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Google Makes Your Active Fan Page Even More Valuable
I know it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything to my blog and I must apologize to you all. I took a quick trip to San Antonio to help my brother with his condo rental this past week and took photographs to go on the website I am creating for him. I plan on writing a blog this weekend about what has transpired and how everything has turned out thus far in this adventure.
Going over a lot of back e-mails I have kept in my In Box, I ran across an article from Mr. Internet about Google adding Facebook Fan Page updates to its mix of search results.
This blog goes hand in hand with a webinar I attended from SMM Camp about Facebook and the differences between Fan Pages and Groups. It was an enlightening webinar, albeit long. It was over 4 ½ hours long but well worth my time. I figure if I learn one thing in a webinar I did not know before, my time was not wasted. During this specific webinar I learned more than one thing, I was on overload by the end of the webinar.
Posted: 28 Feb 2010 03:56 PM PST
Google is busy serving up real-time updates from Twitter, Myspace, blogs and so on for hot search topics or trends. It just added Facebook Fan Page updates to this mix and here is why it’s important to you.
The world of search results and relevancy is going more real-time (you can largely thank Twitter for that). Since Google is all about providing relevant search results for a particular search, it is now striving to provide these real-time yet ephemeral results right at the top of the non-sponsored results of each search. If you have an active Facebook Fan page focusing say on your primary neighborhoods, and fans are actively posting comments, then you are going to see more search engine traffic. First to your Fan Page, then (by extension) to your site. This also means that your Fan Page is likely to rank higher in the search results over all as a result.
For this to work in your favor however, two things need to be in place regarding your Facebook Fan page:
Its focus needs to be relevant – a Fan page is NOT about you (at least not if you want to succeed)! For most real estate sales professionals this means it needs to be about your particular niche and/or neighborhoods you service.
Fans need to be active – this means you must keep the content fresh and worthy of comment.
I truly believe that appropriately maintained social media will be the new “Google Juice” for driving Web traffic and hence most online business. Static content, even if comprehensive, is no longer enough. So if you are not connecting with clients and prospects this way (i.e. via an active Facebook Fan page), now is a good time to start!
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
This blog goes hand in hand with a webinar I attended from SMM Camp about Facebook and the differences between Fan Pages and Groups. It was an enlightening webinar, albeit long. It was over 4 ½ hours long but well worth my time. I figure if I learn one thing in a webinar I did not know before, my time was not wasted. During this specific webinar I learned more than one thing, I was on overload by the end of the webinar.
Posted: 28 Feb 2010 03:56 PM PST
Google is busy serving up real-time updates from Twitter, Myspace, blogs and so on for hot search topics or trends. It just added Facebook Fan Page updates to this mix and here is why it’s important to you.
The world of search results and relevancy is going more real-time (you can largely thank Twitter for that). Since Google is all about providing relevant search results for a particular search, it is now striving to provide these real-time yet ephemeral results right at the top of the non-sponsored results of each search. If you have an active Facebook Fan page focusing say on your primary neighborhoods, and fans are actively posting comments, then you are going to see more search engine traffic. First to your Fan Page, then (by extension) to your site. This also means that your Fan Page is likely to rank higher in the search results over all as a result.
For this to work in your favor however, two things need to be in place regarding your Facebook Fan page:
Its focus needs to be relevant – a Fan page is NOT about you (at least not if you want to succeed)! For most real estate sales professionals this means it needs to be about your particular niche and/or neighborhoods you service.
Fans need to be active – this means you must keep the content fresh and worthy of comment.
I truly believe that appropriately maintained social media will be the new “Google Juice” for driving Web traffic and hence most online business. Static content, even if comprehensive, is no longer enough. So if you are not connecting with clients and prospects this way (i.e. via an active Facebook Fan page), now is a good time to start!
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
Living Big in a Small Home
Two things happened to me when I read the article below. I first starting thinking, I would love to downsize my home. When we originally bought this home we had been in a home that was about 1500 square feet and would run into each other. So of course we went overboard and increased our living space to over 3100 square feet. But nine (9) years have passed, our daughter has graduated from college and is now in and out in our lives. She is an archaeologist and works seasonally in Arizona. In the Fall of 2010 she will be heading off to Memphis, Tennessee to start her graduate studies in Egyptology. So you can imagine the enormity of our home. But the caveat is, I don't want to move and pack up this house again!
The second thing was a video that came into my inbox the same day. This video is from PlanetGreenDiscovery.com. It is titled World's Greenest Homes: Hong Kong Space Saver. This engineer lives in a 330 square foot home that has been in his family for a very long time. It explains what he has done to accommodate his sorroundings and make his living spaces work for him. I know you will enjoy watching this video!
World's Greenest Homes: Hong Kong Space Saver
The article below is from RealtorMag.
After years of upsizing, Americans are enjoying the benefits of more modest living spaces.
By Maggie Sieger | February 2010
With the average home size declining, owners are cleverly doing more with the square footage they have.
Years before house staging came into vogue as a sales tool, Howard Hoffman was helping sellers rearrange their furniture to maximize floor space and enhance a home’s beauty. Hoffman, GRI, SRES®, now owns Stage & $ell, a home staging and redesign company in Indianapolis.
Chances are he’ll have a lot more business in the years ahead from people needing to resize their lives. With baby boomers entering retirement, young adults delaying marriage, and the economy improving by fits and starts, Americans are starting to embrace the idea that less is more when it comes to their square footage. The average size of a new house decreased last year for the first time in nearly three decades.
"Home buyers have been changing," says Fran Litton, a planner with Evans Group, an architectural firm in Orlando, Fla. "They still want the luxury and toys, but they’re putting them into a smaller space."
Although the average square footage of a new house is still double what it was in 1960, in the last year, it decreased slightly to 2,215 square feet from a high of 2,277 square feet in 2008, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. While the decrease doesn’t approach mid-20th century levels, it is the first drop in house size since the recession of the early 1980s.
Smaller houses can mean bigger challenges for real estate professionals. "Eighty percent of people appreciate only what they can see," says Hoffman, who also works as a sales associate with F.C. Tucker Co. in Indianapolis. "You have to make sure you’re showing them what you’ve got." That means making sure each room is easily identified. "Get rid of that desk and computer in the dining room," he says. "Make sure buyers can see it’s a dining room."
Hoffman also advises clients to remove rugs to show off hardwood floors and take pictures off the walls. "The less the eye has to distract it, the bigger a room feels," says Hoffman. "People buy what they see. If they can’t see the floors or the walls, they won’t buy the house."
Interior designer Roberta Lathrop agrees. She tells her clients with smaller kitchens to clear the counters. "You can’t have all the small appliances sitting on the counter," says Lathrop, who runs Designs by Roberta in Belmont, Mich. "It will start looking very cluttered very fast."
Smaller houses require owners to rethink what they have and how they use things. "If you have a smaller house, maybe you don’t need half a dozen different pans," she explains. "Maybe a single flat griddle that you can put over a couple of burners will do."
One of the first tasks she assigns clients is to go through their stuff—ruthlessly. "We all have too much stuff," she says. "Get rid of it. If you’re attached to an item, or think maybe you’ll need it, put it in a box and store it somewhere for six months. Then go back through it.
Have you used it? Have you even missed it? If not, donate it. Get it out of the house." That goes for clothes as well, she says.
Read the entire article . . .
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
The second thing was a video that came into my inbox the same day. This video is from PlanetGreenDiscovery.com. It is titled World's Greenest Homes: Hong Kong Space Saver. This engineer lives in a 330 square foot home that has been in his family for a very long time. It explains what he has done to accommodate his sorroundings and make his living spaces work for him. I know you will enjoy watching this video!
World's Greenest Homes: Hong Kong Space Saver
The article below is from RealtorMag.
After years of upsizing, Americans are enjoying the benefits of more modest living spaces.
By Maggie Sieger | February 2010
With the average home size declining, owners are cleverly doing more with the square footage they have.
Chances are he’ll have a lot more business in the years ahead from people needing to resize their lives. With baby boomers entering retirement, young adults delaying marriage, and the economy improving by fits and starts, Americans are starting to embrace the idea that less is more when it comes to their square footage. The average size of a new house decreased last year for the first time in nearly three decades.
"Home buyers have been changing," says Fran Litton, a planner with Evans Group, an architectural firm in Orlando, Fla. "They still want the luxury and toys, but they’re putting them into a smaller space."
Although the average square footage of a new house is still double what it was in 1960, in the last year, it decreased slightly to 2,215 square feet from a high of 2,277 square feet in 2008, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. While the decrease doesn’t approach mid-20th century levels, it is the first drop in house size since the recession of the early 1980s.
Smaller houses can mean bigger challenges for real estate professionals. "Eighty percent of people appreciate only what they can see," says Hoffman, who also works as a sales associate with F.C. Tucker Co. in Indianapolis. "You have to make sure you’re showing them what you’ve got." That means making sure each room is easily identified. "Get rid of that desk and computer in the dining room," he says. "Make sure buyers can see it’s a dining room."
Hoffman also advises clients to remove rugs to show off hardwood floors and take pictures off the walls. "The less the eye has to distract it, the bigger a room feels," says Hoffman. "People buy what they see. If they can’t see the floors or the walls, they won’t buy the house."
Interior designer Roberta Lathrop agrees. She tells her clients with smaller kitchens to clear the counters. "You can’t have all the small appliances sitting on the counter," says Lathrop, who runs Designs by Roberta in Belmont, Mich. "It will start looking very cluttered very fast."
Smaller houses require owners to rethink what they have and how they use things. "If you have a smaller house, maybe you don’t need half a dozen different pans," she explains. "Maybe a single flat griddle that you can put over a couple of burners will do."
One of the first tasks she assigns clients is to go through their stuff—ruthlessly. "We all have too much stuff," she says. "Get rid of it. If you’re attached to an item, or think maybe you’ll need it, put it in a box and store it somewhere for six months. Then go back through it.
Have you used it? Have you even missed it? If not, donate it. Get it out of the house." That goes for clothes as well, she says.
Read the entire article . . .
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
Photo Blog Your Way to the Top of the Search Engines
The article below came from Realtor Business Tips Newsletter. It describes how easy it is to use Posterous.com in a nutshell.
Posting photos to your blog provides both fast and interesting content that will get you more clicks.
By Michael Russer | February 2010
There is no question that blogging can be a powerful tool to help you and your Web site stand out from the crowd and generate new business. And, as many have already discovered, it can be time-consuming and a lot of work—until now.
Here's an innovative way to post compelling content to your blog in just seconds that will also help propel your site to the top of the search engine results.
Photo blogging is a way to leverage what you do best every day—look at properties and use your cell phone—to create fresh search engine relevant content for your blog even several times a day. Here's how it works:
There you have it—about 90 seconds total (unless you're all thumbs like me; then it might take you two minutes). And what is really cool is that you haven't broken your daily routine to do it. And there's no more staring at a blank computer screen trying to figure out what to post while you could be out looking at properties—because you'll already be out looking at properties.
Now at this point you are probably thinking: "Awesome—I can do that! What's that special address I need to send these e-mails to?" As you might have guessed, there's just a little bit of set-up you have to do before you start photo blogging.
Getting Started
The first thing you want to do is set up a free account at Posterous.com. Once you've completed that, you'll be able to send your cell-phone posts to post@posterous.com, and it will know who sent it (it also works with e-mail sent from any device, including your computer). Now if this is far as you go, Posterous will automatically create your blog and handle updating it via your e-mails. However, if you want to maximize the Google "juice" that a frequently updated blog can give you and have a look and feel that is consistent with your brand, there are a few other things that you'll want to do:
NOTE: If you already have a blog with more traditional content, be sure to make your photo blog separate from it. Not everyone subscribed to your current blog will want to receive your photo blog posts throughout the day. Remember, the main benefit of a photo blog is quickly and easily adding search engine relevant content to your site on a regular basis, not necessarily to inform a reader base.
One Practitioner Found Success in Just a Few Months
Walter Burns is a condo specialist with Weichert, REALTORS®, in Hoboken, N.J. Thanks to his social media efforts—a large part of which is his photo blogging—his average transaction prices have soared from $250,000 to over $600,000 in a short period of time. You can see his photo blog by going to http://photos.livingonthehudson.com/. Notice that in addition to his photo blog, he has a traditional one as well, and both are seamlessly integrated into his main site, www.LivingOnTheHudson.com. If you examine both, you will see that the frequency of his posts to his photo blog is far greater than his regular one. And for good reason—it's so darn easy!
Whether you're brand new to blogging or a seasoned social networking pro, photo blogging is one tool you should be using on a daily basis. If you can take photos and text with your cell phone, you can photo blog.
Posting photos to your blog provides both fast and interesting content that will get you more clicks.
By Michael Russer | February 2010
There is no question that blogging can be a powerful tool to help you and your Web site stand out from the crowd and generate new business. And, as many have already discovered, it can be time-consuming and a lot of work—until now.
Here's an innovative way to post compelling content to your blog in just seconds that will also help propel your site to the top of the search engine results.
Photo blogging is a way to leverage what you do best every day—look at properties and use your cell phone—to create fresh search engine relevant content for your blog even several times a day. Here's how it works:
1. Snap a picture of a listing in your market area with your cell phone.
2. Compose an e-mail with the address of the listing as the subject line and just a sentenceor two describing the property.
3. Send the e-mail to a special address (which we'll discuss in a second) at which, once it's received, it will instantly post your subject line as the blog post title, insert the photo, and follow it up with the descriptive text as the main body of your post.
There you have it—about 90 seconds total (unless you're all thumbs like me; then it might take you two minutes). And what is really cool is that you haven't broken your daily routine to do it. And there's no more staring at a blank computer screen trying to figure out what to post while you could be out looking at properties—because you'll already be out looking at properties.
Now at this point you are probably thinking: "Awesome—I can do that! What's that special address I need to send these e-mails to?" As you might have guessed, there's just a little bit of set-up you have to do before you start photo blogging.
Getting Started
The first thing you want to do is set up a free account at Posterous.com. Once you've completed that, you'll be able to send your cell-phone posts to post@posterous.com, and it will know who sent it (it also works with e-mail sent from any device, including your computer). Now if this is far as you go, Posterous will automatically create your blog and handle updating it via your e-mails. However, if you want to maximize the Google "juice" that a frequently updated blog can give you and have a look and feel that is consistent with your brand, there are a few other things that you'll want to do:
1. Create a subdomain from your main Web site domain that points to your photo blog. For example, if your main site domain is LuxuryMountainHomes.com, then you may want to set your photo blog URL to photoblog.LuxuryMountainHomes.com with links to it on every page of your site. By doing this, search engines like Google will attribute the new photo blog content to your entire site. And since you used the property address as the post title, your site's relevancy for your market area increases with every submission.
2. Have your Web designer modify the look and feel of your Posterous blog to be consistent with that of your main Web site.By doing the above, you now have a way to constantly add high-relevance blog content to your site, day in and day out, without breaking a sweat.
NOTE: If you already have a blog with more traditional content, be sure to make your photo blog separate from it. Not everyone subscribed to your current blog will want to receive your photo blog posts throughout the day. Remember, the main benefit of a photo blog is quickly and easily adding search engine relevant content to your site on a regular basis, not necessarily to inform a reader base.
One Practitioner Found Success in Just a Few Months
Walter Burns is a condo specialist with Weichert, REALTORS®, in Hoboken, N.J. Thanks to his social media efforts—a large part of which is his photo blogging—his average transaction prices have soared from $250,000 to over $600,000 in a short period of time. You can see his photo blog by going to http://photos.livingonthehudson.com/. Notice that in addition to his photo blog, he has a traditional one as well, and both are seamlessly integrated into his main site, www.LivingOnTheHudson.com. If you examine both, you will see that the frequency of his posts to his photo blog is far greater than his regular one. And for good reason—it's so darn easy!
Whether you're brand new to blogging or a seasoned social networking pro, photo blogging is one tool you should be using on a daily basis. If you can take photos and text with your cell phone, you can photo blog.
Advantages of Top Producer Market Snapshot
I went to a Top Producer 8i QuickStart seminar this past Friday. Even though I knew everything that was presented in this program, I have to re-certify for Top Producer 8i. I thought it would give me a quick review of what Top Producer 8i has to offer. Especially as they just did an upgrade to their system. There were more than 30 people in the room.The interesting aspect to this seminar was the number of real estate agents that have subscribed to Top Producer, some for over 15 years, that were not utilizing Top Producer 8i to its potential. Most realtors gave the impression they barely used this program at all. One Realtor® told me she had subscribed to Top Producer for 15 years and still did not know how to use it.
Another Realtor® had just started in the business 3 months earlier and had subscribed to Top Producer and wanted to learn how to use it. I found it very interesting that she left at the one hour break. I wondered to myself, how much will she be using this fantastic database?
At the end of the program Ben Bock, the Top Producer presenter, gave a 30 minute overview of Market Snapshot. Although I have heard this overview before, I wanted to listen again as no real estate agent I have worked with who has Top Producer has subscribed to Market Snapshop.
Ben started this part of the program by asking the real estate agents what was the most asked question when they spoke with people. Everyone concurred, “What’s the Market like?” This is where Market Snapshot will help every real estate agent.
Here are the steps to starting to get more quality leads with Market Snapshot.
1) Sign up for Market Snapshot.
2) Get a URL similar to www.marketvaluesinhourhometown.com.
3) Put the full page capture form on this website address. You can also use this capture code to have a widget sized form and put it in multiple settings like your website and blog.
4) Put this URL on the back of your business card with this simple statement.
“Do you want to know what the market is like in you area?
Go to: www.marketvaluesinyourhometown.com.”
5) Put a link to your market snapshot website on your e-mail signature. Just state, “Click Here for a Free Market Report.”
6) You can post ads on Craigslist or Facebook. A simple ad that states “Find Out Your Homes Value in the Market in Just Minutes!” It is very easy to post html code on Craigslist and you can attach your full page capture form right on the ad.
So when someone is talking with you and asks what you do for a living and you tell them you are a real estate agent, you know the very next question they are going to ask you. . . “So what is the market really like?” You can give them you business card and tell them to go to the URL on the back of your card and sign up for a Market Snapshot of their area and receive it in less than 15 minutes.
Here’s Another Feather In Your Hat!
A Decade of Dramatic Developments
At the beginning of the 21stcentury, most home buyers had never viewed a home online; the three tophome sale marketing methods were yard signs, newspaper ads, and openhouses; and nearly nine out of 10 buyers financed their purchase with afixed-rate, 30-year mortgage.
What a difference a decade makes.
“The real estate industry has seentremendous change and evolution over the past decade,” said NATIONALASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. “As the first, best source forreal estate information, REALTORS® have not only anticipated andadapted to the evolving needs of their clients and customers, but alsohave influenced industry trends and innovations that will carry us intothe future.”
In 1999, buyers who went online in searchfor a home were in the minority – only 37 percent of buyers used theInternet in their home search, according to data from the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.Today, 90 percent of buyers are searching online, and the real estateindustry has responded. Sites like REALTOR.com, which attracts nearly12 million total visits every month, have evolved to gives today’sbuyers what they want – not just property listings, but multiplephotos, online videos, mapping features, and comprehensive neighborhoodinformation, as well.Median home values over the past decadehave increased more than 25 percent, from $137,600 in November 1999 to$172,600 in November 2009 (the most recent existing-home dataavailable). Fewer people are buying detached, single family homes – 82percent in 1999 compared to 78 percent in 2009 – but more people arebuying homes in suburban neighborhoods – 46 percent in 1999 compared to54 percent today.
Buyers themselves have also changed. Asmaller proportion of married couples are buying homes these days;while married couples comprised 68 percent of all home purchases at thebeginning of this century, they represent 60 percent of all buyerstoday. Single men and women have made up the difference – single menpurchased 10 percent of all homes last year, compared to only 7 percent10 years ago. Single women now represent more than one-fifth of allhome buyers – 21 percent, up from 15 percent in 1999.
Other things haven’t changed. The medianage for home buyers last year was 39, just as it was in 1999.Neighborhood quality, affordability, and convenience to work and schoolhave consistently been top priorities for both past and present buyers.And eight out of 10 recently surveyed consumers believe that owning ahome is an investment in their future.
“REALTORS® have been around for more than100 years, but one constant during that time has been the persistenceof homeownership as the American Dream,” said Golder. “As the firstdecade of this century comes to a close, NAR stands ready to meet themany challenges and opportunities that lie ahead by helping ourREALTORS® members better serve their clients and communities andensuring that those dreams of homeownership remain possible for all whowant to achieve it.”
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
Picture Perfect: Tips and Tools for Better Photos
It's a fact: Listings with pictures sell faster.Here's an overview of some key photographic principles, as well as photo editing tools, to help you visually present a home.
Every real estate professional is now a photographer. Creating virtual tours is part of your job—an essential service you are expected to provide both buyers and sellers. Unless you have the budget to farm this chore out, you'll have to put in some time behind the lens taking pictures to make listings shine and highlight all the selling points of a home.
Whether you consider yourself the novice snap-shooter or a serious amateur photographer, there are simple techniques and an abundance of software tools to help you achieve a perfect shot.
It all starts with a good picture.
Tips for Better Photography
Get the Right Camera: For real estate, select a camera with a wide-angle lens so you can capture an entire room, or an entire home,in one shot. Wide angle means a lens "equivalent to a 28mm lens" on a35mm camera, or lower. You'll also want at least a 4X optical zoom(rather than a digital zoom) to highlight specific features of the home. Fortunately, there's now a good selection of wide-angle/zoom cameras in all categories, from compacts to digital SLRs.
Learn a Camera's Features: Today, all digital cameras boast automatic features and presets that help ensure a good picture,whatever the subject and setting. But you need to understand why and when to use each and switch them on.
Think Before You Shoot: Don't just snap away as you walk through the house. Scout each room, and think in terms of how to capture its appeal. That may mean removing clutter, clearing tables and shelves, or rearranging furniture to better convey the possibilities in that space.
Compose Your Shot: Use the camera's viewfinder or monitor to visually compose your picture before shooting. See how the image changes when you move closer or away from your subject, or when viewed from different angles.
Use a Tripod or Monopod: When shooting in any poorly lit setting or using zoom, there's always the risk of the picture blurring if you hold the camera. With the camera mounted and stationary, the potential problem is easily eliminated.
Step-Up: Use a stool or step ladder to take a picture from a slightly higher perspective than eye level. Otherwise, your pictures can highlight too much ceiling, rather than what's on floor level.
Turn Up the Lights: For interior shots, turn on all the available lights, even when using flash. If your camera's built-in flash range is too limited, invest in portable lights or an auxiliary flash (if available for your camera). Or, plan to shoot during daytime hours, and take advantage of ambient light.
Avoid Backlit Situations: When the background is bright,the subject can get lost in the shadows. Inside, you can avoid this by drawing the curtains; outside, by tightly framing your subject. Some cameras have specific settings for shooting against a bright background.
Shoot Like a Pro: Take lots of pictures—professional photographers fire away because they know the more they shoot, they more likely they will get that perfect shot. Zoom in and out, shoot interiors with and without flash, move around, and take several pictures of the listing in every room.
Get It Right Before You Leave: Use your camera monitor, netbook, or notebook to review your photos while you're still on site.It's better to make sure you have all the pictures you need than discover later you have to return for that one shot you missed.
Software Tools
Even if you've mastered the art of photography, there are always situations where you can improve your photos with imaging software. For real estate purposes, you'll typically use this software to organize images, crop photos, pull details out of the shadows, and adjust the exposure level. Shy away from making significant changes to a picture—erasing unwanted details, changing colors, or rearranging elements within a picture—and, if you do, always let viewers know how the image has been edited.
There are three types of imaging software to help you improve your pictures:
Tools You Already Have: Every camera comes bundled with software you can use for organizing pictures and basic image editing.Some cameras actually have this software built in, so you can make minor improvements to pictures while they are still stored in the camera's memory card.
Digital photography is so popular that imaging software is also one of the essential programs included with your computer's operating system. For Windows Vista users, the Windows Photo Gallery provides tools for organizing and improving pictures. On the Mac side, iPhoto is included as part of the iLife suite bundled with Mac OS X.
Aftermarket Imaging Software: Mention imaging software and most people think of Adobe's Photoshop first, part of the Adobe Creative Suite. Apple's Aperture,$199, is also a professional-level imaging solution for its platform,with tools that more than cover the needs of the typical real estate professional.
For Windows or Mac users who aren't satisfied with what's included with their systems, one good place to start might be with something like Adobe's Photoshop Elements, $99. Also, there's Google's free Picasa, which combines imaging software with a Web-based image gallery.
Other Windows options include: 
- Serif PhotoPlus, available in a free or $10 deluxe version
- Ulead Photo Impact, $49.99
- NovaDevelopment's Photo Explosion Deluxe, $49.95
On the Mac side, some of the aftermarket choices include:
- Pixelmator, $59
- Iris, $79
- GIMP, freeware
Web-Based Solutions: As with every other software category,there's a growing selection of Web-based tools for organizing and editing photos. With the exception of Windows Live Picture Gallery,most are platform independent. Bandwidth and available online storage space should be a consideration if you plan to work with large image files. Some of the many choices include Adobe's Photoshop.com along with FotoFlexer, PicNik, Pixlr, and Sumo Paint.
Remember, whether you install software or use an online package, all of these tools provide the same basic functions for improving pictures.Where they differ is in their sophistication and the actual user experience. Therefore, you may want to sample several programs before deciding which one you'll be most comfortable using.
That may be the toughest part of getting those perfect pictures for your tours.
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
Straight No Chaser - 12 Days of Christmas
We are all busy this time of year. I Love Christmas; the sites, sounds, and smells. I especially like the smells while I'm baking to make gifts of food for the neighbors and family. I love to listen to all of the Christmas songs and this year I started early as Andrea Bocelli's, My Christmas, CD came out early.
So instead of rambling on about what you can get for free to grow your business, I thought I would rather have everyone enjoy this video. It's from an A Capella group out of the University of Indiana. This video is by Straight No Chaser and was produced in 1998.
Have a Blessed Christmas and Holiday Season!
So instead of rambling on about what you can get for free to grow your business, I thought I would rather have everyone enjoy this video. It's from an A Capella group out of the University of Indiana. This video is by Straight No Chaser and was produced in 1998.
Have a Blessed Christmas and Holiday Season!
Real Estate Associates Think Outside the Box
As I haven't had time to write a blog in the last few weeks I did find a very interesting article that all real estate agents could use. I know that many real estate agents do not hold Open Houses much any more. There are a lot of reasons: no one comes, it never seems to sell the house, etc. However the article below came from Realtor Magazine Realtor® Magazinetoday. I hope it inspires some real estate agents to be more creative in how they handle an Open House!
"The persistently sluggish economy is forcing property agents to take more creative approaches to the run-of-the-mill open house. Recent marketing events in the Memphis,Tenn., area reflect the lengths sales associates are willing to go to in order to attract attention to their listings. Some have partnered with other practitioners to host festive open houses featuring Christmas music and refreshments. This tag-team approach to marketing multiple properties was effective for Crye-Leike agents Vicki Gandee and Carmen Brown.
"This can be done with several sales associates in the same subdivision, and sell the subdivision as well as the home," says Gandee. "This type thing brings the neighbors out as well, and they love to talk about their neighborhoods to potential buyers."
Individual sales associates, too, are stepping up their marketing strategies. "I tell you this, they remember my open houses," declares Signature Realty affiliate broker Larry Ohrberg, who promoted new homes in the Trinity Park neighborhood with a barbeque lunch, drawings for cash and prizes, and even an appearance by Santa Claus. Another of Ohrberg's more spectacular open houses was built around a 10-acre mini-ranch in Olive Branch.
To market the property, he invited fellow brokers to participate in hay rides, giveaways, and other activities."It didn't sell the house," Ohrberg concedes, "but we did have a lot of people there. Now when I have an open house, they come." Other agents are taking the open house to the next level as well.
Briscoe Ellett of Weichert, REALTORS®,Benchmark, for example, helped stage a "martini open house" for a home on Mud Island. The concept was designed to give downtown workers a sample of the lifestyle they could enjoy by buying a home close to their jobs. "A social way to get the exposure for people in the home,"is how Ellett described the function. "Something outside the box and enjoyable." Formerly a mechanical engineer, Ellett says he has realized that success in real estate sales hinges in part on being creative. "If you do things the same way, you get the same old results," he notes."
Source: Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial Appeal, Tom Bailey, Jr. (12/16/09)
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
"The persistently sluggish economy is forcing property agents to take more creative approaches to the run-of-the-mill open house. Recent marketing events in the Memphis,Tenn., area reflect the lengths sales associates are willing to go to in order to attract attention to their listings. Some have partnered with other practitioners to host festive open houses featuring Christmas music and refreshments. This tag-team approach to marketing multiple properties was effective for Crye-Leike agents Vicki Gandee and Carmen Brown.
"This can be done with several sales associates in the same subdivision, and sell the subdivision as well as the home," says Gandee. "This type thing brings the neighbors out as well, and they love to talk about their neighborhoods to potential buyers."
Individual sales associates, too, are stepping up their marketing strategies. "I tell you this, they remember my open houses," declares Signature Realty affiliate broker Larry Ohrberg, who promoted new homes in the Trinity Park neighborhood with a barbeque lunch, drawings for cash and prizes, and even an appearance by Santa Claus. Another of Ohrberg's more spectacular open houses was built around a 10-acre mini-ranch in Olive Branch.
To market the property, he invited fellow brokers to participate in hay rides, giveaways, and other activities."It didn't sell the house," Ohrberg concedes, "but we did have a lot of people there. Now when I have an open house, they come." Other agents are taking the open house to the next level as well.
Briscoe Ellett of Weichert, REALTORS®,Benchmark, for example, helped stage a "martini open house" for a home on Mud Island. The concept was designed to give downtown workers a sample of the lifestyle they could enjoy by buying a home close to their jobs. "A social way to get the exposure for people in the home,"is how Ellett described the function. "Something outside the box and enjoyable." Formerly a mechanical engineer, Ellett says he has realized that success in real estate sales hinges in part on being creative. "If you do things the same way, you get the same old results," he notes."
Source: Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial Appeal, Tom Bailey, Jr. (12/16/09)
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
Getting Wired for Christmas!
This post doesn't really have much to do with being a virtual assistant, but my husband thinks I should do a blog about it anyway. Although the more I think about this, I love to make my life as simple as possible. If there are things I can do so I do not have to do them over again, then that makes my life easier. My job as a virtual assistant is to make my clients lives easier for them.
The day after Thanksgiving always finds my family starting our Christmas decorating. We all love Christmas and this just makes us get in the mood for Christmas that much easier. I love the Christmas carols, the decorations, the thought and the warmth of the season!
Last year I decided to take the old Christmas lights off the tree and put on new LED lights. We had always had red lights but my daughter thought the ice blue lights would be pretty. I found some LED lights at Sam's Club that would work and not break the bank.
But I need to move backward about 15 years. We had moved into a home up in Estes Park, Colorado. It was a lovely home, log, hard wood floors, moss rock fireplace, I loved it. We needed a different tree so we went down to Littleton, Colorado to a store on Santa Fe. Most of the year this is a pool and spa store, All City Pools, but for the Holidays it becomes the best Christmas store around, Christmas City.
We wanted a tree with the lights attached but these trees were very expensive. The sales person at Christmas City showed me how to attach the lights permanently. She said to string the lights on the tree how you wanted them, use green craft wire, and wire the lights onto the tree limbs. This way you can put the lights on each limb from the base to the edges, giving the tree a more 3 dimensional look. After Christmas you fold up the tree and lights and put it away until the next year. The lights are not damaged and you don't have to string lights every year.
We bought the tree and lights and I went home and did exactly what she had advised.
So last year, when I decided to change out the lights I had to take the old lights off, wires and all, and string the new lights and attach them with the green craft wire again. By the end of this, which took quite a bit of time, my hands were cut and scratched and my fingers were numb.
The biggest problem with these lights is we didn't like the effect it gave the tree. Since we had always had red lights, we just were not happy with the ice blue.
This year we looked into replacing the bulbs to red LED's but this would have been an extremely expensive endeavour. So I resigned myself to the ice blue lights and went about getting the tree ready. My daughter and I were unfolding the tree and getting the limbs adjusted when she noticed a string of lights were out. So I get the fuses replaced, which is not as easy as they say, turn the lights back on and the string is still out. But I look closer and it isn't a complete string of lights, just a portion of a string. So now I am really upset.
Off we go to Ace Hardware. We look at the LED lights again and the regular lights. The price for the LED lights are very expensive and I figure we need at least 5 boxes of 100 lights each. So we decided to go with the regular lights because it is within our budget. It's late and we are tired of things not working so we decide enough with decorating, or not decorating, and have dinner.
Saturday finds me starting to take the light blue LED lights off the Christmas tree. It is hard work actually, I have to figure out how I attached the wires last year and it seems like every single wire was put on just a little bit differently. My husband and daughter start to decorate the rest of the house, putting up the Dicken's Village, North Pole Village, and our Santa collection.
They finish up long before I am half way through taking the lights off the tree so they decide to start helping me. About 7:00 p.m that evening, we are finished.
Sunday, starting around 7:00 a.m. again, I start to string the lights. However, in the wee hours of the night, I decided attaching the lights with green craft wire is for the birds and I figure out a way to wrap the lights around each limb and make them permanent! I have no idea why this idea never came to me last year, probably because the sales person at Christmas City said to use the green craft wire, but it made it so much easier and the lights are on the tree permanently. All you really have to do is wrap the lights either around the limbs or the branches.
We were not able to finish decorating the tree until Monday evening, but the tree looks lovely and I am so glad we are back to our red lights!
Here's Is Another Feather In Your Hat!
The day after Thanksgiving always finds my family starting our Christmas decorating. We all love Christmas and this just makes us get in the mood for Christmas that much easier. I love the Christmas carols, the decorations, the thought and the warmth of the season!
Last year I decided to take the old Christmas lights off the tree and put on new LED lights. We had always had red lights but my daughter thought the ice blue lights would be pretty. I found some LED lights at Sam's Club that would work and not break the bank.
But I need to move backward about 15 years. We had moved into a home up in Estes Park, Colorado. It was a lovely home, log, hard wood floors, moss rock fireplace, I loved it. We needed a different tree so we went down to Littleton, Colorado to a store on Santa Fe. Most of the year this is a pool and spa store, All City Pools, but for the Holidays it becomes the best Christmas store around, Christmas City.
We wanted a tree with the lights attached but these trees were very expensive. The sales person at Christmas City showed me how to attach the lights permanently. She said to string the lights on the tree how you wanted them, use green craft wire, and wire the lights onto the tree limbs. This way you can put the lights on each limb from the base to the edges, giving the tree a more 3 dimensional look. After Christmas you fold up the tree and lights and put it away until the next year. The lights are not damaged and you don't have to string lights every year.
We bought the tree and lights and I went home and did exactly what she had advised.
So last year, when I decided to change out the lights I had to take the old lights off, wires and all, and string the new lights and attach them with the green craft wire again. By the end of this, which took quite a bit of time, my hands were cut and scratched and my fingers were numb.
The biggest problem with these lights is we didn't like the effect it gave the tree. Since we had always had red lights, we just were not happy with the ice blue.
This year we looked into replacing the bulbs to red LED's but this would have been an extremely expensive endeavour. So I resigned myself to the ice blue lights and went about getting the tree ready. My daughter and I were unfolding the tree and getting the limbs adjusted when she noticed a string of lights were out. So I get the fuses replaced, which is not as easy as they say, turn the lights back on and the string is still out. But I look closer and it isn't a complete string of lights, just a portion of a string. So now I am really upset.
Off we go to Ace Hardware. We look at the LED lights again and the regular lights. The price for the LED lights are very expensive and I figure we need at least 5 boxes of 100 lights each. So we decided to go with the regular lights because it is within our budget. It's late and we are tired of things not working so we decide enough with decorating, or not decorating, and have dinner.
Saturday finds me starting to take the light blue LED lights off the Christmas tree. It is hard work actually, I have to figure out how I attached the wires last year and it seems like every single wire was put on just a little bit differently. My husband and daughter start to decorate the rest of the house, putting up the Dicken's Village, North Pole Village, and our Santa collection.
They finish up long before I am half way through taking the lights off the tree so they decide to start helping me. About 7:00 p.m that evening, we are finished.
Sunday, starting around 7:00 a.m. again, I start to string the lights. However, in the wee hours of the night, I decided attaching the lights with green craft wire is for the birds and I figure out a way to wrap the lights around each limb and make them permanent! I have no idea why this idea never came to me last year, probably because the sales person at Christmas City said to use the green craft wire, but it made it so much easier and the lights are on the tree permanently. All you really have to do is wrap the lights either around the limbs or the branches.
We were not able to finish decorating the tree until Monday evening, but the tree looks lovely and I am so glad we are back to our red lights!
Here's Is Another Feather In Your Hat!
Secrets of a Successful Open House
Another good idea for an open house or a showing, to give your home a more delicious bouquet, may be to bake some chocolate chip cookies right before the scheduled showing or open house. A home with the fragrance of baked goods always seems more inviting.
Still another alternative to baking, because we all have so much time to do that these days, is to brew Choffy. I do not like the taste of Choffy because I don't like the taste of coffee. However, the aroma is absolutely amazing! And for those of you who like the taste of coffee, this is an excellent drink. I said it tasted like coffee light. My daughter says it tastes like coffee light with chocolate overtones.
"Chocolate: The Fashion Accessory That Never Goes Out Of Style
"A few weeks ago Choclatique had the privilege of being involved in a NewYork open house fashion event for editors, organized by Dell et RuhsPR. Among the racks and racks of beautiful designer clothing andjewelry displayed in the penthouse, there stood a table filled with astunning array of Choclatique confections."Read More
Here's Another Feather In Your Hat!
