What the hell is this?  My kindergarten drawing of what happened to the mortgage industry and why so many homes are in foreclosure or heading there.

The black dots represent the relative amount of people who have/need a mortgage.

The gray circle represents the size of the pool of available mortgage programs prior to ~August 2007, i.e. the sub-prime and Alt-A market. 

The white circle represents the size of the pool of available mortgage programs today going forward, i.e. Conforming and FHA.  

The gray circle has since evaporated.  No new sub-prime or Alt-A loans available.

There are far less people who fit into the white circle. 

That leaves a bunch of black dots that cannot get a mortgage anymore. 

If you're a black dot that has a sub-prime or Alt-A ARM and it adjusts for the worse, dont have the credit/financial strength to qualify for a Conforming or FHA loan (fit in the white circle), your stuck.  Pay the higher monthly payment, sometimes as much as 50% higher, or lose the home to foreclosure. 

Thats leaving a bunch of houses empty.  

End of story.

All of these suggestions are free to implement and will generate very high quality incoming links and a pretty healthy amount of traffic.

You can use your ActiveRain profile just fine with each of these items but you will likely generate the best results with your own Individual Blog. (If you don't have an Individual Blog yet click here to get one.)

Please note that pretty much all of the items below require that you have a free account with the applicable website.

1. Submit yourself to Google Local. Make sure to put in your blog or profile URL in the website entry form field.

2. Add your blog to Local.Yahoo.com.

3. Submit your blog to Yelp! 

4. Create a blog post for everyone of your listings and submit the URL to Google Base.

5. Create a blog post for everyone of your listings and submit the URL to Craigslist.

6. Add links to your website, ActiveRain profile, and your Individual blog, on your LinkedIn profile page.  Your LinkedIn profile is second only to your ActiveRain profile in terms of Google Juice.

7. Add yourself to YellowPages.com. The search engines tap this database to populate their Local search results.

(The cow above looks very dominating; similar to the way you will look to your competitors if you implement these strategies.  In case you were wondering, that is why I chose it as the picture for this post.)

ActiveRain ActiveBlogs

Will they compete?  Will they compare?  What is the difference between a WordPress Blog by Yahoo, a Blogspot or Blogger Blog by Google, and an ActiveRain Outside Blog?  Is there an advantage to either one? Which is the best for me?  Why would I even care?  A Blog is a Blog is a Blog... right?  Here's one way to find out.

Come join the ActiveRain Staff tomorrow to find out more about the hottest topic spreading around the web right now.  Jon, Bob, Rich and myself are hosting the RAIN Radio show (back from it's dormant state of hibernation) and will be unleashing the fury, tips, secrets, and vision of the NEW ActiveBlogs offered by our very own ActiveRain.

Watch out WordPress, step aside Blogger, new kids are in town.

(WordPress and Blogger have refused to comment...)

Call in to the show, join our chat session live with Elizabeth Nieves, follow along live from your computer, or just miss the show and go on having questions and confusion about Individual and Group Blogs. (just kidding) We'll also record the program and place it in this post later for those who can't make it.

Do us a favor and yourself one too, come find out what it's really all about and ask your questions, share your thoughts, vent your concerns, get answers from those who have them.  You can also leave any comments here that you'd like us to address.  This will be very educational and informative, I sincerely hope you can join us.

This Friday, Jan. 30 - 11:00am PST - 2:00pm EST. 

"RAIN" RADIO LINK                 THE "THUNDER" CHAT ROOM                  THE "LIGHTNING" RSS FEED

This morning over on TechCrunch, Erik Schonfeld reminds us that today is "Data Privacy Day 2009" and exhorts subscribers on the inherent dangers of disclosing one's private information in exchange for participation in social media.

As a Community Builder here on ActiveRain, one of the constant issues of concern that I field through our Help Desk Ticket System is over thoughtless comments or inappropriate information recklessly published on our platform, and the often times difficult challenges of getting those comments/information removed in a timely fashion.

Even when we manually remove this information from our network, it can still take additional time for the search engines to update their systems, and for the data to eventually disappear. All the while, such words remain dangerously exposed to the entire world.

In today's 'litigation-happy' 'lawsuit-frenzied' society, we need to exercise exceptional care and caution in what information we publish to the digital record. Whenever legal proceedings ensue, court-ordered confiscation of computers is typically one of the first actions pursued, followed by a tracing of digital footprints, i.e. e-mails, browsing habits, and social media involvements.

The new-found cash cow for 'ambulance chasers' is the unauthorized use of copyrighted images/pictures. There are "professional" photographers who upload literally thousands of photos to the Internet, and then lie in wait, hoping for some unsuspectiing 'rube' to come along and copy/paste them to their blog/website. Shortly thereafter, an invoice from their legal counsel shows up in your mailbox to the tune of several thousand dollars!

In addition, being 'too' transparent with your personal information on social networks can open you up  to phishers, scammers, and identity thieves.

May "Data Privacy Day 2009" remind us to think twice about what we contribute to the digital archives, and that our words/actions can have a very long and lasting impact.

REBarCamp is comin' to Seattle!  And do you all know what that means?  Do you REALLY KNOW?

No, you don't know.  That's why I'm going to tell you.

It means:  The entirety of the AR Staff is going to be there! 

AND THAT MEANS (excuse my excitement here)...I get to go, too!

I feel somewhat like the tag-a-long little sister of the guys here at AR, but they constantly come back with stories about how much fun they had at this event or that event; I'm the one who gets to stay behind and make sure HQ stays up and running, so the fact that I get to go and plaaaaay is very, very exciting for me.

ActiveRich has all the annoying little details, but here's what you need to know (winkwink, nudgenudge): ----I---- am going to be there.  Yes.  So you should ALL come and meet me so that I can put names to faces.

*happydance*

(This message brought to you by the un-caffienated, highly-illogical and unCLAIREified, running-on-two-hours-of-sleep redhead who runs this blog.  Any sharp, stabbing adreniline pains you feel are probably normal; afterall, excitement is contagious.)

If you're in a hurry, just read the bold text, if you got a second, read this entire post.

No I don't have a lisp and I can spell! It IS a misunderstanding.  These two Internet Browsers are some of the most popular, most used Internet Super-Highway viewers in the world.  I'm not sure the exact number of users, but I can tell you that Google Analytics states this very clearly in their statistical reports.  Too many people do not understand that you can install, run and use both simultaneously.

Internet Explorer seems to have many issues on many sites, as do all the Internet browsers available.  That includes Google Chrome and Flock too.  Each browser has it's own unique settings that allows you to customize it to your liking.  There are a lot of REALTORS® in this Industry that have to use on-line MLS systems that will only work with IE.  They think they can't have Firefox too, or any other browsers.  WRONG!

I'm breaking this "Myth" today!

Saying that you can't have or use both browsers is like saying you can't own a Jaguar and a Rolls Royce.  The difference is that you can't drive a Rolls Royce and a Jaguar at the same time.  With Internet Explorer and Firefox, YOU CAN!  Remember that ALL Internet users have different browsers and use them differently.  Make sure if you are providing content via your Websites and Blogs, that your content looks good in both browsers.

A common issue with these browsers is that one will work better than the other on certain sites.  I have personally found that Mozilla Firefox is more forgiving, faster, and stable than Internet Explorer on most the sites I frequently visit.  This includes ActiveRain.  I also like many of the plug-ins that are available for Firefox, and it works great on my MAC.   My suggestion to you is have and use both.

A great number of people are ONLY using Internet Explorer and in many, if not most cases, are missing out on what FireFox and other browsers have to offer.  My Internet Explorer is running right now while I'm posting this article using Firefox.  They can both be open and running simultaneously.  Each is only a click away.  If you were to see this post in either or both browsers, I think you'll agree that:  1) the myth is broken  2) you should always check your work and content in both browsers.

(I hope this one looks OK in both)

                    Download Newest Version of FireFox          Download Newest Version Internet Explorer       

and then use them both...

Experiences that Transform

Every once in a great while, you encounter/experience something that revolutionizes/challenges your thinking, and transforms/changes the way in which you approach business/marketing. My involvement here on ActiveRain has been one such experience.

The REBarCamp is another.

The recent REBarCamp in Houston Texas was the second such event I’ve attended in the past year. I had also participated in the REBarCamp San Francisco, just prior to the Inman Connect back last summer.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with these events, REBarCamp is derivative of BarCamp, an international network of free user-generated conferences characterized by spontaneous, open, participatory workshops. It was first started by O’Reilly Media in 2005, the same folks who coined the term ‘Web 2.0.‘

The Curse of the Costly Conference

Over the course of my professional career, I’ve attended more conferences, workshops, expos, trade shows, and conventions than you can shake a stick at. Which is strange, because I rarely find myself shaking a stick at something!

Regardless, by virtue of my past experiences, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on what constitutes a successful and beneficial event.

In today’s challenging market, real estate professionals around the country are hard-pressed to justify and cover the expenses of attending industry-related conferences.

At the NAR Conference in Orlando this past November, the full 4-day event cost $430. Add to that your air fare, hotel accommodations, and meals, and you’re easily up over $2000. For the recent Inman Connect in New York, conference registration was almost twice the cost of NAR Orlando.

Please understand, I am not downplaying or criticizing the value of events such as the Inman Connect or the NAR Conference, or the associated ROI of such events. But realistically, not everyone has the ability, especially in the current economic downturn, to participate in these events.

The Conference that Comes to You - 100% Absolutely FREE!

REBarCamp, on the other hand, is FREE to those who attend. The costs for the event are shared evenly by sponsors who contribute a flat fee of $250 each. The monies provided through sponsorship help to underwrite the expenses of renting the meeting space, providing a nice lunch, and giving each attendee an REBarCamp T-shirt. REBarCamp events can be organized and held locally, eliminating costly travel and hotel expenses.

Enter at Your Own Risk

However, by its very premise, there is an inherent risk with the REBarCamp experience. Rather than having a predictable slate of scheduled speakers/presenters (hence the corresponding cost of the event), and their associated topics, the agenda for the REBarCamp isn’t necessarily known until the morning of the event. As people show up, those who want to present/teach a session can reserve a spot for the preferred time slot and classroom location up on the ad hoc schedule board, and promote their particular session/topic. So obviously, the nature and extent of your event topics/content will vary, depending on who shows up.

Lessons from the Trenches

Despite this risk, the compensating positive is that REBarCamp provides an open environment

“Where those who are passionate about what they know, can share their knowledge freely with those who are hungry to learn!”

The people who volunteer to teach or present the sessions at REBarCamp are typically those who not only know their subject matter intimately, but have practically implemented/applied it in the course of their everyday business. They’ve lived out what they know in the trenches and allow us to benefit from their experiences.

Continuing dEaD

How many industry-related conferences or CE classes have you attended where you came away with very little, if any, practical or helpful information that directly impacted your business? Unfortunately, all too many times, either the information is not relevant to the issues we face, or the speakers seem out of touch with our reality.

Vendors in White Hats

We’re extremely fortunate in our industry to have so many valued supplier/vendor companies who actively invest and participate in events such as REBarCamp. These are companies that have a vision beyond simply selling/marketing their products and services. They possess genuine concern and passion for the health of the real estate industry, and seek to provide value for those of us who derive our living from it. My personal thanks to our friends at Trulia, Zillow, Altos Research, MLBroadcast.com, and Real Estate Shows for your ongoing support!

Trailblazers in the Web 2.0 Frontier

Additional thanks and gratitude should be extended towards those from among our ranks who have effectively laid the groundwork for future events to take place. People like Todd Carpenter, Andy Kaufman, Brad Coy, and Mike Price, to name a few.

It All Begins with You!

Imagine the positive impact we could make in our industry if each of us helped to organize an REBarCamp event in our own local market? For more information on how to begin the process, access the official REBarCamp website, or contact Mike Price at MLBroadcast.com for further details.

Coming to a City Nearest You:

REBarCamp Seattle, Friday Feb. 13th        REBarCamp Los Angeles         REBarCampVirginia

Inspired in part by Brad Andersohn and Debbie Malones post, I want to draw attention to a potential marketing and monetization strategy for Individual or Team Blogs that most anyone can implement.  

Brad discussed one of 5 potential ways to maximize your Team Blog: recruit 'Your Affiliates Who Contribute to Your Business and Success'.  Debbie posted that how her hyper-local content about Lynchburg, VA was sending business to some other local businesses that she mentioned in her blog. 

Often times, the obvious isn't such, so I'd like to point out an easy way to monetize and otherwise add value to your AR Individual and/or Team Blog:  Recruit local businesses to contribute and/or advertise on your blog.

Think about it...you have The Juice, Google Juice, which is an online marketers Holy Grail.  Hyper-local blogs are quickly replacing Newspapers as the go to source for local news, events and area service providers.  Write a review about a local restaurant or 3rd party service provider, show them how they show up in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) and offer up an advertisement placement in your sidebar for $25, $50, $100 (?) a month. As your traffic increases so does the value of your online real estate. 

With the pending release of 'Widgets' to our outside blogging platform, specifically the ability embed images in the sidebar, there is a great opportunity to sell that space to local advertisers, whether they be a service provider like a good plumber or simply a great restaurant that you want to share with others. 

Couple of points...

Be selective.  Don't indescriminantly slap up 30 advertisers; be thoughtful with who gets a spot on your site, they reflect on you.  Preferably only allow businesses or people with whom you've had a positive experience with to participate. I'd personally limit the advertising space to 3-4 to begin with. 

Be creative.  People ignore vanilla or ugly ads.  The ad should have a succinct call to action, offer a clear tangible benefit and look good.

Stay focused.  The more you write about your local areas the more likely you are to rank for seach terms for that area.  Concentrate your content and tag your posts appropriately.

This can be a great way to pay for the cost of the blog and subsidize your income, all for doing what you're already doing.  Start generating a Social Media ROI!

It's true.  If you own an iPhone, you can now interact with the ActiveRain Real Estate Network of friends and business partners from anywhere your iPhone browser works.  This is not an iPhone application, it's a browser enhancement from our AR developers. (great job guys)

At 2:00am, we deployed a fix that will now allow you to post, and comment on ActiveRain Blogs using your iPhone.  Members have been waiting for this upgrade and I'm glad to announce it is finally launched.  It's great.  We're also working on an iPhone application that will be custom tailored and made available for ActiveRain members later.

The only things you can't do from the phone right now are create links, add images, and there's no text toolbar for bold text etc.   So now you can create a post from anywhere, make edits, add and delete comments using just the iPhone browser.  (iPhone uses the Safari browser) 

You can email posts to others right from the iPhone using the email graphic icon that's below each post.

10 minutes is all it took to create this using just my thumbs, (haha) it's a new record for an ActiveBrad post. 
We've taken one small step for mankind, one Giant step for Activerain and iPhone.

This was created and posted using the iPhone.  I'll add a picture from my computer later.  I love my iPhone.

Yesterday, I had a coffee tete-a-tete with a guy around 4pm in Ballard and so I went to the coffee shop a little early to do some work for the office, to get some coding done, and to finish up a chapter on my novel.  It was CROWDED, though - more crowded than I have ever seen that particular coffee shop!!  To top it off, it was snowing (yes! snowing!) outside and forcing more people inside.  On one hand, it was really, really funny to watch people stand in the middle of the room and look around, slack-jawed, in hopes of finding a table.  On the other hand, I was one of those (closed-jawed, thank you very much) people.

So I targeted a seat at a fairly large table that was open across from an older gentleman (I later found out that he was 75 years old) and asked politely, "May I sit here?"  He laughed and said, "Absolutely, but my wife is coming back soon, and she's going to sit here."  He indicated the other empty seat.  I winked and told him that I'd give her some elbow room.

I started typing and glanced up only a moment before becoming enthralled by what the old man was doing.  He was drawing, and not just the drawing that you see people do when they doodle in the margins of a magazine, but actual pen-and-ink on sturdy paper drawing.  It had a sort of old-style flair to it, kind of like I was looking at some of the old propaganda posters from WWII.  His hand was so very steady that I just sat and watched him for a moment, trying not to be rude, but fascinated by not only his talent, but his dedication to getting each line perfectly straight as he shaded in the dark areas with a fine-point black pen.

He caught me.  I looked up just as he did and caught his eye, declaring, "I'm sorry!" I hadn't meant to intrude on his privacy.  He just smiled and informed me that they were just the drawings of an old man.  I mentioned that I hadn't seen anyone ever draw like he was; the man had considerable talent.  It was obvious that where he may not have been schooled in the art, he certainly was practiced.

As the conversation wore on, I learned that he used to work with the circus, he'd fought in several wars (one in Cuba), he had traded arms with men in marijuana fields, he had danced the night away at various clubs, he had scammed fairway walkers out of their money at carnival booths, and he had painted signs, done calligraphy, and now....now....he was writing a book about his "evil days" - the time during which he experienced all this.

As a writer myself, I hung on every word; it's amazing what 75 years of a life can bring into the world in the way of memories.  As his wife sat down with us, I explained with a grin after she mentioned that they were going to go see a movie soon, "I'm sorry, he was just charming me with some of his old stories." 

We struck up a rapport, she and I, even teasing the old gentleman about "embellishing" those stories.  I think, perhaps, what I got out of the experience was not the stories themselves, but the way his eyes gleamed when he told them, like he was reliving times in his own mind that were truly happy times for him.  With those happy memories, sharp wit, and steady hand came the wisdom of experience: he told me that I mustn't ever pass up an opportunity for greatness, because even the most insignificant step in the right direction was still a step more than I had previously made.

I think, so often, we younger people tend to dismiss older people because they are from a different time; someone very close to me refers to the elderly as 'living fossils', a term that I hate to hear, myself, especially after meeting people like this gentleman and his lovely wife.  I took my own grandparents for granted, and now that they're gone, I really wish I'd listened more to what they had to say.  Perhaps I would know more today if I had just taken the time to garner some of that old-age wisdom.

If we would all just stop and listen to those with more experience, perhaps we would make it farther than we would be by pretending we know everything.  Me included.