Google Alerts – Staying Alerted

Have you ever wondered how other people find your Blog when you have written a post about them?  How do they do that?  I used to ask myself this question all the time.  Many of the comments on my Blog lately have asked me, “Where do you come up with all this stuff?”  This post

Building Blocks for Better Blogs and Business

While it was with every intention I planned on sharing this presentation at the RainStorm this past weekend, somehow my final decision to do so was influenced by the environment, the ambiance, and the folks I was fortunate to be surrounded by at the Ultra Heat Lounge in Anaheim.  There was a great line-up of

Zillow’s New Agent Rating and Endorsement Tool

Zillow’s New Agent Rating and Endorsement Tool Today, Zillow launched the ability for consumers to review real estate agents they’ve worked with in the past. Millions of home shoppers visit Zillow every month, and many of them have not yet found a real estate agent to help them buy or sell their home. Access to

Widgets: How to Add Them to Your Blog

How do you add “Widgets” to your Active Rain Blog?  You can only add them to either your profile page, your posts, or in the right side column on your main Blog page.  These instructions are to add a Widget to your Blog under your photo, the same as you see on mine. The first step is to select

Electronic Signatures and Real Estate

I often wonder where technology is going to take the real estate transaction.  Is buying Real Estate online really the way of the future?  Will Online transaction management systems like AgentFirst, Sureclose, Settlementroom, or REBT’s RELAY be the way we do business in the days ahead? Now there are electronic signatures.  Sending your clients contracts via

US Home Values and Mortgage Market Rates – Interactive Charts

Today I was snooping around our site trying to find something for an agent when I discovered the following US Home Values Index chart.  This is not what I was looking for, but after I found it, I was actually very impressed and got so excited, I forgot what I was originally looking for?  It

How To Backup and Export Your ActiveRain Blog Posts

How To Backup and Export Your Blog Posts – ActiveRain NEW Feature On August 18 @ noon CST, we launched the ability for members to export all of their blog entries to a single, compressed XML file. Its open nature will allow for the development of third-party import tools. Exporting your posts from ActiveRain has

Goal Setting – The 7 Steps to Success

The whole point in setting your goals is so you can accomplish those things you really want in life.  Goal setting is so unbelievably powerful.  Goals must be specific, written down, and have a time frame.  Just making the commitment to put it in writing will help you get there.  Having good organization is a

Hotspots on a Graphic – What are they, How to and Why

Can you have more than one link attached to a single graphic?  Have you ever wondered how website designers do that?  This is called layering or “Hotspots“.  You can easily create multiple links to any single graphic by doing the following.  I like to use photos or graphics that are in .jpg formats.  My earlier post