Okay, so I have been online for many years. It is actually a funny story, in 2000 I was given the opportunity to purchase a computer, which back then was around $1,000. As a Mother of 3 at the time, all of my children under the age of 7, I was very skeptical about "Wasting" that much money on electronics. I actually put up a pretty good fight about it and just about "Won".
Thankfully, I did not win that argument! I relented and we purchased a HP. It had Windows 98, there was a CDRW and it had one of those huge 19 inch monitors. It was barely faster then a snail and could not run too many programs all at once or it would freeze up horribly. I was in HEAVEN.
I never knew how much I could learn just from being online. We subscribed to AOL which to this day I join in with everyone and call it a "Virus" but could not get rid of if my life depended on it..LOL (I think the AOL people have some how made their program like any drug, once you are hooked, you have withdrawals...LOL)
So for the first few years I used the Internet and my computer to keep in touch with family and friends out of state and out of the Country. I was part of a Military Family, therefore it was very useful.
Fast forward to 2005, after being a stay at home Mother for about 8 years, I was back in the Work force. I was scared! What skills did I have? I hadn't worked in 8 years and my Last job was as an answering service Operator. I had no schooling other then High School and the only intellectual conversations I had in the last 8 years were with toddlers. (Yes, Toddlers do have intellectual conversations..LOL)
So, I soon found out that I did have skills. It turns out that the 5 years I had been working on my computer for social reasons added to my technical abilities. See, I am a sponge when it comes to learning. If I do something over and over I tend to increase the challenge and make myself learn something more. I ended up teaching myself how to be an expert operator of Microsoft Office. All programs. That came in handy when I applied for a job at a local Real Estate company.
Slowly, I moved my way up until I am now a Realtor, working for myself. Now, the reason for this blog, during my years online I have joined many social networking sites.
I am a Member of several Real Estate groups on www.yahoo.com On their main page, click on groups and then do a search for your Area Real Estate. (Example: Ocala Real Estate) You should find several for your area if it is large enough. You will also be able to find many for your State.
MySpace - what can I say about www.MySpace.com except that everyone has their own space and can really show off your own identity. I have a couple MySpace pages, I use one for personal use and I use one for Business. There is so much you can customize on that site. You can change your themes, you can add music, You can add photos and you can even blog on there.
Facebook - I have a new Profile on www.facebook.com I am not yet convinced about this site, I have been getting some response to it and will keep it going until I figure out if I like it or not.
ActiveRain - I have been on www.activerain.com for a couple years now and I can honestly say this is the Networking site I tell the most people about. This is the site I mainly blog and interact on. I guess you could say I am hooked on the Rain ;o)
Blogger - I have a Blog on www.blogspot.com I like the templates that come with the site. I also like the little widgets you can add to your Blog. So far I like it as well.
Craigslist - This one is an interesting site, and that is being very conservative in my description. Go to www.craigslist.com search for your State and then search for your city or the closest City to you. The Interesting thing about this site is the variety of people you can interact with on it. I have to warn you that there is a wide range of things on Craigslist. I post my listings on there under the header "Real Estate Offered - By Broker" I have gotten quite a bit of activity from there. If you do not want to see posts that will offend you, then you might want to stay away from the personals section.
Wanna Network - http://www.wannanetwork.com/ This is another Real Estate networking site.
Zolve - http://zolve.com/ Another Real Estate Networking site.
Okay, I am sure I can find at least a dozen more but that would make my blog way too long. If anyone has a great one that should not be left out of this blog, please send it to me and I will add it.
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