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

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.

A RealTown Blogger will win a Full Conference Registration to the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco, July 22 - July 25, 2008, one of the most highly touted real estate events of the year.

Write a winning blog post on a RealTown Blog within the next week for a chance to attend ths event! There is no limit on subject matter or length of post. Entries will be judged on the merits of creativity, inspiration, and construct.  Judges from the Publishing Team at RealTown will select a semifinalist winner each day next week, Tuesday through Friday. The winning entry and Grand Prize Winner will be selected from the semifinalists on July 7, 2008.

If you do not have a RealTown Blog yet, you can get started by visiting http://RealTownBlogs.com.

GRAND PRIZE: The contest award will be 1 free “Conference Package” to attend Inman’s conference and 1 workshop (Internet Marketing or Bloggers Connect or Foreclosures) an $859 value.

SEMIFINALISTS will each receive an autographed copy of The Real Estate Technology Guide by Saul Klein, John Reilly, and Mike Barnett.

Conference Highlights:

RealTown Blogger Mary Pope-Handy will be featured on a panel at Bloggers Connect, "Case Study: How Four Bloggers Are Closing Sales -- What tactics work for generating business?" Mary was last year's winning Blog Apprentice and Frances Flynn Thorsen was the winning Blog Coach in the Inman News/ActiveRain Project Blogger competition.

Frances Flynn Thorsen, Managing Editor of RealTown.com, will be a featured panelist in a session titled, "How to Help Homeowners While Closing Business" in a Foreclosure Workshop moderated by Bernice Ross, Ph.D.

Saul Klein, CEO of InternetCrusade and Point2 Agent Technologies, will be featured in "Change or Die - Does the MLS Risk Becoming Irrelevant?"

Webinar Handout

Podcast (Audio Only)

Yesterday's Webinar with Blanche Evans (Realty Times) and Hilary Marsh (Realtor.org) offers valuable information about online publishing rules, including copyright considerations and new Blogging Guidelines being developed by the National Assn. of REALTORS. One of the most interesting issues in the guidelines is the position that the NAR legal eagles are taking about comments. They are insisting that the NAR blogmasters moderate their comments: 

"If you have a blog, accept comments. Develop a comment policy outlining the types of comments you WON’T publish: e.g., those that are offensive, illegal, irrelevant, or are sales pitches."

The webcast, podcast, and handout contain information that real estate agents and brokers will find valuable in developing a Blog Business Plan.

The following resources are mentioned in the Webinar: 

• RealtyTimes
• Articles for Rookies
• Economic Research
• Build a Better Web Site
• Start a Podcast
• Architecture Guide
• Handouts for Buyers and Sellers
• Field Guides
• 8-Step Personal Marketing Plan
• Download e-Mail Banners
• Fill--In-The-Blanks News Releases

The next 8-week Blog Coaching Webinar program starts next week. Join us and take your blogging to the next level at No Blogger Left Behind.

 -- Frances Flynn Thorsen and Joeann Fossland

Tired of Negative Headlines? Write Your Own!

Hilary Marsh of The National Assn. of REALTORS offers a preliminary peek at NAR's new Blogging Guidelines in next week's FREE No Blogger Left Behind Webinar. Real estate brokers, agents, and bloggers will gain valuable insight into an online publishing tool that is changing the face of online real estate. The Webinar will be held June 17.

Hilary joins Blanche Evans ofRealty Times, Joeann Fossland, Master Certified Coach, and Frances Flynn Thorsen, RealTown.com. (Joeann and Fran are the Co-Creators of the No Blogger Left Behind Blog Coaching Program.)

Hilary Marsh, Managing Director, Editorial Development for Realtor.org, is a Web content guru. Before joining the National Assn. of REALTORS® , Hilary led Content Company, an online consultancy specializing in Web content strategy and management. Among the clients were the American Hospital Assn., the University of Chicago, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. A frequent national speaker on Web content issues, Hilary founded NetContent/Chicago, an organization for the online content community, and is a founding member of CM Professionals, the content management community of practice. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. (Courtesy Realtor.org.)

Register here.

Real estate news is LOCAL! News articles about a national real estate market are as relevant as a national weather forecast!

This is what Web 2.0 is really all about! Blogs and online publishing tools give real estate agents a chance to tell consumers the REAL story as it applies to local markets. Moderator Frances Flynn Thorsen is a member of the National Assn. of Real Estate Editors.

• What online publishing tools are available?
• Learn how to write a powerful headline. 
• Learn how to write a NEWS story. 
•  Learn how to write a FEATURE story. 
•  Conduct (wo)man-on-the-street interviews. 
•  Build your business at the same time that you build your brand and build your repuation. 
•  Learn how to attract the press.

Join us for this special, FREE No Blogger Left Behind Breakout session on Tuesday, June 17.

2 PM EST
1 PM CT
12 Noon MT and Arizona
11 AM PDT
8 AM Hawaii

Register here.

One of the bonuses of traveling to meetings around the country is the chance to meet fellow bloggers and e-PROs in person. Last week Joeann Fossland and I were in Ocean City, MD, to present an e-PRO Workshop for local REALTORS and we had the good fortune to meet e-PRO Susan Pruden, who drove up from Prince George's County. Susan has been an e-PRO for years, blogs at RealTown (Real Estate Bits and Pieces), is a No Blogger Left Behind alumna, and she uses a Point2 web site quite effectively! Susan is doing things right!

Joeann and I will be hosting additional workshops in June. We hope to meet more e-PROs and bloggers as well as REALTORS taking the next steps to advance their tech expertise.

Joeann's June schedule (Arizona):

Phoenix Assn. of REALTORS	June 5	12 PM
WCR Southeast Regional Chapter (Chandler)	June 13	1:30 PM
Phoenix Assn. of REALTORS	June 19	9:00 AM

Fran's June schedule (New Jersey):

Greater Union County (Westfield)	June 16	1 PM
ReaslSource Assn. of REALTORS (Waldwick) Advanced e-PRO Workshop featuring Blogging and Web 2.0	June 20	9:30 AM

Sign up and meet us in person. If you would like to get a head start and save $25, sign up here and use the code: 9378.

Are you working in a vacation or second home market? HomeAway's Christine Karpinski shared thoughts about thriving markets and ideas for content with real estate editors at last week's Spring Journalism Conference in Dallas.

Buyers Seeks Vacation Homes in Their Comfort Zone

Karpeinksi points to healthy vacation home markets (in no particular order):

• Outer Banks,NC
• Steamboat Springs, CO
• Lake Tahoe, CA
• Park City, UT
• Galveston, TX
• The Pocono Mtns., PA
• The Smokey Mtns, TN
• Branson, MO
• Virginia Beach, VA
• Panama City Beach, FL

No Blogger Left Behind -- Develop a Blog Business Plan

Join us for a Webinar on April 30 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/393611873 What exactly is a blog? We will talk about The Anatomy of a Blog, Different Blog Platforms, and How Blogging Fits Into A Real Estate Agent's Overall Web Strategy. 5 PM  EST, 4 PM CST 3 MST,  2 PST,  11 AM Hawaii Title:   No Blogger Left Behind -- Develop a Blog Business Plan Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 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

Mary Pope Handy was a brand new blogger last spring. She launched her first blog, LiveInLosGatos.com as my Blog Apprentice under the watchful eyes of thousands of real estate agents and bloggers during the Project Blogger Contest sponsored by Inman News and ActiveRain. I had the privilege of working with Mary as her Blog Coach. She won the contest handily and she reflects upon the last year at her ActiveRain Blog.

Mary has numerous blogs now. One of my favorites is her Haunted House Blog. She launched another gorgeous new blog last week. ALMOST everything about that blog is perfect: design, illustrations, writing!

I confess that the title of this blog has my Blog Coach hormones raging out of control, however, and I have to give Mary a shout about her URL:

 www.SanJoseRealEstateLosGatosHomes.com

Mary, What are you thinking, girl! You have the keenest, most wonderful style in the Blogosphere ... your other blogs are wearing finery from their domain names to the smallest detail of their construct. Haunted House Blog is wonderful ... Live in Lost Gatos is easy to remember ... but San Jose Real Estate Los Gatos Homes????  This is a name that speaks to SPIDERS, not PEOPLE. It has no heart, no soul.

I beseech you to shed that awful, boring URL for something that befits a Mary Pope Handy blog. Your blog needs a more elegant name, something that reflects YOU.

I have been writing a step-by-step Web site creation chronicle at one of my other blogs, RealTown Report. Recent addition of online discussion forums at my new Point2 Agent web site has sparked some questions about the basic how-to's of adding a discussion forum to a web site or blog.

Q. "Frances, I really like your community Blog. My question is, I have a RealTown blog, how do I go about doing a community Blog? Do I have to get rid of the other one? Also, where can I find instructions on how to build one with links to my site as you did? Thanks for all your help!

RealTown's new community building tools give RealTown Bloggers a decided "edge' in developing an advanced Web 2.0 presence on the real estate net. Real estate pros at RealTown can invite consumers and other realty professionals to interract online in managed groups. Information delivery options include Web delivery, immediate e-mail delivery, or digest e-mail delivery.

Working with a HomeOwner Association? Real estate agents can build a consumer-facing blog and create a group, eliminating the need for snail-mail services that are becoming outmoded, old fashioned, and expensive.

My first group is called "Helping Americans KEEP Their Homes." You are welcome to join and share ideas!

Q.  I'm having difficulty inserting text and photo into my blog. I can insert photo. I can type text. I CAN'T put them together, side by side. For example, insert the photo, they type text next to it. Can't do it! Can type above it or below it, not next to it. I don't want to have large blank space next to the photo, and don't want to increase the size of the photo to cover the whole page. Also, the text I type runs on and on. In other words, as I'm typing this now, when I arrive at the end of the line, it will automatically drop down to the next line and start all the way to the left at the beginning of the line. It won't do that on my blog entry. It just keeps going and going and going ... you get the picture. Could you please help? Thanks!

Wait until you see how simple this is!

1. Go to the Blog Manager and open the entry with the photo.
2. Right click on the photo and click on Image Properties. It will open the Image Upload Tool (shown at right).
3. Add the "5" integer in the blocks HSpace and VSpace. This will add 5 pixels of space as horizontal and vertical margins between the photo and the text.
4. Select the pull-down menu from the Alignment field and choose Left or Right or another selection for alignment. Generally speaking, Left and Right alignment choices are the easiest for the types of word wrapping that you describe in your questions.

Q.  I can find the link to change my photo on my RealTown blog. I have changed it in my RealTown profile but not on the front page of my blog.

RealTown offers its Bloggers the opportunity to have different photos on the Profile page and the Blog Profile. You can use the same photo following these simple steps:

1. Log into RealTown.com.
2. Click on VIEW MY PROFILE. (NOTE: You can use any photo that is online, not necessarily the RealTown Profile photo. The following steps apply for any photo that you select.)
3. Right click on the Profile photo.
4. Click on PROPERTIES.
5. Highlight the text in Address (URL) and COPY (CTRL +C).
6. Go to RealTown Blog Manager, EDIT MY BLOG PROFILE.
7. PASTE into BLOG IMAGE URL.

PDF files can offer real estate consumers valuable content. There is a great example of maximizing the use of lead capture technology on Joeann Fossland's inspirational blog, RELAXED Real Estate for MAGNIFICENT Agents. Joeann is a Master Certified Coach and is widely regarded as a premier coach in the real estate industry, if not THE premier coach. Her blog content is rich and I can personally testify to life changing shifts that I have made after reading select posts at her blog in the last couple of years.

Assess your forms software. Point2 Agent web site owners have access to some great, easy-to-use forms software on that web platform. Top Producer users also have access to forms.

Today's offering to Joeann's blog readers is a 30-day plan that can change your life. (I am presently working on Day 8 of the same book.) Joeann has a PDF file and link that blog readers can click to collect this prize. The link takes readers to a page with a link to the PDF. She follows up seconds later with an autoresponder. (Can you tell that Joeann is a Certified e-PRO Trainer?) Simple. Easy. A gateway to a plan that can change your life. How many blogs have you read today that can change your life forever? Don't miss this one!

I have discovered numerous uses for the PDF upload feature on real estate blogs since I discussed it here last week.

1. Market Data Statistics. Do you look at tables sometimes and wish you could use them on your blog, but they are so large and complicated that it would consume too much time? Here is an example of a PDF upload that I did at RealTown earlier today. Check out the rich data and the CLICKCABLE links!
   
   EXAMPLE: Click here for U.S. Foreclosure Market Statistics by State – Jan 2008.
   
   
2. Pre-Listing Package. Why not put a Pre-Listing Package online for sellers to download? Be transparent! Be bold! Be brave! Make a package complete with forms and checklists. Afraid that other people will see it? Trust me, most agents will not spend the time and energy to do this. Differentiate yourself. Stand apart from the crowd.
   
   
3. Relocation Package. Save the postage costs and save time. Send your clients in other cities a link and let them print the package at home or read it online. They will be impressed with your tech savvy.
   
   
4. Sample Contracts. Explain agency with downloadable forms that they can print and review at home. You can create PDFs with a watermark that says COPY or other words if you have a concern about people using them. Or, populate the forms with names like John Q. Seller on a blank listing agreement or agreement of sale.
   
   
   
5. Moving Checklists. Create your own checklists that feature your name and logo prominently.
   

Do you know that you can use Windows Office 2007 programs to save files as PDFs? Convert your Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Outlook calendars, and PowerPoint presentation files to PDFs as an alternative to standalone PDF creators. There are numerous free PDF makers online.

We had a No Blogger Left Behind Breakout Webinar last week are we are happy to present it here. Resources and links cited in the Webinar appear below the Video Player. Grab a bag of popcorn, get cozy, and enjoy! 

Resources and Links: (If we missed any, send me an e-mail and I will include them.)

Profile of REALTOR Julie Emery, Virginia

Julie Emery's Blog

REALTOR Marty Millner's web site, Bucks County, PA

Marty Millner's Blog

REALTOR Dee Marie Fisher's Blog, California

REALTOR Mary Pope-Handy's Award Winning Blog in Los Gatos, CA

Invite interactivity on your blog in more than just the COMMENTS section. Invite guest authors to write stories that you can share. Mary Pope-Handy, a REALTOR in Los Gatos, CA, publishes Live In Los Gatos for her local market. She was the winning Blog Apprentice in last year's Inman News/ActiveRain Project Blogger competition (photo at right l. to r: Mary Pope-Handy, Frances Flynn Thorsen, and Joeann Fossland hold check for CARE, the grand prize in the contest). Mary also publishes a niche blog, The Haunted Real Estate Blog. I wrote a piece for her yesterday about a an experience that I had when I was showing a house in eastern Pennsylvania.

Teresa Boardman publishes a highly successful  blog, St. Paul Real Estate. She has a regular contributor, Erik Hare, who writes a post for her every Sunday. It is one of the many ingredients in Teresa's formula for a highly successful real estate blog.  

In 2006, Joeann Fossland popularized Blog Guest Posting with her Coachadelic Blog Tour for CARE. She visited numerous blogs over several months with guest posts to raise money for humanitarian programs around the globe. Her Web Women Giving Circle raised about $25,000 for CARE.

RealTown Blogs has a multi-author, time-saving function that lets you grant author privileges to others.