The Official ActiveRain Guide

Top FREE Image and Photo Editing Sites

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:18:42 -0500

There is so much concern and “Buzz” about Google shutting down Picnik.com, I decided to provide you with some alternative tools for editing and customizing your graphics, photos, and images. While Picnik.com will be shutting down in April 2012, here are some other options you have available immediately.

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!

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Add Blogs To Facebook Business Pages

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:12:46 -0500

Many Facebook Business page owners want to automatically add their Blog posts to their pages. While this can no longer be done on your Facebook personal profiles, it CAN BE DONE if you have a Facebook Business or Fan page. NetworkedBlogs created a Facebook app that allows you to now add your Blog posts directly and automatically to the Facebook page(s) of your choice.

The first step is to make sure you have a Facebook Fan or Business page. If you don't have one, Create A Facebook Business Page or Fan Page here first. Once you have a page created, you can run through the following step-by-step instructions to add almost any blog content from any site to your Facebook selected pages.

This should also work nicely with your ActiveRain blog content if you choose.

You'll want to visit http://Facebook.com/NetworkedBlogs to begin the process. For detailed step-by-step instructions including the screen-shots that you'll need to do this, I've created a 12-Step Blog to Facebook Tutorial that will walk you through the entire process.

Some of you may not want your posts to appear on your Facebook pages and that's ok too. If that's the case, you might still find this tutorial helpful and useful to share with a friend or associate when they ask you how to do this? This is what Bernadine Hunter from ActiveRain asked me, I hope this will help others too.

Instructions - How To Add Blogs To Facebook

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

5 Tips To Growing Your Business on ActiveRain

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:57:37 -0400

Even though ActiveRain is a powerful Real Estate Social Network and one of the greatest industry blogging platforms on the web, I wanted to share a few ideas on how many folks I know are using this network to grow their relationships and business. Everyone ultimately has to "find their own way" and use whatever sites and tools work best for them, but don't overlook the potential and opportunities right here.

ONE:
Online Knowledge Library

ActiveRain serves as a fantastic resource to learn about the wide variety of real estate technologies out there and how to strategically apply them to your business. Read and learn how to use many of the newest and most powerful tools and sites on the web. Keeping up with all the new and exciting stuff online is easy when you follow the right bloggers on AR.

Learn from those who willingly share how and what works for them. You can filter through thousands of posts here and select specifically what will work best for you. Start here with the Top 100 Most Subscribed To Bloggers on ActiveRain.

TWO:
Relationships and Referrals

Connect with like minded individuals, build relationships, then give and get referrals. Using ActiveRain as your National Real Estate database makes the site instantly one of the largest databases for accessing and networking with other industry professionals. Sharing ideas, asking questions, getting support from the many AR friends and family here is what makes up the unique AR culture and it's also what makes ActiveRain one of the most unique online real estate networks.

THREE:
Engage With Other Members

Commenting creates links back to your profile so use quality commenting, not quantity commenting. Don't just leave comments for points, make points with your comments. Every comment you leave in the rain is like a planted seed that can sprout at anytime. They help build rapport and trust with other readers. Who reads your comments? More people than you think, and what they think matters and makes a huge difference in your reputation and growth here.

FOUR:
Deliver and Receive Amazing Content

Content is and always will be king. Share and give back as much as you learn and take from ActiveRain. Those who give ALWAYS receive. Content is blogging, commenting, interacting in groups and participating in channels. Use and share a variety of your experience, wisdom, and knowledge about numerous topics, ideas, and discussions. Amazing content will get you back-links, reblogs, and lots of comments.

FIVE:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Google Results

ActiveRain is well known for its SEO and has a reputation of landing members articles at the top of page #1 in the search engines. Be sure to blog for clients, SEO, and for Google. All three are your target audiences. ActiveRain has some of the best SEO to benefit Rainmaker members. Remember, hope is not a strategy, and page #2 of Google gets very few clicks.

There are many other great ways to grow business on ActiveRain, these were just the first 5 that came to mind when I was asked this question at RainCamp in Seattle.

You will get out of it more than you put into it and the relationships you can potentially build here are more powerful than any other tool or feature the site can offer in my opinion.

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Add .PDF Files To Your Blog Post and Website

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:29:34 -0400

How To Add a .PDF File To Your Blog Post or Website

Once you've learned to add photos, embed video and audio files, create hyper-links and anchor text etc, inevitably you'll want to know how you can add a .pdf file to your Blog post. An Adobe Acrobat .PDF (Portable Document Format) file is a document that typically cannot be edited and is usually created from an original document using the Adobe Acrobat software or similar application. .PDF files can be viewed by downloading the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Adding a .PDF file to your Blog post can be done one of two ways. You can upload the .PDF file to a host server on the Internet and simply create a link to it using the location URL or web address. IE: http://www.DomainName/DocumentName.pdf The second way is to use a program or tool that creates an HTML embed code which you can add to your Blog post or website.

Scribd.com is a site that offers users a tool that lets you upload your .PDF document onto their server, then use their widget/player to embed the file into your Blog post or site. The site is FREE and once you've signed up and registered, the process is fast and simple. The benefits of embedding the .PDF file vs linking to it are that visitors and readers don't have to leave your post or site to access the shared PDF document.

How To Add a PDF File to Your ActiveRain Blog Post

1. Join Scribd.com and setup a Profile

2. Upload your .PDF file to Scribd.com

3. Click on the .PDF File you want to embed to Blog Post or Website

4. Copy the embed code from the "Share and Embed" Toolbox

*Notice the options to share on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Buzz
(You can also create a hyperlink to Anchor text using the Link/URL)

5. Place/Paste the HTML embed code on the HTML tab of your Blog Post.
The code can also be added to your website using your HTML page editor.

6. Save your post or page and you're done!

Here's a sample of a .PDF file I created a couple years ago here on ActiveRain.

Brad's Top Free Online Website Tools and Picks

As an Absolute Last Resort

One last option would be to take a "screen shot" or capture the PDF file as an image (if it all fits on your computer screen) and save it as a .jpg file, then you can add it as a photo or graphic to your Blog post. Unfortunately, even a single page PDF file is hard to display the entire page on a computer monitor or single screen. To capture any computer screen image, use the "Shift+Print Scr" keys on a PC, or the "Shift+Command+4" on a MAC to capture the image. You can always crop out what you don't want in the image using a photo or image editor like picnik.com or Adobe Photoshop. If you'd like a free photo or image editing software similar to Adobe Photoshop, check out Gimp.org.

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Get Started on ActiveRain

ActiveRain Corp. — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:08:36 -0500

How To Get Started on ActiveRain - A quick route to a successful Journey on ActiveRain.

The ActiveRain Staff, along with our members and ambassadors, wish to welcome you to the community. We know you have a choice, and we're glad you've chosen our network as a place to connect with others, support your local neighborhoods and communities, plus grow your business and relationships.

Before you begin your journey here, there's a few areas we invite you to navigate first. This will save you time and give you a better understanding of the Network. We're confident that our site will bring value, benefits, and substantial rewards to you and your business.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN
These are REQUIRED and a MUST READ for ALL New Members - NO EXCEPTIONS!

What We Stand For - Weltenschauung
Weltanschauung: The guiding principles and philosophy of an organization. A world view.

The ActiveRain Community Guidelines
Please take these rules seriously.

ACTIVERAIN UNIVERSITY
Get live training weekly to make your blog the best it can be

ActiveRain University Schedule - Classes every weekday
Learn the ins and outs of ActiveRain and how to utilize it to the fullest with our live trainer.

ActiveRain Orientation - A Live Webinar to get you acquainted
Steve, our live trainer takes you through the basics on the site to get you familiar with ActiveRain

ActiveRain University Suggestion Box
Don't see a class you would like us to create? Make a suggestion to us for future classes.

GETTING STARTED in 3 EASY STEPS
Follow these next steps to get setup on ActiveRain.

How To Complete Your Profile - Part II
Your profile has three areas that allow you maximize the page. Learn How to use these sections.

How To Use Your "My Settings" Page
Now you are ready to Customize your ActiveRain Settings.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF ACTIVERAIN
Social Networking, Connecting and Blogging

ActiveRain Member Success Stories
Read what other industry professionals and members have to share.
Here's A VIDEO version

Understanding ActiveRain Points
Learn about points and how they work on the network.

The RainMaker Membership
Becoming a RainMaker - The Value and The Benefit

READY TO MAKE LIGHTNING, THUNDER AND RAIN
Now that you're a member and RainMaker, put the power tools to work

Top 10 Tools for New Members and RainMakers
Take the time to review what this network has to offer.

ActiveRain Custom Outside Blogs
How To Create and Maximize Your Outside ActiveBlog.

OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES TO HELP YOU
Use these links to dive deeper in the "Rain" if you need more information

The ActiveRainGuide
A Tutorial Blog by Members for Members

The ActiveRain Staff Blog
The Official ActiveRain TEAM Blog

Help/FAQ Group
A network group created to help members

An ActiveRain eBook Tutorial
Find Almost Anything about ActiveRain here

ActiveRain University
Online Campus for Training and Support

Real Estate RainCamp
"Live" Local Conferences and Seminars
My Blog, Your AR Resource
Your One stop Shop for all AR Tutorials

DID YOU KNOW?
ActiveRain is the TOP Real Estate Social Network in the World (source: Google)

The ActiveRain Network hosts over 170,000 RE Industry members averaging 200-300 new members daily. There are more than 1.5 million articles posted, with an average of 700-1000 new posts daily. Two million+ visitors traffic the ActiveRain network each month, over 80% are consumers. Only Rainmaker upgraded accounts receive Google trafﬁc to their blogs and posts. ActiveRain Member's Blog posts receive more than 500 views on average. Activerain is the ONLY on-line Network that offers this wide variety of tools, diverse services, and proven solutions to the Real Estate Industry Professional and for consumers on the WEB.

Best of Luck and Enjoy!

Social Media Buttons and Icons - Is Someone Pushing Your Buttons?

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:30:45 -0400

Social Media Buttons and Icons - Is Someone Pushing Your Buttons?

During these past few weeks, since adding the "Signature" option to ActiveRain posts, I've received so many requests, calls, and emails regarding how to add "Social Media Buttons and Icons" to the footers of Blog Posts. You've probably seen many of the various types and styles other members are using on their Blogs which poses the question, "Where Are They Getting These?" Here's some sites I've found that offer you these custom buttons for FREE. This includes for personal and commercial use according to their terms and guidelines.

Here are some Links to Literally Thousands of Buttons and Icons:

My Social Buttons

Royalty FREE Icons and Clip-art

WebTreats - 2000+ Buttons

Brian Brumpton "RainDrops"

DivaGeekDesigns - An Icon Overdose

The Value of A Twitter Search

Open Source Hunter

Instructions For Adding Buttons and Icons to the Signature or Footer of Posts:

Once you've downloaded the Social Media Buttons or Icons of your choice, you can add them to your AR Signature Page (including the appropriate links) by going to your "My Home" page on AR, then select the "Settings" link on the left hand sidebar. Just upload the button or icon into the "Signature" section of the page, add the appropriate link to your image, then click "update" to save. That's it!

One tip I would suggest is to be careful which Icons you select for some of the Social Networking Sites. If the Icon or Button isn't a familiar looking one, then visitors might be less likely to click on it. For example, the cow face, what Social Network or site does that one belong to? Maybe visitors would click on it just to find out? (LOL~) With all these Buttons and Icon styles available, one thing for certain is that your signature can be unique. So have FUN!!

This should give you plenty of options and creative ways to stand out from the rest of the crowd. :-)

Social Media Buttons and Icons - "The Buttons You Want People To Push!"

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

15 Quick SEO Tips for Real Estate Bloggers

Justin Smith | SEO, SMO & Blogging Consultant (Searching Solutions) — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:17:40 -0400

Block Duplicate Content - With the nifty All In One SEO pack for Wordpress, you can easily set your category and archive pages to be noindex/follow… meaning that Google will follow the links to the individual articles, but not index those pages which will help guard against the duplicate content problem. For those of you not running Wordpress, try turning off your archives, and not placing posts in more than one category. Read more about: Multiple categories & Onsite Duplicate Content.
Keyword Research Before You Post - This little tactic has helped me tremendously. Before you get ready to hit publish, run the keyword phrase that you used in your title through a keyword research tool like Google’s Keyword Tool. You may often find that with just a slight variation, you’ll be targeting phrases that get a higher volume of searches. For more help on keyword research, read this post I wrote about the money tail.
Internal Link Juice - In order to properly pass Page Rank, and link value to deep pages of your site (like older blog posts), you’ll want to link to these posts often. This can be achieved through a related posts section, or by simply linking back to previous articles as resources. Sometimes a few basic internal links with proper anchor text can have a great effect on that page’s ranking. Andrew Shotland gave a great tip related to this when I interviewed him about local search marketing.
Keep Your Link Count Down - This can be a problem with some blogs… too many links on one page. It can water down your internal Page Rank, and cause problems with full indexing. Generally, try to keep the number of links on a single page below 100. Google has said that it may not crawl any links past the 100 mark. So be careful with your categories, archives and blogrolls. These are the things that can eat up your links fast especially on the home page and category page.
Use Unique Titles For Blog Posts - Diversify your ranking potential by using unique titles on blog posts. I’ve written about this topic extensively here: Keyword Cannibalization.
Each Post is a Ranking Opportunity - View each post you write as a new opportunity to rank for a unique keyword phrase. Each post has it’s own content, title, title tag, and URL slug making it a prime candidate for unique ranking for certain phrases. Don’t try to target the same phrases over and over in each post.
Use Heading Tags - Not only is this important for usability, it’s vital for search engine ranking. If you are targeting a phrase in the title of the post, try to incorporate that phrase somewhere in the post within a heading tag. This will also break up the article nicely and make it easier to read.
Label Pictures Properly - Each picture should include the tag that can be used to describe a picture with text. Be descriptive, but try to also include keyword phrases that you are targeting.
The Perfectly Targeted Post - When you are attempting to rank a post well, you must do the following: 1. Identify a keyword phrase 2. Place the phrase in the post title towards the front 3. Place the phrase in the first sentence of the post 4. Use at least one subheading in the post that includes the phrase 5. Place the phrase in any images on the page using the alt tage. 6. Let the phrase flow naturally throughout the post.
Write a Linkbait Post - This is a post that is written for the sole intention of building more links to the website through viral popularity and interest. It could be something funny, something controversial, a hoax, insider news, a free resource, and more. Just about anything can be linkbait if it ends up getting other people to link to you.
Create Link Clusters - Each post has it’s own keyword phrase ranking potential in the search engines (usually based on the keywords used in the title and body). Create extra links to pages like this in clusters. Example: you have a post that is targeting: “blue widgets”. Create 10 links to that post from other related articles with that exact anchor text as the link: “blue widgets”. This can dramatically increase the ranking of that page for the chosen keyword phrase.
Leverage Strong Pages - Every website has a few strong pages. Usually these are the most popular posts that have the most incoming links and comments. These pages can be leveraged to help build the authority of other pages on the site that may not be performing to their full potential. Link generously. Try using this tool for finding your strongest pages.
Monitor 404 Error Statistics - Using Google Analytics and Google webmaster tools can help identify error statistics. Keep your eye 404 errors for pages that get consistently accessed. It probably means that there is an old link to that page that is bringing traffic to it. You’ll want to set up a 301 redirect for the 404 error page, or talk to the webmaster of the other site to have them change the link to a working page.
Check Status of Outgoing Links - Many times the pages we link to get moved, taked offline, etc. It’s important that all of your outgoing links work properly so your readers can be taken to outside resources that actually work. Try this dead link checking tool.
Find Missed Link Opportunities - Many times, your company or website can be referenced online without the actual hyperlink. It can be an effective strategy to find these references and ask the webmaster to turn them into a link. Use this query to find pages with these references.

The ActiveRain Point System

ActiveRain Corp. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:35:25 -0500

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 with a general overview of how points are earned and distributed to all ActiveRain members.

ActiveRain points are earned based on a member's individual activities and efforts. Points are accumulated over the course of the calendar week which starts Monday morning at 12:00am Eastern Time, and ends Sunday night at 11:59pm Eastern 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 ActiveRain profile will build points)
Received comments on blog posts
(No blog post to exceed 475 pts.)
100 points awarded for logging in to ActiveRain each day
(This applies 7 days a week)
250 points when someone accepts your ActiveRain invitation
(Must sign up under Member's Invite Code)
10% of total points earned by new members invited by you
(Example: 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 ActiveRain 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.

5 Principles to Creating an Effective Blog Post

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:57:42 -0400

Before you post on your Blog, here's five principles that may help you get more views, readers and comments, and (no promises), featured on Active Rain!

First off, put some thought and effort into your posts. There are so many things you can write about IE: your business, events, personal experiences, travel, technology, other members, the Market etc.

If you invest a small amount of time "thinking" about your post and your readers, their perceptions and what you are trying to get across, the better your posts will be.

Don't knock yourself out, and remember, you'll never know what kind of response you'll get until you just "Go For It!" This is how you will learn, grow, and improve your Blogging Skills.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is very important! Look at it like the HEADLINES of your newspaper, or like the subject line of your email, it will determine if your readers are going to open it and read it or not. Coming up with a good title, is often times over-looked and under-estimated. Put some time into creating a title that "GRABS" the readers attention, but is also on course with your subject! If readers like your title, they will at least breeze through your post.
Make sure you DON'T create posts that are 1000 or more words, all clumped together on one page! Very few will read it! Your post needs to be pleasing to the eye, and easy to read! Follow this rule of thumb (in my humble opinion), never have more than 3-5 lines of text before you have a paragraph break. I know this isn't what we learned in our grammar school English class, but for Blogging, it 's acceptable.
It's unlikely that you'll get any value from your posts that are only 25 words or less. You need to be able to engage your readers without teasing them in a short post, or boring them with a long one. You'll find your way, it does take time. Understand that other readers, viewers and members can tell a lot about you by your posts. Your intelligence, your intentions, and your personality. I would also use the spell-check on AR, we all make typos, but there's a tool here to help you minimize them in your posts.
This is essential in creating a good post and more importantly, creating returning viewers. This is more important than points, comments, or any other compulsive things that may cause you to Blog on Active Rain. Content must look, feel, and flow smoothly, but also take your readers to a final ultimatum. They'll either just read it, or read it and comment. Ultimately, you want them to also subscribe to your Blog and add you as an associate!!
These are items to help enhance the view and attract-ability to your post. Photos and graphics tend to set a mood and often times can engage a reader even more. BE CAREFUL, you don't want to over do it here. Also the size of your photos and graphics should be proportionate to your text and content. Use Links to other members, topic related materials, and any other useful articles or websites to increase your "Exchange In Value" on your post. Same with bolding, underlining and italicizing text, important, but use in moderation.

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

TIP: Make your profile page your "BEST POST OF ALL !" When someone reads one of your post for the first time, often they will go to your profile page to read and learn a little more about you. I suggest making it like a website! Detailed information, links, testimonies, useful bookmarks, and photos or multimedia. You want to have "stickiness" on your profile, just as you would your web-page. Make it better than a webpage.

In closing, Blog safely, wisely, and often, but more importantly, BE REAL, follow your instincts and intuitions, and maximize your potential and possibilities here! :-))

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Create and Use iFrames and Tables on Your Blog

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:43:20 -0500

How To Create and Use iFrames and Tables on Your Blog

Last week I promised to create a post explaining how to add iFrames and tables to your Blog posts. Instead of making this a long drawn out technical "How To" tutorial, I decided to make it really easy for those of you interested in using this feature. It is HTML based and does require a little HTML skill, but I think the way I'm about to show you will totally simplify the process and keep you from losing your sanity! lol~

The hardest thing you'll have to do is switch the tabs at the top of your New Blog Post from "WYSIWYG" to "HTML" then you'll just need to copy the code onto the HTML page where you want your iFrame to appear, then save it. Can't make it much easier than that. So let's start with the iFrame. The purpose of Adding an iFrame to a Blog post is so that you can share a large amount of information in a very small (customized) space. Maybe a website, or an interactive page, or even an entire Blog for example.

Here's an iframe of a site I'm sure you'll all recognize. :-) (updated to show image only)

The size, color, width, height, URL, etc. can all be customized. Now for all you advanced HTML users and Bloggers, this is probably easy stuff, but for many of our members and friends, learning this type of stuff has been known to cause overdoses of Tylenol and in some extreme cases, even alcohol. So here's a way for you to preserve your anxiety and stress for something a little more worthy.... I hope.

HTML Basics has setup what they call an iFrame generator. You just enter in the information, and it creates the iFrame for you, then just copy and paste the code into the HTML tab of your new Blog post. It looks like this:

Just enter the URL of ANY page you want to appear in your iFrame, never make it wider than 550pixels if you don't want to Blow Out your Blogs sidebar, select any height you want, give it a name, set the alignment, maybe add a border with some color, setup how you want it to scroll, and generate the code for your Blog post. This is much easier than trying to explain the HTML which you're about to see once you generate the code anyway. Once you become familiar with the iframe code, you won't need the generator anymore. Now try it yourself.

Suggestions: Try using your MLS page, your IDX page, your Website, one of your Blog posts, maybe your AR Outside Blog, any page that's on the internet will work as long as you have the URL or website address. You can use iFrames to add some additional value to your Blog if this is something you're interested in. Now just be creative and imagine all the ways your clients, visitors, and subscribers might benefit from your using custom iFrames in your Blog posts.

Are you ready for tables now? Here's a link to a table generator, you'll be a pro in no time at all! :-)

Some Table Scraps RE Video RETechWorld Goal Planner ActiveBrads Blog iDomain TechKnowBabble AR Manual The REBlogger

HTML Tables

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

Using Gmail Email as a Blog Post and HTML Editor

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:09:48 -0400

Using your Gmail Email as a Blog Post and HTML editor.

First of all, what in the heck would make someone think of this? Same way the Reese's Peanut Butter cup was created! It was a total accident. (at least that's what they wanted you to think) Somebody dropped and got their chocolate dipped in someone else's peanut butter and there you have it! The Reese's Peanut Butter cup.

Today, I did the same thing, dropping my email onto this Blog post, and realizing how easy it is to create a post using your gmail email editor. You can add "live" links and anchor text, images, photos etc using gmail's "Compose Mail" option. You can change font colors and sizes and more. Just copy and paste from your email to your Blog post, (email it to yourself as a backup, or to be used again sometime in the future)... and that's it.

It was a breeze.

You can use the Toolbar in Gmail's editor to customize and add some Fun to your posts.

The process is easy, there's no hidden HTML codes that won't work with the AR Platform, and to be honest, some of our best Blogging content, ideas, responses, and experiences are sitting right within your email IN or OUT boxes. I don't suggest you do it all the time, but as you can see, creating a post like this is different and even kinda fun!!

Use the mini-animations and graphics from the favicon toolbar as well.

It's Pretty cool if you ask me, or at the least, something different. (well, maybe I over did it a bit on this one!)

I hope this email Blog Post finds you all well, it might be useful to those who can't use scribefire or some of the other HTML third party applications and software's out there to create cosmetically different and customized posts for their AR Blogs.

(This post is dedicated to and created for AR member Laura Coffey) Great to meet you @RainCamp LA.

Warm Regards,

Brad

 Brad Andersohn - Community Manager
P. 707-646-1876 E. brad@activerain.com
My Blog | My Profile | My Web

PS. This entire blog post was created using my Gmail email editor!

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How to Use Video and Youtube to Enhance Your Blog and Business

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:28:25 -0400

ActiveRain University - How to Use Video and Youtube to Enhance Your Blog and Business

How are you using Video in Real Estate and on your ActiveRain Blog?
Are you creating or using Video Listings, Virtual Property and Community tours? Does your video show up on Google Earth? Can your videos make you money? Want to generate more traffic to your videos and visitors to your Blog? This week at ARU, we are going to be sharing some things about video and Youtube that will be very beneficial to your Video library on Youtube and your Blog on ActiveRain.

Here's a few videos I had fun creating, Can you guess which one had over 2.2 million views?
(It probably won't be the one you think...)

Video Is important to your Real Estate Business
We're going to show you some Youtube video secrets and tips and how to use some of the tools that are available. Youtube just changed their format and the look and feel of their site. They've added a few things and moved some stuff around. These are just some of the ways you can now optimize your video and channel, and we'll show you how.

7 Tips You'll Need To Know and Use

Creating Outstanding and Unique Content

Optimizing Your Youtube Channel and Profile

Using Keywords Cleverly In the right places

Adding URLS and Proper Hyperlinks

Linking and Embedding Videos Everywhere

Video Sharing and Youtube Settings

Ping Your Youtube Channel

Do's and Don'ts of Embedding Video

Getting Beyond The 10 Minute Video Limitation

Getting More Visibility, Traffic, and Views

Learn useful techniques on how to use Youtube, one of the Top 3 most searched sites in the world. Grow and promote your Blogs, Websites, and Local Business using video strategies that have worked successfully for others and have resulted in increased traffic, customers, and paychecks.

Embedding video into your Blogs and sites is just one small key ingredient to using video and Youtube. You don't need to be an expert at this stuff, but you should know what things work and which ones won't. Come join us for a FREE "power-hour" of creating and using Video and Youtube for your Business, this will be one of our best video training and support classes at ARU.

Register For The Youtube Video Training Class

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How to Add a Power Point Presentation to Your Blog

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:29:38 -0400

Do you use Microsoft Power Point for any presentations at all? Here's the instructions for adding a Power Point Presentation to
your Blog. We are going to incorporate it into this post and show you how it's done: Today I will use Scribd.com. There are others
like http://www.slideshare.net/, but I have not tested them thoroughly yet.

A couple things you'll want to know first:
The two most common Internet Browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Depending on the readers/viewers
browser will determine how your presentation will appear. I would suggest always having a quick disclaimer or instructional comment
for both platforms. I like to use the following:

DISCLAIMER: "Best Viewed with the Mozilla Firefox Browser. Internet Explorer Users, Click on the Magnifying Glass and use the "slide tool" to resize this presentation in the Blog Post Window."

STEP 1:

Create your Power Point Presentation and save it as a Microsoft Office 97 format or earlier. This format works best with Scribd.com

STEP 2:

Go to Scribd.com and create an account and then Login or

Just create a user name and password and that is all you'll need.

STEP 3:

Upload your Power Point Presentation into your Scribd Library. Click on "Upload Documents"

STEP 4:

Create your post on your Blog in Active Rain using the WYSIWYG format. (It's the DEFAULT FORMAT for all posts)

Then save your post in Draft mode. Next, You'll need to go back in and edit the post using the HTML format to enter the embed
code from Scribd. But first, let's go get the embed code from Scribd.com now. Go back to Scribd.com (I recommend just keeping both
windows/tabs open at the same time) Click on "My Documents" and select your Power Point File you just uploaded. On the right hand
side of the screen, you'll see the box below. Just click on the embed code and press CTRL+C to copy the embed code. Now we
need to paste the code on your Active Rain Blog post.

STEP 5: VERY IMPORTANT / CRITICAL STEP!!

Now go back to your Active Rain post. Click "Edit" on your saved DRAFT post. Now Click on the Tab at the Top of your post and
change it from from WYSIWYG to HTML. It will ask you if you're sure, click on OK.

Stripping the embed code to work on your Blog Post. * This is where it gets a little tricky so pay close attention to this portion of the
final Step #5. You have to remove everything to the left of the word object, and also remove everything to the right of the word
object with the ( / ) . Here's an example screen shot to help you understand and get the visual:

FINAL STEP:

Use the CTRL +V to paste the embed code you copied from Scribd onto your Blog Post. Be sure you put it somewhere on your post
that won't conflict or overwrite any of your previously written text. Now remove your post from Draft mode, place it in the
appropriate Groups or Locations, and click on "POST BLOG ENTRY!"

That's It! Don't forget to add good "Tag" words for SEO.

Here's a link to the post that includes a Power Point Presentation that Margaret Rome used for a WCR event in Baltimore, MD.
DETAILS>>>

Here's a Sample of a Power Point I just put together about Dubai:

Dubai

Power Point Presentations in Blogs allows viewers who don't have Microsoft Power Point, to see any Power Point Presentation.
Imagine not having to own Microsoft Power Point to view someone else's creation! Very Cool!

Now your Power Point Presentations can be available on your Blog, and easily accessed anytime, from anywhere in the world. Power
Point is specifically designed for presentations, isn't that in part what a Blog is? Making a point... with POWER!! ~

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Create and Maximize Your ActiveRain Blog Post

Brad Andersohn (Zillow - Outreach Manager) — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:08:56 -0400

How To Create and Maximize Your ActiveRain Blog Post

The AR community has grown and evolved with thousands of new members, millions of posts, some really cool features, and great SEO and consumer traffic. Many of the members who sign up and join ActiveRain start off very excited and ready to Blog, but then find themselves stuck. We have many members who ask What Should I do Next?

Having a profile setup and then just lurking around the community, not knowing where or what to do next, seems to be an age old trend. "What should I Blog about?" "I don't have the time!" "I'm not a writer or blogger!?" and "Why Should I Blog?" are just some of the common questions and concerns I hear time and time again.

It's time to get some answers. It's time to get your "Blog" game on!

ActiveRain members have created a very powerful on-line resource for both members and consumers that is second to none. There is ton of information here covering a wide variety of topics and discussions. So where do you find out what makes the ActiveRain Blog Post different than any other Network or Blogging platform out there?

What tools and options are available and how do you use them? How is Blogging on ActiveRain different than blogging on Wordpress or Blogger? Do you have questions like these and are you trying to make cents sense of it all? In just one hour, we're not just going to tell you, we're going to show you. If content really is King, then knowledge about content and "How To" must be Queen!

What's taken years to learn (through trial and error) will be shared with you in a "flash" of time, if you want it.

Click Here To Learn How To Create and Maximize Your AR Blog Post

* The Blog Cycle and Purpose - Connecting All The Dots
* What's The Difference Between a Website and A Blog
* Finding "Your" Blogging Voice and Transparency
* The Keys to Building Your Blog Resourse Library
* Where to Find Unlimited Content for Blogging
* What To Write and Blog About and Why
* How to Create Powerful and Inviting Blog Titles
* What Makes Bad Content vs Great Content
* How to Generate MORE Traffic and Leads
* How to Track Statistics and Use Analytics
* Strategy on Using Keywords and Tags Effectively
* Why Achor Text and Back Linking Are Crucial
* Using Channels, Groups, and Topics as Tools
* What is The Truth and Power of the ReBlog
* The Evolution of Posting Listings - What's Changed
* When, Why, and How Often To Create New Posts
* Using Syndication to Get Maximum Exposure
* Understanding SEO on ActiveRain and Outside Blogs

The purpose of ActiveRain and this vibrant network is to provide a community atmosphere where Industry Professionals can network, have fun, learn from each other, share their knowledge and experiences, and grow their business via referrals, SEO, and Blogging. If you're new to ActiveRain, or you've been lurking around for months now, or you've left AR and now you're back, or maybe attended a RainCamp and you're just not sure what to do next, I hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity and join us. It all starts with YOUR Blog!

Important Note: This training is open to any and all members. Some tools and information we'll be sharing will only apply to RainMaker memberships. We'll explain the differences, and also provide you the opportunity to explore the "RainMaker" membership with no risk or obligation if you're interested.

EDIT 6/1/10 10:00pm
"Try This Link To See If You Can Watch The Recorded Session"

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

How To Complete Your Active Rain Profile - Part II

ActiveRain Corp. — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:19:32 -0500

This tutorial is to help you complete your Profile Page. There are (3) three sections on your Profile Page that you'll want to utilize to maximize the value and benefits of your page. The areas are "About Us", "Areas of Expertise", and "Testimonials".

It's good to have an idea of what you want your "Final" Profile page to look like when it's completed. I will breakdown the details of how all the tools and options work, but it will be up to you to be creative and decide how you want your final page to appear. Take a look at some of the samples provided in THIS POST! In my opinion, these sections are what can make your Profile Page your ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE!

THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS APPLY TO ALL THREE AREAS ON YOUR PROFILE PAGE. EACH AREA HAS THE EXACT SAME FEATURES AND TOOLS TO WORK WITH, WE'LL USE THE "ABOUT US" SECTION FOR THIS TUTORIAL POST:

First, always be sure you are logged into Active Rain.
If you forgot your password "CLICK HERE" for directions.
Once logged in, Click on the "MY HOME" tab located at the top right corner of your screen.
Now Click on (EDIT) next to the words "My Profile" on the left side of your screen.

Go to the first section which is: About Us - You can change this by clicking on [Rename Section], and then rename this portion of your page to whatever you want. For example, I changed mine from "About Us" to:

WELCOME TO YOUR NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR REAL ESTATE RELATED TECHNOLOGY & MARKETING

Here is a screen shot for reference that may help you. You might want to start with some simple text in the beginning, and then elaborate with photos, links, and HTML as time goes on. After viewing this post, hopefully you'll be feeling more comfortable with your navigational skills, and the tools that are available.

USING THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE TOOL BAR:

Write some text in the "About Us" box to begin. (You can always come back and change it anytime)
Highlight any section of the text with your mouse.
Use the B, I, U to make your text BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINED, or any combination of all three.
To Use the strike-out tool, simply highlight the text with your mouse and click on ABC , it works like this.
To change text "Fonts" and "Sizes", use these tools provided:

HOW TO USE THE TEXT ALIGNMENT TOOLS:

This tool will keep all your text left justified
This tool will center justify all your text
This tool forces all your text to be right justified
This tool causes your text to expand equally across your page

USING THE TAB or INDENT TOOLS:

If you want your text or images to be indented just as this text is here, you can use the icon. Just highlight your text or image, the click on it. Each time you click on it...

It will TAB or indent your text evenly and consistently.

If you want your text to go back to the left and align with previous text, just use the tool to send it back to the left justified position.

This will allow you to create some really cool text layouts

It will also allow you to fill in some of the blank space on your page.

Being a little creative is what will set you apart from the crowd.

HOW TO ADD LINKS TO TEXT OR IMAGES:

Links can be created to link text and images to other pages, websites, and videos etc. in other locations.
Select the text or image you want to link. For this example, I will use MAKE MILLIONS as my text.
Highlight the text MAKE MILLIONS with your mouse, then select the linking tool. The following screen will appear:

The final result of your text will look like this: MAKE MILLIONS It works exactly the same with photos, graphics and images. Try it, click on the screen shot above and it will take you to the same location as the "Text Link" does.

TIPS: The reason I select to have linked pages open in a "new window" is that if your visitor/reader closes the window, they are right back at your post. The reason I always use a "Title", when you hold or hover your mouse over the "text link" or "image link", the "Title Text" will appear. This is a great tool for sending a subliminal message. Try it, just hover your mouse over the image above...

To remove links from text or graphics on any Page, simply click on and that will break the link or links.

USING THE BULLET POINTS & NUMBERING:

Placing your cursor next to your text, click on the Bullet or Numbering Icon. This will place a number or a bullet point next to your line of text.
To continue using Bullets & Numbers, just press "Enter" and the next Bullet or Number will be created automatically.

To discontinue using Bullets and Auto Numbering,

simply click on the or the or icon one more time, and toggle the option off!

HOW TO ADD PHOTOS, GRAPHICS, and PICTURES:

Place your mouse cursor where you want your "Image" to be placed.
Next, Click on the icon.
The window below will appear.
Follow these simple steps to insert/edit your images:

HOW TO MODIFY, RESIZE & ADJUST APPEARANCE OF IMAGES:

Now if you want to wrap text, and make some appearance adjustments, follow these next steps.

Follow and repeat steps 1 - 3 above. Now click on the "Appearance" tab at the top of the window.

That will take you to the screen below:

Use the options available to modify, and adjust your graphic image or photo to your desired specifications.

***NOTE: Don't worry about Class and Style at this point, they will be covered in a future post.

USING THE ADDITIONAL TOOLS PROVIDED ON THE TOOL BAR:

This tool cleans up messy HTML code on your page. This is a section we will be discussing in an upcoming post regarding HTML. Not here, and not today.
This tool allows you to use HTML code anywhere you see this icon. We will cover HTML and all the tips, tricks, and techniques in the "Using HTML on Active Rain" post coming soon...
Now you've done all this work on your page and you want to preview how it will look, just click on this icon to get a preview opened in a new window, and decide if you like what you see. If so, and you're all
done editing, don't forget to click on
The final tool and Icon I want to share is the "Spell check" tool. DO NOT take this tool for granted. Many of us are great spellers, (not me) but when you're typing/blogging out your thoughts so quickly, it's easy to make a typo. Use the "SpelChck" ... see what happens if you don't?!

You can check out PART I of this post called: "How To Setup Your Active Rain Profile." Watch for the next "TUTORIAL" post titled: "How To Create & Upload Video on Active Rain"