Thanks to Xerox sending out a Thank You card to our soldiers is simple, fast and free.   

At this time of the year we can take some time out to teach our children about giving thanks and living in gratitude.
The best way of course to teach gratitude is by being a good example of being in a thankful state of mind.

You can gather your children around your computer right now and go to this site:

Let's Say Thanks- In Support of our Troops.

All you do is click on the card you want to send and then click on what you want the words on the text side of the card to say.
You don't even have to think to do this because it is all done for you. You just have to choose the card and the text out of the ones on the site.
Then you just click send.

Xerox prints out the postcards and then these cards go into the care packages that Givetothetroops® sends to our soldiers.
What a gift Xerox is giving to the troops. I really appreciate a company setting a great example like this.
The cards have all been designed by children and are patriotic. There are many patriotic symbols and messages to choose from. 

There is a link on the site where you can read the responses from soldiers around the globe.
For some of these soldiers, your card will be the only mail they get from home.

Here are some of the comments sent back by different servicemen and women:

To all who have supported us,
 
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you from myself and my fellow Marines. Your packages and well wishes have lifted our spirits at a time when we are so far away from our friends and family. I wish you could have seen the bright eyed looks and utter excitement from the Marines when opening the boxes. It was a true blessing that you made happen. It makes us proud to know that our fellow Americans care as much as we do. It makes the sacrifices we and our families make worth every minute we spend here. We Americans can stand shoulder to shoulder in unison on one thing - we're all proud of our country and we're all proud of each other. The effort you make on behalf of the troops is just as important as the work we are doing here and around the world.
 
- A Gunnery Sergeant


As I was leaving an un-eventful Valentine's Day today, one of the mail clerks yelled "Adams!! You have a package!!" A package, I thought to myself. I'm not expecting anything. What could this be? I took the box into my office and closed the door. As I opened the box, a flood of joy came over me as I looked over the cards from you and the young ones, one of my co-workers walked in to see tears rolling down my eyes. I had never received a gift with this much love, packed into one little place from someone that I've never known.

As I thought about what the cards talked about with soldiers giving their lives and privileges up to ensure the freedom of Americans, it was nice to know that someone out there does not take it for granted. I don't know who you are, but you are truly a gift from God. The gift that gives me the drive to serve my country proudly. As you pray that the Lord keeps the soldiers here safe and brings us home, I pray to the Lord that people like you do not die off from this world. Your contributions are nowhere near inadequate. Please never forget what this means to a soldier. Thank you for your love and thoughts.
 

Please be kind- take a moment out of your day to send a card for free to a soldier today. Please Reblog! 

The great thing about blogging on ActiveRain is that the community many times helps us with real-world examples - case studies that we could hardly produce ourselves. The collective creativity of the RealBird members - on and off ActiveRain - is way bigger than what we could produce on our own. This was the case with Mike Conner's example of online marketing results with RealBird and this is the case with the next example.

The credit goes to John Slocum of RE/MAX Vancouver. John had a great idea and he actually implemented it with his listing flyer. With his permission I share it here in a form of a tutorial and as an introduction to the power of web analytics segmentation. 

Enhance your printed flyer: track views with bit.ly and RealBird

Here is the concept:

Printed listing flyers are passive by nature. You design them, you print them and you distribute them at your property's location. Once you leave the scene, you have no idea where they go. Kids, neighbors or random people take them and eventually many of them discard the flyers. A lot of waste. Hopefully, many interested homebuyers get them too, but there is no way to tell. As opposed to online marketing - where you can track visitors and conversions (the money spent vs. a meaningful action taken) - with offline marketing it is hard if not impossible to measure your marketing activity. Unless of course you utilize the simple technique suggested by John Slocum 

What if you could add a special link to your printed flyer with your call-for-action, one that is short and easy to type in, even on a mobile devices? A special link with web analytics capability that can be accessed from any web capable device. If this link is only shared on the printed flyer, you end up having a web analytics segmentation, a technique that can track consumer actions via your printed flyer.

Real-world example:

For this example, we'll use John's listing at 2770 E McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98661

John created a listing website on RealBird and then set up a bit.ly Url for it. I won't link his bit.ly Url here because we do not want mix up web traffic with the traffic through the printed flyer. When designing the flyer, John added a special call-for-action message with the link at the bottom of the flyer as you can see below (the arrow annotation is by us).

You can download the PDF flyer here to see it in full size.

The bottom of the flyer links to http://bit.ly/MyCondo2770 Via bit.ly's analytics capability, John will be able to track traffic through this dedicated link by visiting http://bit.ly/MyCondo2770+ (Note the plus sign at the end of the link). It's a simple, but very powerful solution.

You can do this for your own print flyers by following the simple steps below:

1. Create a bit.ly Url shorting account
2. Login to RealBird to access your existing listing websites or create an account to create one
3. Copy your RealBird property website Url to your clipboard
   
4. Shorten it with bit.ly - paste the RealBird Url into bit.ly and click "Shorten"
5. Optionally, using the "Custom Name" field on bit.ly, you can enter your property address to have a vanity short Url. I suggest to add only the number and the street name to keep the Url short. You can of course leave the default bit.ly code as is, but having the street address in the short Url may help with additional branding. E.g. http://bit.ly/streetaddress - Careful here, the Url will be case sensitive. I suggest to use all lower case letters as they will be less likely to mistyped by your clients.
   
6. Finally, make sure that you only use this special bit.ly link on your printed flyer, not on the web. Do not share it on any other places, in order to be able to track the traffic from the flyer.

Give it a try, it does not take much extra effort and you will get some special insight using these technologies, a benefit that is not available otherwise.

Thanks John for the great tip.

While you are at it, please fan John Slocum's Facebook page about Vancouver, WA real estate

-- Zoltan 
RealBird.com

 

 

 November is here and traditionally it's the time to begin preparing for the holidays.  For most of us, it's like taking on an additional part time job - shopping, cooking, decorating, wrapping gifts, entertaining. 

 Since joining Activerain, I've already taken on a second full time job... writing market reports and hyperlocal posts, revamping my website and attending online courses in Internet marketing and technology, otherwise known as reading blogs.  The homework level is crippling.

 As I sat down at the computer this morning, I found a note to myself scribbled on a scrap of paper:

"Edit your life as though you're a writer or a filmmaker.  Cut out the chaos and the clutter.  Keep only the very best."

So with this extra hour on the first day of November, I'm taking stock of how I want to spend the other 24 hours today and every other day.  This isn't going to be a blog about cleaning out your closets.  It's about getting back to the basics.  Which of your daily activities brings you joy or enriches your life and the lives of those around you?

 Starting the morning by sharing a cup of cowboy coffee with my husband as we sit on the deck and greet the sunrise is one activity I'll never give up.  I'd much rather miss an extra hour of sleep and have that special time together to start my day.  

 Baking an apple pie is an acivity that takes a great deal of time.  But for me it's a way of bonding with my daughter.  The time we spend talking and laughing together is priceless.  So I'll be keeping that chore.  I'd rather have those memories years from now than to recall dashing to the store for a frozen dessert because I spent that extra hour on the Internet.

But I've made the decision to delete negative people from my life.  That's one of the toughest things to do, especially if it's someone who has been in your life for a long time, but it can have the biggest payoff.  Listening to complaints, backbiting and gossip every time you take a coffee break at the office or run into your neighbor at the store drains the soul.

Another group I'm getting rid of are the drama queens.  And I'm not just taking about women here.  Sorry, guys, but some of you are the biggest drama queens around.  I don't care how big your deal is - real estate is not a life or death matter.  And I don't need to spend MY time listening to your endless tales of triumph and tribulation.

 

 So as dawn breaks over the mountains in Murphy, I've decided that today, I'm going to look at eveything I do with two questions in mind -

•  Does this bring me joy?
•  Does it enrich my life or the lives of those around me?

 

Looking for your dream getaway in the mountains of Murphy, North Carolina? Visit the country homes and land website to see all the latest listings.

Enjoy a preview of our scenic mountains in the YouTube video Murphy Mountain Nights

 

How to Choose the Right Days to Market your Real Estate Services Online

Effective real estate marketing online has a lot to do with timing.  There has been a lot of research conducted, mainly for industries outside of real estate (i.e.retail, hospitality, automotive) on the best days and times to market services and products online.  Implementing the right timing to deploy marketing campaigns into your online marketing strategy is an effective way to ramp up your results.

Here are 5 tips on choosing the right days to market your real estate services online

1.  Tweet Midweek-

 You can tweet everyday of the week but for maximum effect make sure to tweet on Wednesdays and Thursdays as they are the most active days of tweets and retweets as found by HubSpot's State of the Twittersphere June 2009.

 

State-of-the-Twittersphere -
State-of-the-Twittersphere -
State-of-the-Twittersphere -

2.  Publish Your Most Important Blog Posts Midweek

Frequency of great original content is still important in building your readership and traffic to your blog.  I recommend to my clients that they blog a minimum of 3-5 times per week to be considered as a true content provider in the eyes of their readers.

That being said when is the best time for a blogger to publish their meatiest, most important blog posts?  Darren Rowse of Problogger addresses the timing factor in When to Publish Blog Posts-Timing Considerations,

"If I have a very important post that I want to get as much attention as possible I generally will publish it on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning (my time)."

Rowse's post also gives some advice as to publishing posts on weekends and holidays that is worth the read as well as the comments on the post (82 so far).

Roger Parker of blogforprofit.com recommends that if you were to only blog twice per week to publish those blog posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Clearly publishing your most important blog posts midweek is a winning strategy.

3.  The Weakest Link for Email Marketing is Saturday

You may have several email campaigns in your real estate marketing campaign:  email flyers, email follow-up, email newsletters.  Email marketing is a heavy hitter for real estate professionals but when is the most effective time for you to deliver your messages to your prospects and customers?

According to EMarketer.com the best days of the week to send email marketing are Mondays and Tuesdays and the least effective time by nearly 50% is Saturdays.

The best advice I found and agree with is to survey your email subscribers and ask them when they would like to receive emails from you. 

We are approaching the holiday season so it is important to consider the times that people are online and actively shopping.  Study these deployment times statistics provided on the emailstatcenter.com website before launching any niche holiday real estate marketing campaigns.

4.  Engage your Fans on Facebook on Tuesdays

In findings from Virtue SRM (Social Relationship Manager) the best days to post on your Facebook Business Page is Tuesdays, followed closely Wednesdays with Mondays coming in #3.

**Allow me one deviation~ What I find more or equally fascinating is the 6.49% CLR (Click Thru Rate) of marketing campaigns such as polls and incentives that are run on Facebook business pages.  Fans are clearly interacting with their friends on Facebook in a big way and their interactions are also being seen by their friends.**

 

5. LinkedIn Users Are Active In the Morning

According to a small study by SenderOK Statistics report which was based on a sample of 440 anonymous users the most activity on LinkedIn occurs in the morning.

"LinkedIn use is predominantly an 8AM-Noon activity with very, very little activity in the evening. Of particular interest is that LinkedIn users tend to arrive at work earlier than Facebook users do....Those serious early morning LinkedIn users will spend an average of 29 minutes reading real Email before they get around to checking your connection request which they could have read first if they wanted to."

While this is a small sampling of members on LinkedIn and their behavior I can attest that this mimics my LinkedIn use.  The first online activity I do in the morning is to check my email(which of course includes my blog activity) and the first social network site I check is LinkedIn and this occurs normally between the hours of 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Take into consideration the times and days that people are online and engaging in these online activities when you create and implement your online real estate marketing strategy.

Once you taken action use an analytics tool to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.  Tweak the times you deliver your marketing messages based on your analytics and direct feedback from your recipients.

Get your game on and use the 5 tips on choosing the right days to market your real estate services online.

Subscribe to Blogging In the Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

Join Me on Facebook. Tuesday I'll be posting a discussion about marketing to women.

***************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals. 

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

 

The ActiveRain Point System

ActiveRain awards members points based on participation and their individual involvement within the network and community.  While there is a much more complicated and technical explanation of how the point system works, this post is to provide you a general overview of how points are earned and distributed that to ALL ActiveRain members.

ActiveRain points are earned based on a members individual activities and efforts. Points are accumulated over the duration of the Calendar week which "Starts Monday morning at 12:00am Central Time, and Ends Sunday night at 11:59pm Central Time."

The following are some ways you can earn points and move up the "Featured Member" ladder in your Local Area.

• 200 Points for each Blog Post
  (Max 10 per Week) (50 Word Minimum Required)
  
  
• 25 Additional Points when Post is added to Channels with a Topic
  
  
• 400 Points for Featured Post on ActiveRain.com
  (Excludes Posts Featured in ActiveRain Groups)
  
  
• 25 Points For Each Comment
  (Max 10 Per Day) (Comments on Your Own Posts Excluded)
  
  
• 25 Points for Each Reblogged Post
  (Max 10 Per Week - These do not Include Your Own Posts)
  
  
• ActiveRain Profile Points
  (Building Your AR Profile will Build points)
  
  
• Received Comments on Blog Posts
  (No Blog Post to exceed 475 pts.)
  
  
• 100 Points - Logging In To ActiveRain Each Day
  (This applies 7 days a week)
  
  
• 250 Points When Someone Accepts Your AR Invitation
  (Must Sign Up under Members Invite Code)
  
  
• 10% of Total Points Earned By New Members Invited By You
  (IE: Invited Member Earns 1000 pts. - You Earn 100 Pts.)
  
  
• ActiveRain and Member Approved Contests - Points Will Vary
  (These show up as Bonus Points in your Point Summary)
  
  
• Staff Awarded Bonus Points - These are issued by the AR staff
  (Member Humanitarian, Paying It Forward, Helping Others etc.)
  

Weekly Point Scenario: The potential of points available per week, per member would be as follows: 1750 for max comments, 2000 for max Blog posts, 700 for logging in daily, 250 for adding to Channels/Topics, and 250 for max ReBlogged posts.  The Weekly potential of points would be 4950 (this does not include featured posts, comments received, invitation and percentage points, contests, and staff awarded bonus points.)

Point Disclaimer: The Points System created by the ActiveRain Network was developed and implemented to motivate, inspire, and reward members for their participation and involvement within the community. These points are subject to change at the discretion of the ActiveRain Mgmt. Team, with or without cause, warning, or notice.

                 

"RainMaker" Special - Signup Here and Get New Member Discount

We've been preaching it for a very long time...Real estate professionals need high quality video content on their website.  It helps with SEO results, it portrays a more professional image and retains viewership some 70-percent longer than a website without video.

But let’s get real.  Times are tough and high quality video production can be expensive.  Well, we have the solution.  The Video Connector , is sending out an early holiday gift... FREE VIDEO!! 

It’s simple.  Just log on to TheVideoConnector.com/FreeVideo and cut and paste the embed code, put it on your site and reap the benefits! 

 

That's right you read the headline correctly.  Nine Banks failed in one day.  All 9 banks failed on Friday Oct. 30th making it the largest number of bank failures in one day in US history!

The banks that failed are:

North Houston Bank	Houston	TX
Madisonville State Bank	Madisonville	TX
Citizens National Bank	Teague	TX
Park National Bank	Chicago	IL
Pacific National Bank	San Francisco	CA
California National Bank	Los Angeles	CA
San Diego National Bank	San Diego	CA
Community Bank of Lemont	Lemont	IL
Bank USA, N.A.	Phoenix	AZ

 That brings the total of bank failures for 2009 to a whopping 115.  How does that total compare with previous years you ask?  Well in 2008 there were 26, in 2007 there were only 3, and in 2005 & 2006 there were zero (statistics obtained from FDIC at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html)

☺ 

Matt

Toll Free: 888-NCFIXER (623-4937)
Toll Free Fax: 888-FAX-4020 (329-4020)
Local: 860-282-6181
330 Roberts Street 4th Floor
East Hartford, CT 06108

credit repair company

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of these suggestions are free to implement and will generate very high quality incoming links and a pretty healthy amount of traffic.

You can use your ActiveRain profile just fine with each of these items but you will likely generate the best results with your own Individual Blog. (If you don't have an Individual Blog yet click here to get one.)

Please note that pretty much all of the items below require that you have a free account with the applicable website.

1. Submit yourself to Google Local. Make sure to put in your blog or profile URL in the website entry form field.

2. Add your blog to Local.Yahoo.com.

3. Submit your blog to Yelp! 

4. Create a blog post for everyone of your listings and submit the URL to Google Base.

5. Create a blog post for everyone of your listings and submit the URL to Craigslist.

6. Add links to your website, ActiveRain profile, and your Individual blog, on your LinkedIn profile page.  Your LinkedIn profile is second only to your ActiveRain profile in terms of Google Juice.

7. Add yourself to YellowPages.com. The search engines tap this database to populate their Local search results.

(The cow above looks very dominating; similar to the way you will look to your competitors if you implement these strategies.  In case you were wondering, that is why I chose it as the picture for this post.)