Also, because of this experience, you'll understand when you read the post, I also am sending out a very public recommendation for Wayne's Septic Solutions based out of Murrietta, CA - but serving all of San Diego County as well as Riverside County - this is a great ethical company to work with. (I get no reimbursement or anything for this referral...merely spreading the good word!)

This service is called Website Grader and it is from Hubspot.  I think this is great for real estate professionals because we are local…and there’s always that “one big agent” in your area…and maybe you can’t put up as many billboards or signs, run as many open houses as he/she does, etc…but you can work and work and work to beat their website grade – and that might just bring you closer to being a contender for their listings and buyers as well!  Competition is a good thing! (I know, goes against all that I believe in…LOL…I want to live in a peaceful, harmonious world where we all love each other…during non-business hours anyway!)

All you need to do is enter your URL and then your competitor’s URL(s) and then your email address.  That’s it.  It will process and then spit out a report that tells you what can be done to improve your grade…most items are easy and you can do them yourself; however, I am a firm believer in doing what you know best and outsourcing the rest…so feel free to delegate any of this website improvement to your real estate virtual assistant or in-house assistant.

Let the competition begin! 

NOTE:  Feel free to email me with any questions on how to use this service, I am happy to help if I can! (The image that you see at the beginning of this post is my actual badge for my website grade…you can see it at the bottom of my home page on my website.)

WebsiteGrader.com Badge

There is a website out there called WebsiteGrader.com where you can put in your URL and even your competition’s URL, and it will give you a general “report card” for your website. I think it provides a good fundamental point for improving your website’s performance.

My “website” is really a WordPress blog, and this tool worked just fine for me, so don’t count yourself out just because you might not have a traditional stand alone website. I’m not saying that everything they tell you is golden in this report, but I do think it is a good starting point to work from. I am one of those people who like a list that tells me what to do. My real badge is on the home page of my real estate virtual assistant website if you want to see it where it belongs Submit your website for a progress report today!

Carrie list four social networks that should be in use by real estate professionals. They are:

1. Facebook
2. Active Rain
3. Twitter
4. Linked In

I utilize all of these social networks for my clients, but I have to say, my favorite is Active Rain; however, just like your daily diet…chocolate might be your favorite, but that doesn’t mean that you can ignore the other food groups! Facebook, Twitter and Linked In are all valuable tools…and if you don’t use them, chances are very good that you’re leaving money on the table. The links above all link to my profile pages on each certain network, feel free to connect to me as you check them out.

Other than just joining the above networks, Carrie points out that you can place very targeted ads on Facebook, suggests that you join or create groups on Active Rain to make connections, follow industry and technology leaders on Twitter and post your profile in resume format on Linked In for networking with over 10 million users!

I suggest signing up for Mr. Internet’s Blog updates to receive good articles, like Carrie’s, weekly so that you can stay up to date on great tips and resources for the real estate industry by visiting his site and using the subscription box on the right sidebar.

Below is a link to an article that I published last year about this time that will help you to get started thinking about holiday organization, etc… And of course remember that your real estate VA can be a huge help in getting ready for the best that the season has to offer.

Here’s that link: Real Estate Virtual Assistant Tells Real Estate Professionals How to Get Organized for The Holiday Season

Calendaring options as well as idea info are discussed…please head on over to read it now and feel free to leave comments there as well.  Thanks in advance!!!

Real Estate Virtual Assistant Suggests Using An Editorial Calendar to Stay On Track With Your Blogging Efforts

My iPhone Calendar

We all use calendars already, right?  Sure we do!  The problem is, there are so many options available to us that many people have bits and pieces scattered over various calendars, which makes it very hard to stay on track.  There are old fashioned wall calendars, desk blotter calendars, “Dayrunner” type calendars in our paper organizers, calendars on our computers, calendars on our hand held gaming systems even, and of course, calendars on our cell phones / PDAs.

Now, I’m not here to tell you that one calendar is any better than any of the others…I AM here to tell you that everyone is different and you need to use what will work best for you and your daily schedule.  For most people, because we’re on the go constantly, that is going to be either the “Dayrunner” type calendar or the calendar that is on your cell phone / PDA.  I am a techy type person…so I love the calendar feature on my iPhone.  The one line details of my “appointments” or “events” show up at the bottom and I can just scroll through them.  Do you know why I choose my iPhone calendar over carrying around a “Dayrunner” type organizer anymore? There’s one reason…my iPhone will tell me when I’m late, it will remind me what I have to do, and if I can’t do something one day, I can just change the date and time info and roll it over to another day without having to reenter it all manually.  But either method will work…IF you use it.

Back to the main thought of this post…if you create an editorial calendar…I like to tackle it for one quarter at a time, but you can start small…say with a month, then you already know what you are going to blog about on what days.  It gives you direction and motivation.  Say you only have one blog and you want to make sure you post something new to it at least twice a week.  You pick the topics and enter them on your calendar on the correct days.  If you find yourself with some down-time, you can simply read ahead a bit in your calendar and start composing your next blog entry.  Say you have multiple blogs on several platforms…I do.  I have 3.  You could write in one blog on Monday, one on Wednesday and one on Friday.  Remember, backlinks are good, so you might want to go to your other blogs that you’re not posting in on that day and just do a quick note like, “Just posted at www.my#2blog.com, The Benefits of Using An Editorial Calendar”…with an active link to the main post.

Another idea is to start a Blog Series.  I have one, it’s my Real Estate Virtual Assistant series called “Tipsy Tuesday” (click on the Tipsy Tuesday link and then type in “Tipsy Tuesday” – without the quotations – into the Google search box on the right and search my blog for all of the “Tipsy Tuesday” series blog posts)….I try to write in it every week, but if I just can’t crunch it in, it’s not a huge deal, I simply roll the event over to the next week.  If you really want to kick up your blogging, you could have a series for every day of the week…that’s very labor and commitment intensive…but I’m sure Google would enjoy it

So that’s basicly it on the Editorial Calendar idea…just chart out your path and keep on top of it.  Plan to write a certain type of current event article, etc…you don’t have to know the exact topic you will write about 3 months from now…but I general idea of what you’re doing will greatly help to keep you on track with your blogging!

And mothers know everything.  No really, they do.  My mom just sent this picture of a dirt road back home, Northern Vermont, to me on my iPhone.  Isn’t it pretty?  Granted, I have tons more from previous years…and waxed leaves…the whole works that she sends me every year…some are artwork quality…this one was just out as she was driving around and thought of me.

So, since I’m sharing what fall means to me (the start of the holidays, the smells of pumpkin spice and cinnamon, beautiful fall leaves, crisp cool evenings…), I thought I would open up a post where everyone could post a picture…of what fall means to them…with a brief text description.  Don’t be shy…hijack my post.  I would love to see any other northern US leave shots as well…I love landscapes.  But any photo will do as long as it embodies what fall means to you.

OH…and THANKS, Mom!!!  I needed that!