steve's White Mountain Blog

So we are in the throws of Winter and it was time to change the banner on my Activerain Blog. It's easy to pick a picture you may like that represents the area you cover in the real estate business. The hard part is getting it to look right and fit into the small space we're given...to make a statement.

                                  Here is my Newest Banner...it took about 3 minutes to create.

  A picture says a thousand words it's been said...I didn't want to cover this shot in text.

On my way to work this morning I rolled down my window on the exit ramp I take to get on the highway everyday. This is what the shot started out as;

  Seriously...a picture from my moving car window taken from a highway entrance ramp...

     Here is the tricky part, to customize your banner, it is recommended that you have a photo that is 950 X 125 (the box it fits in is 960 X 130). it is hard to get a quality photo with those dimensions and have it say to the public -Hey! "READ MY BLOG".

   I use the Picnik.com picture software, and the first thing I do is Re-Size the photo in this case I went right to the 950 width because I wanted to use the whole shot (side to side). NEXT- use the crop feature and find the narrow 125 dimension that captures the scene in the shot. Re-size & Recrop till your hearts content...the photo editing software lets you Un-do mistakes and start over again. Here is the cropped Version of my photo:

 Last - Text, Go to Create on the Picnik Tool bar and add the text, you have 6-or-7 types of text, and you can make it any color or size you wish. I stayed with Less is more- and didn't clutter the photo-banner with too much text.

        When you are done with the banner on Picnik, save the photo. Go to "my Home" Open Activerain (customizer) you can change the colors of your background here or "browse" the photo you just edited and save it - when it is successfully up-loaded.

                       One of the fall foliage tries.

            I love this covered Bridge, but as I tried to enter the text and it got too busy for me.

Play around with the photos, and maybe you'll find one you'll like enough to be your next Blog- Banner.

                                  Good luck and have fun with it.

Playing with www.pagemodo.com the facebook page custom graphics layout software.

      Free FACEBOOK page graphics...this is a test attempt for a Fan Page, this can be edited for the season, changed at anytime or deleted as you wish. Looking for a little feed back before I put it up. This is one of the templates available for you to work with, several others may fit your fan page better...have a look.

Try Page Modo I have added links to each of the pictures and I can change them when new domain names are secured in the future. I'm toying with adding more of the new construction custom Adirondack homes we are currently building...or a picture of a particular listings with an MLS link back to the details...What do you think?

Enhance your blog with fun photo software, here are a few examples of ways to play with your pictures.

                                            Make a Jig saw Puzzle out of a favorite photo?

   A Fall foliage shot of a covered bridge and a red maple tree in front of a still pond.

This is a Hockneyizer photo spread...I used the Duck Boat I rode in, on a recent trip to Boston...

Fun with Badges...press pass, Hello my name is,  or other fun photo manipulations, I have used this in a few posts (when the story was "news worthy").

Adding a simple text to a picture can enhance the image...this is a six and a half foot sliding door, Do you think we got some snow in the White mountains Last year...It sure looks that way.

  Make a new Blog Header...change it with the seasons.

Create A bill board for your blog or  fun Ad campaign ,add text a photo and change the background landscape.

I used two different photo software programs to make the above shots...Google Picnik edit photos program or try a program called "big huge labs" both offer a bunch of different ways to play with pictures and text.

The Subject of my blog – Brings questions from new clients.

I know new construction, Adirondack style post and beam design homes and my newest clients wants an expert to help them buy or build a dream home. Can anyone do this for them....hell no, mine is the only post that specifically matches their search terms. The style , location and dream they have for a future home is directly spelled out in the title of a past post (Adirondack homes).

The Long tail search should be your niche-spelled out and defined.                                                          

Your passion or profession should be the title and be repeated several times in a successful post. Inquiries are driven to your links and or a call to action will be made when your blog is working the way Activerain was set up to work More about titles.

Rainmakers blog syndication will earn you great google recognition.

Whether I’m writing about rentals, radon or recreational real estate choices I’m seen as the area expert in my market. When I google terms or tags I associate with my posts and search the Internet using my name, I find I have thousands of related results (more about rants-reviews & research).

This past weekend I received confirmation blogging pays dividends.

A caller said “we would like to come up today and look at some of your listings”…great!. What type of home interest you? We found your blog about Adirondack homes in the White Mountains, each time we searched for Post and Beam or Adirondack style homes -your name came up as the guy in the know. We would like to see a few things listed between $700,000 and $1,300,000 if you have the time today. You bet I do…that is why I’m here.

Whether you sell mobile homes or mansions blog about your area of expertise.Tag your posts for the most exposure, add links to capture your target consumer, and repeat the key words in your blog a few times so the search engines pick up the content for the highest ranking when buyers are looking for your product. Happy Blogging to all my friends in the "Rain".

Talk to the hand…is a case of blogger burn out.

I have un-friend a few folks on facebook lately, they were too needy they wanted me to join this or that fan page, group or webinar everyday…they were saying I don’t really care about you lets talk about me!! Your blog readers can reach that point…were enough is enough? Good posts offer a chance to have a conversation, and make insightful comments. When posting occurs too often and it gets hard to keep up…it becomes a chore and that gets replaced with something more enjoyable (goodbye, I must move on).

Each time you post, you push your last blog underwater.

I think some of my posts are pretty good, but the next blog stands on the shoulders of the last one. It is impossible to leave a great blog on top, but I know I owe you a new post and it may not be as good as the last one. Your readers will forgive you, so long as they had a chance to read and comment on the previous article.

Contrary to burn out, search engines love quantity as much as quality.

Change is good: I stopped watch certain TV series over the years even though I loved the content I didn’t have time to keep up with the saga…miss a show and you are LOST.  Other formats offer great production quality that kept my interest, but the prior script wasn’t needed to follow today’s entertainment. This is a long way of saying if you post a lot change up the message so a new reader doesn’t need to know the history.

The Blogging Boulder…Momentum & Consistency.

Take a huge rock that sits in a stationary depression, we would all agree that getting it to move is a lot of work. I hope we can also agree once it is moving it is easier to keep it moving than it is to let it stop, only to try to move it again later. Richard Weisser posts consistently (almost) every morning he is the paper at my door, and I read him everyday. I’m not saying you need to post everyday, but if once a week is your rhythm, stick with it your readers will be expecting it and this will grow your following.

The world is watching, if I wouldn’t say it in front of my mother I wouldn't post it to the public. I post some raunchy stuff in the Activerain Comedy group, but as a member's only post. All my Public post are linked to facebook and Twitter, so I try to keep these on real estate topics and not overly political. I don’t know what is important to my next buyer or seller so I’ll try not to turn them off before we ever meet. I get a lot of traction from my Localism post people that are searching for information about my town find me this way, and Facebook friends subscribe to my blog and follow me outside of Activerain this is where my buyers and referrals are coming from.

This is a follow up post to one about Content, titles and general blogging tips...try this link for more help

Check out the use of photos and content in my Adirondack homes post

                   Subscribe to my blog for future tips and advice.

Blogging...I’m no rocket scientist, but I know how to light a fuse.

• An effective title can go a long way to attracting your readers. If you make it interesting, fun or attention grabbing you can secure a reader when they other wise may have passed you by.
• Change the font or the color, to suck in someone scanning and moving on
• Numbered or Bulleted listing can ensure your points will be made simply and quickly (as most readers only give you a few seconds to convince them).
• SEO places emphasis on the words used in your title, and can increase your page ranking.
  

Content...The blogging buzz word we bow to, and know it’s true.

It’s not just what you are saying but the usefulness and uniqueness of your content. I subscribe to many different bloggers, some because they are providing “expert” information on the market, short sales, or creative financing techniques…others I just enjoy reading their post, they have a sense of humor that I find refreshing or even controversial. Some I want information from while others; I enjoy the dialog between reader and writer.

Visual stimulus...You need more than words to keep me interested.

• Pictures are equal to a thousand words…they are faster than reading and makes your point, be creative, clever or artistic.
• Empty space is also your friend, allow a breather between points
• Bold, basic and short, the use of a subheading in a bold font, easy to read words (don’t be pedantic) and concise paragraphs will keep your readers from moving on to the next post.

Attention & call to action…If you just want a reaction from your immediate audience, go in to a dressing room in a busy clothing store and shout you are all out of toilet paper in here.

But if you are blogging to help sell something (whether it is yourself or a product) your post has to meet a need. As I said earlier some blogs I read because I like the writer (this is a favorable connection) others I read for their knowledge of a topic. Both of these types of bloggers I would seek out if I had a real estate transaction that involve their market area…and I suspect a client would do the same.

On one topic…A fat lady gets on a talking scale, the scale says one at a time

I do believe there is a point where you can say too much, introduce too many thoughts and confuse a reader into not responding. So for now I’ll say practice some of these techniques and next time we’ll talk about posting for points vs. blogger burn out.

Here are a couple of my recent post, that attempt to grab attention of the reader and create interest in our Construction side of the General brokerage business,

   The history of Adirondack homes.

   A discussion about remodeling Vs.staging.

Ripped from the recent headlines, comes a report (out of Montreal) that a women on sick leave had her benefits cut due to some facebook pictures. It seems as a way of fighting her depression, this Canadian women visited a Chippendales show (while on Holiday)...upon viewing these her insurance provider denied coverage. The Women's Attorney has argued her benefits were wrongfully dismissed, without "the proper medical recommendation". The women's legal council further explained the depressed women's doctor had suggested she take a vacation somewhere sunny.

In an unrelated story, during a marriage counseling session an estranged husband was quoted as saying "I've know this women all my life we were meant to be soul-mates" to which the wife going through this difficult separation said "you went to high school with this women and haven't seen her in 30 years...soul-mate my ass".

Let these stories serve as a warning to all you fans of Facebook and other social media's: be careful what you post...these digital recordings are out in the public domain (forever).

...P.S.  I just got back from vacation (and I'm not collecting any sick leave...we Realtors are never sick) and I'm a happily married man (no high school sweethearts are about to steal me away)...feel free to sign up to my facebook fan page or linked in blogs. 

Thanks Steve Kappre for the Great picture manipulation software ...for free.

I Took a hike a few days ago, and my wife and I commented on the distance one could fall from this particular out-cropping of rocks. It reminded me of Playing King of the Hill when we were kids.

I'm afraid the loser of "King of the Hill"...would lose more than the game if you fell from here.

Pretty cool features to crop, edit, and insert text...I wish I could crop that belly of mine. Oh Well it will be ski season soon enough, and I'll be back to racing weight...See you on the slopes.

Your Skiing Realtor: Steve Loynd- Loon & Cannon Mountain Resorts of New Hampshire...we get down faster than we get up.

Alpine Lakes Real Estate Co inc./  toll free 800-926-5653       / web site www.alpinelakes.com

Email; steve@alpinelakes.com   / Blog site www.steveswhitemountainblog.com