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.

Here’s a brief overview of what they’re sending out to account holders.

Easy to work across Google:
Their new policy reflects a single product experience that does what you need, when you want it to. Whether you’re reading an email that reminds you to schedule a family get-together or finding a favorite video that you want to share, they want to ensure you can move across Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube, or whatever your life calls for with ease.

Tailored for you:
If you’re signed into Google, they can do things like suggest search queries – or tailor your search results – based on the interests you’ve expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. They’ll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you’re searching for and get you those results faster.

Easy to share and collaborate:
When you post or create a document online, you often want others to see and contribute. By remembering the contact information of the people you want to share with, they’ll make it easy for you to share in any Google product or service with minimal clicks and errors.

Protecting your privacy hasn’t changed:
Google’s goal is to provide you with as much transparency and choice as possible, through products like Google Dashboard and Ads Preferences Manager, alongside other tools.  Their privacy principles remain unchanged.  And they’ll never sell your personal information or share it without your permission  (other than rare circumstances like valid legal requests).

Got questions? They’ve got answers:
Visit Google’s FAQ at http://www.google.com/policies/faq to read more about the changes.

Maybe… maybe not, but having 100 plus quotes might be a different story.  These 100 plus famous Internet marketing quotes will change the way you think and approach marketing your business and products on the Internet. Be sure to read and absorb each one; you’ll know right away which one is meant for you before you’re through…

One of my absolute favorite’s:
“Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing about!” Benjamin Franklin

FotoFlexer – Create some dazzling photo and image effects in your browser for FREE.  Use Animations, resizing, coloring, contrast and more.  Take a look at These 5 Demo’s for a quick tour of what FotoFlexer has to offer, you’ll love some of these cool features.  Smart Scissor is a favorite feature.

Pixlr – and for Picnik users, try Pixlr Express.  You’ll love the Editor, the Pixlr-o-matic, the Pixlr Grabber for Firefox and Chrome browsers, and the Pixlr Imm.io hosting, all of which are very robust and user friendly cool features.

LunaPic – This site will rock your world!  Lunapic offers more choices and options for photo editing and custom effects than some of the paid software applications I’ve purchased and used in the past.  Use vignettes, color bars, animated imaging, picture frames, retro color, collages, custom text, reflection animations, slide shows, and a ton more.  One of the most feature rich FREE online editors available.  You’re gonna love this site.

FreeOnlinePhotoEditor – A really simple and easy to use photo and image editor for those “quick fix and gotta go” graphics.  Very basic but simple and fast.  Some of the other online photo and image tools include:  OnlinePhotoTool.com: Online photo editor,  Automatically resize your images when sending it by email,  Create an Image from your RSS feed,  Create Image from your Tweet and Twitter account, and Create, save and email screenshots.

BeFunky -  Be Funky lets you do some pretty amazing things with your photos and graphics.  Most of the features and tools are focused on creating cool, fun, and funky effects and artwork.  The site’s name says it.  Some of the effects available would take hours to create in Photoshop or other high end and costly photo/image editors.

Definitely worthy of a visit and tour.

Photoshop.com – That’s right, you can use Photoshop online and for FREE.  You’ll need to register, but I promise it will be worth it.  The Photoshop tools are powerful and very easy to use.  Be prepared to spend a little time here, you’ll be amazed at what they have to offer and allow you to do online for free.  I’m not going to lie, this is one of my favorites and my personal replacement for Picnik.com closing down.

GIMP – GIMP is very similar to Adobe Photoshop except that GIMP is FREE.  It does require you to download the software but one huge benefit to that is it will never be bought and shut down on you.  It is a very powerful and feature intense program so unless you’re really experienced with editing and graphic design, or you have more time than it takes to close a short sale, you may want to stick with one of the others.

I personally like to use GIMP for graphic design more than image or photo editing.

Combine all these together and you’ll have more FREE editing tools and features than you’ll ever need or use and absolutely FREE.  Take a few moments to review each site, bookmark them, then give each one a try to see which one(s) best meet your photo and image editing needs.  Enjoy!

It’s true.  Google.com, owners of Picnik.com will be shutting down the site on April 19th, 2012.  I’m totally bummed.  I’m one of those thousands of people that used Picnik’s photo editing tools on a regular basis.  I’m really going to miss this site and all of its easy image and graphic editing features.

Some of the cool features I will miss include:

As a courtesy and step of good faith, they’re now offering the Premium service that many of us have been paying for since Picnik’s launch.  This is a token of their appreciation for leaving peacefully, quietly, and gracefully until they shutdown the site.  Feels a bit like I’m protesting here…  hmmm, I guess maybe I am?!?

On the upside, and of course the unknown side, Google will be adding the Picnik features and tools to the new social media platform they launched last year known as Google+ but only time will tell what they have in store and what will happen down the road.

So say goodbye to Picnik folks, one of the best FREE and Premium online photo and graphic editing sites I’ve ever had the honor and privilege of using.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely disappointed by this move on Google’s part. 

Hopefully, the new Google+ with Picnik like features and tools will suffice.  Another great company has been bought up by Google but will now be gone forever.  R.I.P. Picnik.com.

And just in case they do fall short….
Check Out These Other Options and Alternative Sites:

FREE Online Photo, Image, and Graphic Editing

RECloudCamp is really no different except for the following:

• No airline ticket required
• No taxi, bus, or train ground transportation
• No Rental Cars
• No Hotel/Motel fees
• No Traffic, Bridge Toll, or Commute
• No Weather Storms or Road Rage
• No Parking Fees
• No Admission Fees, it’s FREE

The entire event is online and takes place in a Virtual world right on your computer and it’s FREE.

All you need is an internet connection, an iPad or notepad to take notes, and an empty cup upstairs to fill with knowledge and wisdom shared from these “Great Topics!”  Joining RECloudCamp is easy,  navigating around the 3D world is even easier and fun, but most of all, the learning opportunities and networking potential will be huge!

SIGN UP NOW AND GET
MORE INFORMATION HERE

“The Virtual Visitor in The Virtual Conference“

There’s 800,000,000+ members!  What was I thinking?  What should I expect?

Unfortunately, I’ve just joined the growing “frustrated” circle on Facebook.  This past week I realized that they removed 1000 of my friends arbitrarily and without any warning or notice whatsoever!?!  When my friend(s) count went from 4099 to 4100, they for some reason took away 1000 of my friends in the blink of an eye.  WTH?  Now I know that members on Facebook are allowed to have up to 5000 friends on their personal profile page, so what gives?

My hope is that this is just a bug or some unknown glitch in their counters, but how will I ever know?
The worst part is not knowing which 1000 of my 4000 friends they removed?

This is just another bug and glitch in the Facebook system.  And I’m just another unfortunate member that it happened to, but what really bums me out is that these are “real people” that I have established relationships with over the past 30+ years.  This is not just some app malfunctioning, or a picture that’s not loading,  THESE ARE MY FRIENDS and CLIENTS possibly lost somewhere on their network forever.  Makes ya think for a second huh?

There’s even a FACEBOOK Page with 56,000 others talking about this:  You should see some of these…

So what is the solution?  You tell me?  I wish I knew….

Facebook has so many issues, they can’t provide a support staff for the volume of bugs and members on their site.  They do try to help by providing a “Help Center” but good luck if your issue is not on there.  This is a huge dilemma for any site the size and magnitude of Facebook.   Need help with a “Non-Known” issue on Facebook?  No chance, it’s not gonna happen, I’ve tried.

So what are others doing and what will you do when this happens to you?

Here’s My recommendations and Suggestions:

Have no expectations going in, and you won’t be disappointed coming out.  Many folks I talk to are going to sites like Google+, or creating their own Social Networks on sites like Ning.com and others.  Facebook is the most popular and trafficked social network on the web but because of that, it also has the most problems, bugs, and know issues.  It also has the least amount of support people and systems in place to provide a good customer experience when there are issues.

So if you must Facebook, just be prepared to FACE the bugs and known issues at some point with no expectation for any support, answers, or resolve.  No person is exempt from “bugs” or “glitches” on personal pages, business pages, your friends lists, or your timeline pages.  After-all, your presence and profile on Facebook is FREE so what can you really say, do, or expect?

Only invest into the site what you’re willing to lose in an instant.  If your time is valuable and your relationships mean anything beyond just another pretty “FACE” in your “Book” then make sure you backup anything and everything you do on the site.  This is not to alarm you, (well. maybe a little)  it is to prepare you for what many other are already experiencing and at some point, you just might too.

Facebook is not yours, you own nothing there but your time and your content.  Protect them both the best you can.

Now Go Have a Safe and Amazing Social Networking Day. 

The two things people search most are: the item, the person, the company, the thing or service, and then a geographic or what many are referring to as a hyper-local location.  Having this knowledge about search engines and keywords stands to reason why we all want to remove the guessing game of…

“What are people looking for and typing in the search box of search engines?”

No pun intended (well, maybe a little) search no more!  While we can never really be 100% certain of what people are searching and the exact keywords or terms they’re using, these keyword tools will help you not only define what IS being searched on the web, but how and what keywords to be using when creating and refining your blog titles and blog content.

Introducing Google’s Keyword Tool:

In the “Keyword Search” we typed “Real Estate in San Francisco” which seem like a pretty reasonable search that most web surfers would type if Interested in looking at Real Estate in San Francisco.  Interestingly the “Keyword Tool” came back showing that there is a larger percentage of people searching San Francisco Apartments which stands to reason considering the demographic of San Francisco.

Maybe creating a Blog post with the Title “San Francisco Apartments” and then provide content on how those living in “San Francisco Apartments” could qualify for a great loan, with great rates, and possibly become first time buyers and first time homeowners would be a worthy option and idea worth trying?  This is just a sample of how you can use these Keyword tools to better your content, your traffic, and hopefully your business.

Give the Google Keyword Tool a TryCheck out the other Google Keyword Toolbox

Soovle Is Another Great Keyword Tool

Soovle.com search multiple sites and returns most searched results on multiple platforms of your choosing.  You can select from up to 15 sites at one time to get the most poplar searched “Keywords” or related “Phrases” on those individual sites.  Here are the results as we started typing the words “Real Estate” and then realized that if we suddenly stopped typing, the Soovle tool kicked in and started solving…

Now this may seem a little biased and shameless since I do work for the Zillow-Yahoo! Real Estate Network, but I was personally pretty excited to see that on the Yahoo site, “Zillow Real Estate” was a pretty popular search by consumers and Internet surfers. (I’ll expand on that at a later date and time)

• Go Ahead, Take Soovle For A Spin

SEOBOOK Keyword Suggestion Tools

SEOBOOKS Keyword suggestion tool cross-references Wordtracker.com, Google, and others.  It displays links to related search results, semantically related phrases, and offers a new CVS exporting option which rocks! This combined with Google Insights will provide you with a wealth of FREE data and information to set you well on your way using “Keywords” in your online marketing, advertising, and blogging endeavors going forward.

“The objective of a business website is to attract potential buyers and convert them into paying customers. Keywords can help. Use appropriate keywords on your site and you’ll attract visitors who want to buy the types of products you offer.”  Wordtracker

“Hover your mouse above for a Hidden Message“

Any company that places this much emphasis on their people deserves to be noticed, rewarded, and given kudos for a job well done. Thanks Mozilla and staff for creating and supporting a great browser and user experience, and for making a difference in our online world.

SMM – SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

The future success of global business is definitely Social, Mobile, and Hyper-local period.  Successful businesses and entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet and all its resources to remain on top of the social media marketing and advertizing game.  Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn have long-term staying power and the ability to Socially connect the entire globe with a single Internet connection.

THE NEW LOCAL MARKETPLACE

Paypal, Amazon, eBay, Craigslist and many others have made the purchasing process seamless.  Connecting consumers with retailers and local bricks and mortar store fronts is now done via Websites and Blogs.  Now we’re seeing the non-bricks and mortar warehouses popping up all over the Web and providing even more products and services than can be found in your local strip malls.  Purchases are being made online and many hyper-local sites are winning.

MOBILE IS GLOBAL & COMPETITIVE

A challenging economy inter-twined with innovation and technology has made it easier for consumer’s to make purchases, family and friends to stay connected, marketing and advertizing to the masses easy, and all via a simple mobile device or smart-phone.  The communication barrier is no longer limited, the most cost effective portal is the mobile device, and the surplus of tools, apps, and online services are available in overwhelming abundance.

THE PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE

Both consumers and businesses are looking for more efficient and better economical ways to survive, live, save, and make money doing it.  The two sides are now meeting in the middle know as Cyber-Space, the Web, the Internet, The Super-Highway, THE CLOUD!  The dot.com may have bombed back in the 90′s but the comeback in 2012 is attention worthy and it’s absolutely here to stay.  Social is permanent, local is powerful, and mobile is BIG MONEY!

THE GUESSING GAME IS OVER

Customer service is out the door while “Consumer Experience” dominates Internet content.  Sites like Yelp, Expedia, Google, Zillow and others allow consumers to share their IRL (In Real Life)  experiences with others impacting the consumers choices and buying/selling decisions.  A few ratings and reviews can now make or break a restaurant, a business, an app, or an individual.  Public opinions shared online matter and make a huge difference.

THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS HAS CHANGED

2012 is going to be an incredible year of growth and prosperity for many online providers and sites while at the same time you’ll witness the demise of those companies who resist and fight the Social, Mobile, Local movement.  It’s not a matter of if it will work, it’s more a matter of when will you be on board and what direction will you take?   What decisions and changes do you need to make to exist or survive this “New Online World Order?”

“I know I’m not the only one with my head in the cloud here, question is.. where are you in the cloud today?”

Make no mistake about it…The Future IS Social, Mobile and Local.

There are more than 11 Billion maps currently being served up on Clustermaps.com, a FREE site that offers a visitor tracking widget for website and blog owners.  Clustermaps just received the 2011 “Best Free Webtool Award” from Edublog Awards.

Thanks to all of you, this site was ranked on New Years Day 2012 in the Top 500 Most Viewed Clustermap sites across the globe.  This is a HUGE accomplishment and we have no one to thank but YOU for helping us make it happen.  We’re not only celebrating a start to a great New Year, but we are humbled and honored to receive the Top 1000 award once again from Clustermaps.

#467 out of 11 Billion isn’t bad, so we’re proposing a toast and a cheer to a very Happy New Year.

I want to personally thank all our followers, family, fans, and friends for helping us receive this great honor and humbling award.  Our reward for all the time and effort that has been put into this site isn’t really the rank on Clustermaps so to speak, it’s the trust and rapport we’ve established with our readers and supporters just like you.

Though you may appear as a simple red dot on the map below, it’s more important that you know and understand that you are the most important part of this site and our existence.  Without you, there would be no domain, no map, no traffic, no ranking, and no audience for our content.

“If We Build, They Will Come!“

and you did!

It is truly an amazing honor and privilege to be able to say… “It Worked!”
“Thank you to ALL our friends, we appreciate you and love you very much!”

There are so many great sites and tools available on the web for your small to medium sized business.

I’ve researched this in great detail for many years and continue to be amazed at some of the products, tools, and services you can access absolutely free from the Internet.  From accounting to project management, here are some options that will allow you to run your business effectively on a limited budget.

Google Gmail Apps For Business

But did you know that some of the same people you would pay to do this for you have also created some sites that allow you to do it yourself… and do it for FREE?  These are just a few of the sites I’d recommend reviewing before you start filling out that “Pay To The Order of” section in your checkbook.

Here’s 5 Cool Sites where you can start creating your website for FREE

Wix – Wix is a do-it-yourself website builder: a free online tool that lets you create and customize your own websites. Built with a powerful, user-friendly interface, Wix gives you total control over your web design without knowing the first thing about fancy coding or programming.

Weebly – Weebly is a San Francisco, California based company that was founded in 2006 with the mission to help people put their information online quickly and easily. We enable over 7 million people to easily create personal sites and blogs or establish web presences for businesses, weddings, classrooms, churches, artistic portfolios, and more.

Webstarts – A place where everyday people could create unique pages without knowing any code and without the harsh limitations of other website builders. WebStarts vision is to provide everything you need to build and maintain your very own website. Not just any website, but websites that you can quickly edit and change, allowing you to keep your content fresh and original.

Google Sites – The Google FREE website builder.  Even with limited themes and capabilities, Google still provides a very friendly user interface which allows you to create and maintain some really cool websites and targeted webpages for your prospects and future business.

Yola - Yola is absolutely dedicated to helping you create a website quickly and effortlessly.  They offer easy-to-use tools and website hosting in free and paid options.  With Yola, you can easily create a free website in no time. You won’t need an advanced degree; if you can edit a document, you can build a free website.

The sites above are all free, easy to use, and they allow you to be creative and productive in a very limitless environment with the potential of making some pretty attractive, non-technical pages that can help you support, market, advertise and grow your online business.  Look like the pros, and do it for less. Let us know what you think?

image source: ritholtz.com

An amazing moment of Wild Gorillas engaging with humans and it was all caught on tape.

 
What does this have to do with real estate or the price of tea in China?

Absolutely nothing. Sometimes there are moments in life experienced by the few that are meant to be shared with the many, this being one of them. Think about it, when was the last time you were groomed or even got this close to Wild Gorillas? Not something you ever make an appointment for or plan to do in an entire lifetime. Simply awesome!

How many views does the average video on Youtube get?  Business Insider says that “Half of all Youtube Videos get fewer than 500 views!“  We are proud and excited that these top 12 videos out of the 155 posted on Youtube have received 10,000 or more views.

An EXTRA Special thanks to our subscribers and viewers who made this possible.

TOP 12 YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Looking for some awesome Youtube Video tools?  Check out these sites:

TestTube – TestTube is an ideas incubator.  This is where YouTube engineers and developers test out recipes and concoctions that aren’t quite fully baked and invite you to tell them and others how they’re coming along. 
YOU’LL LOVE IT!

Youtube Create – Free Animations, video creation and editing, effects and text creation.  
A ROCKIN YOUTUBE RESOURCE!

These are the “best practices” Gary uses that result in lead-to-client conversions.

1. Be The Local Expert
2. Follow-up fast – communicate when and how they would like
3. Ask good questions
4. Google them
5. Provide information and schedule a follow-up and stay on top of them
6. Offer to review any properties they find
7. Look for opportunities
8. Create a rapport and build a relationship
9. Be of service – Attitude is everything
10. Have minimum standards on who you will work with
11. Get face to face
12. Disregard lead conversion

Visit Gary’s website at SoldByGold.net and you’ll understand more about how and why he’s a Top Zillow Marketer in Southern California and closing more satisfied luxury home buyers and sellers that find properties and him on the web.

Gary Gold Related Articles:
How To Convert Your Online Contacts  
Using Video to Reach Buyers and Sellers
Creating Real Estate Custom Home Tours

WellcomeMat has some awesome features including this one, but diving into their analytics on the back end is yet another powerful feature that’s not to be over-looked.  Real estate video is now a critical component of marketing, advertizing, and providing local information and delivering great content to local audiences.

WellcomeMat’s user interface brings everything together into an easy to use yet powerful video hosting site.

My personal opinion is that this “2011″ will now be one of the greatest and most remembered Holidays of all time.  Special thanks to all those and their families who sacrificed their time and lives for America, and a toast to all of those getting to come home and be with their families once again.

I only wish John Lennon were alive today to honor this special occasion, and to celebrate the dream becoming a reality as told in his song “War Is Over!”

To every human that walks our earth today, be joyful, celebrate, live life, and enjoy Happy Holidays~

How do you make your specified blog posts show up on your Facebook Business or Fan pages automatically?  It is not too difficult but it will take some patience and these step-by-step instructions.  If you don’t have a Facebook Business or Fan page,  Create One Here First before you continue.

Adding Your Blog to a Facebook Business Page

Step 1: Go to http://facebook.com/networkedblogs
NOTE/TIP: Open in another tab or window so you can follow along with these instructions.

Step 2: Click on the “Add To My Page” link located on the left hand sidebar

Step 3: Click on the “Add To Page” button of the Facebook Page where you want your Blog posts to appear.

Once added, you can close window and go back over to Facebook to begin the next steps.

Step 4: Go to Facebook.com.  Click on the “Home” button in the top upper right corner.  Now select the Facebook Business or fan page that you just added the NetworkedBlog application to.  IE: Agent Assist 5.0 is the one I chose for this example.

Step 5: Click on the Networked “Blog” icon/link located on the left hand sidebar of your Facebook page photo/image. 

Step 6: Select the link option to (Click here to add it now)  in the instructions.

Step 7: Take a deep breath, you’re doing great and almost finished.

Now Register your Blog by entering the full URL or web address where your Blog is located, then click the “Next” button to continue.  Don’t forget to add the http:// when adding your Blog URL

Step 8: Enter the information and complete the form on the following screen as it relates to your Blog, then click the “Next” button once again to continue.

Step 9: Confirm you are the author by selecting and clicking the “YES” button.

Step 10: In this next step you have 2 options to get confirmed as the author:

1.  Ask friends to confirm you, or
2.  Install a widget on your blog which can be removed once you’re confirmed as the author.

Option #1: Select the friends you want to confirm you as the author and click “Send Requests”

Option 2: The preferred method, copy the appropriate code to your blog as a widget.  This method is quicker, easy to do, and you don’t have to bother your Facebook friends in the process.  When done, come back and click on the “Verify Now” button.

NOTE: Be sure to select the appropriate code based on where your Blog is hosted.  One code includes Javascript, which some sites won’t allow like Free WordPress Blogs and ActiveRain.com, and the other does not include Javascript.

(Also, Once confirmed and verified, the widget can be removed from your Blog site if desired)

If the widget code is installed properly on your Blog’s site, it will look something like this:

Step 11:  Return to the Facebook Networked Blog setup page and click on the “Edit Tab” button to complete the final steps.

Step 12: Select the Blog(s) you want to automatically appear on your Facebook Page and click “SAVE“

THAT’S IT, YOU’RE DONE!

Your selected Blog articles will now automatically appear on your Facebook Business or Fan pages.

To confirm this, go to your Facebook page and click on the Networked  icon/link on the left hand sidebar.  Your Blog posts will be inserted onto the Facebook page directly from your selected Blog(s).

To see the actual results of this process, CLICK HERE to view the example I used for the above tutorial.

Two Additional Tips:

1. You can move the location of your  icon/link on the Facebook sidebar by clicking on “edit” link and just dragging and dropping the Networked Blogs icon wherever you want it to appear on your Facebook page sidebar.

2. You can make additional edits and changes by visiting your Blogs on the Networked Blogs site.  An email will be sent to you by Networked Blogs once you’ve completed the steps and process above.  There will be a link directly to your blogs.

DISCLAIMER:  Facebook is constantly and consistently making changes to their site all the time. If you find this post 5 or 10 years from now, there is the possibility that this option and process may have changed or even no longer work.

I promised the more than 300+ real estate industry professionals attending that I would provide some of the information and data that we discussed along with some of the apps I shared during the session. Below are the slides that include some of the stats we highlighted, the uses we discussed, and the mobile device apps that we shared. I hope you find this helpful and the information valuable. Enjoy!
 

This is one of the best video presentations of SEO long tail you’ll see or find on the web. SEOmoz is a fantastic site and resource for SEO, tips, and complete guides to making sense and cents of SEO.

Imagery, video, blogs, and text articles etc. have consumed every square inch of real estate on the Internet.  The volume of content on the web is increasing at an unimaginable rate.  One very unique way information is now being delivered visually is by the use of InfoGraphics.  These are visually much more appealing than excel spreadsheet charts, graphs, and complicated text.

Visual.ly is quickly becoming the #1 resource for info-graphics on the web.

The InfoGraphic

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly,^[1] such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information. (Source WikiPedia)

Today information graphics surround us in the media, in published works both pedestrian and scientific, in road signs and manuals. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form, and act as a visual shorthand for everyday concepts.

If you’re needing or looking for some visually appealing graphics that impart useful information that’s needed to deliver a Visual.ly improved method of message delivery, you need look no further than Visual.ly.   With over 5000 Infographics, you’re sure to find the one that will cultivate the target audience you seek.

The InfoGraphic on InfoGraphics

via

According to Bob Parson, CEO and Founder at GoDaddy.com, On January 15, 2012, VeriSign®, the registry for .COM will increase prices – .COM will go up 7%.  That may not sound like much unless you own many domain names.

How can you avoid the increase?

To avoid this price increase, renew your domain names by January 15, 2011 and add another year to your current expiration dates.  You also have the option to register or renew for multiple years and lock in a longer-term savings.  If you are hosting at GoDaddy, you can reach them 24/7 at 1-480-505-8821.

A Few Top hosting sites on the web include:

GoDaddy.com, Network Solutions, BlueHost and HostGator.

Visit Bob Parson’s Video Blog Here

If you’re looking for free photos, images, fonts, graphics, music, art and more, these are some great resources and sites you can use.  Always be sure to read and adhere to conditions, restrictions, and terms of service when accessing sites like these. You’ll never need to plagiarize again! 

Stock.Xchng – The Leading Free Stock Photography

Morguefile – Free Photos for Creatives by Creatives

Dafont.com - 13,669 Free fonts

Stockvault.net – Free Stock Photos and Free Images

Imageafter – Currently 25447 Free Textures

Everystockphoto – Searching Free Photos

Zamzar – Free Online File Conversion

Pandora Radio – Listen to Free Internet Radio

Free Vector Art – Download Free Vector Art

Librivox - Public Domain Books as Free Audio Books

Picnik.com – Free Online Graphic & Photo Editor

The IMSD program is designed to help your business both online and offline.  IMSD training and designation was created and developed to help real estate professionals who understand the importance of Internet marketing and having an online presence, but can’t seem to get their arms around it or make it work for their own business.

Why Are People Wanting the IMSD Designation?

The training is not technical, it’s practical.  How do you earn and grow business using Social Media, blogging, SEO, Craigslist, Facebook etc.  The strategies you’ll learn are easy to implement and produce results.  The training is time-tested and proven and the support is guaranteed.

If you follow a few simple details these guys share, you’ll grow your business.

“The Internet Marketing Specialist Designation (IMSD) is a proven training program that will help you grow your real estate business through effective Internet lead generation. Created from interviews with over 1,000 agents and tested and proven over six years generating thousands of leads, IMSD features a series of classes and homework with techniques to help you generate more website traffic, capture more leads, and convert more leads into closings. You’ll have a specific, customized online marketing plan and begin seeing results immediately.  Follow the system and you will make money!

The enrollment fee to join the IMSD program is $599

But if you really want to take your business to the next level and you’re serious, I’ve been given permission to invite you now and save $200.  That’s almost half off.  Before you decide, go ahead and check out the site, then just use the discount code “bradandersohn” when you do sign up.

Go Ahead and “Search The Area“ Around You

Many agents have already earned their IMSD designations.  Don’t worry, if the training and program isn’t working for you, IMSD offers a full 30 day money back guarantee.  There isn’t any risk if it doesn’t work out.  On top of earning the IMSD designation, you’ll be armed and prepared to experience success and begin the Internet Marketing/Advertising and Social Media phenomenon that is changing the way real estate business gets done today.