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.

Questions and answers about foreclosure, videos, and similarly focused empowerment articles are an excellent source of content for a real estate blog. St. Paul REALTOR Teresa Boardman publishes articles about foreclosures on her popular blog and shares this Freddie Mac video.

Q.  I just posted a new entry on my blog. I am still having a really hard time pasting in the Word documents. It is taking me hours!

A. This appears to be one of those things that missed my notice altogether.  RealTown Blogs has a very robust entry editor (shown below).

The top row of buttons facilitate text entry from plain text (Notepad) and Microsoft Word documents. The button that you will use contains the icon with the clipboard and "W" insert. Click that button and insert your Word document. Voila!

I am SO happy your asked! Sometimes we get used to doing things repetitively and we miss some of the most important tools we have. This features opens up a world of design possibilities since you can specify text styles, colors, and sizes in Word. The possibilities are almost infinite.

Happy Blogging!

Q.  Can I link the blog to my personal web site? Can I import pictures and associated documents into the blog? Documents in the form of a PDF?

A. You can link any blog to your personal web site.

You can import pictures and documents and other files into some blog platforms, including RealTown Blogs. Many blog platforms do not support file uploads of any kind at this time with the exception of limited graphics files (jpg, gif, png). The photo at the right was uploaded into this blog platform. If you click on the photo, you can retrieve a PDF file that was also uploaded into this RealTown Blog account.

Many blog platforms support graphics files only. You can upload files with the following extensions in RealTown Blogs: jpeg, jpg, gif, bmp, png, mp3, wav, mov, avi, mpg, pdf, ico, wmv

We had a special No Blogger Left Behind Webinar yesterday and we talked about Embedding Code in a Blog, and How to Insert Photos and Tables. This is a recording of that Webinar.