“.. 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 Modern real estate professionals are happy to trade outdated “sales” descriptors for consumer-centric words that reflect service and consultancy expertise.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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Q I need some advice on how do you schedule your time for blogging? By the time I handle my daily business  listing and selling it is a full day plus. Our market has dropped about 5%on value, but am really still busy with buyers and now sellers want to list in March. Always felt I am quite organized, but having a problem here. Would appreciate some feedback on what works for you.

Q How many blogs should someone have and should there always be new content in each?

A You should only have as many blogs as you can manage comfortably. There should be new content in each. Consider the Categories you are using in a single blog, create a Category link URL and assign a second-level or third-level domain name to the Category tag. It will let you build content, achieve better SEO results, and manage your time more effectively.