Turner's Perspective

A New Trade Association For Blogging And New Media (IBNMA)

2008-09-23T14:18:29Z

A new trade association was launched over the weekend.

The International Blogging & New Media Association opened it's doors at BlogWorld Expo. Why? "Blogging, podcasting and other forms of new media have become tools of an emerging industry. The International Blogging and New Media Association (IBNMA) has been formed to serve as a single voice representing members of the industry and as an advocate to promote its growth. The Association's mission is four-fold: To provide Research, Information, Education and Advocacy to bloggers, podcasters, social media practitioners and others related to the industry in any way."

I had the pleasure of live streaming an interview with Paul Chaney, who is one of the leaders of this new association.

10 Things You Need To Know About Search Engines And Findability (Thank you, Dave Taylor)

2008-09-21T13:28:59Z

I'm sitting in the airport in Las Vegas, reflecting on reBlogWorld and BlogWorld Expo and thought I'd share one of the thoughts that occurred to me during a session yesterday.

Dave Taylor gave a presentation entitled "10 Things You Need To Know About Search Engines And Findability." I didn't learn anything during the presentation that I didn't already know, but I still enjoyed it immensely. And it reminded me how lazy I can sometimes be with the basics. Dave presented the 10 tips in a way that is easy to understand and implement. I used Qik.com to stream the entire 52 minute presentation and you can watch it below. I'll be sending it to anyone who asks me about the basics from this moment forward.

During the presentation, he gave some advice on key word density and it reminded me of "What Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla Can Teach You About SEO and YEO", a post I wrote during last year's Project Blogger competition.

Here was the main thought behind that post.

I can find "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla", but I can't find "he, him, or his."

It hit me as I was actively singing along to my kid's Schoolhouse Rock CD, that I unconsciously use pronouns for exactly the reasons that my favorite Schoolhouse Rock song describes. My favorite is called "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla." I loved it when I was a kid and I love it now. My kids get a kick out of me belting it out at the top of my lungs.

Here's the best part of the song:

Now I could tell you Rafaella Gabriela and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla
and Albert Andreas Armadillo found an aardvark, a kangaroo, and a rhinoceros.
And now that aardvark and that kangaroo and that rhinoceros belong respectively to
Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo!

Whew! Because of pronouns I can say, in this way:
"WE found THEM and THEY found US and now THEY are OURS
and WE're so happy."

Thank you, pronouns!

You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun,
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

Yes, it can really wear you down. That's why we use pronouns. But if I say that's why "WE" use pronouns, then I miss out on an opportunity.

Here's the problem. Type he, him, or his into a google search and see what you find. Search results for he, him, his. The results are all over the board. Here's what you get when you search on Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla: Search results. There are 816 results and even if you go the last page of the results, they all point to Schoolhouse Rock references.

Make Jeff Turner's point, Jeff Turner! (Jeff Turner is now going to show ActiveRain members Jeff Turner's point by over exaggerating Jeff Turner's point. Because Jeff Turner really does have a point.)

If ActiveRain bloggers want to get the biggest bang from the Active Rain bloggers' ActiveRain blog posts, ActiveRain bloggers need to look the ActiveRain Bloggers' posts over carefully. When ActiveRain bloggers can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as this paragraph sounds, ActiveRain bloggers have increased the chances that the posts ActiveRain bloggers write will show up in search results.

That's obviously ridiculous. Here's how we would all normally write that paragraph:

If you want to get the biggest bang from your blog posts, you need to look your posts over carefully. When you can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as that paragraph sounds, you have increased the chances that the posts you write will show up in search results. This is subtle, but effective, and won't take much time.

Write to engage. Read to improve.

Don't even think about nouns or pronouns when you're writing. Just write. Write to engage the reader. Then save it as a draft and go get a cup of coffee, or take a nap, or kiss your loved ones, or mail me a dollar. When you're done, come back and read it to improve it's search engine attractiveness.

LinkedIn Launches Group Discussions

2008-08-29T13:30:27Z

For a long time, groups on LinkedIn have served very little purpose.

Today, LinkedIn finally added a few features that will make your LinkedIn group connections more powerful, including advanced search, but the most important of the features is Discussions. When we launched the Real Estate Shows group, this is the feature I was looking forward to the most, so I'm happy to finally be able to use it.

Check it out for yourself.

The Best Of Both Worlds - REBlogworld & BlogWorld Expo

2008-08-18T19:10:49Z

The next innovation in blogging technology will probably not come from within the Real Estate blogging community.

I'm not saying this because I don't have faith in the creative minds that occupy this real estate space. I do. But innovation is more likely to come from those who are focused on the larger blogging community outside of the RE.net.

This was true last at last years BlogWorld, where new technologies like Utterz made their debut.

This is one of the main reasons I'm happy to be speaking at REBlogWorld. Of course I'm happy to be doing my presentaion on Using And Abusing The Latest Web 2.0 tools. And I'm also looking forward to hearing the other speakers as well. But the real draw for me was that REBlogWorld is part of the larger BlogWorld experience that includes REBlogWorld on September 19th and BlogWorld on September 20 and 21.

When you register for REBlogWorld, you get all three days for one price. And the good guys (Todd Carpenter and Jason Berman) putting together REBlogWorld have worked out a 20% discount for ActiveRain members. Just enter ACVIP in the promotional box during registration, then click reply to see the new price before entering your payment information. But this $350 price goes to $450 on August 22. So, & you have only a few days left to get the best deal.

Here's the schedule for REBlogWorld on September 19th:

Room 1

10:00-11:15 Master the Key Points of Web Client Conversion, From Click to Close - Mariana Wagner
11:30-12:45 Social Networking With Photographs - Teresa Boardman
12:45-1:45 Lunch
2:00-2:45 Getting Great Content Out of your Contributors - Dustin Luther
3:00-3:45 How to Win Friends & Influence People Online - Todd Carpenter
4:00-4:45 Getting traditional media exposure using new media tactics - Jim Duncan
5:00-6:00 Using & abusing the latest 2.0 tools - Jeff Turner

Room 2

10:00-11:15 Video Marketing tools & strategies to help your business go viral - Mike Price - Daniel Rothemal - Morgan Brown
11:30-12:45 How to write a blog that firmly establishes your expertise - Dan Green
12:45-1:45 Lunch
1:00-2:45 Active Rain VS Word Press - Rich Jacobson and Dave Smith
3:00-3:45 What to do when Google doesn’t love you - Kelley Koehler
4:00-4:45 How to bring your 1.0 brokerage into a 2.0 world - Matt Fagioli, Pat Kitano, and Brad Coy
5:00-6:00 The Pitch - Mike Mueller, Jeff Corbett, Morgan Brown, Dan Green, George Favvas.

The seminars will be moderated by Pat Kitano, Kevin Boer, Ginger Wilcox, Mariana Wagner, Matt Fagioli, Jason Berman, and Jan O’Brien.

Hopefully, I'll see you there.

"Stirring the pot"

2008-08-14T09:31:45Z

I have absolutely nothing to add to this post. But when I saw the little "repost" icon in the upper right hand corner. I just had to click on it and see what it did and what it looked like after it did it.

Via Maureen McCabe - Central Ohio real estate :

Is "stirring the pot" a bad thing? Is stirring the pot on your ActiveRain blog a bad thing?

Someone commented on Rich Jacobson's recent post "In my last post, I tried VERY hard to say what I needed to say, without stirring the pot."

hmmmm as if "stirring the pot" is a bad thing. Rich's post is referring to one of the ActiveRain Community Guidelines.

Phrase Finder is a web site (UK so some phrases sounds a bit different) where you can find phrases like "stirring the pot"

"sitting on the fence"

"pig in a poke"...

"letting the cat out of the bag"

You can ask about a phrase on the Phrase Finder forum or look up what a phrase means... I looked up "stirring the pot" after seeing that comment on Rich's post

"Posted by Bob on January 02, 2001

In Reply to: Stir the pot posted by Patty on January 02, 2001

: What does the phrase "to stir the pot" generally mean? And does it mean to be in some way deliberately provocative or irritating? Thanks. - Patty

Deliberately provocative, yes, but not necessarily maliciously. Picture a pot of soup. A lot of ingredients have settled to the bottom, out of sight, until stirred. Metaphorically, a lot of issues/resentments/obligations can drop out of sight when nobody mentions them. One can "stir the pot" to bring issues to the surface, sometimes with malice, but sometimes merely to create awareness and effect change."

The comment on Rich J's recent post "Free Speech has a Cost"- The ActiveRain Community Guidelines Re-Visited said " say what I needed to say, without stirring the pot.without stirring the pot." hmmmm as if "stirring the pot" is a bad thing. Rich's post is refers to the ActiveRain Community Guideline (A good thing, a necessary thing):

"We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech which contains slurs or the malicious use of stereotypes intended to attack or demean a particular gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or nationality."

I believe Rich revisted that guideline now since comments left anonymously on an ActiveRain members post were found to be criminal....

Do you ever stir the pot on your blog? Can you recognize "stirring the pot" on ActiveRain and in the blogosphere when you see it?

It's Your Reputation. Manage it.

2008-08-07T11:53:01Z

Recent stories of "profile jacking" on Twitter point out the necessity for corporations to vigorously monitor their on-line reputation.

The most notable of the recent stories is that of "Janet," an Exxon "employee" who began posting at the fake Twitter account called ExxonMobilCorp. Jeremiah Owyang has a great review of the Exxon Twitter debacle, and offers some advice to corporations and to the social mediasphere. And, of course, one of his pieces of advice is that "Companies must monitor their brand." Exxon clearly fell asleep on this one, and others have fallen asleep as well, including CNN and Seth Godin.

So why should you care?

I hear the following a great deal, "I don't have time for (fill in the name of the most recent social network or web 2.0 portal)." And people have often asked me why I join so many social networks if I'm not going to actually do anything with them. I have many valid reasons for doing so, and one of the reasons is reputation management. I don't want anyone pretending to be me. If you really want to have a conversation with me on Twitter, you can follow me at respres. But I am also JeffTurner on Twitter, even though I almost never update that name. I created the second account, and others, because I didn't want anyone else to use them. It's really that simple.

It's just too easy for someone else to pretend to be you on-line.

And this is not just true for social media. It's true for blogging as well. It's amazing and heartwarming to note that more reputation bashing is not taking place via blog comments. Debates on blogs can get downright stupid, so given the virtriolic tone of some of the 'conversations" taking place recently in the RE.net, I'm glad that what I'm about to describe hasn't appeared to have happened yet. The simple truth is that anyone who knows my email address and website URL, both of which are easily accessible from just about anywhere, could pretend to be me and comment all over the RE.net as if they were me. It would be very easy to do. And anyone could just as easily act as if they were you as well.

Imagine the damage a disgruntled seller, buyer. former co-worker or competitor could do by claiming to be you in on-line forums, social networks and blogs. As a Realtor®, your reputation is integral to your brand. You need to monitor that brand and do everything in your power to insure that YOU are in control of that brand. This includes using Google Alerts and other search methods to make sure you can respond to valid mentions of your brand, that is a given. But you should also make sure you own your brand on the prominent social networking sites.

If you don't see the value, you don't actually need to engage in a conversation on prominent social networking and social messaging sites. But you should certainly ensure that nobody else is doing it for you.

Opening The Mobile Blogging Bag Of Tricks

2008-06-24T18:09:43Z

My mobile blog fest begins tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM.

That's when the entire Turner family, six kids and two parents, will head off on our annual road trip to West Virginia. I blogged all along the way last year on our CA TO WV... AND BACK AGAIN blog. This year I'm doing it again, only I'll be using as many new technologies as I can to chronicle our journey.

The main tool this year? Utterz.

Most of the posts created on our famiy travel blog will be generated using Utterz. I'm confident I'll be able to show a number of creative ways to use some of the technologies that have surfacec since our last trip a year ago. I'll also be using Twitter, Brightkite, editable Google maps, and other mobile tools. in addition, depending on bandwidth, I'll be using some live video streaming, Real Estate Shows (of course), and I'm even going to throw in some Eyejot This! action along the way.

This trip will certainly provide the breadth of creative opportunites required to show how versatile some of the latest, proven technologies can be. But what I'm really hoping is that it will serve to get your own creative juices flowing.

So, come join us... virtually. There may not be any more room in the truck, but there's plenty of room on the 'net. I think we'll all have some fun and you may get a few new ideas along the way!

For The Love Of Creative Commons

2008-06-20T01:54:55Z

I love taking photos and I love Flickr.

What I love almost as much as taking photos is finding that someone has used one of my photos in their blog posts. All of my public photos on Flickr give you permission for use, so long as you give attribution. I do this via the Creative Commons license. If you take lots of local photos, it's a great way to get exposure beyond your blog.

Some of what I consider my favorite photos, like the one to the right, have never been used via the Creative Commons. And, I think you'll see from the uses below, the photos that were chosen by others to illustrate their posts are not "award winning" photography.

I've written before about using the flickr creative commons as a way to connect with local photographers. It's a way to put YEO in action. Anyone who sets their photos to this level of sharing is happy to see their photos used. Me included. I monitor the use of the my online nickname, "respres", via my Google feed reader so I can find as much of it as possible. Lately I've been getting a nice little surpise about once a day. I thought I'd show you how the creative commons process works when it is used correctly and give a few of these writers some AR link love in the process. :)

Here are a few places my photos have shown up in the past few weeks. It's interesting to see the different contexts in which the photos have been used.

A Photo Of A Foreclosure Sign

The Zoo: Sign Of The Times

Redfin: All Aboard The Foreclosure Bus

Get Home Denver Team: Demystifying Real Estate Investing

Consumerist: More Than 1 Million Homes Are Now In Foreclosure

The AM Law Daily: This Week In Law

FrugalDad: 75 Tips To Survive In A Down Economy

A Photo Of Hiking In Los Angeles

10 Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer

A Photo Of LA Traffic

Metblogs LA: Putting The Tiger In Your Tank On A Diet

The Good Human: Have You Started Turning Your Car Off At Red Lights To Save Gas?

A Photo Of My Shattered iPhone Screen

Consumerist: The New iPhone Is $160 More Expensive Than The $399 iPhone It Replaced. What?

Loquor: Shattered iPhone Screen

A Photo From An Internet Meetup

Douglas E. Welch: Join Us For Morning Tech Talk At The Doctor's Note Get-Together

A Photo Of Six Flags Magic Mountain Cybercafe

Andy.KBC.MY: I'm AT A Stupid Cybercafe

--------

UPDATE Friday, June 20: Here is one I was alerted to this morning. I'm posting it here because it's a topic close to my heart. :) This "photo" was actually a screen capture of my email restoring.

Could You Go Emai-Free Once A Week?

Twitter Will Never Get You Any Business

2008-06-05T01:05:25Z

Unless you're the REALTOR® who showed up at this Twitter meetup tonight.

Overheard on Twitter:

Gruven_Reuven: Had my FIRST twitter meet up tonight. And found a Realtor in the process. Twitter ROCKS

about 2 hours ago · Reply · View Tweet

It's about relationships. It always has been. It always will be.

Happy To Be Chosen An Utterz Ambassador

2008-05-29T12:28:17Z

Yesterday, I was thrilled to learn that I was chosen to be among the first group of Utterz Ambassadors.

Although my tongue in cheek "audition" tape may have indicated otherwise, I wanted to be a part of the group for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I believe Utterz is one of the best mobile social media tools available. I've written about it before.

I've even been able to convince my wife to use Utterz. She was reluctant at first, but has finally realized the value in using it to distribute content to her different blogs and social media. Utterz is a free service, but I would pay for it. Willingly.

I already talk about Utterz everywhere I go, and even use it to do simple stuff like birthday messages, so it only made sense to be a part of a group that will get to contribute to where this service is heading and be able to test new features first.

I'm honored to be a part of this group.

I'm also hoping this gives me special parking privileges somewhere. :)

Here is the complete list:

JillFoster: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
Allicette: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
TechChris: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
NicolaWells: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
gtowna: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
Tojosan: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
JasonTucker: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
ResPres: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
PFMonaco: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
JenKnoedl: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
DiggsHarrington: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
JenTucker: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
PaulSwansen: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
Shazzer: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
001BrettBum: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
Paisano: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
AndyCaster: http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
AishaLadon http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
BenSpark http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
RichPalmer http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
Fave http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php
JimJ http://www.utterz.com/…rofile.php

PicLens Will Change The Way You View Flickr

2008-05-29T09:03:09Z

A very special thank you to Teresa Boardman for turning me on to this browser plugin.

PicLens "transforms your browser into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing photos and videos across the web. With one click, PicLens makes online media come to life via an immersive presentation that goes beyond the confines of the traditional browser."

If you're a flickr user, and you should be, this browser extension will be your new best friend. PicLens works with Firefox (Windows) Firefox (Mac) Internet Explorer and Safari (Mac).

Here's a quick look at PicLens. Best viewed full screen.

Thank you, Teresa!

I've Got To Be Honest, I'm Really Not Into This Place

2008-05-28T09:47:55Z

I've written a bunch about the emotional aspects of the home buying experience.

In a series of posts on Sex And Real Estate, I reviewed the excellent book by Marjorie Garber by the same name. The emotional triggers that cause us to fall in love with a home often overwhelm the "information" that is presented about. There's no denying it. I have personally rationalized away the fact that the home I was about to buy didn't have enough bedrooms because it just "felt like home." I was in love with it.

I couldn't resist posting this hilarious video. It illustrates just how strong these triggers can be. It wouldn't be so funny if it weren't so true. :)

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T11:59:46Z

Happy Memorial Day to everyone on ActiveRain!

My country,’ tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty,
of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims’ pride,
from every mountainside
let freedom ring!

Me.Dium May Be A Perfect Fit

2008-05-15T13:36:12Z

I stumbled upon a social browsing site that immediately caught my eye - it's called Me.Dium.

What is Me.Dium? By their own definition, "Me.dium is a social browsing software company offering a browser extension that allows people to surf with friends." Me.Dium was founded in 2006 and is compatible with a range of browsers in addition to Microsoft Internet Explorer, including Firefox, Flock, and The Songbird Media Player.

The Me.Dium browser extension presents a visual depiction of what your "friends" are looking at online at that exact moment. What makes Me.Dium unique is that everything in Me.Dium is always presented in real time. If I give you permission, you could see what URL I'm looking at right this very moment.

Now, I know for many of you that sounds a bit scary. Many of you will have privacy concerns. I understand. I had to ask myself this question: Do I really want people knowing my every move online? Perhaps not, but I' like to consider the potential benefits of anything before simply writing it off. The only way I know to do that is to actually try it. :)

It should be noted that you can set yourself to "invisible" anytime you like. So, if you want to hide, you certainly can. I have been using Me.Dium for over a week now and have only invited and followed a very small number of people. The people I invited were folks who surf the web looking for solutions and ideas as a matter of course in their daily lives. They spend a good amount of their time in "exploration" mode and I knew that being able to see what they were looking at in real time might present some opportunities for discussion.

I recorded a short video of my first use of Me.Dium so you can see how it works.

Me.dium Seems To Fit Pretty Darn Good from respres on Vimeo.

How might this be used in your real estate world?

Me.Dium was not built to be a business application, but I think it could have some strong business uses. You'll have your own ideas, but here are a few ideas that come to mind.

Learning From Trusted Sources: Friend and follow those whose opinions you respect. Join them as they are exploring a site you've not seen yet. Chat with them instantly about their thoughts.

Timely Local Conversations: Invite a few of your local real estate friends and use the sidebar. Alert each other to timely news in your local area. Chat in real time about the issue, event or finding.

Discuss New Listings: Friend other agents and brokers in your local area and use the tool to chat about new homes for sale or problems around specific listings.

Social Search: Looking for something and just can't seem to find it? Enlist your friends to help you search. We all search differently. So two heads (or 10) may be better than one.

My personal opinion is that Me.Dium is a tool that will be best utilized with a small number of people at a time. The visual window is not very large, so populating it with as many followers as I have on Twitter, for example, would make for a tangled mess of activity. It would simply be visually impossible to follow the movements.

I have a few suggestions. Since I am certain the folks responsible for making changes to Me.Dium will be reading this post, I have 2 simple suggesstions that would make this a more powerful exploration tool for business purposes.

Friend Groups: Allow me to organize friends into groups so I can follow a certain group at certain times. And allow people to be placed more than one group.

Selective Hiding: Allow me to hide myself from some people, but not others. There are times when I might like to use this for private exploration within a tighter circle of friends, or just my co-workers. Right now, I can only set myself to visible or invisible.

Me.Dium is one of those applications that you have to try for yourself. So, if you'd like to give it a test run, go install the browser plugin and find me. I'm respres on Me.Dium. I will have it running almost continuously.

I Have A Brand New Son

2008-05-14T19:02:04Z

There is a new child living in our house.

He looks exactly like the 7-year old who was living here before. He wears the same clothes and he sleeps in the same bed. But he's not the same child. Not even close. He's happier, funnier, more loving and more in contol.

My wife wrote about these changes in great detail on her personal blog. First with "Meeting My Son For The First Time" and then with "Our Life Is Different Now." We don't use our kids names online, so Rocky always referred to our 7-year old as "Mad Man I" whenever she wrote about him. It was an apt description.

On our trip cross country to West Virginia last year, my wife and I almost pulled out our hair. He was beyond out of control at times. And we were at a complete loss on how to deal with the situation. We have five other children, but none of the techniques we used with them were working on him. He displayed all of the symptoms associated with ADD, ADHD, or ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).

He was, as my wife describes, like a time bomb waiting to go off. When he was good, he was overwhelmingly good. But when he exploded, it was unbelievable. And we had NO desire to put him on medications. We didn't want to loose the spark that made him who he was.

Then A Miracle Occurred.

I call it a miracle because the change has been so dramatic that I find myself staring at him like a long lost friend, smiling and thinking to myself, "wow, where have you been for so long.?" And all it took was a change of diet.

The solution came right after my wife's recent trip to Africa. His teacher had had enough and suggested we take a high protein diet approach to see what would happen. The first day he was better, but the second day he had one of his worst afternoons ever. His morning was fine, but the rest of the day was a nightmare. Then my wife realized he had purchased lunch that day and found out he had ordered a Cherry Slushy with his lunch. That's not a normal thing.

That one fact caused my wife to ask questions she'd never asked before and finally led her to this article, "Is Red 40 Food Dye Additive Having A Negative Impact On Your Child?"

When she read the symptoms, they fit our son like a glove. So, we went completely organic, first just with him and then with the entire family. I can tell you that what I have witnessed is nothing short of a miracle. The spark that made "Mad Man I" unique is still there, but the time bomb has been difused. His name has been officially changed to "Funny Man." I literally cried when she wrote it for the first time.

This morning he quietly made his way into our bedroom.

It was just before 6am. He was already dressed and ready for school and said he'd been up reading for about 30 minutes, quietly. He then crawled up betwen us and laid there, still, as we both cuddled with him.

There is a new child living in our house. And I'm Falling In Love All Over Again!

***********************************************************************

Why am I writing about this here on ActiveRain? Because I know that my wife and I are not alone. We hear stories almost daily from friends who are struggling with similar issues and don't want to put their children on ADD Medication. If you know someone who is struggling with the same kinds of behavioral issues, forward them my wife's posts above. They go into a great deal more detail than I have gone into here. It may be what they need for their own miracle.

Getting Your Blog Into A WidgetBox - A Video Tutorial

2008-05-10T12:36:11Z

Your email inbox should be the greatest resource for blog post ideas.

That thought is certainly not original to me. Many have said this. They say it because it's true. It's certainly true for me.

The other day I received the following in an email from Anita Carrington: "How do I get the WidgetBox without ending up with your blog running on my page."

When I get an email like this, I often send back a quick response if I think it can be answered easily. If I've already answered the question in an existing blog post, I send a link. But if a followup question returns, that's usually an indication that I've either not answered the right question or I'm not seeing things the way the person who emailed me is seeing things. It also indicates to me that others may have the same question.

So, Anita, and anyone else who might have this question, this post is for you. :)

ActiveRain Tutorial: WidgetBox from respres on Vimeo.

@thelovelywife I Care!

2008-05-09T02:06:10Z

It's not about what you're doing.
It's not about what I'm doing.
It's about what you and I are doing right now.

Like you, I didn't get twitter either. I was trying to make it something it wasn't and it's just not that complicated.

It's about the conversation.

It doesn't matter whether it's here on ActiveRain or on Twitter. You, of all people, should know that.

Is there a lot of silly conversation on Twitter? Sure. There's a lot of silly conversation here too. That happens on social networks. It's how people get to know each other.

If it weren't for the silly conversations, the completely "meaningless" banter, you and I would not be as close as we are. If it weren't for the silly conversations, the off-topic hijacks, you and I would not be as close as we are. It's SOCIAL media. It's about being social. It's not about Google juice or SEO. It's not meant to be purely about business. It's social.

Saying it sucks without actually engaging... that's not the TLW [SVW] I know. The TLW [SVW] I know is always up for some crap. She's always up for truly getting to know someone else. She's a master of engagement. She understands how to connect on a real level. You'd rock Twitter. And I'd enjoy spending more time with you.

Twitter is about the conversation. Period.

So, you want to have some good conversation? I found a few people you might enjoy getting to know on a different level:

mizzle: @thelovelywife I am SVW @ you. Where ARE you???

17 minutes ago · Reply · View Tweet · Show ConversationHide Conversation

gotbob: @thelovelywife I care too. did you get on here yet. I am pooping right now

about 1 hour ago · Reply · View Tweet

youragentsteph: I see you @thelovelywife. :) Hope you decide to stick around. Where's the hijack tonight?

about 1 hour ago · Reply · View Tweet

RicardoBueno: @thelovelywife Just so you know, I care too

28 minutes ago · Reply · View Tweet

CoachDeb: @thelovelywife I care tooooo! Aloooooha! e como mai - Welcome 2 the Twitterverse!

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Oh, and about the opportunity crimes thing.

Sorry. I understand your point, but for those who are concerned, Twitter is safer than ActiveRain, if you want it to be. Just set your account to private and only those you allow to see it will see it. Block them and they can't follow you. If a stranger wants to see what you have to say here, all they have to do is become a member. :)

"You Can Blog That!"

2008-05-03T21:15:10Z

As we walked around Whole Foods looking for organic versions of the stuff we usually eat, my wife, Rocky, incorrectly read the price on some organic chewing gum and I reacted to it in disgust. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something like, "That's ridiculous. Why would something be that much more expensive because it doesn't have any chemicals in it? You should write about that."

My 7-year-old then reacted to my response with the comment below. I about fell over laughing.

Point And Shoot Cameras. The Wider The Better.

2008-05-01T00:46:11Z

When it comes to digital point a shoot cameras,
bigger is not necessarily better, but wider certainly is.
One of the first posts I wrote on ActiveRain was titled, "Sell Your Camera On eBay & Buy This One."
That post was written about the Kodak v705, which, along with the Kodak v570, would still be my recommendation for a point and shoot camera. Unfortunately, Kodak decided to stop making both the v705 and the v570 and they are getting harder and harder to find. So I was forced to find another camera I could feel confident recommending.
My search led me to a brand new camera on the market, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35.
Comparing the Panasonic Lumix FX35 to the Kodak v705, I found it's features to be comparable, the photo quality slightly better and its 25mm wide angle lens is the widest currently in production, though not as wide as the v705's 23mm wide angle lens. Still, the review left me wondering if people were being fooled into thinking they were getting a wide angle lens when they really weren't.
The Wide Angle Claim
Point and shoot cameras with a 28mm wide angle lens, like the brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, say they have a wide angle lens. And, compared to the standard 35mm lens, that's certainly true. But is it enough to capture a small room in the best possible way?
I wanted to see the difference in wide angle lenses for myself.
To do that, I purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 as well and borrowed Martin Rodriguez's Sony DSC-H9. (Martin's primary use for the DSC-H9 is not real estate photography, by the way.) The TZ5 has the very commonly 28mm lens that most point and shoot manufactures call wide angle, and the DSC-H9 has the standard 35mm lens. I compared them with the 23mm v705 and the 25mm FX35.
Here are the comparisons between the four different point and shoot lenses.

Sony DSC-H9 35mm
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 28mm
Panasonic Lumix DMC FX35 25mm
Kodak v705 23mm
Smaller rooms will show an even greater difference.
I used my family room as the subject matter, and it is fairly large, so you can imagine what a difference the FX35 or the v705 would make in photographing a very small room. In my opinion, neither the Sony DSC-H9 or Lumix DMC-TZ5 did this room justice. Only the 25mm lens on the Lumix FX35 came close enough to the 23mm lens on the Kodak v705 to get my vote of confidence. A wider wide angle lens makes a huge difference in your multimedia presentations as well. Here is a Real Estate Show illustrating how the different wide angle photos look when put in motion. Click on "more photos" to see them in static form.
My Conclusion?
A digital point and shoot camera with a 28mm lens can certainly claim wide angle status, but for real estate purposes, 28mm simply isn't enough.

For Sale By Owner: Raise The Price Then Call A REALTOR®?

2008-04-28T14:49:40Z

This was posted on Twitter by someone trying to sell his home himself:
"If I can't line up a buyer by May month-end, I'll raise the price and get a Realtor involved. Hope I don't have to do THAT."
He posted that in the morning on April 27th. Then, a little over 24 hours later on April 28th, he posted this:
"Got a buyer for my condo. They want me to hold the mortgage. Any advice?"
This is an intelligent, technologically savvy home owner in Arizona who wants to sell a home without using a real estate agent.
Why? We can only guess, of course, but it appears he's trying to keep from paying the commission. But he's willing to sell the home for a lower price to do so. In addition, he's found a "buyer" who now wants him to hold the mortgage.
What would you say to this home owner? Why should he get a REALTOR® now and not later?
I know your responses may be longer than might be appropriate in a comment, so I invite you to write your responses as your own posts and link them here in the comments.
Maybe I'll forward this to him when we have a few responses. I mean, he did ask for some advice.

There's Gold Outside Of The Real Estate Blogosphere

2008-04-22T09:03:01Z

Once in a while I'm reminded of the value of stepping outside of my usual reading circles.
Like most of us, I get into ruts. There are several dozen blogs that I read religiously and going to them has become more of a morning ritual than an awakening. I know what to expect from those blogs. They're comfortable and they deliver.
This morning, while reading Nicki Rothwell's Home Staging Blog, I randomly clicked on a face I didn't recognize in her MyBlogLog Reader Community Widget. This took me to Jonathan G.
Jonathon has almost no content on his MyBlogLog page, but there is a link to his blog, The Kingdom 2.0. It's directed at pastors. Now, I'm obviously not a pastor, though in my early adult life at Grace College & Theological Seminary, I wanted to be one. So, the subject matter was of some interest to me and I liked the design. (That's key for me, by the way. I quickly navigate away from ugly sites.)
I perused through some of the content on the first page and quickly realized this was good, quality content. And because it was written for a different audience, I read it differently. I loved reason number 3 in his post Three Reasons To Use Google Docs As A Blog Editor and thought his "you're more creative than you thought" comment to pastors could have been written to anyone.
But the post that caused me to write this post was, 4 Easy Steps To Turn Sermons Into Blog Posts. I recommend you go read it for yourself, but here are the bullet points:
Cut The Fat
Stay On Topic
Inject Some Personality
Rewrite The Headline
Any blogger could benefit from keeping his suggestions in their brains when they're writing posts, not just Christian pastors. And here was the surprise for me. Jonathon Greene lists as part of his experience, "Tomato consultant." But I didn't recognize his face and didn't even know his full name until I started writing this post. And that serves to illustrate my point.
Sometimes You Need A Change Of Perspective
I can say with almost complete certainty that I would have passed over a post on The Real Estate Tomato with a title, 4 Easy Steps To Turn Your Emails Into Blog Posts. Why? It's not because it wouldn't have been well written, it's because I've read hundreds of posts in the RE.net with similar titles. Stepping out of the technorati and real estate blog ring forced my brain out of it's morning rut. I read the content differently.
There's gold outside of the real estate blogosphere. And like those miners who came to California in 1849, to find it you're going to have to travel into some uncharted territory.

Editing Images For Your Customized ActiveRain Blog

2008-04-11T04:44:04Z

Jeannette Neerpat used Twitter to cry out for some help last night.
She was having trouble editing the graphics she wanted to use in Brad Carroll's ActiveRain Custom Blog Builder. So I asked her to send me the graphics she was trying to use. As I guessed, they were not in the correct proportions and needed some work.
Well, since I don't make a living customizing blog graphics, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.
I decided to edit Jeannette's graphics for her using online tools anyone could access and record my actions so that others could do it themselves. Since Jeanette was not the first person to ask for my help, making this video is a way of saving me from having to say, "I'd really love to help, but..." :)
If you're reading this on the post date, then you'll see the final result right here as the skin for this blog.
Jeannette's images were much smaller than they needed to be. This is why there are some of the quality issues in both the background graphic and the header image, but they created an acceptable customization in my opinion. For thoe of you coming around later, you may be able to see these exact results on Jeannette's blog, but my guess is that she'll probably want to play with this a bit and make it even better than it is now. So, the graphic above is an illustration of the what the final product looked like.
If you want to learn how to customize graphics yourself, here's the video.

Customizing Graphics For Your AcitveRain Blog Skin from respres on Vimeo.
EDIT: The specs for headers have changed since the recording of this today. Instead of 125 pixels high, the header must now be only 115 pixels high. Also, the entire portion of the video about using Flickr is now unecessary, since Brad has made it possible to upload the graphics instead of requiring that you provide a link. The photo editing tips in the video are still valid, as long as you use the new height for the header graphic.

Flickr Video Finally Arrived

2008-04-09T02:05:48Z

The Best Just Got A Little Better

This video was shot with the Kodak v705 point and shoot. I'll add some higher quality video tomorrow and you'll be able to see it on my flickr page. The beauty of this embedded player is that I could choose to have no branding from Flickr at all. The current banner at the start, with my face, name and the flickr link, is optional.

If Real Estate Is Local, Your Twitter Should Be Too: TwitterLocal.net

2008-04-07T19:18:40Z

I awoke this morning to a Twitter timeline with a gem inside.
Laura Fitton ( @pistachio ) had just sent out a tweet about TwitterLocal.net. She said, "twitterlocal.com is going straight to the top of my answer to the question "how do I get started on Twitter and find people to follow?" Her tweet had an incorrect link, so I replied to let her know it was .net instead of .com. Her follow up tweet echoes my feelings exactly.
"Oooops www.Twitterlocal.net! The .com is a squattery mess. .net can rock your Twitter world. Sub in RSS to a city you're traveling to, etc."
TwitterLocal Is A Twitter Search Engine
TwitterLocal.net allows you to search Twitter for people in your city, or a city you may be traveling to, and subscribe to a feed of the tweets based on that search criteria. Theoretically, this should alert you to any new users who come into the area, as the feed is gong to send you their tweets to your feed reader, if you choose.
Here's how it works. Choose the area you want to search for and a radius around the location. Maximum distance is 20 miles.
Then, view the latest tweets before deciding to subscribe.
Once I've found the right radius, I can now go view their Twitter timelines. If I subscribe to their feed, I'll always know what their talking about, without following them, but the point of Twitter is conversation. So, by clicking on Christyv32, I'm able to dig deeper to see if I really want to engage in a conversation. If I do, I can simply click on the follow button and respond.
It's All About Relationships.
It always has been. It always will be. TwitterLocal.net makes it easier than ever to find and communicate with people you can actually meet with face-to-face.

The Key To Communication Is Desire, Not Technology

2008-04-05T17:15:54Z

"I guess we have an open house this weekend? Just because we are out of state doesn't mean our Realtor should not update us."
We have more communication options at our fingertips than at any other time in history. Communication technology is so pervasive, we are left without excuses for sharing any piece of important information in a timely manner.
The consumer quote shown above was a "tweet" from ymiris on Twitter. I don't have a clue what the back story is to this social message. It doesn't matter. In communication, perception is reality.
He's right even if he's wrong. He's right even if the Realtor® "tried" to update them. Why? Good communicators make it their responsibility to ensure that their messages are understood. They leave the listener with no doubts.
In my own personal experience, the part of the home selling process that should be the simplest - communicating about what's happening in the process - is the one that has been most disappointing to me. But it is not surprising to me.
Effective communication has nothing to do with technology.
Effective communication is possible without being a part of the technorati. You don't need any of the latest, greatest internet communication tools that are available today. You don't need an iPhone. You don't need Twitter or a Facebook account. You don't need a MySpace page, Jott or Utterz.
You just need a desire to communicate. And maybe a working telephone.

Turner's Perspective

A New Trade Association For Blogging And New Media (IBNMA)

10 Things You Need To Know About Search Engines And Findability (Thank you, Dave Taylor)

LinkedIn Launches Group Discussions

The Best Of Both Worlds - REBlogworld & BlogWorld Expo

"Stirring the pot"

It's Your Reputation. Manage it.

Recent stories of "profile jacking" on Twitter point out the necessity for corporations to vigorously monitor their on-line reputation.

Opening The Mobile Blogging Bag Of Tricks

For The Love Of Creative Commons

I love taking photos and I love Flickr.

Twitter Will Never Get You Any Business

Unless you're the REALTOR® who showed up at this Twitter meetup tonight.

Happy To Be Chosen An Utterz Ambassador

PicLens Will Change The Way You View Flickr

I've Got To Be Honest, I'm Really Not Into This Place

Happy Memorial Day

Me.Dium May Be A Perfect Fit

I Have A Brand New Son

Getting Your Blog Into A WidgetBox - A Video Tutorial

@thelovelywife I Care!

"You Can Blog That!"

Point And Shoot Cameras. The Wider The Better.

When it comes to digital point a shoot cameras,bigger is not necessarily better, but wider certainly is.

For Sale By Owner: Raise The Price Then Call A REALTOR®?

There's Gold Outside Of The Real Estate Blogosphere

Editing Images For Your Customized ActiveRain Blog

Jeannette Neerpat used Twitter to cry out for some help last night.

If you want to learn how to customize graphics yourself, here's the video.

Flickr Video Finally Arrived

The Best Just Got A Little Better

If Real Estate Is Local, Your Twitter Should Be Too: TwitterLocal.net

The Key To Communication Is Desire, Not Technology

When it comes to digital point a shoot cameras,
bigger is not necessarily better, but wider certainly is.