Your Social Media User Name – Is It Too Late?

Seems there is always something new to be learned and discovered.  Twitter, FriendFeed, Online Webinars, the Information is flying around the WEB 2.0 World at high speeds and at high altitudes, but if you try to grab on to some of this stuff, it’s amazing what you can learn from being connected to these Social Media Networking and Marketing platforms.  At todays webinar, we discussed your “User Names” and how they should be selected and used on the web.  A great site was mentioned that will search your name on multiple sites to see if it’s available.  So why is this important?

The questions?

Is it too late?  Does someone else already have your user name or do you?  What should your user name be?  Your real name or a company?  Should it be your name with a title?  IE: BradRealtor?  Maybe a memorable slogan, or a cool phrase?  I can tell you this, when I forget anything about anybody, I just Google their name.  I think I even do this sub-consciously.  Today, it was suggested to lock up your “real name” to be used as your “Brand”, and to capture that “name recognition” you deserve.  Who will find you?  Google will, your family will, your friends and neighbors will, and the people who search you out when your name comes up in certain circles will too.  Let me explain…

It’s Your Name.  What’s In A Name? 

Referral business for one.  If someone refers you to another person, how do they do it?  Your nick name, your company, your slogan or your catch-phrase?  No.  IMHO, I think in most cases people use other peoples names. Real names.  If I’m at dinner with friends, and you mention someone to me like Mary McCormick and her awesome site, I would probably remember her name before I would remember her site at: RealEstateLuxuryHomesInFlorida.com.  So what would I do when I got back home?  I’d Google her name.  How about you; would you ever do a search for ActiveBrad?  Exactly….

A Possible Tool $ Solution!

UserNameCheck.com is a website that can search many of the social networks and social media platforms. It searches sites to see where you can Brand your name, and snag it before someone else does.  Now I’m not saying you should go join all these sites, but do take stock in the ones you feel are beneficial to you, your on-line presence or your business. 

So now you’re just one click away from making some important decisions… should I be using my real name and which places should I be doing it?  (seriously pondering right now…) Will people search me as Brad Andersohn or ActiveBrad or my former TheEscrowGuy?  Hmmm… guess I have the same dilemma as some of you…crap, I hate when this happens.  LOL~ 

Right Now, you’re probably realizing like I am, that in some cases, it may be too late to change, even if your user name is available. The Google placement and SEO you’ve gained to this point, might not be worth losing…or is it???  It’s like the same dilemma you have when deciding to change a phone number, or an email address.  What user name are you using on the Web, and is it getting you the best possible results?

Hopefully this post will catch some of you before it’s too late….one way or the other.

Who Is ActiveRain's Jeff Corbett – The XBroker?

Today I had the pleasure of having some fun with our very own Jeff Corbett.  At the last minute, I tricked him to coming on the RAIN Radio broadcast so we could chat about business and social media stuff.  What Jeff Corbett didn’t know is that prior to going “Live”, I placed a few calls today to arrange for a couple surprises.  This was a kick!  I’m only posting this because it was like “This Is Your Life” remember that program from years ago where they brought family and friends on the show to surprise guests, (some here may be too young to remember).  Jeff Corbett is a really bright guy with a huge history and background in many segments of this Industry.  He’s really is a very sharp guy, and he spills the beans on the air today! 

 

Will the REAL Jeff Corbett please stand up?

I think we surprised Jeff C. today when I invited Jeff Turner to join us on the line.

So What do Jeff Corbett and Jeff Turner Have in Common? 

You’ll have to click “PLAY” to find out…

 

 

What did Ines have to say about Jeff joining AR and about the mysterious XBroker?

You’ll just have to listen to the show for the details on that one.  I took the Liberty to have a little fun with Jeff today and initiate him ActiveRain style.  I for one, am happy he’s on board.  I think he brings a whole new element of excitement to our team and the AR family, (even though he’s been around since the beginning) and I’m really stoked that Jeff is part of our staff now.  Welcome aboard my friend.

 

Thanks Jeff, I really enjoyed our chat with friends on R.A.I.N today.  So tell me, is there really a mask? :-O

Want to know more about Jeff Corbett? Take a Listen!                   

Hit Router – How To Set Up Your Own Click Campaign

This is much simpler than you may think, so don’t complicate it or get frustrated until you have reviewed this entire post.  This was written to walk you through the process with little or no pain.  Let’s see how I do.

Hit Router is really a simple Pay Per Click system, very similar to Google Ad Sense and Ad Words, the difference is that it is housed within the AR Network and it revolves around members Blog pages and IDX Listing Sites.  The traffic this will help generate to your sites will be easy and measurable now.

• Members can buy visitors/traffic to their IDX sites for $x.xx amount per click-through which is determined by amount needed to be bid to win the auction. (like Ad Words).  
• Members who have visitors land on their blog pages who subsequently search for property in a city (outside of their own market place)  get credited a % of the $x.xx amount.  

• Members can then use those credits to purchase visitors/traffic back to their IDX sites, and so on…

Another major highlight to this Hit Router program is that we have other resources who will buy any traffic AR members don’t choose for themselves, yet the AR member delivering the traffic will still receive the credit into their account.  This is a win win for you and for them.

IMPORTANT NOTE

The “Hit Router” will ONLY show up on your pages when LOGGED OUT of ActiveRain.

Follow these 5 steps to setup your own campaigns for your market areas.

This next post will show you How to “Opt-Out” but I can’t see any reason you would.  🙂

Related Posts:

The ActiveRain Hit Router

The Hit Router (Video) Whiteboard Explanation

Hit Router – How To Setup & Save Your Own Traffic

Hit Router How To Opt Out

 

Hit Router – How To Opt Out

ActiveRain’s Hit Router allows you to “opt-in” or “opt-out” depending on if you have an IDX and want to participate or not.  What is IDX you ask?  “IDX or Internet Data Display, is a program initiated by the National Association of Realtors which went into effect on January 1st of 2002. The IDX concept allows the members of an MLS system to display publicly, on their company or personal web site, all of the currently available properties for sale within that MLS system.”

Hit Router allows you to set this up by using the opt-in and opt-out options shown in the screens below.

IMPORTANT NOTE 

The “Hit Router” will ONLY show up on your pages when LOGGED OUT of AR.

By default, the top of your screen will look like this: 
(it appears this way on your Blog, your Posts, and your Profile)

If you decide to “opt-out” (which I can’t see why anyone would) your screen will look like this:

To opt-in or opt-out, just do the following:

1. Go to the “My Settings” page after you’re logged in.

2. Put a check in the box to show the Hit Router Search Box on your pages.

3. Un-check the box if you wish to “opt-out” and NOT show the Hit Router on your pages.

Once you enter your Title and the Link location of your site, just click update and you’re done.  You can direct this link to any location of your choice.  I recommend some type of lead capture site that helps you grow leads and business.  This is really simple to do and should literally only take you seconds to setup. If you need additional help, feel free to contact any of the AR team and staff, we’d be happy to help assist you.

 

Related Posts:

The ActiveRain Hit Router

The Hit Router (Video) Whiteboard Explanation

Hit Router – How To Setup & Save Your Own Traffic

“How To Setup Your Own Click Campaign”

There's No Place Like Home…

As evidenced by my lack of posts here on AR this past week, most of you are aware that I have been away from home for 6 days now.  It has been quite the Journey and I’m ready to head home tomorrow.  My last visit home for a few short hours between the REBarCamp and where I am now, only gave me a chance to hug and kiss my wife and kids, and then it was back on the road again. My oldest son Sean had invited me down to his place where he attends College at Cal Poly.  I had not seen him in a few months so off I went….  Been having a blast but I really do miss home and the rest of the family.

I didn’t realize how much can happen on AR in just a week.  I feel like I have been totally disconnected with the world.  Got up at 6:00am this morning just to try and read some posts and catch up with what’s happening here in the community.  WOW! So much going on with so many friends.  Well, my son and I are having a great time together just being alone and creating some “Father/Son” memories. Boy are we making some good ones too!  We went out to Pismo Beach yesterday on ATV’s, I’ve never done that before, what a blast.  Last night he took me to the Cal Poly Mustangs game where they defeated the Thunderbirds, and today, it’s a round of Golf at Laguna Lake, before the long 5 hour trip back home.

        

I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive, I am surviving the road, and looking forward to getting back to my home, my office, and my duties here on AR.  You know that it’s bad when you start dreaming about this stuff.  The other night, I dreamed that Rich and I were asked to start featuring “Tweets”, now that’s not a dream, that’s a nightmare. LOL~ 

     

One last note: I’m Looking forward to sharing some really exciting “NEWS” about a new “AWESOME” feature we’ll be adding to AR and announcing this next week. This will empower some of you to really start using ActiveRain in a way that no other social network has ever offered before.  I am sworn to secrecy until Monday, so watch for those posts coming soon….stay tuned.  I hope you all are having a great weekend, and are enjoying your homes and your families.

Whether it’s your Home, your Office, or right here on ActiveRain, there really is no place like home.

☂ ActiveRain at REBarCamp – "LIVE" Updates and "Real-Time" Feeds ☚

Follow us and enjoy what’s going on in Houston Texas at the REBarCamp this year.  We’ll be posting Audio, Photos, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos, Links, and Updates in up-to-the-minute, real time “LIVE” feeds to this post.  I’m including the Utterli Widget, UStream.TV Widget, and Twitter to keep you informed of all that’s happening at this event. 

Rich and I will be sharing as much as we can with you regarding the items of value and use of the information we learn and share with others.  I hope you’ll take the time to check back here and see what we’ve posted.  There will be other members reporting and posting as well, so I’ll try and keep this post updated with links to their sites and Blogs as well.

SO HAVE SOME FUN, and COME FOLLOW US at REBARCAMP:

Click Play To Start Audio, Photos & Videos

Follow us on Twitter, Use #REBC to post or just Follow using this Widget

Video From Various Locations in Houston Texas – This is Entertainment! LOL

Join Us “LIVE” from Houston Texas – Show Starts Oct. 22, 2008 @ 9:00am EST

Video clips at Ustream

Thanks to WEB 2.0 technology, we are able to provide you information and insight as to what takes place at these events, and do it right here “LIVE” in a single post. How Cool, Enjoy! 🙂

Here a “LIVE” Broadcast on RAIN Radio

Related Links and Sites:
Stephanie Edwards-Musa says “It’s The People”
Marchel Peterson’s 21st Century Thank You
Lisa Heindel’s Facebook Photos
See Debra Brooks Post about REBC
Jeff Turners “LIVE” Video Feeds
Brads Flickr Photos, More Coming Soon
Keynote Speaker – Paul Chaney
ActiveRain REBarCamp Channel
REBarCamp on FaceBook
How It All Started-What Is It?

ActiveRain @ REBarCamp – Knocking on the Doors of Opportunity

What is an REBarCamp?  Why Would I want To Go? 
Who Is Going To Be There?  How Will This Benefit Me or My Business? 
What Are The Topics?  Where’s it at?  How Much Will It Cost? 

The Door is Unlocked

                         

Knock on the door of your choice to find out more about REBarCamp.  You only get one choice so make it a good one.  This is not “Let’s Make A Deal” or the “Knock Knock Game”, this is YOUR chance to see if “keys” to Industry Secrets and WEB 2.0 Successes lie behind these unlocked doors.  Activerain is taking the show on the road and hopes you’ll come join us this year.  So what’s it gonna be?  Door One, Two, or Three?

When certain doors of opportunity open for you, take full advantage of it, the rewards can be immeasurable!

We Built This City…

You’re probably thinking of the 1985 classic by Jefferson Starship aren’t you?  This post is about AR Cities!

As I was searching for the “missing Blog link” the other day, I discovered an exciting change that you may not have seen yet.  It’s the City pages on ActiveRain.  I was so excited, I actually forgot what I was originally looking for (the Web has that effect on me at times…LOL).  Click on States, Select your State or Province, Select Your County, and then Your City.  It’s that Easy!

The changes made to the City Pages on AR look very different now.  In the past, the only thing on these pages were Agent Profiles in that city, and they were all sorted based on members with the most points.

 

Now there’s an opportunity to “Build This City” and bring “More Value” to these pages:

Here’s a feature similar to what Twitter Members are using:

Just post what’s happening in your City, remember, it’s just like a Blog Post and will get SEO & Google juice.  According to a conversation I had with Jon and Bob this morning, we are already seeing an increase in hits to the ActiveRain City Pages.  I’m anxious to see how and when these will start showing up on Google.

  
 ~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~ 

 

Now you’ve got to love this, I do.  I was the one that had to clean out the Q&A everyday that used to be up on the menu bar. This is a change I have been asking for since July. 

Now consumers can contact “Local” experts and get “Local” answers to their questions.  I hope members won’t use this area to ask silly questions like, “How Do I Make My Font Bold?”  (but I guess you could)

This could really change some things with our direct consumer contact provided we use this feature appropriately.  I suggest  taking 5 minutes a day to see if you can answer any local questions from visitors or readers who find this and use it. 

My thought is this; if SEO will come from your short 140 character updates and community announcements, then inevitably, this City Level Q&A will get more exposure and in time, become another value added tool. Come see my City, I left a message there for ALL of you.

BTW – Everyone was so busy looking for the missing Blog link, that no one mentioned the “Referrals Link” or the “Q&A” links that were gone also.  Well, just like the Blog link, they were never really missing, just moved.  The Referrals and Q&A links are now under the Channels Section in the “More Information” box located on the Main page of ActiveRain.com.  Hope you will enjoy and use these features. 🙂

ActiveRain Approved Widgets and Script Codes

hanks to all the members that responded to our request for information about their <scripts> and widgets, we now have an “Approved” list for you to use as a guideline.  Our programmers have determined that the following are safe and available for you to use on the network.

For those of you who may have missed the original post, the ActiveRain Team is making an effort to try and keep the network from being compromised by any malicious and threatening scripts or HTML codes.  We asked ALL members who were using <script> widgets or codes on their Blogs, to let us know about them so we could do the research to determine which ones could and should be kept.

                                 

All widgets and <scripts> that were submitted and reported by our members have ALL been approved.  Any other scripts that have not been approved, will be stripped and simply won’t work when trying to add them to your Blog.  This is for the safety and protection of the entire community. 

If you have a <script> widget that you feel needs to be added to this list in the future, please let us know by simply leaving a comment with the name of the widget and the URL or web address location, and we will research it for you.  Do Not Post The Script or Code in the comments here, just the name and URL.

Thank you to all those members who took the time to investigate their Blogs and report back to us, this saved us hours of time and research.  It was a huge effort by the community, and I personally appreciate all your help and support.  I have noticed a huge difference in the speed of our site, and not that this had anything to do with it, but I certainly haven’t missed that “Proxy Error” screen popping up this past week.

Related Articles:

How To Add Widgets To Your Blog

Widgets Group

AR Tutorial – Adding Widgets

NOTE: If the widget you posted or submitted on the original Blog Post request is NOT ON THIS LIST, that means it was not a script code and it is safe to use.  Example: Postlets, Meez, Grazr, ClusterMaps etc.

Be On The Lookout … SPAMMERS are Sneaking Into The Rain

SPAMMERS BEWARE – WE’RE AFTER YOU!!

Have you been SPAMMED here lately?  If so, please report these critters that are taking the time to fill out a profile on AR, just to SPAM you!  If you report any member who is obviously here with one intent [TO SPAM OUR MEMBERS],  shoot me an email, and I will take care of it and also give YOU 500 points for helping keep our network safe and SPAM FREE.  Be on the lookout for these illegitimate crusaders that deserve to have the fleas of a thousand camels infest their armpits. LOL~ (not really) We caught three so far this week thanks to YOU.

The email SPAMS may look something like this:

Name: Mary Mark
Email Address: marymark25@yahoo.com
Subject: Hi 

Message: Hi I hope today finds you well. I felt greatly impressed after reading your profile today. My name is MARY Please I have some thing to discuss with you . I will like you to write me on my email address; marymark25@yahoo.com to enable us to discuss in details. I hope hearing from you soon. Thanks for your understanding.

MARY

Help us catch these Culprits of Corruption, these Populating Parasites, there is no room in the rain for SPAM!  These folks are deleted by staff immediately in most cases, but on occasion, a few do slip by.

This weeks 500 point award recipients & winners are:

   

                   Robert & Jani Bielenberg       Kevin Boer              Sherry Scales

Their Busted Perpetrators are:

 
Mary Mark                                                       Osila Patrick

Thank you for helping us to capture and delete these poachers, happy hunting!

THE ACTIVERAIN

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
COMMITTEE

(of which you are all part of)

***Note: This “SPAM WATCH” does not apply to comments made on your posts by other members, only email spam from other illegitimate members.  For comment spam, you have 3 options:  1) Contact member to ask that links not be placed in your comments, 2) Delete the comment using the link provided,  3) Report as spam using the link provided.  Using These 3 options will not be awarded bonus points.