I have some reading to do... But before I head off, I wanted to lend some thoughts...

Re: Blog platforms. Which do I choose? Active Rain is a great start. Primarily because the comraderie here, the great sense of community, will help enhance your blogging experience and shorten your learning curve. You'll be writing, engaging and building an audience in no time. Once you determine you want your own separate blog I'd say that two great choices are TypePad and Wordpress (very cost effective if you don't want to bare too much expense).

But before launching, make sure your blog is properly dressed. You wouldn't show up to a new client appointment wearing shorts and sandals would you? Then make sure your blog is dressed to impressed as well!

Re: Do I do it myself or should I hire someone else to do it? As a Real Estate Agent and/or Loan Officer, your goal should be generating new business which means you need to maximize your day by finding new deals. If setting up your blog is going to take too much time, truly consider outsourcing the work for the design. You'll feel so much better for it!

This might seem off topic but I just had my business cards professionally designed. The end result was a work of genius! (They're actually really simple). But having them done by someone and seeing a finished product that I was absolutely pleased with gave me a little extra pep in my step. My point? Outsourcing your blog will give you time to focus on closing your deals and prospecting. Having it professionally done might just give a little extra confidence and that's always important.

Marti, Thank you for taking the time to write this  post. I have missed a few of the above mentioned posts and will read them soon.

Hi Marti - I'm seeing red x's where your pictures/graphics should be, just so you know.

Every time I read one of your weekly reviews, I feel like I need to take a week off to read them and then implement what I've learned!  I love all the posts you highlight in each of your reviews - the nuggets are easier to find this way!

Now to find more time in my day to work on some of these.......
Ann

Marti,   no pic's on our post. However, Good info. I'll check it out. This is the second time I've read your post Great job. I've subscribed to your blog. Thanks

marti, thanks for posting these. I did catch the technology ones, but missed some so I always appreciate the review of marketing. I was using twhirl and got annoyed with the noise, so I am now using twitbin from FF. It is in my right column on all day as I work and I can jump in anytime or follow any interesting link. I'll take a look at the video link as I may have missed something good that would be more helpful.

Marti~

WOW~! thanks for putting this together! I can see that I will be spending the next 5 hours exploring. I think that makes me smile, but I'm not positive =) Foro sure, I'm sending this post on to some fellow Brokers who need help...and I've bookmarked it. Just another reason why I subscribe to your BLOG.

Marit, I now look forward every week to your updates...such great information all  in one place.  Love the Twhirl  explanation because I have been meaning to try it out to help me with my Twittering!

Hi Marti,

Do I even need to say that you did another great job this week? I doubt that.:)

Ricardo... thx for the email & comment, I enjoyed your thesis. ;-)

Gita... thx as well, have a great weekend.

Ann... hi, I'm glad the reviews make life easier. AR seems to be having a problem today with some images in Firefox browsers. The recent AR changes/upgrades seems to still have a few bugs to work out.

Jerry... really nice to have you as a subscriber, thx! I'm having the same problem this morning with AR pics in Firefox but everything is fine in the Explorer browser. AR is going thru a phase this past week or two.

Missy... thx for the tip, I'll check out twitbin as well. This stuff is so hard to keep up with.

Jane Anne... the amount of stuff being posted each week can be overwhelming, enjoy whatever you have time to read. Thx for stopping by.

Diane... thx so much. Re Twitter, chekc out twitbin that Missy mentioned in her comment, some people have noise problems with Twhirl.

Neal...  thx, coming from you that means a lot. Have a great weekend!

Marti - you always pull together a great combination of valuable and resourceful posts out of the puddles here in the rain. Great post as always, though I have seen most of these, there were a couple I had missed. I think I speak for everyone here, we sure appreciate the time and effort you put into your posts and your contributions here in the rain. You rock!!  :-)

Marti as usual another terrific weekly review. Will be checking on the good ones I missed.

Marti - You are just simply amazing! How in the world do you find the time to do all of these? Do you sleep or have a life? You do a wonderful job each week of picking out the best of the best around here...thank you for making finding the great posts easier!

Brad... speaking of guys who rock, your video series are absolutely incredible.

 Thx for the feedback, I'm just trying to do my part for the community. AR has been very good to me so giving back is easy.

Bill... thx for the awesome post & concept on Google juice, let me know how it turns out.

Linda... sleep? What is sleep? Believe it or not I have a well balanced life with work, play and fun.  I'm just very organized & disciplined when it comes to getting stuff done. Have a great weekend my friend!

Marti.... so much shared in your post. Thanks for the effort and all of your work that you put into this. With so many blogs, I can't keep up with, this helps tremendously. Now, can you find someone to read them all for me and give me cliff notes?  lol

Marti...Blessings to you for putting together your proposed tutorials.  I'm serious.  The geek to average person disconnect is especially wide within the real estate community.  I look forward to reading your posts.  We all have so much to learn.

It was a hectic week and I thank you Marti for highlighting the best of the best.  I will try to catch up on a few of these.  I certainly needed a geek this week... my lap top is a mess!

Marti...

We had a great week teed up for you :)

I only missed a few of these this time around. I'm sorta taking the weekend off from my online activities. Blog Boy told me to pop in and visit with you cuzz you had a surprise for me :)

I'm always surprised when I make it to any of the reviews. I have this aweful habit of posting crap that leaves people mumbling what the f---? :)

Thanks for being so consistent with these reviews and giving me some reading/commenting material. Does anyone else ever notice you do all the work around here? :)

TLW...ROAR!

Marti-perfection as usual...notice I took the background off of my blog????  HINT...HINT !  I'll email ya soon. 

Jeff... re "Now, can you find someone to read them all for me and give me cliff notes?"... Smart man! I wish I had cliff notes as well. Nite...

Lola... I hear you! Re "The geek to average person disconnect is especially wide within the real estate community"...

 Judging by the calls & emails I received this month from people asking for help/advice/opinions, this topic should keep me busy for awhile. Have a great weekend!

Joan... sorry to hear about your laptop, I hate when that happens. I hope you're able to get it functional again!

TLW... thx for the excellent Twoar! Enjoy your time offline, we should all do more of that. Blog Boy is right! And yes, my time here pays off in many ways. Nite...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmidori... hey buddy buddette, re "notice I took the background off of my blog????  HINT...HINT !  I'll email ya soon"...

 Cool, looking forward to it! Have a great weekend and thx for another excellent contribution to the group.

As usual another good roundup. thanks for sharing!

I'm going to bookmark this so I have a point of reference.  However, can someone please tell me what twitter is?  I've seen it quite a bit but I have no idea of what it is.

marti- oh I just love the upcoming themed Posts....I have been pretty frustrated lately trying to make an outside blog...and not understanding everything, therefore probably messing up the communication.  Not that I mean to of course, I know what I want in some things, and in some I need to be guided.....taught, and above all else I have to feel that my project isn't a "put em up shut em up poject".  Boy have I learned a lot about how my clients might feel when coming to me and hearing RE jargon :) 

Anyway, I am so looking forward to your series.....I have my blog plans on hold...so this is perfect :)  Thanks and have a good day.....oh...yea this was a week in review....nice job....and thanks for the mention of my Seagulls and Seals Post.....

Ross... thx for stopping by, much appreciated.

Michelle... do a search for the term Twitter in the Active Rain search box and you'll find a ton of info, tutorials and some great videos by Brad Andersohn and Jeff Turner. It will make the whole Twitter thing easier to understand. Also, welcome to the marketing group.

Kathy... thx for another excellent contribution. Your posts add some real nice balance to the marketing group.

 Re tech talk, from my own experience I know how easily things can get lost in translation, you're not alone.

 I get a few emails about this kind of stuff almost every week so I thought it was a good time to try and clear the air so we're all on the same page when trying to get our ideas across. Later...

WooHoo, love looking forward to your end of the week reviews.  How interesting that you will be doing some tutorials on the simplicity of the techsphere, looking forward to it!  With so many new technology and internet apps and platforms out there, it can be very easy to be lost in the crowd.  Thanks again for the recap post, keep going strong!

Marti, thanks for the wealth of information here.  Your efforts are appreciated and I've got reading to do to make sure I'm in the know!

Justin... another great contribution as always, I really appreciate your posts! You put a lot of work into them and it shows!

Lynn... thx for the feedback, I really do apprecite it. Enjoy the new stuff, our group has been busy as always. Nite!

The ultimate authority on what to do and how to do it.  Thanks for the generosity of your blogging.  I have you bookmarked.

Terrylynn... thx for the compliment. No one would hire me to be a professional chocolate taster so I ended up doing this stuff instead. have a great week!

Thanks for all the great posts to look at.  I've read a few but will try to get to them all this week.

Have A Great Day. 

Doris... you're very welcome, enjoy!

OK marti, here is my weekly kudos to you for a job well done. However this time just a little frustrated, but don't fret not your fault. I am finding it hard to follow Bill Gassett Metrowest MA Real Estate and his followers.

Rob... thx for stopping by. Don't be too frustrated, we're all following someone, it keeps us sharp! Have a great day...

This is an incredible resource.  I just recently started on Active Rain and reading these articles is really helping.  Thanks.

Muldowney Team... welcome to Active Rain and to the marketing group, it's nice to have you here.

Okay Marti, this is fabulous. I MUST have my own images from Marti!! ;-) This will be great to review when I'm ready to relax and read and

Great Post!  I have alot of reading to do.

John Thomas - Certified Mortgage Planner

Teri... anytime, would love to do some Lady In Red graphics for you. Relax & read? I remember when I used to have time to do that, what happened?

John... thx! This group has become very, very prolific.

This is a lot to chew. Naturally, I've bookmarked it to come back to nibble on it some more later.

By the way, I get that "dear-in-the-headlights" look everytime I ask my husband a tech question.

Toni... don't feel bad, even the techies have a difficult time keeping up with this stuff, it changes so quickly. Have a great weekend!

Marti,

Once again, more useful information.  I'm going to have to take some time to figure it all out...your input will make it easier.  Thanks!!

Yvette Smith

Yvette... a lot of people feel the same way. My tutorials starting next week will try to clear up a lot of stuff in very plain English. No techie or geek talk. It just confuses everyone. Have a great Memorial Day!

Marti - you have such informative, useful and interesting posts that prove how dedicated you are.  I am going to come back and re=read tomorrow...to much info for my brain to take in tonight ;-)

Marti,

Thank you for mentioning my post. You do a great job in wrapping it all up.  Thanks,

Kristi... thx for the really nice feedback, I'm glad to hear how useful this is. Nite...

Fran... thx for adding it to the group, I loved your market report post, great stuff!

Marti, you've got some great links here.  Thanks for posting them!

Best regards,
Jay

Jay... thx for stopping by and welcome to the group.