The Official ActiveRain Guide

Oh man, do I have some homework now!

no rest for the weary

Geeze, look what came thru my google news alerts first thing this morning. I haven't even had a hot cuppa joe yet.          

Brad, already read in my RSS feed this morning. Looked at the profiles and thought, " I've got a major overhaul to do".

Brad - As always ... a needed kick in the pants to improve our internet presence.  Thank you for putting all this together.  I'm going to be spending several hours getting this one right!   :)

Brad - there's always more work to do isn't there? Thanks for the great info and I'd better get busy! This one is definitely bookmarked!

Brad -why do you always do it? I wake up thinking everything is taken care of, and then I read your post.lol...If you say I need to read HTML -I guess I have to, but I can barely keep up with the languages I do know. 

You are so right, I haven't touched my profile, since the day I made it, which was day 1.  Yours is like going to the movie. "I fallen and can't get up" -remember the old commercial? It was about me. Thanks for the yeoman's effort to keep us in blogging shape.

Brad - As usual some great work you have put together here. Love the music add on- What did you do to create that?

I have made some changes after reading your previous post.I will bookmark this and read it later.

Thanks for the recommendation!  I must say I spent several hours on mine and George Tallabas deserves credit for coaching me.  I believe he got his information from Karen George and Chris Elizabeth Griffin so I must give credit where credit was due.

I must say I have learned over the months after I joined here on what is useful and what is not.  I think the main point is making it professional and keyword rich!  It isn't about being cute and cheesy (like mine used to be) or copy and pasting off of someone else's website!

I am inviting everyone in my mastermind group today to join AR and will point them to this post because the profile is JUST as important as writing a good blog! 

Brad - I loved looking at the different profiles.  We really have some creative people around here.  I love playing around with my profile - every time I learn something new I try to add it to my profile.  Fun fun fun.  

Thanks for another way to make improvements, Brad.  This is a lot to take in at one time, so it's bookmarked as a guide along the way.

Georgina - you're in Maui, what do you mean no rest?!? LOL!!  :-)  When I come over, can a bunch of us meet for lunch at Mama's Fish House???  One of my Favs over there and after this post, I need some rest! 

 

Chris - you better get that cup-o-joe going, it's Friday and you got homes to sell today!  :-)

Very Cool!  I'm a slacker on mine as well.

Loved the music intro.  And really love the web 2.0 look buttons How'd you make those?

Missy, just checked yours out again, I think your profile looks great!  Maybe just add some graphics or photos or buttons or something like that.  Your Blog is so awesome and each of your posts ROCKS!  Your profile should be better than all of that right?    :-)

Mine also came through my Google alerts - thanks Brad - Now I have to pay a visit to all those other profiles to check them out.

Thanks a LOT! ! !   Geez.  I hadn't planned on doing any work today.  Now, I'm back to the drawing board. 

This profile thing drives me crazy.  I work it and work it, stroke it and stroke it, all to little avail.  I did see some improvement in the scoring for my profile page about 4-5 months ago and felt pretty good about it.  Patted myself on the back I did. 

However, I can't seem to get to the next level and I know there is one. 

I'll study this.  Thanks. . . .  I think.

Carol - It's a longer and on-going process creating the "Masterpiece" Profile.  It should be your "Ultimate Post!"

Linda - just make it a project for the weekend.  It took me all week to create this one, and I planned it just so you'd have it in time.  Happy Friday, and enjoy your weekend.  LOL! :-)

Brad, thank you SO much!! LOL

Now, you go out and make it a great weekend!

Faina - that was too funny, thanks!  I also remember the commercial "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz......"  LOL!  Hope you checked out some of those profiles, man is that motivating or what?!?  Guess there's always room to improve. :-)

Brad, you are a true gift. Raising the bar on a constant basis. Much gratitude. I've been working on my profile without this great insight. I thought I was moving along quite well, but now I am very excited about coming onto the next level. I can really get creative, thanks to you. I love this stuff. 

Thanks for the reminder Brad. I gave my profile a major work over last week, but I still need to punch it up some more

Brad - As always, this is quality Newbie (and Oldie) Content. 

Featured in the Newbies!  Great stuff.

This is a prime example of Newbie Posting Rule #5 "Post blogs that have instructional information for Active Rain."

and you nailed it!

 

Brad, Your profile is incredible, I really enjoyed it and hearing you speak!  What wonderful information to share, thank you!

Bill - thanks my friend.  The music add-on is a little .mp3 I created using a digital recorder. Wasn't sure if I should include it or not, but since I had never seen a post with sound before, I thought I'd take a chance.  We'll see what what happens.  I may remove it, every time I respond to a comment, I have to hear myself again! LOL!

Or you could enable it to play only when the reader pushes the play button...

You have this set to autoplay.

 

Gita - change is always a good thing, (most of the time) glad you are finding these instructional posts to be of some value! :-)

Great post but i'm overwhelmed

Renee - your posts, your profile, and YOU are incredible!!!  I agree with every word in your comment here, and I am truly grateful for your input!  It's always welcomed and appreciated.  I hope the members of your mastermind group appreciate you as much as we do here at AR.  :-)  Thank you for all your contributions and efforts!  Have a great weekend!

Maureen - your profile and your Blog ROCKS!!  You really are a great example for us, and you raise the bar constantly and consistently!  Thank you so much for being such a great mentor and TEAM player!! 

Lisa - it is a lot to take in, especially this early in the morning! LOL  Your profile is an integral part of your Blog on Active Rain and should not be taken for granted.  Knowing that you can create it to be as good or better than a website, will hopefully inspire you to give it the time and attention it deserves.  It may seem overwhelming right now, but I assure you, if it generates leads and business, it's worth every effort you put into it.  :-)

Ok, had to reboot the computer and now we're back up.

Here's the embed html to place a sound file that does not autoplay in a post.  I believe it might have a glitch in the system when used in a comment here on AR.  

The key modifier is the Autostart function.  You can play with the width and length as well.

 Autostart=FALSE

<embed autostart="false" type="audio/x-wav" src=
"http://www.patagoniafinance.com/uploaded_images/dude.wav" 
height="20" width="100">

Here's the code in action: Mike's Outside Blog Font Resizer 

Mike - thanks my friend.  The music was an idea I thought I'd try out today.  I hadn't seen a post do this yet and I have commented on over 4600 of them!  The Web 2.0 buttons I think you're referring to, were created using one of the FREE generators. 

I used this one: "This Button's For You!" :-)

Brad,

Great information.....I am always looking to upgrade.....thanks for sharing.

Rick and Ines - Where would we be without Google Alerts!!  I use it for so many alerts!!  Thanks for allowing me to use your profile as a sample here.  You guys really do a great job!  I never take for granted all the knowledge and information you share.  Thanks, I hope you enjoy the other profiles posted here too.  If I missed some (which I know I did) please let me know so I can add them for others to see.  Saves members the time in searching them out like I had to.  Have a great weekend!!  :-)

Lenn -  when you find the next level, let me know, it's like being in search of the Holy Grail!  LOL!

Great Profile!

How do you insert the music into your profile?

Sandy

Hi Brad,        You've outdone yourself this time!    Congratulations on another classic post! :)

Hi Brad -  Another amazing informative post. I just don't know where you find the time to keep this and your other blogs up and running! Do you sleep?  Thanks for the mention!!  btw-- you need to probably go back into the HTML here on this post and put or find the closing tag </center> or another closing tag that closes out your </table>  all your comments are centered and they should be separate from your post and aligned to the left. Did you notice it?  I just invited six new people to Active Rain this morning and I will be sure to post this in my tutorial to them. This is some great stuff. Great job as always!!

Brad.. you rock.  Wow another awsome post. 

Hey.. I hope you don't mind, but I grabbed the code off your posts for the "Subscribe" and "Add as associate" and am using it on my blogs too.  I hope that's OK.

You see, you're teaching us more than even you might have thought.

I really admire the level of your knowledge.  Thanks for the great stuff you give us all the time.

Linda - I planned on it, the wife is taking me out on a date...I'm excited!!!   :-)

Thank you Brad, I waited for this as you said, and it was definitely worth it.  Lots more for me to do and learn on this one!

Brad, you are a true gift. Raising the bar on a constant basis. Much gratitude. I've been working on my profile without this great insight. I thought I was moving along quite well, but now I am very excited about coming onto the next level. I can really get creative, thanks to you. I love this stuff.

Jeanean - I can't wait to see your "Masterpiece!"  I'll wait a couple days before I go back and start clicking on all these member comments and their profiles.  Just curious to see who takes this serious or not.  I am looking into a contest right now, I'll let you know if it comes to fruition.   Thanks for your very kind words and support here.

Jill - your profile will always be a work in progress, just like we are as human beings. It will never be completed, we just don't want to forget about it.  As things change in and around us, I think it's important to share that with others on your AR profile page.  It's a lot easier to do than on a website!  Keep working at it, alway try to improve your information and your presence. :-)

Mike - thanks for the Feature in the Newbies Group...I'm honored and grateful.  I really do hope this stuff helps some of the new and veteran members.  As you know, these posts take an extensive amount of time, research, and commitment!  It's always my passion and desire to have the next post be better than the last.  That just makes it harder and harder to do what we do here!  Keep raising the bar, that's my motto!  Thanks again Mike, we'll see you on Monday!! :-)

Brad- I almost fell off my chair when I heard your intro...that was quite unexpected but very cool.  Here I was thinking I might actually get some yard work done, but it looks like I have a lot of work to do on my profile.  I've bookmarked this, because it's too much for me to digest in one sitting.  Thanks for sharing.

Carole - I'm glad you enjoyed that. Never thought to include the audio before, had to give it a shot! The jury is still out on that one! LOL  I'll be checkin out everyones profile later, looking forward to seeing yours! :-)

Anthea - these past few posts should keep you busy for a while, no more intructional posts from me for a bit! LOL!  I think I have covered the complete "Set-up and Search Features" for Active Rain.  Almost got a manual going here... hahaha!  Glad these posts have helped you out, that was their intent! :-)

Dana - that happens often!  Just bookmark and come back when it's digestible and convenient for you.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Active Rain

Hey Mike - thanks for that, I'll have to play with that later and see if I can make it work.  Seems a little slow out there today.. got calls and appts., but still kinda slow!!  I'm sure it's due to this weekend. Have a good one!  See ya Monday.  :-)

Mike, you are my hero!  Thank you for posting this info!  I am newer than new...to both blogging and computers.  I'm going to read this thoroughly and see if I can spice up my profile a bit.  Thanks again!

Dan - this will be the ultimate upgrade for you for sure.

 

   :-)

Sandy - thanks!  The music on my profile is an embed file in the html code in my settings!  MAN! that almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about!!  LOL! (rolling on the floor laughing really hard!)  Funny thing is, that's how I really did it!  I'll be changing it weekly for your reading and listening pleasure! Next week is "Smooth Jazz" and the following week is "Classical!"  Ya think I'm onto something here? hahaha!!  :-)

Hi Ricki - I think your right...I'm out and done!! LOL!  Time for a little vaca eh?  Thanks for your kind comment!

Hi Brad -  Another amazing informative post. I just don't know where you find the time to keep this and your other blogs up and running! Do you sleep?  Thanks for the mention!!  btw-- you need to probably go back into the HTML here on this post and put or find the closing tag </center> or another closing tag that closes out your </table>  all your comments are centered and they should be separate from your post and aligned to the left. Did you notice it?  I just invited six new people to Active Rain this morning and I will be sure to post this in my tutorial to them. This is some great stuff. Great job as always!!

Hey there Candi - thanks for the ego boost! LOL!  Blogging is an hour a day, that's all we ask!~  haha!

Regarding the layout, the html is closed. My comments look fine on both IE and FF. Is your computer doing that funny thing again? (BIG SMILE)  Really though, it's fine on my end and I haven't had any other comments about that so........it's diagnostics time!  ROFL!!!!!!!!!   I Saw your email, I'll get to that next! :-)

So how did you get that SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG button to work on your profile?

Will that be another blog?

Brad.. you rock.  Wow another awsome post. 

Hey.. I hope you don't mind, but I grabbed the code off your posts for the "Subscribe" and "Add as associate" and am using it on my blogs too.  I hope that's OK.

You see, you're teaching us more than even you might have thought.

I really admire the level of your knowledge.  Thanks for the great stuff you give us all the time.

Hi Fred - no problem, I actually borrowed them from the Active Rain graphics over your photo.  I'm glad you're getting some use out of these posts I'm writing, I think my Active Rain series is done for a bit.  Too many other things waiting to be written.  Thanks again for the great comment Fred, sure appreciate that!  Enjoy your weekend! :-)

Great advice, Brad. I am studying all this info and trying to work on it. So far, ther aren't enough hours in the day.

Brad-Thank you for noticing my profile. I have been working on my web presence more than anything for 2008.  I feel honored that you included me on your list.  Great info to share with all.

Brad -coming back the 2nd time. I did it - not learn the HTML thing. I rewrote my profile completely from scratch. I still have the old one today, but I will plop the new one in tomorrow. I'll keep the old copy, just in case you think the new one is no good.

Judith - glad you found it, I knew you were working on your profile page, and I thought this might be useful in helping you to do that.  Now you have some samples of what others have done, maybe it will give you some ideas and direction on what you want to do with yours.   :-)

Brad- I almost fell off my chair when I heard your intro...that was quite unexpected but very cool.  Here I was thinking I might actually get some yard work done, but it looks like I have a lot of work to do on my profile.  I've bookmarked this, because it's too much for me to digest in one sitting.  Thanks for sharing.

Matt - glad you didn't get hurt!! :-)  You should do the yard work first, take some photos of the neighborhood, take your lady out to dinner, then come back and post all about it!  :-) 

Mike, you are my hero!  Thank you for posting this info!  I am newer than new...to both blogging and computers.  I'm going to read this thoroughly and see if I can spice up my profile a bit.  Thanks again!

Barbara - I know you meant Brad, but Mike 's a great guy, so I don't mind you mixing us up! LOL!! :-)
I can't wait to see what you do with your profile, I'll be by to check it out later.  Thanks for the sweet comment, and you'll find your way and feel comfortable here and with your computer in no time!

Brad, you are my hero.  How did you know to write all these "how to" posts just when I'm starting on AR, or should I say, how did I get so lucky?  I will be studying the HTML codes.  Thank you so much for the sources.  I'm loving learning this stuff.  In time, I will change my profile so it will be FABULOUS!  Just don't check back on me too soon.  I'm dancing as fast as I can!

Georgina - you just copy the graphic or create one of your own, then use the existing links from the one's already on your page.  If you need help with it, let me know... thanks!!  :-)

 

Bonnie - that is the profound statement of the century!!  We need more, there's never enough, we wish we had it, and then it's gone.  Only time has those traits, it's a life long process learning to manage it! :-)

Midori - thank you for letting me show off your hard work and contributions here!  There are many great profiles out there and I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings I may have missed, but the post only has so much room, and I only had so much time.  I sure appreciate the work and effort you out into your page, thanks for letting me share!  :-)

Brad -coming back the 2nd time. I did it - not learn the HTML thing. I rewrote my profile completely from scratch. I still have the old one today, but I will plop the new one in tomorrow. I'll keep the old copy, just in case you think the new one is no good.

Faina - I am sooooo excited, I WANT TO SEE BOTH. I'll go screen capture yours now, and then let us know when you put the new one up.  I'd love to compare and share!  That is so awesome, I can't wait to see it!  Thanks! :-))) 

Brad, you've blown my mind with this post. Actually your posts have that tendency. I don't know how many more I can bookmark. The sites for all those agents are wonderful. Mine now seems very insignificant. Thank you for all the wonderful information. I hope I can accomplish 1/3 of your suggestions.

Ok Brad, I know that what we ran into before was my computer, but really do you think it's something on my end that makes all your comments centered and not aligned to the left???  Is that possible? I am going to another computer and if it's all aligned my computers are all obsessed!! It's freaking me OUT!!

CAN ANYONE ELSE SEE WHAT i SEE? ARE BRAD'S COMMENTS ALIGNED IN THE CENTER?? WOULD ANYONE NOTICE SUCH A THING ANYWAY?? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Ok --I'm not going nuts here at all!  There is no way it's my computer this time Brad!! LOL

Oops...my apologies Brad!  I just got so excited about adding things to my profile that I goofed.  Man, I sure know how to make a great first impression! :)

Brilliant Brad! Thanks again for extremely helpful tips. All the best!

Brad, you are my hero.  How did you know to write all these "how to" posts just when I'm starting on AR, or should I say, how did I get so lucky?  I will be studying the HTML codes.  Thank you so much for the sources.  I'm loving learning this stuff.  In time, I will change my profile so it will be FABULOUS!  Just don't check back on me too soon.  I'm dancing as fast as I can!

Elaine - you are too cute! Take your time getting the profile together, but I will be by to check it out in the near future. Why don't you come back and let me know when it's done, that way I won't be imposing! LOL! :-) Thanks for your nice comment, you really are too kind!!  ...and your dancing is fabulous!! ;-)

Maria - thanks for the "mind blowing" comment!!  Give yourself a break, some of these folks have been around for years and they're pros at this stuff, but they're also the ones to learn from.  Don't get discouraged, get encouraged!!  :-0)

Candice - you've lost your marbles!!!  :-)   JUST KIDDING!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!  I nominate Candace Robinson for "Member of the Year!" She noticed that when using Internet Explorer to browse my post, everything was off alignment!   I use firefox so I kept telling her she was CRAZY! Well, I was wrong and Candace was right.  I had forgotten to close out an html tag at the very end.  I have already called her to apologize and show my graditude, but she would not accept the cash so I owe her lunch or dinner next time I'm in Arizona! 

Thanks Candace, you're my HERO, I got your back!!  :-)

Barbara - you know there's no apology needed!  I love that you got so excited you slipped up on names, that's usually a guy thing! hahahahaha!  Nah, just messin around!  Your first and now second impression have left me very impressed.  If you come back a third time, I'll be flat out blown away!!  Thanks Barabara, no hard feelings here!  In fact it was sweet for you to come back and comment like you did.  Now I know why your last name is Hershey.  I hope you capitalize on that in your business!!  :-)

Dominic - I'll be by to check out your profile in a bit.  Hope this really did help you.  Have a great weekend. :-)

Hi Brad - google alerts, which I just started using, led me to find my profile listed here.  Thanks for including me in this group, and I've had it on my list for a bit now to revamp my profile, based on things I'd read from George, Karen, and you.  I'm hoping soon to redo it, and I'll be checking the other profiles you highlighted here.

Thanks for the mention!
Ann
ps - loved the audio when I opened up this post!

Thanks!  Fabulous post and I checked out all the other profiles you mentioned.  Now I have to make my own very boring one better.  I soooooooo thought I had left geekdom behind when I left hi tech but here I am again digging around in HTML to make something better!

Ann - Google Alerts totally Rocks, and so does your profile.  Thanks for letting me include it on my "Profile to Masterpiece" post.  I think yours looks great already, we all have to remember to update them every so often. I am still deciding what to do with mine too.  Thank You Google for bringing Ann to my post! LOL! :-)

PS. Glad you liked my hidden audio, wasn't sure if I should do that or not, but decided to give it a shot!  Thanks!

Josette - hope you got to see what I was talking about in these members profiles.  You can tell they have put some time and effort into them. You don't have to do too much HTML to get yours to look the same.  Links, photos, graphics, and text require no HTML at all.  But, to get your profile to the next level, HTML will definitely be your friend.  Widgets, inter-active mapping, colored text etc.  Welcome back to Geekdom! LOL!  :-)

Thank you for the mention! The power of the profile page is extensive. Many of my "Search for Homes" requests start from my AR page.

Mariana - I'm glad that you agree with my opinion, the profile can be so powerful.  Many members here just have a few words of text and some of them don't even have that.  Your profile and the others are great examples of how to setup the page to look like a website.  I think it's the best of both worlds. Thanks for allowing me to use your profile as a sample, and I appreciate all the time and effort you put into it.  I hope others will benefit from this post and your page!  :-)

So much infomation, so litle time !    Thanks !

you are too smart for words...   do you ever have a bad post???   Mr. Techo/Escrow

Bill - I can tell by your comment! LOL!! :-)

Desiree - I wish that were true!!  hahaha!!!  Enjoy your Weekend, Mr. Techo/Escrow signing off .........   :-)  

I'm CONVINCED you could just compile your blogs and sell a book!  Thank you for sharing for FREE!  Okay, I'll be working on my profile and goal is to have it much better in the next couple of weeks.  I'd better bookmark this!

Natalie - you are so sweet!!  You are also sooo welcome.  It's appreciation like yours that justifies all the time it takes to do these posts!!  I'll be checking out your profile in a few days to see how you're coming along.  Let me know if you need anything at all, I'd be happy to help if I can. Have a great weekend Natalie and thanks again! 

 

 

 

How About A Little "Positive Profile Challenge!" 

I called AR yesterday about a Profile Building Contest and I'm waiting to hear back to see if they will support the idea.  Why not get more points, more exposure and more benefit from your profile page?  Let's turn it into the "Best Website" you've ever had!!  I think a contest is in order. Maybe do "Before and Afters".  Like a Make-Over Challenge or something like that.   Maybe not... Let me know if you think its something you'd be interested in. 

We have contests for all types of posts, let's have one for the Ultimate Post...Your Profile on Active Rain!!! 

 

 

 

Holy Wow!  I'm inspired.  I didn't know how to do all that fancy stuff and now I do.  I'm going to work on my profile page next week.  It will be slow in the beginning but I'm already excited about all I'm going to learn.  I have a bottle of Merlot waiting in the wings.

BTW, your profile page is outstanding.

Thanks,

Brad, thank for sharing. 

I'm must admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed but I know this is necessary.  I must get to work on this and thanks again.

Thanks for the list. I just barely got some pics on mine. Im going back today to work on it some more. Thanks for the pep talk! :) Its hard to get motivated when you've got Mariana's blog plastered all over the internet and AR about Colorado Springs. She is fantastic. My only saving grace is that I have a niche, hopefully it will pay off one day and we will be #1 and #2. I will get all the military relocations and she can have the rest!

Hi Brad,

You're wearing us out!  Thanks for more goodies to look at!

 

GREAT POST...thanks a lot....but now you are going to make me stay up ALL NIGHT playing with all of these tools!!  Since I am still in the "learning process" I love finding all of this information.   It's like my midnight community college for web design!

Fran - I love when you get so excited!! I can't wait to see what you're going to do with your profile page.  I'll be checking you out in the next couple weeks to see how it's coming along. Mine is still a work in progress and always will be.  Thanks for going there, and for coming back with such a nice comment! :-)

Wayne - you said it!  I know it's a bit uncomfortable for some, but you are SOOOO Right. It is necessary if you want to stay and play with the Blogging Gods in the world.  It's also great practice and education for your technology skills.  It's not going away anytime soon.  The more you know, the more you grow!! Thanks Wayne :-)

Kristen - Mariana's Blog is awesome and and yours is too.  The competition is not really another person, it's always yourself. You can become a prisoner in your own mind if you let yourself.  Don't listen to the voice that says what you commented. Don't let anything get in your way of having success and obtaining your dreams in this life.  Set your eyes ahead and just focus on the goal, nothing else matters when you know what you want!  No go get what's most important to you, and let Mariana get what's most important to her!  You Go Girl!!!!!!!  :-)

Dear Brad, Where in the html have you been all my life? I've already tried the first step to learning html and I may be able to catch on to this thing! Thank you for the information you have given here. It is just what I've been looking for! By the way, if we do a contest, will there be time for more tutorials and the learning curve? Thanks, Deb

Hey Robert and Lisa - this is not to wear you guys out, at least not on Active Rain, this is to hopefully wear you out with new Clients and Business! LOL!  You know how important your profile is, it's more than just some goodies you'll want to check out.  I hope you'll revisit your profile, and keep revisiting it to keep bringing value to you, your readers, and your business!  You guys are great and deserve the very best that life has to offer. Have a great rest of the weekend and be Blessed!!  :-)

Paula - are you suggesting that I rename my Blog?  Maybe something like "Brad's Online Community Active Rain College and School of Hard Blogs?" (LOL)  Thanks Paula, learning from any post I write is awesome and a great compliment.  One rule at my school though....Lights out at 12:00!  :-)

Dear Brad, Where in the html have you been all my life? I've already tried the first step to learning html and I may be able to catch on to this thing! Thank you for the information you have given here. It is just what I've been looking for! By the way, if we do a contest, will there be time for more tutorials and the learning curve? Thanks, Deb

Deb - your comment put a huge smile on my face!! Thank you!  I have never seen HTML used in a sentence that way before and it gave me quite a chuckle!  Not sure about the contest, the AR Gods must be very busy right now, they have not responded back just yet.  You'll have plenty of time, not even sure how that whole thing is going to play out, but I sure love the idea.  If and when we move forward with it, I'll be sure to get a post out about it with all the details.  Enjoy the rest of your day!  :-) 

Brad - Okay, I have a question for the master.  (And please remember that up to now all I've known how to do is check my e-mail)  I was reading the HTML stuff and I have to ask...why do I need HTML?  If I can add a picture, add a link, insert a paragraph..why do I need anything else?  What is it for?  I swear, my brains are in a puddle on the floor.  Did I even post this in the right area?  Is there a 12 step program for computer stuff? Help!!!

Barbara - there's no medicine for what ale's you! LOL!  You are doing great!  HTML is useful when adding widgets, placing certain tools and attributes like MLS searches, creating tables, frames, and custom borders, coloring text, setting up tracking codes, optimizing SEO etc.  You don't have to worry about any of that stuff until you want your web and profile page and Blogs to go to the next level.  You will get there in time, there's no rush. If you are pleased and completely satisfied with your AR profile, then don't knock yourself out trying to learn HTML right now.  Focus on the email thing and just getting buyers. You will need your email skills to work with them.  When you're ready, and you run into a need for incorporating HTML stuff, just bookmark this post and come back then. You are always welcomed here and appreciated to boot!  :-) 

Greetings neighbor. Great post. Now if I can take time to study it.

Hi Dionne - Thanks! I looked at your profile page.  What a great start.  This will hopefully get you a little motivated to do even greater things with that page.  This is where people will start searching and finding you if you're active in the rain.  It's like preparing for guests in your home, you want to be ready for them when they come. Especially when they show up un-announced!  This happens every day on our Active Rain Profiles.  Let me know if you need any assistance, you're right in my back yard for cryin out loud!!  :-)  Always great to hear from you Dionne, have a great rest of the weekend!  :-)

BTW - I noticed a couple broken links in your profile page, They look like graphics that may have been moved or something. Just FYI... 

Ahh..thank you Brad.  I'm just going to take a deep breath and work on one thing at a time. I really appreciate all you do to help us newbies!  Thanks again!

Barbara - that is a great idea...take two deep breaths, and call me in the morning! hahaha!  :-)  You will very soon, no longer be a newbie, and when that time comes, I know you'll help all the other newbies too!  That's just how it works the "Active Rain Way!"  Have a great week, enjoy!!

Bookmarking this for followup later - this is going to take a day itself.  Thanks for the guide and points of reference.

Wow Brad!  I'm just getting down how to blog and comment and now I need to make my profile look better!!  Really, thanks so much for all the great information you always provide.  I will definitely set up a time to update my profile.  It's pretty basic but mostly because I don't get how to add all the cool stuff!  Thanks again!

Brad, you are rght on with this.  Your guidance is always so helpful. 'Wish I had discoverd your posts when I first started this. I checked out every profile you listed, and I vote Karen George's the best of the best.

Quick question I am Just curious of how to get a Blog Featured on Activerain....Any tips I will appreciate it.. Thanks a Million!

William - bookmarked is good, implemented is better, and it will take more than a day.  Just keep trying to make it better all the time.  I have been here for 7 months now, and I still go in and make changes every week.

Sandy - great to see you again.  You are a great Blogger and an appreciated commenter!  The profile should be  the post with the most!  It takes time to experiment and update, so make it a regular date.  Spend a 1/2 hour with your profile once a week.  Reviewing others and see what ideas you'd like to incorporate or test out.  It should always be changing and evolving around you, your market, your experience, and your life.  The profile is an un-ending work in progress.  :-)

Margaret - thanks!  I'm glad you checked out each one of these members profiles!  See what I mean?  There's some great things you can do to make your profile look just as good as any website.  The layouts, links, and tools are just fabulous on these profiles.  I appreciate your vote, you should consider entering the contest mentioned above.  If we do this, it's in the best interest of every member to participate regardless of winning.  In a contest like this, everybody wins!  I'll let you know if we decide to do one. :-)

Family First Mortgage - how do you get your post featured on Active Rain?  There are a few ways you can do this.  The first thing I would do is change your name from Family First Mortgage, to your real name, and put the company name in the company field.  People here want to know YOU and so do your readers and customers. I looked at your Blog, and it looks good. 

I would try a couple things to experiment.  Maybe remove the banner at the top on a couple posts, make each post look a little different from the last one, and write about your passion, your day, an experience, a how to, or something different than the rates or programs available.  There is NO guarantee to ever get the "Feature" but you have to write from the heart, and not a website, stats, or publication. 

Try new topics, share ideas, just be yourself, that's who people including customers want to get to know.  Here are some posts that may help you: 

Getting Featured: The Short Version 

ACTIVE RAIN WEEK IN REVIEW 4/8/07--4/15/07

...and for a bunch more regarding the topic, here's a link to ALL the posts with the tag "Featured",
you will find more direction and answers there! I hope this helps answer your question.  :-)

 

 

Brad -  Thanks for some of the updating tips and the research you did to show us all examples. Sometimes it helps to see! Your knowledge and willingness to share and help is PRICELESS!!!

Brad - Another bookmark for me. I have learned so much from your posts. Thanks much for making the AR easier for me.

nice post! I will try the colors

Rick and Lynn - Seeing is believing!  I'm glad you found these samples and members profiles to be useful. These are some great samples of how to make your profile a powerful and useful tool here. Thanks for your comment and compliment! :-)

Chuck - glad I can help.  I sure appreciate your comment and hope to continue to provide you tools and information that helps you with your Blog and your business.  Thanks for subscribing to my Blog and for being so faithful to comment all the time.  I really do appreciate your visits and your comments! Thank you. :-)

Robert - color is good, I hope you'll have some fun with it. :-)

Brad, thanks for bring this to my attention. I have a lot of work to do.

Great blog as usual, Brad. I will definitely be ramping up my information!

Paul - thanks, I had a lot of work to do bringing this to your attention! LOL!!!  :-)

Dan - for the information super highway, "ramping up" is the perfect term! Have fun with it, I hope it generates you some more interest and business!  That's really the goal in doing all this.  :-)

Brad ~ So much conviction, so little time.....ugh!  It's been on the to-do list for quite some time.  Now that football season (for my kids) is over I'll find the time (before basketball season starts!) to fix my profile. 

I know you don't need one more comment to respond to but I just wanted to "thank you" for posting this information. It sounds simple and something we know we should be on top of, it's just getting motivated, finding the time and getting a little help from people like you. Thanks again.

Maria

Redding CA

Brad,

Great help.  It really shows how to put together a great profile and the importance of one.

 

Jodie - it's a process and takes time.  It's great to see you have your priorities in order. Family ALWAYS first! :-)

Maria - I would never miss the opportunity to comment back to you.  When someone is truly thankful for another members service, not commenting back would simply be rude!!  You are very welcome, and I truly hope this will help make the process easier fro you.  :-)

Thanks Steven, that was the whole intent.  I'm glad this got the message across, just how you received it! :-)

WOW - this is just out of the box. I am real happy I ran accross your wonderful post. I thought I had a lot to do before now I need to get moving. I only wish I had more images to share yet. Thank you so much for your inspiration.  I will have to study all the comments and links. Hopefully I will be able to contribute a bit.  AWESOME Post !!!  Beate

Hey Brad

I didn't read this post untill now.Great advice.Thank You.

Tommy

Beate - just grab your camera or cell phone and go out and shoot some shots in your favorite areas, photos, graphics, wordart, all enhance the look of your profile page.  I think getting it to look as much like a website is the key. Thanks for your comment and kind words, I really appreciate them.

Tommy - glad you found it, you're very welcome, and thank YOU!  :-)

Brad- Thanks for sharing.  So much to do, so little time. UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE!

 

Brad your articles are awesome... Thanks for sharing. Best of luck and keep doing what you do.

Thank you for sharing Brad!!

Pamela - no problem. BUYERS, SELLERS, ESCROWS!! :-)

Vincent -thanks! I'll do my best, and to you the same! :-)

Thavisak "Lucky" - what goes around, comes around....glad it's a circle and not a straight line! LOL!

Brad - A very informative article indeed. After reading it's time to get to work modify the old page that's for sure. I see so many great pages on active rain. Great tips for getting things to look good. Too bad the search engines don't rate for good looking pages. Do you have any tips for us on search engine optimization? Can we have a great marketing tool and also be discovered?

Ray - I did a post about SEO and there is a link at the bottom of this post.  You should add the code provided to your profile as well to get optimum SEO from your profile page too! :-)

Hi Brad, I was just wondering if you knou how can I delete an account that I created by mistake (my second account).I didn't activate it, but is still there,I would like to delete it.Or maybe should I keep both accounts activating this one too?Would that give me added links to my website?Thanks.

Tommy

Tommy - you need to contact AR to have them delete it, and that's what I would do. I did the same thing when I first started.    :-)

Having the freedom to add HTML to the profile is FANTASTIC! This means you can make your profile as flashy or casual as you please. I love the setup. Excellent post!!!

Vero - that's right!!  UnLIMITED!! What more could you ask for? Have at it my friend, would love to see what you come up with.  Come back and let me know when it's done!!  :-)

Keep you informative stuff coming.  I love this info.

 

Ron

Brad - Great info. Looks like I need to update my profile..

Hi Brad, great info here!  this took some time, huh?  anyone could get a thing or two from this post. bookmarked and hi-5'ved. :)  thanks for the inclusion :))

hey, where is the thingy to give it a 5? have i been away too long? :)

Ron - I'll do my best! LOL! Thanks! :-)

Keith - go for it, take your time and do it often. New, Fresh and relative content will keep people coming back just like your Blog!! :-)

Nick - you crack me up my friend, the 5er has been gone a few weeks now.....welcome back, we've all missed you!!  :-) Thanks Nick!

Brad, I have bookmarked to work on this.  You worked hard on this one....I miss the high "5" too!  You earned it!

Kay - come back anytime, I think bookmarks are what keep posts like this one alive, so thank you. :-)
High 5 right back at ya! ;-))

Sorry Dan, I had to turn the auto play sound off on this post.  Until this page disappears off page one, the embedded sound file will play through every future post on the page.  To hear the recorded message that played with this post, just click the play button at the top upper left hand corner in the post.  I love adding sound, but learned you have to be careful when playing with all this new stuff.  Once I get it down, you know I'll share with everyone else! (smile)!! 

well, I have gone back and reviewed some of the profiles of the members who commented here, and I can honestly say... NICE JOB!  I can see that many of you have in fact updated and in some cases upgraded your profile pages.  The more you make it like a website, the more traffic I think it will drive.  :-) Great Job everybody!  

Great ideas! It's so hard to keep up with technology these days and stay ahead of the game. Thanks for the great ideas!

Angie - they're only great if you can use them and they help you grow your business here!  :-)

Steve and Diane - have you seen some of the "New" profile pages since this post?  Incredible!  Absolutely Fantastic what some members have done to their profile pages!  I love it!!  :-)

Brad,

Thanks for such a well put together and helpful post. 

Gabe - glad you found this one to be useful, and thanks for being so grateful! :-)

Are you checking out these other members profiles?  They're looking pretty good!  As members change their profiles after reading this post, make sure you go back and check out what some of the folks commenting here have done!  WOW!!!   :-)

Thanks for all the great information. I recently moved up to number 5 under Fernandina Beach Realtor and am sure I could move to number 1 with all the advice and information that you have given. 

Brad - how could I have missed a post like this - I have been looking for ways to improve my profile lets see if this can get me where I want to be. 

Brad, your list is many of the who's who in AR.  Guess if I get on the stick, then maybe someday. . . we'll see what happens.  Thanks for the info!

Mine is a work in progress.  Thanks for the tips!

Tony - it should always be a work in progress! :-)  As you change, so should your profile and your Blog!  Thanks for adding me as an associate, I hope we can be on the end of some referral business someday soon. Thanks!

Danial - congrats on your movement on up the ladder.  Focus on content instead of points and you will benefit much more than being in the number 1 position. Of course being number 1 never hurts either!  :-)

Kathy - a post is easy to miss when there are 60,000 members and thousands of posts every day! Thanks for finding me and this post. I hope it helps you!  :-)

Jem - that list will be there waiting for your arrival.  You too should and will be there soon.  You have every right and opportunity! :-)

Wow Brad! Another fabulous post! I am totally impressed.. now I have to go update my profile!! :)

Melissa - thank you.  It's an on going process, so don't try to get it all done in one day.  You want to look around and check stuff out so that when you do update it, it's all that you want it to be!  :-)

Wow, this was probably the most helpful post I have ever come across.  Thanks!!!

Collette - thanks, there are some great members and other posts here too.  I appreciate your comment and I hope you'll continue to read and meet others here.  It's one of the best places to network I have ever been to or seen!

There's a question as to how profile pages are rated, and how you get points?  This is an area that I'm not certain, but other members have gotten buyers and sellers from their profile being found.  Is your profile getting hits?  Are you collecting any data, leads, or getting any business from it?  Make it a webpage profile and you will.

....still looking into how a profile page is rated, but I can tell you this for sure, consumer rating is more important than AR rating.  Content and Links in your profile is more important than points and some rating system.  Who cares, getting clients to see your experience and value is much more important than AR points, but I will cntinue to look into this for those who keep asking!  It's only because I love you guys and gals that I do this stuff, I hope you all know that! LOL~  B-)

Brad - thanks for the great information - I just started blogging this week and rally appreciate all of the information that you have forwarded to me.  Visit me at www.patmooresells.com - have have lots of work to do and am inspired by your wealth of inofomraiton.

Great ideas; thank you.  I will have to review your Active Rain profile more closely when I have more time.

Pat - Welcome aboard, glad to see you in the "Rain!"  I have more member supported posts at the bottom of my profile page.  They are sorted by category. Feel free to stop by and browse if you like.  Looking forward to seeing your growth here on AR.  Good luck, and if you need anything, now you know where to find me. :-)

Jeff - you're welcome, stop by anytime at your convenience! Enjoy!  :-)

As proof that he is a rare member of the "Do what I say AND what I do" crowd, Brad updated his profile seemingly within minutes of being hired to the AR staff. Nice job!

I feel that I've hit the gold mine finding you.  Thanks for all the info.

 

Debby

I've book-marked quite a few of your posts that relate to things I need to catch up on, and I will. You're a tremendous help, thanks Brad.

I've book-marked quite a few of your posts that relate to things I need to catch up on, and I will. You're a tremendous help, thanks Brad.

Erik - thanks for noticing that, you are truly "On IT" as well!!  :-)

Debby - you are the goldmine here, I am just the river with some tid-bits.  Thanks for your very kind comment!  :-)

Bob - there will always be things to do and catch up on here.  As you explore and discover here on AR, you will become an expert on many areas of the "Blogging Wave" just remember to pay it forward to others.  That's the value of this network, not to mention the great relationships you will develop in the process.  Thanks for your grateful and touching comment!  :-)

I rally haemewok to do now! Thank you for all of the ips!  will devote some time to html and work on my profile ASAP!

Misty - it is an ongoing process!!  You will always want to keep your profile updated with changes.  As you, the business, the neighborhood and your knowledge change, so should your profile and Blog. :-)

I have been trying unsuccessfully to link the localism site to my web page.  I highlight the link and copy and paste and when I click on it on my web page, it tells me there is an error on the page.  What am I doing wrong?

When I type my name in up top how do I make it so it links to my profile?  So that it is "Clickable"

deVimses, were you logged-in when oumade your comment.  If so, you don't have to type your name.  If not, the system won't recognize you.  (I logged out in an attempt to prove this).

I really need to get busy making my profile better.  Great post and excellent examples. Thanks for a kick in the pants.

Brad.. this may be an older post, but new to me...I may need to concider changing my profile as well. Thought I was on right track with community information.  Your thoughts ?

Erik Hitzelberger Thank you!!!!!!!!  I was not logged in!

Dorothy - just be sure you are copying the right url.  For the state I'm in, it would look like this:
Link To Localism In CA.  Let me know if this helps or not...  :-)

deVimses - See Erik's comment.  Thanks Erik...  :-)  You do have to be logged in to AR in order for your name to link to your profile.  In addition, you will be awarded 25 points when you make comments such as yours.  (Up to 1-0 a day)  :-)

Kristi - it's an on-going process, just remember it only lives and breathes what you tell it to!!  :-)

Roland - I think a combination of information is very important. Personal, Experience, Community, Testimonials, Links, Video and Marketing, the list goes on and on.  Since your AR Profile is your personal web page, you need to make it as good or better than any website out there.  There is no real limitation to what you can do with your Profile here.  Be creative, do research on what's effective for others, and spend the time to make it your "Masterpiece"   :-)

Hi Brad - I'm just getting started on AR.  This is an amazing resource. Thanks for all of your work to put it together to help the rest of us. Awesome!

This is great Brad!  I don't know why I didn't see it before.  I'm glad it got re-posted.  I'm going to bookmark this so I can check out all those other sites later to get an idea.  Thanks!

 

Judy - Welcome. Let me know if you ever need any assistance, be happy to help you out if possible. Thanks.

Denise - feel free to come back anytime and check out ALL the links here. Your profile on AR is worth every second of time you put into it.  The sample's I used and linked to here have changed since this post, but only for the better.  There are some great profiles splashing in the "rain" these days!  :-)

Thanks Brad,

So much to do, so little time.  More great information.

All the best!

Thanks for the welcome Brad and Denise - I do have a question about the link at the bottom of the post. My link shows my Profile "edit" page. Is that the way it should be? Or is it only because I'm looking at my own link? thanks,judy

Kevin - life is short, manage your time well!  Thanks for taking the TIME to comment! :-))

Judy - you're welcome.  The edit is "For Your Eyes Only" it just means you can go back in and edit your comments.  Others don't see tha link. :-)

Brad, I'm a "jump in with both feet and hope I don't sink" person. Now, I'm back tracking, trying to correct all of my "wrongs" when I first joined.  IF I had only read a few directions and posts on how to get started, lol...who would have thought? Ha! These were great examples you gave us and I'm devote some serious time soon to getting all of my info updated and corrected. Thanks again!

Hey Elizabeth - glad you're back in and diving into the "rain" puddles once again. Let me know if I can ever assist you in any way. Looking forward to witnessing your contributions and successes here. :-))

Great job on this Brad - Somehow I missed this when I was part of Newbies.  Will save this one and move forward on improvements.  Thanks for sharing.

Hi Max - glad you found this post. Your proifile has the potential and capability of being everything that a website has to offer.  I am surprised that more members don't take full advantage of their profile pages on ActiveRain.  I think folks are beginning to catch on. :-)

 

Brad,

I am so glad you shared this info,  I will be enhancing my profile as soon as I get some time.  I have been so busy with my business, it is almost as if (I can not believe I am going to say this), I am too busy.

You know that old saying, "be careful what you wish for,"  well, I have been thinking it the last few days.  I was so "not busy" for such a while besides doing things like prospecting and networking, but now it seems to all be paying off.

 

Marlene - Busy is a great thing.  I have seen many members get great payout and rewards for their efforts in Blogging and networking on ActiveRain.  Staying active here, will keep you active there!  I wish you all the success and rewards this place can offer.  You'll get out of it more than you put into it for sure.  :-)

I realize that it's been so long since I have even looked at my profile page, that I couldn't remember what was even on it.   Thanks for the reminder.

Sandra - you don't want to forget about your profile page, this is where everyone goes to find out more about you.  I even went there before making this comment. :-)

Another learning experience with Brad.  I've recently received a few leads from active rain, so am trying to pay more attention and fine tune my profile, etc.  Brad, you have alot of great informative posts to help us improve our presence.  Thanks!

Sue - thanks for checking out my Blog and different posts, I recommend adding your name to your signature on your profile, it will generate even more than you're getting now. It' more personal to people's names than just companies, it is the one thing people will remember you by.  Thanks for your kind words and comment, I look forward to your continued contributions and successes in the rain. We're happy to have you here. :-)

Brad,

I found this blog by going to AR Newbies. I'm trying to figure out how to spice up my profile page. I know we can add pictures by looking at some other profiles but I can't figure out how!  My profile page is boring but I'm very good at figuring out how to spice it up.  I thought starting with some pictures might be a good idea.  Can you help or tell me where to find help?  Thanks!

Carla - help is right here.  If you look at the tool bar above where you make comments, you will see a row of images and tools.  The one that looks like a little tree in the grass it the import picture tool.  On your profile page, while in the edit mode, you will see this same tool bar.  Use this as your way to import photos to different areas on your profile page.  Call or email me if you need additional help ok?  :-)

Whenever I'm searching for help, I come across one of your great detailed posts.  I'm subscribed to your blog---I need to just start my search there.

Nishika - lol~  You're welcomed here anytime, thanks for the sweet comment.  :-))

Hi Brad. OK. Now that I've read this cool post & ALL, yes all, of the comments I'm ready to work on my profile part II. I may have to come up for air a few times.  Thanks!

Marian - here to help if you need it.  Did you get to see the getting started post?  That will be helpful too. :-)

Wow, what a helpful post! Thanks Brad, you are the man! I have a YouTube clip on autoplay on my profile. What do you think about that? Again, thanks!

Corey - I think autoplay is not the best idea.  Let readers and visitors select play if they want to watch it.  Sometimes it can scare someone when it starts automatically, especially if they are a night time visitor and all the rest of the family is sleeping, and they have their speakers turned up REAL LOUD!  Otherwise having video on your profile is a great idea, I have 4 on mine.  Really, just click my name below and see.  :-)

So that is how some blogs have typeset in color!  That looks like learning HTML is very time consuming.

Maybe I should work on my profile in other ways and then come back to that later.

Thanks Brad

Debbie

Thanks for the info...it looks like I gotta get busy.

In a few years we'll laugh at HTML code like we do with DOS

Just a small note: the links don't all match what they go to?  For example, "Colleen Kulikowski Florida Realtor" is actually in Buffalo NY now (maybe she moved since you posted this?).  Just wondering... and it's really helpful to look at various profiles!

Yes - this post was written in Nov. of 2007, there have certainly been some changes in the rain since then.

Welcome to Activerain Shoshana.

Oh my God, I have so much work to do!  I will have to remember to break things up into small manageable bites and chip away each day.

Brad - you have the gift of giving.  Great tips - so much to do - so little time!  Love the journey!  

I will have to take some more tutorials!  I appreciate you helping me to improve my profile!

Hi An - it's an ongoing process, it will never be finished, just getting better all the time.

Margaret - Enjoying the journey is what it's all about, thanks.

Thanks Dale - Happy to help any way I can.  Best of luck to you here in the rain!  :-)

Ok. I thought this would be the quick and easy... no such luck, sounds like i should spend a little time working on my profile.

 

Thanks