Real Estate Blog Pro

When Will Flickr Webimager Get an Update?

The Pro really likes the Flickr Webimager and its about time it got updated. Its a great tool for saving bits of the web and info without having to download entire web pages or copy and pasting text.  Real Estate bloggers could find it very useful for things like keeping track of one's personal linkages, if only it worked the way it was intended. Remember several months back when i mentioned it as a cool hacking tool? Well, despite the numerous other screen shot grabber gadgets and gizmos out there these days, Flickr Webimager still remains as my favorite for many reasons. I'll tell you why:

• Its lite and rests in your systems tray (unlike most others which are embedded in your browser)
• it can be used to create bitmaps of images on the web (which you can turn into jpegs in photoshop)
• you can adjust the size of your captured image right within the window
• you can modify the image using Microsoft Paint by exporting it

I'll even go as far as to say that I use it every single day, for all sorts of things!  The problem that I have with it is that you can't find who created it, its never updated and worst of all, it doesn't even do what it was created and intended to do. Namely, allow you to upload screenshots consistently to your Flickr account. The process usually goes like this:

1. Create a screenshot
2. Attempt to upload the screenshot
3. Go through the whole process of allowing WebImager access your Flickr account
4. Upload one screenshot
5. Then get error after error stating that your Flickr account can't be verified.

I can hardly believe that the creators of WebImager intended for us to only be allowed to upload one damn image.  In order to upload more than one image these days, you have to actually save the photo to a folder (which subsequently requires you to press a button which reads "Open" instead of "Save" when attempting to save it) then open it with photoshop or similar program and save the image as .jpeg, .gif  and the like, then upload it to Flickr.  Too much work for a Web 2.0 tool.  Its impossible to track down a forum, it hasn't been updated since its creation (i don't believe) and the Pro thinks it should be.  Has anyone else had the same or similar problem?


Technorati Tags: Flickr WebImager, Flickr, problems, Web 2.0, tools

Keep Track of Your Real Estate Life with Jott

 
Looking for a quick way to keep track of yourself?  Sure, all Pros need little help finding themselves from time to time.  In the world of Web 2.0, taking care of yourself is the name of the game!  Well, today this Pro stumbled upon a new tool that is sure to keep you in check.  Its called Jott and its a voice powered, hands-free way to send messages and to do lists to yourself.  Every real estate agent at one time or another gets the cart before the horse....well, with Jott, this actually works to your advantage. 

Ways that i think this application will prove useful:
Reminders
-call important clients
-leads that you acquire in passing
-important addresses that you want to remember
-deadlines
-paperwork
Information
-phone numbers that you shouldn't forget
-important details about property
-keeping track of new listings
-epiphanies while in the field (ahh...i didn't know Mr. SoandSo owned that too!)

The possibilities are endless....that's why this Pro felt it might be a good productivity related tool to pass along.  Got any cool tools or tips you'd like to pass along to real estate pros such as yourself?  Do so...there's a big blank comment area below, just waiting for your insight!  Good Luck Pros!

powered by performancing firefox

Virtual Tours, Newsletters and Resources on the Fly! Now that's Pro!

Wanna create Virtual Tours like a PRO?  Integrate them into your blog or website?  Lifehacker told us last week about this kick ass new website called Mapwing and let this Pro be the first (ok, second) to tell you, It Kicks Ass. 


Mapwing simplifies all of the hassles involved with creating real estate VR tours.  No stitching of panoramics. No learning code in order to embed the 360 pano thingy.  None of that crap that you have to pay web designers bizillions of dollars to do for you.  Just follow the instructions to the T and you'll end up with a terrific looking floorplan with integrated Virtual Tour.  In the end you'll have the option of embedding it within your own website or emailing it to your clients! Its the perfect blog marketing tool.


Create newsletters on the Fly with Letterpop [found via Lifehacker] This is an AMAZING tool!  Look at the newsletter that I created for my father's surveying equipment supply company in South Carolina here.  This is perfect for real estate agents because you have so much flexibility with how photos and text can be displayed, you can have multiple pages and instantly email the newsletter to up to 500 people.  Give it a whirl!

A hefty list of blog resources can be found over here at Daily Blog Tips Blog.  You should definately subscribe to this blog's RSS because it always comes packin!'


Technorati Tags: newsletters, resources, links, virtual tours, Letterpop, Mapwing

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Google Notebook Adds Search and Real Estate agents Catch On

Today Lifehacker  tipped us off to a helpful new feature on Google Notebooks- you can now search the content of public notebooks.  Check out the content that comes up when you search for "Real Estate."  Google Notebooks are the perfect tool for compiling researched content or publishing content for the public.  Real Estate agents are becoming quite saavy in the podcasting arena and tools such as this have become a powerful way to broadcast. 

If you are using Firefox, the Google Notebooks extension makes adding content to your personal notebook a breeze!  Your notebook can be accessed through your gmail account and you have a choice of keeping your content private or sharing it with the world.  Go gettem Pros!

powered by performancing firefox

A Blog Stocking full of hacks, tools and tips and buttons

Long time no blog, Pros!  I must apologize for my lack of post-age, as I've recently taken a small break from real estate, focusing more on collaborative art and photography projects (including a book!! I will surely keep you up to date). I know, I know it was very un-Pro to have not tipped you off earlier.  I promise to be more Pro in the future.

So...right to business:

Found a few great resources to exploit in your never ending quest to save time.
250 Free Office Templates and Documents




Addthis.com offers a great tool for simplifying your social bookmarking life.

Also...here are a couple of great posts regarding Hacking your email in 99 ways [IT Security] and a variety of posts about real estate podcast marketing  and podcasting [RSS Pieces]

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Viewr Goes Live! Get your Video Egg On, Real Estate Pros

Could it be true? Viewr is live! The next highly anticipated real estate tool is finally available for your blogging and listing pleasure, dear real estate blog pros. We heard about Viewr back in July, with an update a month or so back and let's just say that the suspense has killed at least one of us.   With Viewr, agents will have a place to blog about their properties (or whatever else) and upload video content via  Video Egg software.  So far, the Pro likes it!

Viewr has a "global view on real estate" and the maps to prove it.  The (oh so very Web 2.0)interface is smooth and easy to use (so far). You can save your searched and your favorite listings.  It could be a good friend to a lot of you aspiring Pros out there.  Give it a whirl- set up a blog...see whats out there.  For god's sake, have fun for once!  Maybe real estate isn't such a drag afterall...just maybe.

Viewr


Technorati Tags: Viewr, Web 2.0, tool, real estate, New

20 things that the Average Person Doesn't Know About Windows XP

There were a few of these that I was completely unaware of.  My guess is that the same wlll be the case for many of you real estate bloggers.  Check this out from Real Tech News


Technorati Tags: Windows XP

Firefox 2 Tip: Instant Calculator

A nice tip from Lifehacker for all you Pros that have begun using Firefox version 2.    If you type in your mathmatical formula into the search box (Cntrl-K to get there in a hurry) and you'll get an answer quicker than you can hit an equal sign.  Great tip!


Technorati Tags: calculator, firefox, google, tip, trick

Want to learn college level computer language and computer how-tos for FREE? sure you do...

Free-Ed.Net will serve up all the computer mumbo jumbo you can stand and won't charge you a penny!  Check it out for all of the fundamentals and introductions to computer stuff you never thought you'd care about, until now!  They have online classes and tutorials that will get you closer to technical insanity....enjoy!


Technorati Tags: education, tools, classes, free

Listpic puts a spin on Craigslist

Ever want to see just the ads on Craigslist that have pictures in them?  Well, Listpic helps you do just that.  Give it a whirl.   Listpic claims to not have anything to do with Craigslist, but it sure does do a good job of mimicing- even the URL is similar. Love it! [Link via Lifehacker]

listpic

  see it. buy it.

Technorati Tags: Listpic, craigslist

Real Estate Agents Will find This Tabbed Text Editor Handy

Do you post to online sites like Craigslist and Backpage?  Sure you do.  Well check out this text editor that the Pro found over at Portable Freeware.  Its called Edit Pad Lite is sure to be a hit among real estate agents.  Now you can save all of those posts that you must constantly repost over and over in one place.  Not only that, but you can open as many text files at the same time as you want..making it easier to switch back and forth.  Thats Money!
The Pro has actually been using an program designed to write sceenplays for saving his HTML garbly gook posts.  Edit Pad Lite will help me help myself straighten up a bit and definately save some time.



Go Gettem Pros!                       Download EditPad Lite

Technorati Tags: text editor, software, freeware

A New Google Page for (real estate-ish) Web 2.0 Tools

Pro made a tools page for you guys to bookmark and refer to periodically.  From now on, a list of resources and Web 2.0 tools can be found there.  There are so many tools that come out, that its hard to keep track of them all.  Thats why I try to only pay attention to those that might be useful to real estate agents.   We can all help each other grow into the next this technical age.
If you have something that you would like to add, please to write me. 

[btw.  I made said page from a Google Pages.  It can be created through (and attached to) your gmail account. If this is confusing, let me know.  As you know, happy to help.  Good Luck Pros!



Technorati Tags: tools page, tools, google pages, resource

Use this Gmail hack to Convert PDFs to HTML

Tired of watching your poor computer practically putter out when trying to open a PDF file?  Real estate people get a LOT of PDFs!
 Try this: Use your gmail account to instantly convert that PDF into an HTML document!   You can do this in at least 2 ways.

The first way (as described by Labnol) is to upload the document as an attachment in a Gmail message, then email it to yourself at the same account.  Check your inbox.  You have mail (from your former frustrated self)!  Open the message and click on "view as HTML."  Now congratulate yourself for being so smart.
The second way is something that i came up with tonight.  remember a while back when i told you about GDrive  (don't forget the Firefox extension that lets you use your Gmail account as a file server-GSpace)?  Get the extension. Log into your account through the FTP and then search your computer for PDFs.  Once you've uploaded what you like to your account, go to your inbox and send yourself the emails containing the files that you want to convert.  Now, sit back and congratulate yourself for reading this post.

Oh yeah...you can use this technique for many types of documents other than PDFs. Labnol points out a few for you:

(MS Word .doc, Excel .xls, Powerpoint .ppt, Rich Text Format .rtf),
OpenOffice.org Document Formats (Writer, Calc, Impress, Presentation)
and WML Files (Wireless markup language) to HTML.

Good Luck Pros!


Technorati Tags: gmail, hack, FTP, PDF, documant

Instant Messenger to RSS to Email Hack

If you've ever wanted to send yourself to-do items from your cell phone, here's a mashup hack for you to try out:  IM to RSS to Email. [via Library Clips]  You can start by looking at the possibility of using Gmail as a to-do service from Devin Reams.   Its basically just sending yourself tasks to your email and doing them as you read them.  Then look at John Tropea's  Gmail RSS Reader hack but replace the step of emailing yourself with a subscription to an RSS feed (try using Sabifoo), so that you are automatically updated.  Set up your RSS feed through one of those RSS to email services (I prefer Rmail as well).  Now, you can send to-do items to your Gmail account from out in the field.  
What a great field hack for real estate Pros!


Technorati Tags: hack, instant messenger, GTD, mashup, Rmail

Edit your Flickr Photos Online with Preloadr and a Hack using Picasa

Now this is bound to be useful to all of you real estate Pro bloggers- edit your Flickr photos online with Preloadr!  This will be extremely useful when on the run or using your office computer or a public one.  I've been waiting for Pixoh to integrate this sort of function and lately they added a Flickr Export feature.  Nevertheless, if you are near your home computer (provided you use a PC), I recommend a quick hack i learned somewhere along the way. All you need is to have Picasa (Google's Image software) installed.  You can get it here:


Pro has talked about using Flickr before.  Here's another hack:  First, go to your Flickr account and look in your account setting for the option to email from mobile.  Flickr will give you an email address to use for mailing photos strait from your desktop to your photostream.  Now using picasa, you can edit your photos and email photos to anyone using the email function at the bottom- including your Flickr account. 

Find the photo that you want to add to Flickr, edit it and send it via email.  Use the subject line of the email to title your photo and the body of the email to describe the image.  Hint:  you can do the same thing when emailing strait to a blog post.
Good Luck Pros!


[Preloadr tip via Lifehacker]


Technorati Tags: images, Flickr, hack, Picasa

Get FREE Answers to your Computer Related Questions with this Hack

Tired of shelling out the $$$ for computer related questions?  Most real estate agents have a LOT of them, right?  Well, if you follow the instructions as laid out for you on gHacks Blog [via eonestudio], you can view the answers on Expert-Exchange.com for free!   This is a great hack, if you do it right.  Save your money and buy the Pro something (that means you!).


Technorati Tags: search, answers, hack, computer questions

Clients can send you text messages with TxtDrop- even on your MySpace page

If you maintain a MySpace profile, TxtDrop may be a good way for potential clients to reach you.  More and more people are using MySpace for business and this is just one more way for small groups of people to stay connected.  Just add the widget, but be aware of a few security issues.  This type of technology can make real estate very interesting!

[via MobileCrunch and  TechCrunch]


Technorati Tags: text messaging, SMS, MySpace, widget, txtdrop

Create Property Diagrams and Plans Online with Gliffy and a Peak inside Pro's Del.icio.us account

On Pro's way to becoming Pro today he stumbled across a post from good ole faithful Lifehacker- (which happens to have a completely new blog design btw and lookin' good!!) regarding a new online diagram creator thingy.  It's called Gliffy [beta] and it looks pretty interesting. But most importantly, it looks like it can be very useful to all my favorite real estate agent 2.0 Pros out there. Its quick and easy to use- Pro tried it out already- thumbs up!  Give it a whirl and see if you can start making your own floor plans.  Good luck!


Gliffy
CNET [review of Gliffy]
Make diagrams online with Gliffy [Lifehacker]

ALSO....  i just wanted to mention that I appreciate all of the nice comments and questions that you guys send me via email.  If at all possible, lets try to start putting questions and remarks in as comments so that everyone can benefit from your inquiry.  No question is too stupid for the Pro- he's just trying to help you out.  Its hard to find that in real estate 1.0.


Keep this in mind:  If you ever have a specific question or are looking for direction on your own, a good place to check first is my del.icio.us account.  If you are not yet familiar with what this (ie. del.cio.us) is, its a way of publishing all of your bookmarks to the public- or social bookmarking, rather.  Search in the tags for the subject that you have in mind and take a stab at it.  Pro doesn't have time to post every trick that he finds or comes up with, obviously.  Therefore, in between posts, you can always find goodies in my bookmarks.  Happy Hunting!

and if you like tag sifting, check out this new site TagFetch [via Webby's World]


Technorati Tags: property diagrams, online tool, gliffy, tips and tricks, del.icio.us, tagging, bookmarks

Problogger spreads the Gospel of Blogging A-Z

Here's a group of tips from the man himself- Problogger.  Unlike this Pro, Problogger already is a Pro-blogger. Just check out his list of blogging tips from A-Z for professional bloggers.  Here are a couple of the example that he pulls from the alphabet:

Bloggers for Hire - bloggers looking for work and potential employers looking for bloggers
Google Analytics - Metrics Tool
Webpad - web based text editor

and many many more...check it out!

A-Z of Professional Blogging [ProBlogger]
[link found via LifeHacker]



Technorati Tags: blogging tips, tricks

Doodle and draw yourself towards a commission with Quickmaps

One of the coolest mashups that the Pro has seen yet- Quikmaps lets you draw right on top of Google Maps. Draw pictures and label things on a google map using simple clicks and drags. Move around on the map to anywhere in the world with ease.  As Quikmaps puts it:

Quikmaps is perfect for: drawing a map to your house, sketching out a cycling or hiking route,
or telling everyone where you saw the grizzly bear.

If this isn't for a real estate agent 2.0, I don't know what is....map something, create a nice fat doodle on top, then blog it!  This could almost be too much fun!

[link found via DownloadSquad]



Technorati Tags: mashup, tool, google maps, hybrid, mapping

Looking for a Firefox Cheatsheet?

Sure you are... every Pro cheats a little. On the web, it is necessary- in the real estate field, it will get you in major trouble.  So, if you're up for learning the shortcuts.... Here you go...from Lifehacker. 
 

This is actually an update on the Firefox Cheatsheet from Leslie Franke.

• Tab Select shortcuts
• Undo shortcut
• Another Open Link in Background Tab shortcut
• Changed the path to cached elements

Available in the following formats:

• PDF format
• HTML format

Technorati Tags: firefox cheatsheet, firefox, tips

Get your Money's Worth from Google Reader

Over on the Official Google Reader Blog, Jason Toal has put together an excellent screencast that covers nearly all of the features that Google Reader has to offer- including sharing what you're reading. Here's a bucket of tips from the Google Reader Blog regarding sharing:

Speaking of our sharing feature, people have figured out very seamless
ways of integrating clips into their sites.

SocialLearning.ca had this very helpful 5 minute 11 minute tutorial video screencast that shows all of the ins and outs of the reader.  Be sure to also check out their project for collecting google related resources with follow up links on this presentation on a wiki page.

With a little help from our users [Official Google Reader Blog]

Google Reader Tutorial (get your aggregator on) [Social Learning.ca]

Technorati Tags: google reader, tutorial, screencast,

Trick: How to speed up the loading of an Adobe Acrobat PDF file AND best way to redirect a web page

Here's a very useful tip- stop waiting so long for PDF files to load!  Did you know that everytime you run Adobe Acrobat, there are as much as 20 plugins that load unnecessarily?   DWTIPS Blog shows us aspiring Pros how to do this by following these steps:

To disable unneeded plugins and make them optional instead, follow these instructions:

1. Install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat - you can get it here
   
2. Browse to the plugins folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\plug_ins
   
3. Create a new folder named Optional
   
4. Move all files from the plug_ins folder to Optional, except EWH32.api, print*.api, and Search*.api
   

That’s it! Load any PDF in Adobe Acrobat to see the difference!

Here's another tip: Steven Hargrove: How to redirect a web page, the smart way

[found via .ect via Lifehacker]

Technorati Tags: redirect web site, adobe acrobat, pdf files, tips, tricks

Picasa Web Albums released, A Yamanner Worm warning and a bit on Blogging for business

Google's Picasa finally release their online Web Albums thingy.  However, you must be invited, so sign up now with your Gmail account because it's first come first serve. This should be great for real estate agents who want to host property pics with links and such.  And it's still free [but there is an optionalstorage upgrade option ]! This has been a long time in the making.  Here's the blog link about it.  [and Lifehacker and an tester example]


QuickOnlineTips Blog may have helped the blogosphere out today tremendously by posting a warning about a javascript worm virus that travels via Yahoo! email.  Its called Yamanner Worm (or JS.Yamanner@m )and it can get onto your computer when a particular type of loaded email is opened.  Cases of the worm exploiting users have reportedly involved emails with a  subject line such as "New Graphic Site," according to QuickOnlineTips. Apparently those who use the new Yahoo! Beta email are safe. More on this read the Symantec Virus Threat Advisory.

Problogger had a great post regarding Blogging Business 101.  As usual, he answers many of the questions that we ask ourselves regarding how this whole blogging thing is supposed to help our business.  And because he isn't exactly a Pro business blogger (read his disclaimer), his advise is so much easier to digest. If you haven't check this Pro out yet, you're missing out!

Use these tips real estate agents and go forward in your blogging quest.  Remember that the Pro is always in your corner.  May the force be with you!


Technorati Tags: yamanner worm, yahoo mail, picasa web albums, business blogging, tips, warning

Two new helpful tools: Joe's goals and Rendr, the HTML tool

Rendr is a live HTML and CSS testing web tool.  This can become quite handy if you are one who likes to create your blog a piece at a time.  Make sure your HTML is valid with this little tool. As Lifehacker points out, Firefox has an extension that works in a  similar way for web developers with an option called "Edit CSS." Remember:  The cleaner your code is, the better chance you'll have at hitting those high ranks in search engines.
 
Rendr  [via Lifehacker via Mefi Projects]


Joe's Goals is yet another to-do-list, but this one is in grid format.  It looks as though it could be useful to the real estate agent who needs their day laid out in front of them in a more visual format. Its super simple to use and the Pro is gonna test drive it for a while.

[via Download Squad]

Got any tips you'd like to share?  Hand'em over!  We're all tryin

 to become Pros here. 


Technorati Tags: to do, HTML, CSS, productivity, tools

How to work that digital camera (when you need primo real estate photos)

Here's a great 8 part article about digital cameras and approaches to real estate photography as a real estate agent.  Pro just thought it would be nice to pass it along. Here's the breakdown of the different parts (just in case you think you're already bordering Pro).  Thanks Digicamhelp! 

IN THIS ARTICLE




1-Introduction




2-The essential digital camera feature(s)




3-Recommended accessories




4-Taking interior photos



5-Taking exterior photos



6-Composing exterior photos



7-Editing real estate photos



8-Top
tips for real estate agents

speaking of photography, there's some nice shots over here

Technorati Tags: digital photography, real estate, tips, tricks, howto

Blog Dictionary will keep your words in check

Blogging Dictionary may be a very helpful allie in your quest to become Real Estate Blog Pro
[Lifehacker via Quick Online Tips]


Technorati Tags: dictionary, blogging dictionary, tips

Go ahead and Cheat. All the Pros do it!

Here's a great HTML Cheatsheet from WebMonkey. 


Technorati Tags: HTML, cheat sheet, tools, tips

Some helpful sites for you aspiring Pros: Free File host list, Photoshop tutorials and Google Calender Mobile

An amazing blog for gmail and google-type hacks, Ghacks posted a fat list of sites that offer free file hosting and even went so far as to tell us the following for each site:

Reg: Does the site require a registration before you can use their services ? Registration means free registration of course.

Filesize: Is there a maximum size for a single file, in Mb ? No res = no restrictions

Space: How much diskspace is allocated for the user
? If there is no registration the max filesize has been taken as max
space allowed. No res = no restrictions

Bandwidth: Are there bandwidth limitations ? no res = no restrictions, d=max downloads, h=per hour

Filetypes: Are certain filetypes not allowed to be uploaded ?

Hotlinking: Does the site allow hotlinking ?

Expires: Are the files auto-deleted after a time,
if yes the number of days are shown. If the number is unknown yes will
be shown. Sometimes files only get deleted after inactivity for a
certain time, if thats the case a “i” is added to the
number. Sometimes file get deleted after a certain number of downloads,
if thats the case a “d” is added to the number.

Very helpful!

Google Operating System Blog told us of the new features for Google Calender that lets you check your schedule from anywhere via mobile phone.

* if you're in the US, you can access your calendar from your mobile
phone. You just have to send a SMS to 48368 (GVENT) with the text
"next" to see the upcoming events. Send "day" to get all of your
scheduled events for the present day and "nday" to get all of your
events for the following day. You can even create events, just send the
details in a format similar to this: "Go to dinner at Chef Cafe
tomorrow at 9pm".

Total Tutorial -a fantastic resource for those interested in learning everything that there is to know about Photoshop, Flash and PHP.   This may be a tid-bit much for the average real estate agent, but it never hurts to try dive right in!

Technorati Tags: tips, tricks, Photoshop, tools, google calender, hacks, Flash, tutorials

Add encryption your Gmail account

Afraid your dirty biz is being aired to the world through Gmail?  Here's a way to encrypt your account: Gmail Encrypt [langenhoven.com] [Link via Lifehacker].  One of Gmail's biggest complaints is their lack of encryption support.

Be sure to also check out Lifehacker's guide to becoming a Gmail master.


Technorati Tags: gmail, tips, tricks encryption, security, email

Linking to your property photos from Blogger

Here's a good tip from About for all of you newbie bloggers soon to be Pros: Link to your photos from Blogger
This handy tip includes some great photo hosting sites and tips on keeping track of your uploaded photo URLs.

1. Choose a Photo Hosting Site
2. Open New Entry Window
3. Open New Image Box
4. Add Image URL
5. View Your Entry and Image

I know, this may seem a little elementary, but if you were getting some of the questions Pro has, you'd see that there definately is a need to help some people on the front end.  Hang in there agents!


Technorati Tags: blogger, images, photo hosting