Here are some really cool ideas from brands and company’s we all know and love. Hopefully this will inspire your own personal creativity and get you motivated to think about what you can do with your cover on Facebook.  After-all, cover photos are the first thing that people will see on your page… and you know what they say about first impressions?!

There was quite a gathering for this historical event, one that will be remembered and talked about till the end of time, and one that will certainly remain a controversial topic in many business and personal circles. The biggest question of all? How much is FB stock worth, what’s it trading at, and how do I get some if I want it? Facebook makes history today!

Congratulations to Facebook and their entire company and Team. I know first hand how exciting it is to have your company go public and ring the bell at Nasdaq.

How can you tell if you were a victim of Google’s Penguin and what can you or should you do if you were?  This is an interesting topic and will definitely leave you with a better understanding of how Google is ranking and indexing websites and pages and how the Penguin plays into it all.

Does keyword density really matter?  Do meta-tags, titles, and back links really even make a difference anymore?  What if you don’t use keywords, links, SEO techniques, or any other technical traditions of the SEO underworld, will you still show up in Google?

If you’re like me, then you’ll want to know?!?

Google is getting much smarter, much better, and much more efficient at finding ways and implementing tools and programs that keep the SEO Gods trying and guessing. My advice is to forget all that “gaming & black hat SEO stuff” and just provide your readers and subscribers with great value-added and useful content.

Here’s the Google Penguin explanation video if you’re interested.

¡uınbuǝd ʎq pǝʇɔǝɟɟɐ ʇou sɐʍ ǝʇıs sıɥʇ ‘ʎןןnɟʞuɐɥʇ puɐ ʎןqɯnɥ

How many times do you get mail that you just throw directly into the trash?  You didn’t ask for it to be sent to you, then you pay to have it thrown away! What if you could eliminate junk mail with a single photo?

What if you could spare the air and save some trees?

Well, there’s an app for that!

Control your home and office mailbox, stop paper Junk Mail using your phone.

PaperKarma allows you to take photos of the junk mail you wish to stop. Snap a photo, and you’re done.  They automatically contact the Mailer and remove you from their distribution list. PaperKarma can stop most junk mail that is addressed directly to you.

So Really? How Does It Work?

Paper Karma also works on the Apple iPhone. the Android, and Windows smart phones so no mobile is left behind, and with a simple snap-shot, you can help reduce your junk mail while supporting a greener earth!  Rid junk mail once and for all!  Download Paper Karma Here.

Little did we know, but that very moment, that inconceivable event that my family and I were witnessing would change the world as we knew it. Our National Security, our travel, our lives, a global change all taking place in just moments on the dreadful morning of September 11th, which most just refer to today as 9/11.  What seemed like an unimaginable occurrence suddenly turned into an overwhelming task for saving lives followed by a mesmerizing clean up that left most people on earth simply flabbergasted!

“Oh My God” pretty much said it all and summed it up that morning.

Having been so touched and moved emotionally by this event, plus having personal friends both in New York and knowing others effected by this tragic event, I knew I just had to make a trip to New York at some point and visit ground zero. I was needing to pay my respects and get a real sense of what happened that horrible day.  Well, a couple years ago, I finally made it to New York. I took the subway to ground zero, and took photos and just stood in silence in many of the locations that I recognized from the television reports and images that were implanted into my memory from the news back in 2001.

At one point, I stood in the middle of the street where I remembered people running away from the billows of smoke and rubble and falling debris that chased them down this street as the World Trade Center Towers crumbled to the ground. I pulled out my phone, called my wife, then just stood there speechless, unable to speak, tears running down my face, and my chest sinking painfully into my heart. Never have I been so affected by an event emotionally as I was 9/11.  A Day I will always remember… the tragedy, the trauma, the heroes, the lost. Saddened and helpless but hopeful with faith!

But today… there are still those who mourn like me, but they have picked up the pieces, they have picked up their hearts and souls, they have picked up all and banned together to begin a new journey and a new endeavor… to build ONE NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER in honor of everything this event stood for. This is nothing short of witnessing the power of the people, a miracle of mankind, and a monumental task and achievement as a human species.

Please take a moment to watch this time elapsed rebuild of the World Trade Center in New York. Now, just as it was before, the tallest structure in New York City and bound by a skyline and a city of people who found a way to bounce back by uniting together, taking one day at a time, overcoming and persevering, and in a time where most of mankind could only imagine giving up, they rebuilt their tower! As I watched the rebuild of the World Trade Center, it helped me emotionally to really grasp and understand the value of our human lives, and why together as a people, we can and will overcome any and all challenges.  May God truly continue to Bless America!

  HTML5 Is The Next Revision of the HTML Standard.

Now you can make HTML5 look stunning with Wix
It’s only been about one month since Wix launched their HTML5 builder and the feedback they’ve gotten from you, the users, and the industry, has been incredible.  I have been using Wix for over 3 years and absolutely “LOVE” it!

Over 20,000,000 users. Over 300,000 HTML sites. See For Yourself.

Needing A Little Inspiration and Motivation?
You owe it to yourself to check out some of the magnificent work users created with the help of the newest HTML5 website builder.  It’s nothing short of impressive and amazing!  Check some out now >>>

Create Your Own New HTML5 Site
There are tons of stunning templates available, and more are getting created and added daily. You can change the backgrounds, add your custom text and any original content, and create a beautiful online presence in just minutes.

Start Creating Your Own FREE Site Here

WIX.com provides both FREE and Paid Websites and other Services
Websites, Facebook pages, Squeeze pages, Landing pages and more, all created on their platform with no programming or experience required yet your final products will look like you paid big bucks to have them done by an expert designer or developer.  Professional, Flashy, Easy, Effective, and best of all… FREE.

I love info-graphics because they combine facts, data, and useful information with a touch of graphic design and some creative images that make the content interesting and compelling not to mention more attractive to the human eye.  Take a look at some of these INFO-GRAPHICS I’ve been saving and sharing, I think you’ll find them interesting and worth reading and sharing too.

What makes a great Info-Graphic? 

Only 4 components are really required; You, the content, the layout, and the graphics.  There are other important attributes like color combinations,  selective fonts and sizes, interesting images and fact supporting graphs, charts, and pies which are cool too.  But creating custom images combined with minimal text that reinforces content and messaging ensures info-graphics will capture the minds-eye, Watch!

Let’s start off easy making your first Info-Graphic using Info-Graphic creator by Intel.  It’s called “What About Me” and it uses your social media presence to generate a cool info-graphic with ease.  Simply select your Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube accounts, and Intel will create your very first info-graphic and it’s all about you.  Best of all, it’s FREE.  Just create it, save it and share it.

(Click thumbnail to see full size)

Now there are a few other ways to make your own info-graphics.  They work great on websites and blogs, and if you store them online or in the cloud, they can be easily accessed and shared with others anytime and anywhere.  If you don’t have a good desktop publishing software or you just don’t feel like a graphics engineer or very creative, try using an info-graphic generator.

Vizualize.me offers you a way to make your resume into a Infographic:

Looking for some Killer Info-Graphics?  Check out Killer Info-Graphics
Want to see some of the coolest info-graphics on the web?  Check out Cool Info-Graphics

Colors and fonts really do make a difference, but most people don’t put much time or effort into color and font consideration.  There are many sites that will help with color schemes, here’s just a few I’d suggest as examples:

• Kuler
• Color Combos
• Colour Lovers
• Color Schemer
• Color Scheme Designer

Selecting the right fonts for images and graphics can be a bit challenging too, so just for fun, go ahead and take this FONT Personality QUIZ, and see how well you do.  I have no doubt you will “pass” with flying colors!

Lastly, image editing and creation can also seem tough but it doesn’t have to be so time consuming or expensive.  Here’s 5 FREE sites for creative photo, graphic, and image editing that are available online and for FREE.  If you’re looking for some free graphics, photos and images to use legally in your info-graphics, check out these free resources, just be sure to read and abide by their terms of service.

Now if you decide that creating info-graphics just isn’t your bag, takes too much time and brain-work, or just doesn’t seem like the best use of your creative and productive time, you can always use one of the largest info-graphic sites and libraries on the web. This is one of the Top sources for shared info-graphics on the Internet.  I’ve saved the best for last, see the related links and sites below.

Related Info-Graphics Sites and Tools:
Infogr.am Creates Interactive Info-Graphics   
Visual.ly Creates Your Own Custom Info-Graphics   
Chart Gizmo allow you to Create Charts   
Photo Stats App – First Info-Graghic Generator for iPhone   
Dipity Finds and Creates an Interactive Timeline   
Daytum is a Personal Visual Info-graphic Generator

There are many reasons business professionals continue to have a presence on LinkedIn, but there are a ton of business people who are missing out on the many opportunities LinkedIn provides and makes available.  Take a look at the new mobile app and interface, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

One of the really cool features is the ability to check updates, read featured group posts, see what other influential friends and associates are up to and more all with a single swipe across the screen. It’s like reading a book and you really do feel like you’re LinkedIn.  (some pun intended)

One of my fellow associate friends and Real Estate associates joined me last week for a webinar and not only demonstrated the power of LinkedIN, he provided these slides and tips for those interested in getting the most out of LinkedIn.  Preview a copy below or view on Scribd here.

If you like easy access to your images, photos and graphics with the ability to create collages, add text overlays, adjust contrast and brightness, combine images, use custom effects and more, then Ribbet is the NEW online graphic/photo/image editor for you.  Ribbet.com looks like the reincarnation of Picnik.com.

“When Google announced Picnik’s impending closure in early 2012 there was enormous public outcry. People had come to rely on the service, that brought “photo awesomeness” to everyone, and they weren’t happy to see it go, to say the least.

Along came Ribbet! Packed with all the original Picnik functionality and built on the same platform that made it great, Ribbet offers a familiar interface and the same ease-of-use that people have come to love. read more…

Since Ribbet has not gone live just yet, you can request an invite to join.  Go for it!

A screen shot of Ribbet (below) demonstrates just how much the NEW Ribbet resembles the OLD and now closed Picnik. It’s amazing to see how much these two look and feel like the same site.  Almost makes you wonder if there isn’t something fishy going on here… 

and the best place to make a billion dollars is out in cyberspace. 

Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that Facebook will now be the proud owners of Instagram at a whopping $1,000,000,000 dollar purchase price.  What is Instagram?

“It’s a fast and fun way to share your photos with friends and family. Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram.  Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie.  It’s photo sharing, reinvented.”

Mark Zuckerberg said,

“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.”  Read More of Mark’s Post Here

The immediate responses from Twitter users came in a variety of mixed opinions and emotions:

Meanwhile over on the original Facebook announcement, the most popular (liked) comments seem to create some balance by adding a more positive acceptance of the billion dollar purchase:

No matter what your opinion is of this acquisition, it’s clear that many new and cool popular sites, tools, and services available in the Internet space are quickly being gathered up by the “BIG DOGS” in an online race to be the biggest and best online portal with the most popular online and mobile goodies.

The $60,000 Question is: Should you spend your time guessing and trying to figure out who’s next, or spend your time designing and creating the next “Big Thing” on the web so you too can make a $1 Billion Dollar deposit into your savings account in the next few years?  Just sayin…

Kodak (now known more as digital media) moments are what really count in “this life” and going from shoebox, to album, to online etc. has been quite a journey.  Remember your baby pictures?  What about those shots of your great grandparents all tucked away in the closet, under the bed, or in the garage storage bins?

ThisLife gathers and organizes all your photos and videos into one beautiful, searchable place. Getting started is easy and free.  You just need an invite.  Click here to get one.

I for one am really stoked about having THIS LIFE as MY NEW online gate-keeper to the most valued moments, times, and treasures of my personal, business, family/friends, and travel life.

Do we really need digitally enhanced Google glasses?

By John D. Sutter, CNN

(CNN) - Google on Wednesday unveiled something really future-y: Glasses that display digital info on top of the real world. The prototype glasses project all kinds of information – walking directions, instant messages, phone calls, weather info, calendar reminders and the location of your friends – on the world all around you. Read More…

With this new type of Google+ integration, this could be the next level of social networking. Hopefully this is one of those projects that will actually get beyond the thought and beta process… I’m really excited to see if this one makes it.  Since I have a challenge at times remembering peoples names when I see them in person, this would be a pair of glasses I would surely wear every single day. lol~

Could this be the future ticket that takes Google+ to the championship round and bout with Facebook and a “Victory” as the leader of social media networking?  By simply infusing the real world, some would say yes…

Stay tuned folks, it’s game-changer time!

Then RebelliousPixels on Youtube responded with this video showing Google’s true colors and plans to generate revenue with this genius new technology and concept. Brilliant, really?

Tomscott.com – “I made the Google Project Glass team a new commercial. I don’t think they’ll like it.”

Create Daily Tasks and Share with Short Calendar

I have always been a big fan of really simple tools that do simple tasks really well. Here’s one that is no exception to that rule.

Short Calendar lets you select any given seven days. It’s a free online tool that creates week long agendas in the form of neatly organized calendar boxes, which are emailed directly to any recipients right from the site.

The possibilities for uses are endless, from scheduling group vacations to busy and hectic workweeks to customized and unique exercise routines.

The clean and simple layout, which renders flawlessly in email, is a helpful aide for “visual thinkers” (a.k.a. forgetful people). Any office administrator or business assistant would find great value in ShortCal.com.

Each calendar day is appropriately boxed with the date at the top for quick reference and convenience. Add any recipients’ email addresses and a subject line and click “Send.” It doesn’t get any easier than that. Send it to yourself as an archive or for future use.  As for completing the tasks and agenda, that’s on you.

Today it’s a quick text message or response, an email auto-reply, a quick Tweet or Facebook post, and 90 seconds of watching a quick video on your mobile device.  How connected are we really to others?  It seems we’re more connected to the devices, the technology, and the social networking tools than we are people?

Where is all this going?  How much time do you really spend connected to your device and computer versus your friends, family, and children?  Do you know others who seem to have a lack of balance and issues with their jobs and personal lives?  Are we a society, a species, and world in denial?  When and How does it end?

I’m just like you, looking for answers, unsure of the questions, convinced there’s an issue, confused from it all, but confident that we’ll find our way!  Is there a future that will best serve our own needs and desires and us as people without feeling the pressures of this global movement and obvious epidemic?

Take a break and step back.  Ask yourself this question?  If it all went away tomorrow, would you be better off and would your life be more fulfilling and enjoyable than it is currently?  Would you have more time to spend with others creating memories and more meaningful and lasting relationships?

Related Articles:
Top 10 Web Addictions with NO CURE

My personal recommendation is that you backup all your content on your profile and all your business and fan pages.  When I transitioned to the new timeline format as one of their early adopters, just over 1000 of my personal friends were lost in the transition.

NOTE: To date, Facebook has been unable to help me restore those long and now lost friends on their site.  I may not be able to get mine back immediately, but this may help you and be useful if the same thing happens to you today during the switch over.

How to Backup Your Facebook Content and Data

1. Go to your profile on Facebook (make sure you’re logged in)

2. Click on the “options arrow” located next to your username and the home button

3. Select the “Account Settings” link

4. Click on the “Download A Copy” link in the lower left corner.

5. Download times may vary depending how long you’ve been on Facebook and how much content you’ve put up on your profile or pages. Be patient.  Then be sure to store this file in a safe place.

6. Facebook will notify you via email when your created archive is completed.

7. You will need to save the file Facebook creates to your computer hard-dirve.

8. This is what gets backed-up following this procedure:

Good luck, I hope your timeline transition goes smoothly today, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the most important commodity we have on this earth…  Our Friends!!

How are you keeping it updated and current?  What happens to that post when the home is sold?  Does your post still show up in the SERPS? (Search Engine Results Page)  If so, how useful is that post to a consumer or potential prospect and client?  Thousands of properties are marketed on websites and blogs every day, but are agents maximizing the potential of these “Homes For Sale” articles and Listing posts?

There was a time way back when that I believed creating a single property blog post or page for a listing on your website was a great idea.  Today, I have a different opinion about how to “BLOG” about listings and your clients properties.  Take just a moment to ponder this concept…

To give a blog post some shelf life, and keep it alive for years to come, agents should blog about the neighborhood and community instead, and then just include the listing as part of their topic and post. This way when the home sells or gets taken off the market, the hyper-local information is still useful to consumers when found during a search, and doesn’t render your post useless just because that home is no longer available.  Also, consider adding an IDX link or plugin to search for homes, or a Real Estate Widget that continues to bring value to that article.

This technique is working great for many hyper-local real estate bloggers. Providing blog posts with a longer shelf life has been proven to bring much greater value to both the reader and the author. Consider the possibilities of creating neighborhood and community posts over just listing posts.  If you’re hesitant,  just read what some other agents all across the country are saying about this idea.

Tether.com is the solution. 

“Tether is an application that allows you to have full Internet access on your laptop anywhere using your smartphone’s data plan. No more WiFi hotspots, extra data plans or costly Air Cards!”

Tether currently works on the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices and could save you hundreds of dollars using WiFi cards and USB plugin modems, and at the same time give you seamless easy access to the web anywhere your cell phone has a signal and reception.  It’s definitely worth looking into.

Special thanks and shout out to my friend Jeff Turner for making the discovery and sharing it on Facebook today.

Is the Internet really just another tool, resource, and way to get information?

Many are in denial but the truth is that there is an epidemic of massive proportions called “WEB ADDICTION” and to date, no real focus on a cure.  Society has accepted that, for the most part, these are safe addictions and since hundreds of jobs are being created, and there are millions of fiends all across the country with billions of dollars being made, there will most likely be no effort in the near future to find or create a “web addiction” cure.

Excluding email, pornography, and Google.com, these are the Top 10 web addictions in the US.

These are just the numbers for November 2011

1. Facebook.com – 7.2 Billion visitors
2. YouTube.com – 2.3 Billion visitors
3. Twitter.com – 167.3 Million visitors
4. Yahoo Answers – 112.4 Million visitors
5. Tagged.com – 81.1 Million visitors
6. LinkedIn.com – 71.5 Million visitors
7. MySpace.com – 53.9 Million Visitors
8. MyYearBook.com – 44.9 Million visitors
9. Yelp.com – 34.1 Million visitors
10. Pinterest.com – 31.7 Million visitors

There are some folks who are actually using these social media sites as tools and are making some money by putting in the time strategically and implementing a focused effort to grow their business, but the majority of people on these sites are addicted.  They visit for the first time, create a profile thinking it’s the thing to do because everyone else does and all their social influence and friends are there too, then slowly and surely over time, obsession starts to consume and posses them.

The top 10 signs that you’re addicted to these sites:

1. You dream about them and the content you’ll create wakes you up
2. You bring your mobile device to bed with you, and use it
3. You fall asleep… at the computer while reading a review on Yelp
4. You lie to your spouse when she yells upstairs, “what are you doing?”
5. You sneak into bathroom and run water in shower just to use your laptop
6. You forget mobile device at home and drive back 50 miles to get it.
7. You don’t get a “like” or “Retweet” and you begin crying and pouting
8. The electricity goes out and you instantaneously curse at the world
9. You’re willing to pay money for any of these sites just to be a member
10. Your hard-drive fails and at the same time, so does your heart.

So Are you just connected, or are you really addicted?

PicNik.com closing has created quite a ruckus, but there are so many great replacement sites and PicMonkey is another one to watch and add to your photo-editors list.  The features and tools are very easy to use and navigating around the site couldn’t be made any easier.

Unlike many of the other FREE photo editing sites, there is no registration required at PicMonkey and you can begin editing and manipulating images and effects as soon as you land on their site. Everything is literally point-and-click ending with the ability to save in a multitude of formats and sizes.

Here’s a few of the cool features available:

The Upside of PicMonkey

What I like most about PicMonkey is that the team and creators are dedicated and committed to adding new features and enhancing the site going forward.  There is no guaranty that Google won’t come along and try to buy them up and then close them down like they did PicNik.com, but I can attest that PicMonkey has done a great job with this launch and I see them as a TOP PLAYER in the online photo editing arena.

The Downside of PicMonkey

Some of the advanced features require an upgrade, and while they are offering it now for free, there is no mention of when it will become fee based or subscription based nor how much it will cost when it does.  They want to get you hooked and addicted, then eventually have you helping them make trips to the bank to make deposits.

Here’s five important pieces of the puzzle for a successful start-up business.

#1 – You’ll need a niche, a group, or a target of people or prospects that need your product, tool, or service.

#2 – You need to be economically competitive, a price people won’t think twice about, they are sold on the product.

#3 – You’ll need to be able to tap into their emotional buying processes and signals using text, audio, and visual.

#4 – A great yet simple page on the web to access a globe of potential prospects and customers.

#5 – The use of people and social media in a strategic way to make sure your “viral marketing’ is done by others.

These are the five components that are  underlying nearly every buying decision made by consumers today.

In the example below, you’ll see how this one start-up company “The Dollar Shave Club” uses the combination of the five ingredients above to tap into nearly every human being on the earth. That is if you shave of course.

This video was uploaded to Youtube just 3 days ago and already has 2,037,428 views.

The 5 Tip Break-down

Mike found a niche group and prospects, (we all have to shave) he has an unbeatable and unbelievable price, he used inexpensive video media to tap into the emotional side of the brains’ buying signals… humor, the website is simple, quick, and effective, and the use of social media FREE marketing which has gone viral is evident. 

(Not to mention I’m writing this post along with the other thousands who are or will be doing the same thing)

It’s genius, and anyone can do it!

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.  A popular cliche we’ve all heard and know but that was before we had today’s technology, free media, and the Internet. Today, with the right tools and knowledge, you can succeed right out the gate. And Yes, I am now a member of the Dollar Shave Club, thanks Mike!

In order to succeed at anything in life

We learn daily how to communicate with others by interpreting and evaluating their physical and emotional responses. Every success in life comes from learning experiences that teach us right from wrong and the good or bad ways of doing things.

So What is True Success Really?

There are many different levels of success and numerous way to gauge and determine the magnitude. To an astronaut, just reaching the outer limits of the earth’s atmosphere might be enough where as to another, it may be finally landing and being the first one on Mars.

At the end of the day, what really matters most is that you’ve set your sights on a goal(s) in life that brings you joy and a true sense of accomplishment.  Your expectation level of doing something really AMAZING is all up to you and only you.

So What is Failure?

YOU WILL FAIL my friends.  You will win some and you will lose some.  The light bulb (that we take for granted every single day) was created by a man that had to fail 1000 times before he succeeded and got it to work.  When called a failure, he responded with, “I’m not a failure, I’m not giving up, I’ve merely learned 1000 ways that won’t work!”

Just remember this: People look up to, appreciate, and salute those of you who failed yesterday, today, and tomorrow in your efforts but did not quit… failure is just another important and unavoidable element in the equation that in the end, leads to your success!  Don’t give up, don’t quit, stay the course, your success and reward is just around the corner.

“A Winner NEVER Quits, and a Quitter NEVER WINS!”

As a real estate professional, many already understand and appreciate this approach however the competition begins to get pretty stiff when you see agents and company’s out there providing these marketing ideas and services to their clients.  So what does your Real Estate Video Listing look like?

The Standard Chateau Listing Video

Marketing The Most Expensive Listing in the US

A Unique Yet Comical and Effective Listing Approach

The Professionally Produced Listing Video

A Video Listing worthy of a Superbowl Commercial

Here’s How They Do Real Estate Video Listings in Australia

They are intended for amusement and do not represent my personal opinion or express my personal beliefs about real estate, agents, their business, or the industry.  This is just a little fun & poke at real estate in general.

Funny Real Estate Commercial – 5 Star Subliminal Marketing

With over 1,000,000 REALTOR members in the National Association of REALTORS, (NAR) you can’t even begin to imagine the variety of styles and agent listing presentations that have been created and used in homes all across the country.  The Real Estate Listing Presentation is the most important piece of the puzzle for agents that want to get signed contracts and sell homes.

So what do you look for in a listing presentation?  What marketing and advertising do you expect and deserve from your REALTOR or agent?  Here’s a few samples of listing presentations I was able to find using a variety of resources out on the web.

If you’re an agent or REALTOR, are these competitive?  Do they provide less or more services and pizzazz than you prefer?  If you’re a consumer and considering working with an agent or REALTOR anytime soon, which of these stand out and motivate or inspire you to use that company or agent?

These presentations are all available publicly on the web, however the resources and platforms are all unique and different so you may see some where the transitions, overlays, audio, and even visual is not exactly like the original that the agent is using in the field or online.  It will still give you a good idea regarding the content.

There are also a wide variety of platforms being used to demonstrate these listing presentations like Prezi,.com, Youtube.com, SlideRocket.com, and Scribd.com

The SlideRocket Platform

Chris Speicher - SpeicherTeam.com

THE HARRISON GROUP -  DallasNative.com

Phillips Real Estate – PhillipsRealEstateVA.com

The Youtube Platform

Todd Schroth – TeamSchroth.com

David Pylyp – Remax Realty Specialists

The Generic Listing – Sample with Messaging

The Prezi Platform

Chris Clemmer – Remax Realty Group

The ActiveRain Importer – Zeek Interactive
This plugin allows you to import all your ActiveRain blog post content into WordPress fairly seamlessly. Get the ActiveRain Importer Plugin – Watch a Video first
 

ALL IN ONE SEO PACK – Michael Torbert
This is an obvious plugin you’ll need and want if SEO is part of your online strategy. There is a FREE and PRO Version available.  This is one of the first plugins for WordPress I installed.
Get the All In One SEO Pack Plugin here – Downloaded: 9,979,884 times

dsIDXpress – Diverse Solutions
This plugin allows WordPress to embed live real estate data from an MLS directly into a blog. You MUST have a dsIDXpress account to use this plugin.  See a “live” demo
Get Your dsIDXpress Plugin here

Google Analytics for WordPress – Joost de Valk
Adding Google Analytics to your WordPress blog provides stats and tracking you won’t find in WordPress. Knowing and understanding your target audience vs your actual traffic is monumental.
Get the Google Analytics for WordPress Plugin here

Google XML Sitemaps – Arne Brachhold
This plugin will generate a custom XML sitemap which helps search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog.  Don’t leave your blog without it!
Get the Google XML Sitemap plugin here

Local Market Explorer – Andrew Mattie & Jonathan Mabe
This plugin allows WordPress to load data from a number of real estate and neighborhood APIs to be presented all within a single page in WordPress.  By far, one of my favorites, you’ll see why.
Get the Local Market Explorer plugin here

Shareaholic – Email, Bookmark & Share – Shareaholic
This is that cool set of icons (sexy bookmarks) that pop-up at the bottom of a Blog post that let you email, bookmarks, and share on other platforms with a single click.  Another favorite in my plugin toolbox. Get the Shareaholic plugin here

Share and Follow – Andy Killen
This is a simple plugin to manage sharing and following for social networking.  This is a great addition as well as an alternative to social sharing using some of the other similar plugin types.
Get the Share and Follow plugin here

Slick Social Share Buttons – Lee Chestnutt
This is the floating share button yo see along the left side of my Blog posts here.  This allows you to add a customized selection of social media and bookmarking platforms of your choice.
Get this Slick Social Share Button plugin here

Smooth Slider – Internet Techies
The Smooth Slider is a plugin that adds a “smooth content and image slideshow” which is completely  customizable and can be added to any area or location of your blog.  A 5 star rating for “cool!” Get the Smooth Slider plugin here

Social Connect – Brent Shepherd
This allows your viewers and readers to comment, log-in, and register with their Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo or WordPress.com accounts.  Great for simplifying engagement.
Get the Social Connect plugin here

WPtouch – BraveNewCode Inc
An absolute must for mobile user accessibility.  This plugin formats your site with a mobile theme for visitors on Apple iPhone / iPod touch, Google Android, Blackberry Storm and Torch, Palm Pre and other touch-based smartphones.  Get the WPtouch plugin here

WP Super Cache – Donncha O Caoimh
Does your blog or page load slow?  It will with all these plugins, (lol) this plugin does the trick for caching your blog and speeding up the load speed for your visitors.  An Awesome plugin, but a lot of options. Get the WP Super Cache plugin here

WordPress Importer – WordPressdotorg
This plugin allows you to import posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, tags and more from a WordPress export file.  Move all your WordPress Blogs into one!
Get your WordPress Importer plugin here

Needing some Real Estate Specific Plugins?  These should keep you busy, I have not tested them.

I’m still testing out about 10-15 others including the new Jetpack, Page-Peel, WP-Topbar and others.  We’ll see if they make the next cut for Top WordPress plugins. Here’s a great plugin resource for finding and downloading WordPress plugins for your Blogs.

It’s clear that the animation and subliminal message above is directed toward men who love super heroes and fishing, but at the same time, it also illustrates and demonstrates the appropriate and effective utilization a couple simple animated GIFs. (So what’s the message?) lol~

There are many other ways you can use GIF’s creatively, the key is to be creative.

Looking at these while trying to read could really be annoying….  lol~

How To install animated GIFs into your posts, sidebars, and blogs. You’ll need to provide the exact URL where the file (animated GIF) is hosted since you can’t just import them like you would an image or a photo. The animated GIF file must be hosted on a server somewhere out on the web and the URL provided in order for your animations to appear.

Try This: Right click on the animated fish or fisherman above and from the menu that appears, select “copy image location” then paste that URL into a new browser window or browser tab to see the animation and to obtain its custom URL and server location. Now instead of using a “browse and Upload” feature, use the URL, save, and that’s it.

According to TechCrunch, Pinterest hit 10 million US monthly uniques faster than any standalone site ever.  AGBeat says that Pinterest now drives as much traffic as Twitter.  Pinterest members are by invitation only, so how do you get invited?

You can ask a friend, or you can also just request one like I did right from the site.  It took about three days, then an email invite arrived at my inbox.  I’ve setup a couple boards myself to see how it all works and to learn how to navigate around the site.  To be honest, I like the ease of use.  I can see the potential the site has and why it’s getting tons of attention.  It’s worth checking out, Pinterest has something for everyone for sure.

Some Quick Pinterest Etiquette:

Be Nice! Be Creative. The best pinboards mix products, art, recipes and images from all across the web. Try not to pin everything from a single source.  Give Credit. If you blog about an item you found on Pinterest, it’s nice to credit your fellow pinners by linking back to the original pin.

A Few Tips once you get started:

Make sure you Install the bookmarklet. It lets you add a pin from any website with just one click.

Be sure to follow others pinboards. You can use your Twitter and Facebook accounts to find other friends on Pinterest to follow as well as invite. Pinterest is as much about discovering new things as it is about sharing.

Pin carefully! Use big images, write thoughtful descriptions, and pin things you really love. Also, no nudity, sorry! 
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest too.

Lets review a few “key ingredients” for your splash/squeeze landing pages.

The four key areas are:

• Urgency
• Value
• Credibility
• Trust

What makes you want to enter YOUR information when landing on a website, blog, or squeeze page?  What type of information lures you in, grabs your attention, then leaves you with a call to action that is not only tempting but irresistible?  That’s easy~  All the parts and components that create urgency, prove value, earn credibility, and establish trust within a matter of seconds.

This landing page checklist will help break down these four key elements. This landing page tutorial and checklist guide below will be helpful in sharing some samples and examples of what this actually looks like and how it should be used in building YOUR squeeze and landing pages.

Well here it is!  iPiccy.com is the closest you’re going to find to Picnik.com.  The look and feel are more similar than any other site I’ve seen.  iPiccy might actually be Picnik’s twin brother.  Once you explore the site, you’ll see what I mean.  iPiccy is 100% free, no registration required, and offers many of the same features and benefits that Picnik does and more.  They include a painting module that Picnik didn’t provide.

Grabbing any image or photo is easy.  Just click the appropriate button and GO!  The editing options are endless and the ability to create some really cool customized graphics and images will be limited only by your creativity and of course your time and schedule.  The workspace on iPiccy will be easy to navigate, especially for Picnik users, and will feel just like your old Picnik stomping grounds.

There are multiple effects and single click options at your fingertips.  These will make your photos and images really “POP” and if you use a combination of the wide variety of tools and options available, the possibilities will be endless.

In literally minutes, you’ll be able to adjust your contrast, auto-correct colors, customize images, fix blemishes, remove red-eye, lighten and darken graphics, and even add text overlays, reflections, shadows and more.  Having access and the ability to utilize some really cool effects without being a graphics designer makes iPiccy one of my  TOP CHOICE recommendations.

Here’s what we just put together for our Valentine show next week.

We added a border,
created a matting,
went with  a sepia effect,
added a thick pencil sketching,
made it black and white,
re-sized it keeping constraints,
added a shadow border,
then dropped some text at the bottom and saved to the desktop.
This all took about 3 minutes from beginning to end.

Check out iPiccy.com and compare it to Picnik.  If you’ve never used Picnik, then you’ll have discovered a very cool free online photo and image editing site that you’re going to enjoy.  If you have used Picnik and feel as though you’ll be losing a best friend come April, I can promise that iPiccy will make the hurt a whole lot less.  In fact, some of you will like iPiccy even better than Picnik.

Did you know that 100% of people who have an email address (that’s everybody) delete at least 30% of their unopened email?  And they do it everyday!  This is called click-through and open rate.  If your email is spammy, the subject line stinks, and your content is weak, then your email basically sucks.

Email is one of the most powerful ways to market, advertise, and even drive traffic to targeted websites and blogs but you’ll need to have a good strategy and a compelling email that looks great, gets opened, gets read, has value, and has an easy but powerful call-to-action. It takes a combination of a professional product with a personal touch and approach.

Facebook proved this works by sending members email that stated, “You’ve been tagged in a photo!“  Nobody can resist clicking on the link back to Facebook because they can’t stand thinking that there might be a photo of them out on the web that might be embarrassing, maybe even humiliating.   You know what I mean right?  lol~  We’ve all been there….

It’s time to take control of your email campaigns!  What if you could create stunning, studio quality emails?  Choose from hundreds of quality custom designed themes and email templates and be able to send them through any email service provider?  Do you have graphic design experience or HTML programming skills?  How much time and money would it cost?

One option is TemplateZone, a site you absolutely MUST check out.  They can help you setup and deliver quality email campaigns.  I have personally worked with their staff, experienced their excellent customer service, and will also be having them as one of my VIP guests at an upcoming webinar in March 2012.  They understand and support your email marketing.

Look, the hardest step was just reading and coming this far, the next step is easy and FREE…

Create your next email campaign here.