Friday, February 6th  at 7 PM and everyone is invited!

The Grand Cafe at 501 Geary St. @the Bar.

Great atmosphere with Petite Cafe seating adjacent the bar for bites and plenty of choices nearby for food as well. http://cli.gs/GrandCafe

You, your friends, your friends friends...

http://twtvite.com/bfv4un

Right off the bat there’s an ALLSTAR lineup coming…

Looking for a good time in San Francisco?

There’s only going to be ONE Place to be…

@ the TweetUp!

* Ok what’s a tweetup?

Just an informal gathering and all around fun time in which the details are spread via twitter, that’s all.

It’s kind of like Twitter… only "in person "  : )

Will they find you?  Make no mistake about it, they are looking.

Yesterday I saw a tweet by my friend Nick.  He mentioned that

And yes they did…

If you don’t know, Nick is the guy behind http://RailLife.com a supreme example of hyperlocal blogging.

Here’s Nick, Lori and the cameraman who wouldn’t lend me his camera  : (

Moral of the Story: The media is actively using Social Media to source their stories.  If you want to be quoted, if you want to be found, you know where you have to be!

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This was done by Time Dalkat on Seesmic if we’re voting soon, Time wins hands down!

http://seesmic.com/videos/HkgdYnTxbT

I’m off to check out his Blog: http://timedalkat.com

Time, I loved it!  My biggest question is after something like this - how are you going to be able to follow it up?

: )

As a Real Estate Professional you wouldn't do an introduction like this but can you see how a little humor can capture the attention of a viewer?

  <====  New and Improved!

My personal Avatar is actually a screen shot from a television appearance. 

I was sitting with all the studio lighting in front of a green screen. 

The images behind me were broadcast as blurred on purpose.  It’s a standard TV thing.

Here’s how to do that effect yourself, without TV.

Take any picture and open it up in your favorite image manipulation program. 

Photoshop, Paint.net or Gimp are some of mine.

Now highlight the portion that you want to “pop” (I’m thinking that’s you)

Now Invert your selection .  That means to tell your program to choose everything besides what you’ve highligted.  HINT:  typically “CONTROL + I” will invert your selection.

Go to effects , and find your “Gaussian Blur”.  Play with the setting until you are satisfied with the background blur.

Now Save .  That’s all there is to it.   Want to see it in action?

Here’s Tamara Doris before:

Here’s the same photo with a blurred background:

See the difference?

Here’s picture of me back in 1984:

Here’s the same picture blurred:

My friend Ernie isn’t going to be too happy about my blurring him, but hey, it’s all about me! ; )

Time spent – maybe all of two minutes!

If you want have a little more fun you can also make your background Black and White, or Sepia!

Now go blur out your buddies and make your Avatar or picture POP!

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  <------ Experimental new link!  Please give it a try and let me know if this works!  :)

This is Part 2 – The Outside Applications

Read Part 1 – Paying to setup your WP Blog?

I started compiling this list when I started setting up my newest site, http://AreWeConnected.com

WordPress.com says

Takes seconds, costs nada

You can get a blog started in less time than it takes you to read this sentence.

And that’s true.

But to fully get the best results out of WordPress you need so much more.  So I put on my consultant hat and thought about what needs to be done and how to do a complete job .  Here’s what I came up with.

The Outside Applications

For clarity, I’m defining an outside application as one that appears to the public.  When setting up an outside application it’s a back and forth affair.  You’ll need to have your site up and running first before you signup for the application.  Then you’ll find yourself inserting the application into the blog, only to have to return to change a setting or two back on the application, and then updating the application code on the blog again.  Here’s a few of the more popular.

MyBlogLog: Owned by Yahoo, it’s a wonderful sidebar exposition of who’s visited your site. While to most it’s just eye candy, I think the power of this tool is very much under used.  Do you click on your recent visitors and read their blog? Do you add them as a contact?  I have a MyBlogLog widget on my site but you are unlikely to see it (it’s way down in the footer).

RSS and Email Subscription: I like FeedBurner but there are plenty of other options including doing nothing at all.  WP will provide an RSS feed automatically, but why stop there?  With FeedBurner I can track and see numbers of subscribers as well as details.  My feed is customized with the look and feel of my site.  Subscribe to the email and the entire post  is delivered to your inbox automatically.  Remember, getting your message out is one thing – giving your readers the ability to read it in the form they desire is another.

Custom Google Search: You can add the search function that comes as a WP sidebar widget and go with that.  Like the RSS above I have to ask, “Why stop there?”  Google Custom Search can be branded with your site logo.  It can be setup to open as a new page or as a popup.  You can restrict the search to only within your site or open it up to the internet.  We all know the power of Google – why not harness some of it?

Twitter: While you may be on Twitter (you are, right?) and using twitter to get new business there is still the remote possibility that your reader isn’t on Twitter, or worse yet not following you!  You can still bring your tweet stream to them with a widget from something like Twitter Badge / Twitstamp . Remember to keep in mind the look and feel of your blog when setting up the widgets.

Vflyer or Postlet: You already use then to post your listings to Craigslist.  You use them to post your listings to your blog.  Why not use them to also bring snippets of your listings to your sidebar? Simply add a Vflyer Widget or Postlet Mini to your sidebar.  Keeping in mind the the look and feel of your blog when setting up the widgets.

While that’s the end of The Outside Applications , it’s really just the beginning, just the tip of the

next we’ll tackle the “The Hidden Plugins ”.

Part TWO of TEN

Read Part 1 – Paying to setup your WP Blog?

To be continued…

With the Presidential Inauguration today you can expect to see a higher than average jump in Twitter traffic today. 

I’m hoping today to not see the

Fail Whale

  and instead, we do a whole lot more

 ING  today!

Happy Inauguration Day America!

BTW:

• If you want to make your own Obama Styled Poster just go to: http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/
• If you want to check on the Status of twitter you can do so: http://status.twitter.com/
• The official hastag of the Inauguration is #inaug09
• There is also an account setup at http://twitter.com/inauguration
• Current.com is streaming the video at http://current.com/topics/88852690/inauguration/new/0.htm
• If you want to follow me you can do so here: http://twitter.com/MikeMueller

Or just click on the image below : )

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It’s funny, as a motorcyclist we have an acronym.

ATGATT

It’s pronounced just like it sounds.  It stands for All The Gear, All The Time and it serves as a reminder to wear your boots, pants, jacket, gloves and helmet when you ride.

I was trying to come up with something clever for using a Tripod when shooting video.  Nothing I have come up with sings.  AUAT? (Always Use A Tripod).  Oh well, let’s just make it simple:

“Always Use a Tripod”

or something, anything.  Something that holds the camera stable.

Here’s a couple of simple examples and one of my favorite ultra low cost tricks.

The $1.99 Flip Cam style tripod

I own a couple of these and can honestly say I bought them at the $1.99 store.  They are good for table top with a very small camera.  The legs may be flexible.

The UltraPod II

I bought mine for my SLR and backpacking years ago and have been loving ever since.  They make an even smaller one if all you are going to use it for is the Flip. Cost at Amazon is under $20. (never liked the UltraPod 1)

The Mono Pod

Technically not a Tripod.  It’s really just a stick that you can screw your camera onto but it’s been a great filler when a full size tripod is just too big.  Cost can be under $20 or into the hundred dollar range (like this Carbon Fiber version).  A Mono Pod eliminates the up and down movement only.  Ask me how to use your Mono Pod as a steady cam sometime (you can even do it with a tripod)

The Full Size Tripod

Once you’ve used a full size tripod, you’ll wonder why it took you so long.  I recommend not going with cheapest you can find.  You also don’t need the most expensive.  Test a range of tripods out.  Open them all the way up and then feel the flex.  How wide do the legs go? Too wide?  Look for a 3 way fluid head.  Expect to spend anywhere from $50 to a couple of hundred dollars.

And then there’s my super secret, trailer trash, all time favorite tricks taught to me by a professional photographer.  It’s as simple as…

         +   

The Reverse Mono Pod

All you need to do is go down to your local hardware store and buy a thumbscrew that fits in the mounting hole of your camera.  It’s probably a 1/4-20.  Tie a piece of string to the thumbscrew.  As a bonus, I like to tie a washer to the other end of the string.

Now step on the washer end and pull the camera upwards until the string is tight.  Total cost = under a buck!  You now have a Reverse Mono Pod. Like the Mono Pod you’ve just eliminated one of the three axis movements (up and down). 

Now go out and start shooting better video (please)

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Breaking News!

Image via Wikipedia

From the Official Google Video Blog:

In a few months, we will discontinue support for uploads to Google Video. Don’t worry, we’re not removing any content hosted on Google Video — this just means you will no longer be able to upload new content to the service.

Important:  If you do have video up on Google – Not to worry, they’ll still be there. (I have 81).  They will not be accepting any new uploads.

I liked the Google platform for the simple reason it was NOT YouTube. 

Yet, I have found other, better (much better) hosting sites for my video. 

I have my favorites listed here  http://areweconnected.com/the-master-list/

What are some of yours?

Image by noway via Flickr

"It’s not just the flow of information," Shirley said, "What it has to do with is having mechanisms where you are interacting with people who are outside of the office in a meaningful way. And I’ve got to look for every opportunity to do that–ways that aren’t scripted, ways that aren’t controlled, ways where, you know, people aren’t just complimenting you or standing up when you enter into a room, ways of staying grounded."

Shirley sounds like a social media savvy real estate agent right?

She sounds like any number of experienced bloggers here on ActiveRain.

You might expect to find her blogging.  She's running mobile apps on her phone like TwitterBerry.  She has many friends on Facebook and Flickr.

You'll find her reaching out to new potential buyers and sellers on LinkedIn.

She's active on Yelp and participates in local gatherings through MeetUp as well.

She spends time learning, searching and exploring new ways to connect in meaningful ways.

What if I told you Shirley wasn't really in Real Estate? 

What if I told you she’s not really a “Shirley” either?

And that office she’s talking about – maybe we should call it a HOME OFFICE instead...

You see, it’s actually a quote from a recent interview with our President Elect.

Yeah that’s right!  To fool you I changed just two words; Shirley and Office.  That’s it.

Go back and read that again.

That sure sounds like something a modern day Real Estate Agent would and should be saying. 

Which leads me to ask you…

• How are you interacting with people outside the office?
• Are you doing it in a meaningful way?
• Are you looking for every opportunity?
• Are you looking for ways that are not scripted?

And if not, do you think you should?

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I started compiling this list when I started setting up my newest site, http://AreWeConnected.com

WordPress.com says

Takes seconds, costs nada

You can get a blog started in less time than it takes you to read this sentence.

And that’s true.

But to fully get the best results out of WordPress you need so much more. 

So I put on my consultant hat and thought about what needs to be done and how to do a complete job . 

Here’s what I came up with.

The Basics

Domain Name Registration: You’ll need to register the domain you want.  Do NOT use GoDaddy.  Did you know the amount of time you’ve registered the site for has an effect on your Page Rank?

Website Hosting: Once again, let’s not GoDaddy, ok?  There are much better hosting sites out there.  Did you know WordPress requires a specific kind of server?

Gmail Address: With your hosted domain will also come branded email addresses as in mike@AreWeConnected.com .  That’s great and you can use it for all your marketing but you still should have a Gmail address to hold specific files.  I’ll cover these more in the plugin section.  Did you know that if your hosting server fails, sometimes your email server will go with it?

Blog Platform: For the beginning blogger a BlogSpot.com site may be the easiest.  Second might be TypePad but the best, the best blogs out there run on a WordPress platform.  If just for the sake of the newest and greatest widgets and applications – I recommend a WordPress platform.

Blog Design: You’ll need to decide on the general look and feel of your site.  Two  column?  Three?  Colors, text sizes, etc.  I suggest starting with a general design theme or template .  That’s the starting point.  Now step back and fill in the blank, “I like this design except _________”.  That where the real design work starts.  I’ve adapted Blogger themes and put them into WordPress sites and visa versa.  That’s a lot of work and not recommended.

Google Analytics: Nothing out there that’s free (and even most paid systems) even come close to what Google Analytics does.  Every blog should be running Google Analytics.  To setup your analytics account you’ll need to have your site named and hosted.

While that’s the end of The Basics , it’s really just the beginning, just the tip of the

next we’ll tackle the “outside applications ”.

To be continued…