50 AM
Patricia Hollingworth
Century 21 Professional Group - Orlando, FL

I am ompletely confused...unable to update profile.....followed instructions....but no luck....instructions look good, but how do you use them?

Thanks you

Aug 02, 2009 05:33 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Patricia - to access your profile and make edits, updates, changes etc.  It's simple:

  1. Make sure you're logged into ActiveRain
  2. Click on the "My Home" link in upper right corner of screen
  3. Click on the "edit" link located next to your "profile
  4. Make the necessary changes, updates, and edits etc.
  5. Click on the "Update" button.

You're done. It's that easy. 

If you need help, just call the number on my profile, I'd be happy to help you.  :-)

Aug 02, 2009 05:38 AM
Nicholas Caron
Caron's Gateway Real Estate - Derry, NH

Brad thanks for this step by step guide for us newbies.

Aug 02, 2009 07:10 AM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

Thanks for your time in training us newbies.  I think I emailed you seperately, but I thought I would show you the problem I have here.

Everyone else's text is lined up nicely on the right of the their picture.  So far so good for me.

But

look

what

happens when I get past the picture.  I cannot work out how to line it up all on the right.

Also, it will be interesting to see if my name shows up at the bottom as Jane Peters - Los Angeles Realtor.  I won't be able to see until I hit submit.  Also, if it links to my email.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

 

Aug 14, 2009 12:35 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Jane - the photos you see in comments of other members are automatically added when they comment.  You need to be a rainmaker member in order for your photo to show in comments.  If you need help and are interested, let me know, I'd be happy to help.  :-)

Aug 16, 2009 08:57 AM
Richard Green
U.S. Cybertek, Inc. - Houston, MO

What a great tutorial on how to edit your profile.  Keep up the good work.

Sep 03, 2009 06:35 AM
Steve, Joel & Steve A. Chain
Chain Real Estate Investments & Mortgage, Steve & Joel Chain - Cottonwood, CA

Brad, Many thanks for the walk thru!!!

Sep 04, 2009 02:26 PM
Wendy Sabo
CENTURY 21 Signature Realty - Grand Blanc, MI
Building Relationships For Life!

Thank you!  Great step by step process!

Sep 07, 2009 06:28 AM
Greg Anderson
Hearthstone Mortgage - Raleigh, NC
NMLS # 116211

Thanks for the easy steps. The hints are great too.

Sep 21, 2009 08:26 AM
Megan Izdebska & Hanna Manoufar Chandler, Scottsdale Real Estate Agent
United Brokers Group - Chandler, AZ
Double Commitment. Double Results.

Great Learning Tools. Thank you.

Oct 07, 2009 02:16 PM
David C. Stinson
Meybohm Realtors - Aiken, SC

Your tips are educational and helpful.  Thanks!

Oct 13, 2009 02:30 AM
FN LN
Toronto, ON

Brad - This is a fantastic post to teach ActiveRainers how to improve their profiles.  Thanks.

Nov 13, 2009 01:15 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Thanks Marc - there is so much to learn here, which means there's so much for me to post. I love my job at ActiveRain because I really enjoy helping other members and all my new found friends here. Thanks again. :-)

Nov 13, 2009 01:56 AM
Mike Barilone
RE/MAX Legends - Lawrenceville, GA
Lawrenceville Georgia Realtor

Hi Brad,

I'd finished my profile and I was wondering if there's any way to add color to the letters/words. 

Great work on helping us all out.  Thanks a lot!

 

 

 

Nov 19, 2009 05:28 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Hey Mike - I use scribefire for coloring fonts. It's a firefox browser add-on. You can download it at scribefire.com.
Nov 19, 2009 05:36 AM
Chris Walters
Edisto Realty Edisto Beach,SC DiscoverEdisto.com - Edisto Beach, SC

Thanks for the easy to follow instructions.

Dec 05, 2009 05:22 AM
Robert Frazer
Exit Realty Chesapeake Bay - Elkton, MD

Thanks, this should be very helpful!

Dec 10, 2009 06:23 AM
Margaret C. Taylor
Century 21 New Millennium MD - Mechanicsville, MD
St Marys/Calvert/Charles MD Real Estate Agent

Thank you this is just what I need.  I will review it again and then save it for future reference.  I think I subscribed to this site and I'm not sure what that means.  Margaret C.

Dec 11, 2009 11:21 AM