ActiveRain - The Official ActiveBlog

Google Gives Great GoGo Juice as a gift, and they're doing it on Virgin American Airlines

This will be my first post ever from a plane flying at an altitude of over 37,225 feet.  I just couldn't resist.  My options were to either sleep on the 5 hour flight to New York, finish reading "Crush It" by Gary V, or write a blog post. Well, here I am. lol~  I'm actually hoping that in the next five hours, I can accomplish a little bit of all three.  :-)

It was a really cool thing to arrive at the Virgin American Air gate this morning to see that they had Wi-Fi available for all us passengers.  Then I was greeted with a handshake and a smile from one of the Virgin Air employees at the front desk, followed by seeing my name in lights on the "BIG" board.  Wow, I have to say I got pretty excited, and was very impressed with their unique great customer service.  I really appreciated that warm and fun reception.

I can tell already this is going to be a great trip to RainCamp and Inman Connect!

First thing after boarding the plane, I run into Derek Overby and Mike Mueller, both nearly as excited as I am to get to New York. (Actually, Mike Mueller is behind me sleeping right now, but I know he's excited).  I just sent him an IM using this new "seat to seat chat" they have on board, but looks like Mikes getting his zzzzz's instead right now...

I digress.  So how cool is this that I am writing this post from seat 18D aboard a flying aircraft.  I have written many Blog posts and from "many" different places, but never while flying on a plane.  Here I was thinking and dreading the worst of a long 5 hour+ flight from the West to East Coast.  I sure am glad that Google has a hot thing going on with Virgin...wait...that doesn't sound quite right, but I think you know what I mean right?  FREE WiFi on a plane, Man I just love that they've finally able and doing this.

Now I'm spoiled, I will never want to fly without Internet Access again.  Google, please keep your "GoGo" coming, and provide it on all airlines, not just Virgin's.   You've got my vote, it sure is making the time and flight go faster, and it's much more enjoyable knowing my email is not getting backed up over the next few hours.  Thanks to Virgin Air and Google for bringing me my "first ever" Airborne Blogging experience.  I'll probably want to travel a lot more now and you both know where I'll "GoGo" when it comes time to "FLY!"

Looking forward to landing in New York in a few hours, and I'm really excited about being a part of both Inman Connect and RainCamp this year. I hope I'll get to see you at either one or both.  ...and I still can't believe I'm writing this while flying on a plane. :-))

Social Media Buttons and Icons - Is Someone Pushing Your Buttons?

During these past few weeks, since adding the "Signature" option to ActiveRain posts, I've received so many requests, calls, and emails regarding how to add "Social Media Buttons and Icons" to the footers of Blog Posts.  You've probably seen many of the various types and styles other members are using on their Blogs which poses the question, "Where Are They Getting These?"  Here's some sites I've found that offer you these custom buttons for FREE.  This includes for personal and commercial use according to their terms and guidelines.

Here are some Links to Literally Thousands of Buttons and Icons:

• My Social Buttons

• Royalty FREE Icons and Clip-art

• WebTreats - 2000+ Buttons

• Brian Brumpton "RainDrops"

• DivaGeekDesigns - An Icon Overdose
  

• The Value of A Twitter Search

• Open Source Hunter

Instructions For Adding Buttons and Icons to the Signature or Footer of Posts:

Once you've downloaded the Social Media Buttons or Icons of your choice, you can add them to your AR Signature Page (including the appropriate links) by going to your "My Home" page on AR, then select the "Settings" link on the left hand sidebar.  Just upload the button or icon into the "Signature" section of the page, add the appropriate link to your image, then click "update" to save. That's it!

One tip I would suggest is to be careful which Icons you select for some of the Social Networking Sites. If the Icon or Button isn't a familiar looking one, then visitors might be less likely to click on it.  For example, the cow face, what Social Network or site does that one belong to?  Maybe visitors would click on it just to find out? (LOL~)  With all these Buttons and Icon styles available, one thing for certain is that your signature can be unique.  So have FUN!!

This should give you plenty of options and creative ways to stand out from the rest of the crowd. :-)

Social Media Buttons and Icons - "The Buttons You Want People To Push!"

5 Tools and Resources for Tracking and Monitoring Your Blog or sites Traffic and Statistics

Now that you are getting more traffic and results from your Blog posts, it's helpful and very informative to see where that traffic is coming from and what articles are getting you a variety of results.  I've put together this list of some tracking tools that are available on the web that will help you monitor your statistics and traffic results.  Hopefully these tools and resources will allow you to see what areas, topics, and Blog posts you can improve on based on the results of the information you can capture. 

Your "RainMaking" Stats

#1 - ActiveRain Statistics - Your Basic ActiveRain Traffic stats for Comments, Views & Clicks.  This is located on your ActiveRain "My Home" page and can be found in the lower left hand sidebar.  You can just click on "Statistics" to get your Blogs results.

The Global Overview

#2 - ClusterMaps - See where your traffic and visitors are coming from geographically.  Their Widget allows you to share with others on your site or Blog.  The interesting thing about ClusterMaps is that you'll see how many thousands of people are reading your stuff from all over the world. Sharing this information with others somehow seems to generate even more traffic and more visitors from other locations.

A FREE Parking Meter

#3 - SiteMeter - This one offers various reports and information regarding traffic and visitors to your Blog or website.  With their detailed reporting methods and tools, you'll have a clearer picture of who is visiting your site, how they found you, where they came from, and what interests them plus a ton more.  This was the first tracker I ever installed on my ActiveRain Blog.

An Active Measure of Results

#4 - ActiveMeter - Similar to Sitemeter, it works well on the ActiveRain network and offers some tools the others don't.  It is coincidentally called ActiveMeter but is NOT a product of ActiveRain.  Most web site analytics measure the number of web visits, unique visitors, pages viewed and returning visitors.  So does ActiveMeter, but with one difference; they do it in a "web visitor-centric manner", which means in many cases, you'll know who visited, and exactly where from. 

The Best Part of a "Click"

#5 - Get Clicky - A great tracker and real-time stat recorder for any Blog or website. The Free version is limited but works well.  Get Clicky gives real-time statistics to fine tune your Blog posts, sites and marketing campaigns to help you gain optimal performance.  This tracker tells you what is happening on your site right now.  It may be one of the easiest and fastest ways to keep a pulse on your Blog or websites activity.

Note: Google Analytics is another great tool but currently only works on ActiveRain Outside Blogs.

All of these tools are FREE and available on the web.  It's a matter of preference as to which ones (or all) will work best for you.  I have tried each of them and currently run all 5 on my ActiveRain Blog.  Each one offers different information, stats, and reports that I have found useful at one time or another.  The key is knowing how to use them to better your Blog.

The better your Blog and posts, the better your traffic and results will be.  These reports and analytics help you see your Blog posts and sites differently, more from a visitor or readers perspective.  Knowing what works and what may be falling short will help you to make quicker and more decisive decisions about changes, and the necessary improvements needed to your Blog posts.  They've helped me.

How do you install these trackers and widgets on your Blog?  Just Follow these instructions.

The "Building Better Blogs" Series

How To Create A Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines

Create Stickiness, Increase Traffic, Get Visitors Coming Back

How To Find Popular Search Terms, Keywords, Topics and Phrases

Google's SEO Starter Guide - Tips to Know about SEO

Are you a Real Estate Broker or Manager?  Do you support your Agents Blogging?  Should a Real Estate Brokerage have a company Blog in addition to their own personal Blogs?  What is the value of having a Brokerage or TEAM Blog with multiple contributors?  Who are the "key" people that should contribute to a group Blog?  What should be the focus of a "Brokerage Blog" vs "Personal" and what kind of time commitment is involved?  What tools can be incorporated to bring more value to your Blogs and to the consumer, and why the Heck should you care?

This Friday, we'll share some insight about these and other questions.  The CRB  (Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers)  Northern California Chapter has invited AR to attend and represent the community.  The question of whether to have a Blog or not is really no longer the question at all, especially if you're in todays Real Estate Industry and Market.  The real question is; "how do you support, budget, and integrate time and technology so that the individual and Broker Blogs work, and are not something that can cause you or your office problems, lost business, or big money?"

Consumers are using the Internet more and more for research causing Agents and Brokers to take a deeper look at their involvement with Blogging, WEB 2.0 technologies, and their Internet presence.  Is it time to be in tune with them and to find more ways to support them?  Every Brokerage should consider having a Group/Team Blog.  In the very near future, this won't be a choice or option, it'll be an Industry standard, just like "the website" was.

The only choices soon will become when and how...

Building a Team or Broker Blog with Multiple Contributors doesn't have to be challenge or nightmare.  Understanding some basic key fundamentals can help you establish a powerful presence both on-line and in your Local Community.  ActiveRain programmers, developers, and our staff have put in many hours of time and research to determine what works and what doesn't.  Without a doubt, it takes commitment, focus, time, and a plan.  Investing these four basic elements will deliver a multitude of positive results.

Making the decision to have a Blog or Team Blog is the easy step, but knowing how to make it work and what things to implement, along with who should be contributing, is the key to ANY multi-authored Blogs' success.  If you're a Real Estate Broker/Manager, and you do not currently have a Blog or TEAM Blog for your Personal, Brokerage or Office, this may be an enlightening Luncheon for you to attend.  Joe Banuat from Coldwell Banker  (also the NOR-CAL CRB Executive Director) is inviting ALL OF YOU to join us in Sacramento this Friday for:

"Technology and YOU - the Broker/Manager"

brought to you in part by:

All Licensed Real Estate Agents are Welcome, you DO NOT have to be a Broker or Manager to attend this event.

My morning today at AR Headquarters began with a Starbuck's Tall 'Shot-in-the-Dark' and a apple fritter. As usual, Claire was already at her desk. I powered up my Mac, and started to shovel my way out from under the normal avalanche of emails. 'TechCrunch's Latest' was at the top of the stack, so I clicked through, and discovered the first article, "Watching the Inauguration with All My Facebook Friends."

I quickly accessed the provided link, and was immediately ushered into a LIVE feed from the Mall, along with a corresponding real-time Facebook Chat function. Suddenly, I'm engaged in running commentary on the inauguration as events unfold.

This is the true power of the New Media - empowering and enlightening through greater connectivity and interaction!