I am very happy to share some exciting news -- I am Community Manager at Trulia.com!

Check out my Trulia Blog and my first editorial project, a new Surviving the Housing Crisis page.

We are happy to offer a playback of Week One Webinar, Develop a Blog Business Plan.

There is still time to register here for the remainder of the session. This is the final eight-week series in 2008; the price for No Blogger Left Behind will be $297 starting in January, 2009.

Here is a handout for Week One.

We are pleased to announce that we are making a $25 contribution for each No Blogger Left Behind registration to CARE for humanitarian relief.

Sites and sources referenced in the Webinar are hyperlinked in the PDF handout. Other sources mentioned in the Webinar include:

• Mary Pope-Handy's award-winning blog, Live in Los Gatos
• Mary Pope-Handy's Haunted Real Estate Blog

The next eight-week series of No Blogger Left Behind Webinars starts August 29, 2008.

“.. I'm not so sure that consumers are looking for or even expecting a Web 2.0 experience in growing numbers when it comes to purchasing something, especially when buying or selling a house! This seems to be another "myth". Rather than real estate being a "social" interaction, it is what we have always referred to as a "sales" situation.”

It is hardly a myth. The National Assn. of REALTORS report that 92% of home buyers used the Internet in 2008. Real estate Web 2.0 giants Zillow and Trulia each report traffic in the neighborhood of 5 million unique visitors each month. Modern real estate professionals are happy to trade outdated “sales” descriptors for consumer-centric words that reflect service and consultancy expertise.

“Think about it. When buying new tires, are you really going to read a blog at GoodYear? No! You came to look at replacing your tires... and GoodYear hopes to make a sale today with the price information they display on their site instead of you going to Bridgestone instead. If you want a new Lexus, do you plan on interacting on a blog with the local dealer? No. And once the "sale" has been made, will the consumer really plan on coming back often to see their sites again... even if they have a blog? Probably not for many months or even years! If you just bought a Kenmore washer & dryer at Sears, do you keep coming back over and over to look at washers & dryers again?”

I started blogging in January 2005, the same year that Business Week ran a cover story on blogging. The message in 2005? Catch up … or catch you later!

I don’t know much about Goodyear … but take a look at GE, maker of Supra lockbox products and numerous product lines. They have an excellent blog. 

The Lexus media team thinks that blogs are very important and this company flexes some creative muscle in a blog to sponsor a US Open Podcast.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump is a man with a household name and  a record of accomplishment.  Guess what? He blogs!

“… The main reason many, many agents don't "blog" is because very few can actually "write"! I'm not being sarcastic when I say this, but all you have to do is visit lots of real estate agent sites and read their content to confirm this. Very few of us would be considered "authors" by others ...”

You do not have to be Ernest Hemingway to blog. If you can write an e-mail or a business letter, you can blog. Do some people blog better than others? Certainly! Bloggers can improve their skills with some short-term blog coaching. Superb writing skills are not required to blog successfully. In fact, a conversational writing style is probably the best approach on a blog.

Real estate search giant Trulia launched a new blog platorm today that puts real estate consumer bloggers and real estate bloggers front and center before 5 million unique visitors the site draws each month.

ADVICE : Start a blog at Trulia! What a great way to reach consumers!  Trulia has surveyed its web visitors: 70% of Trulia consumers expect to complete a real estate transaction in the next 12 months, and 70% of those real estate buyers and sellers do not have a real estate agent yet. The blogs are FREE ... there are no good reason NOT to do this!

Trulia’s blogging platform provides users with a built in audience of 5 million home owners, buyers and real estate agents to share real estate advice, tales from their recent home remodel or community news.  By providing a free, easy and collaborative environment, Trulia is empowering consumers to share their voices with a blog platform that is as easy to use as sending an e-mail. Real estate agents have the benefit of maximizing a value-added social media tool that enhances their online brand and allows them to share their expertise among a highly targeted audience of consumers who are looking for real estate content and information, and other industry colleagues who are interested in all things real estate.  Go blog at www.trulia.com/voices/blogs.

There is a hot new mobile application also.

• Trulia on your iPhone 3G or iPod touch: Trulia’s native application automatically detects a user’s location via iPhone 3G’s location-aware technology, or by user input, to find nearby homes for sale.  Detailed property search results include price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, color photos and local open house information. The Trulia application is free to download from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

• Trulia on your phone: Trulia’s phone application delivers homes for sale and open house information directly to a user’s handset, whether you've got a BlackBerry, Blackjack, Sony Ericsson, Nokia or many more. Built as a channel on Lightpole’s mobile platform, Trulia’s application allows consumers to search homes for sale via an interactive local map. Other search features include extensive property details, color photos and updated open house dates and times. New results are instantly generated with every change in location or search criteria.

• Trulia in your car: In partnership with Dash Navigation, Inc., Trulia enables consumers to search for homes for sale right from the drivers’ seat. Via the Dash Express™ , the first Internet-connected automotive GPS, users can access real-time listings of all homes for sale from their cars. As part of their search, consumers get up-to-the minute open house information, in-depth property details and driving directions.

Learn about the Flip camera. REEL Tech TV offers four excellent tutorials at WellcomeMat.com

Episode 1 - Flip Camera Basics 

Episode 2 - Flip Camera, Production Basics 

Episode 3 - Importing Files

Episode 4 - Flip Camera, When to Use It (and when to call in the pros!)

Enough is enough!!!

I have been inspired by recent Laser Blog Coaching sessions, including one about reclaimed blogs and I have decided that it is time to reclaim and rejuvenate my own The FAT Lady Blog. over at the Typepad blogging platform. This poor blog has been neglected and ignored. The screen shot on the rightilustrates the blog in a skin that it wore for more than three years.

I decided to opt for a two-column format that offers a much wider text width and lends itself well to parger graphics. I installed a category cloud and a Twitter feed and later I will review the links that were installed and bring the links up to date.

 

A screen shot of the new and improved blog appears at left. I need to work on a new banner for the top, but a simple text solution is good for now.

I like the narrow measure of the headline text ... it looks and feels so THIN! ;-)

I'm going to spend more blogging energies there to journal some much-needed attention to weight and cholesterol concerns. Funny how health and blogging interests intersect ;-) I welcome all suggestions about the blog format AND recipes and ideas for health and wellness that I can share on this blog.

In the meantime, I am going to commence makeover projects on the remainder of my blogs, including this one! Stay tuned.

White Mountains (AZ) REALTOR Yvonne Coelet has a web site, a blog, and a foreclosure resource page and she wants to tie things together for a more cohesive Web presence. Yvonne is Treasurer for the State Chapter of the Women's Council of REALTORS.

We talked about these things during a Laser Blog Coaching session last week.

Listen to the session here.

The next eight-week series of No Blogger Left Behind Webinars starts August 29, 2008.

It's been a year since Australian real estate coach Karin Hanna posted an entry on her I Love My Agent blog. She's been travelling around the world, teaching real estate agents on three continents how to build their reputation.

Today she engaged in a 12-minute Laser Blog Coaching session that rejuvenated her neglected blog.

Listen to the session here.

We will watch this blog closely as Karin accomplishes a general blog makeover next week.

The next eight-week series of No Blogger Left Behind Webinars starts August 29, 2008.

Barbara Gaines is a well-known real estate CyberStar. She has a triblogular presence on Blogspot and profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook and ActiveRain. Until today she did not know that she is still a member of the RealTown community. (Time to update your profile, Barbara! ;-)

Barbara is a superb REALTOR who remains upbeat in a tough Michigan real estate market.

We spent 24 minutes today exploring an exit strategy from writer's block and a way to make social networking both FUN and profitable.

You can listen here.

Meet Barbara online:

Sold Team USA

Ann Arbor Real Estate Blog

Milan Real Estate Blog (This is in Michigan, NOT Italy!)

Top Agent Blog

The next eight-week series of No Blogger Left Behind Webinars starts August 29, 2008.

REALTOR and educator Sharon Koziel and I spent 16 minutes exploring ways to increase traffic to her blog, Dreaming of Real Estate.

Whoops, Sharon, I did not notice that you attached a domain name to the blog. www.koziel.com needs to be uncloaked to let your readers send permanent links! When you uncloak (or unmask) your domain name, the domain name will "evaporate" when the page is launched and open the possibility for link sharing.

Each blog post creates a separate URL and readers can click the Link or Permanent Link and send posts separately. That is one of the internal features of blog architecture that makes blogs so wildly appealing to search engine spiders.

Hear our Laser Coaching Session here. There are a few tech hiccups but don't worry, I am going to get this right soon!!! Sharon is a dynamite pro and it was fun to play with her this morning.

Learn more about Sharon at her other web sites:

Golf Homes of South Corona (CA)

Education Plus

The next eight-week series of No Blogger Left Behind Webinars starts August 29, 2008.

Join me for an all-day blog coaching marathon on Webex. I will be taking calls and sharing mouse controls with bloggers from 9 am - 9 pm EST all day on Wednesday, August 13, working in 10-minute segments, scheduling calls every 15 minutes through the course of the day. Calls and Webex sessions will be recorded and posted as an EXTREME VALUE offering of No Blogger Left Behind.

Do you want to brainstorm abouit

• Content, news and topics?
• General design and a makeover?
• How to increase traffic to your blog?
• How to connect your blog to your web site?
• How to use social networking tools?
• How to choose a blog platform?
• ... anything else?

If you are interested in particpating, send me an e-mail with your time preference, and the area(s) that you would like to cover. -- Frances Flynn Thorsen, Blog Coach

Q.  What tool can I use on Internet Explorer to check the keywords of another blog or web site? 

A. At the top right of the browser there is a toolbar. Click on Page, then click on View Source to discover the code that the site uses to attract the search engine spiders.

Q. How do I add buttons and otherwise customize my RealTown blog?

A. The Blog Manager offers configuration settings. You can customize your RealTown blog using the Edit Template button. Blog template settings are changed with HTML codes. Each RealTown template varies and it is not possible to provide a one-size-fits-all answer at this time. If you have some basic HTML knowledge, you can make these changes easily. Otherwise, it is worthwhile to consult with a techie who has some background in HTML.

Q. What are the Group Access Key and Invitation Key to access the private RealTown group?

A. There is a special RealTown group that is a PRIVATE group for No Blogger Left Behind attendees and alumni. Just send us an e-mail and we will send you an invitation so that you can access the group.

Q. Can you send the link to the ActiveRain Breakout that you did a few weeks ago?

A. Unfortunately, the Webinar platform had a snafu with the recording device. We are in the process of switching to the Webex platform to take our delivery up a few notches! Stay tuned. August will be an exciting month for No Blogger Left Behind attendees. There are some more exciting Breakouts coming up that you will not want to miss.

Join us for a Webinar on July 29   Space is limited.   Reserve your Webinar seat now at:   https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/811416039   Wordpress Blogging experts will join us for an hour of discussion and question and answer about the most robust blogging platform available today. We will discuss templates, plugins, and the learning curve with the masters.   Title:   No Blogger Left Behind - Wordpress Breakout Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT   System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

No Blogger Left Behind Wordpress Breakout

Join us for a Webinar on July 15 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/897687382 Wordpress Blogging experts will join us for an hour of discussion and question and answer about the most robust blogging platform available today. We will discuss templates, plugins, and the learning curve with the masters. Title:   No Blogger Left Behind - Wordpress Breakout Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT   System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

Grand Prize winner in the RealTown/Inman Connect Blog Contest is Monica McNamara, a novice real estate blogger who makes a statement about professionalism in real estate with a new blog, My Hometown Ocean City, Maryland. Her winning post is What Would I Want If I Was a Buyer? The grand prize is a Full Conference registration to the Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco sponsored by Inman News.

John Reilly, e-PRO, Vice President of Publishing of InternetCrusade, home of RealTown, said: "Monica's enthusiastic writing style is a prime example of what we at RealTown have maintained for the 13 years we have provided community-generated content, namely, the fact that there is a wealth of undiscovered talent waiting to be published. Blogging definitely provides that platform. Congratulations, Monica."
 

Congratulations:

Las Vegas REALTOR Chris Shouse is the final semifinalist in the RealTown/Inman Connect Blog Contest for her post, Solution for Vacant Houses.             .

Meritorious Mention:

Hands Free by Sharon Koziel

Can Standard be Better? by TRexGlobal (GREAT use of a table, check it out!)

NOTE: Semifinalists and Bloggers who win Meritorious Mention will receive autographed copies of The Real Estate Technology Guide by Saul Klein, John Reilly, and Mike Barnett.

Congratulations!

Real estate consultant and coach Judith Lindenau is today's semifinalist in the RealTown/Inman Connect Blog Contest for her post, Water Boy: Off Stage.  Judith's blog offers a refreshing and informative, behind-the-scenes look at REALTOR association management.

Meritorious Mention:

Watch out for That Appraisal in Today's Market, Buyers by Jeff Dowler

NOTE: Semifinalists and Bloggers who win Meritorious Mention will receive autographed copies of The Real Estate Technology Guide by Saul Klein, John Reilly, and Mike Barnett.

If you see a worthy RealTown Entry this week, nominate the blogger for a chance to win a Full Conference registration to Inman Connect in San Francisco later this month. Send the URL to Editor@RealTown.com.

 
Today's semifinalist in the RealTown/Inman Connect Blog Contest is a new real estate blogger, Monica McNamara, (shown at right) and the winning entry is her FIRST blog entry, What Would I Want If I Was A Buyer?

Meritorious Mention: 

• 8 Mistakes Sellers Often Make by Phil Kretchmar
• What Happened with the Land Auction by Lisa Delzompo
• A Historical Perspective by Joshua Keen

NOTE: Semifinalists and Bloggers who win Meritorious Mention will receive autographed copies of The Real Estate Technology Guide by Saul Klein, John Reilly, and Mike Barnett.

If you see a worthy RealTown Entry this week, nominate the blogger for a chance to win a Full Conference registration to Inman Connect in San Francisco later this month. Send the URL to Editor@RealTown.com.

Congratulations!

The RealTown/Inman Connect Blog Contest is underway and the first semifinalist in the contest is the following blog entry:

How to Set Up Your SmartPhone to Get E-Mail in Seconds by Dick Betts (shown at right). Dick is also the organizer and moderator of the RealTown Group, Outsmart Your SmartPhone.

The judges were impressed with two additional posts yesterday and they have awarded them Meritorious Mention:

• Video Edging Out Virtual Tours for NextGen Buyers by Scott Lau
• Off Stage - Association Travel Policy by Judith Lindenau

NOTE: Semifinalists and Bloggers who win Meritorious Mention will receive autographed copies of The Real Estate Technology Guide by Saul Klein, John Reilly, and Mike Barnett.

If you see a worthy RealTown Entry this week, nominate the blogger for a chance to win a Full Conference registration to Inman Connect in San Francisco later this month. Send the URL to Editor@RealTown.com.

The next eight-week No Blogger Left Behind Webinar program starts soon. Attendees will focus on specific content in each session:

1. Develop a Blog Business Plan
2. Find Blog Focus and Your Own Niche
3. Create Your Blog
4. Promote Your Blog Organically
5. Track Your Visitors
6. Add Podcasts and Video to Your Blog
7. Add Widgets and Cyber Gadgets to Your Blog
8. Monetize Your Blog