Are you looking for a way to SPICE up your blog?

Are you trying to find a way to connect with your blog audience and show that you have a sense of humor? That you're not like every other Realtor out there? That real estate doesn't always have to be so serious?

Why not make a video on Xtranormal.com? It's free and easy...and TOO. FUN!

I wrote about this website in yesterday's blog post about some of the great tools I learned about at RainCamp Dallas.

As an experiment, I made my first video about the real estate market in 2006. You can see it by clicking on the link above. I mainly did it as a test - to see how easy it would be to actually make. Many times sites claim they are "easy" to do, but in reality it actually takes someone in MENSA with a genius IQ and 2 degrees from Yale to figure out what's going on.

Not the case here. It's almost TOO easy.

EVERYONE can benefit from using these clever videos in your business! You can make a video about so many different topics:

• The home buying process - Realtors
  
• Educating buyers on different types of loans - Lenders
  
• Tips about what to look for in home inspections - Home Inspectors
• Why not the obvious - a quick commercial about YOU?

How would YOU use a video in your business? I'd love some more ideas...

In my second video from Kim Daugherty productions, I show George W Bush and President Obama talking Texas Real Estate. And who knew "W" had some great advice about McKinney, TX Real Estate referrals?

When I registered as a Platinum ticket holder to attend RainCamp Dallas this past Tuesdy, I tried to imagine all the things I would learn, the people I would finally "meet" and valuable tools I could implement into my business to give it the boost it needed...

• I pictured meeting Loreena Yeo, Jason Crouch, Debe Maxwell and Donna Harris to name just a few (done!).
  

• I pictured learning from two of the most forward thinking men in the real estate industry - Bob Stewart and Brad Andersohn (done!).

• I pictured myself typing away feverishly on my laptop, following along with each speaker using the Wi-Fi promised the Platinum Ticket Holders (this was the only thing that didn't happen).

However, I never in a million years pictured myself walking away a movie producer.

So how and why did this come to be?

It all happened during one of Brad's talks about valuable FREE websites that we could implement into our business. Information that previously had not even been shared! I was pumped! So I opened up Microsoft Word (I guess having a laptop came in handy for at least THIS purpose) and ended up leaving with 7 pages of notes worth their weight in gold.

I must have written down a hundred different websites that I could take advantage of. A few I starred, indicating I should pay attention to this one first once I got home and digested the information. But one intrigued me more than the others. What is it?

www.xtranormal.com

Xtranormal.com allows users to create video, for free, by just typing the action and words that you want to happen. I immediately bolded, highlighted and starred this one. Guess it's the creative part of me that fell in love with this little product. It was unique. It was different. I wanted to implement it immediately.

For those of you who weren't able to attend Raincamp Dallas, or any of the other Raincamps this year, I am going to attempt to go through many of the mentioned websites to see how to incorporate it into a real estate business. At first glance, making a "movie" like the one below may not have seemed like a way to generate business. But, we learned that in order to make it, you've got to think outside of the traditional box.

Who knows...maybe this will go viral and take off so that millions view it. Do you think it will have an impact on my business then?

Or maybe only 25 people view it here on ActiveRain and that's where it stops. I guess I won't know until I try. And try I did.

So, with that Active Rain, I give you my first movie from Kim Daugherty productions...

...and it's all about the real estate market in 2006. Yes, no-doc loans, underqualified buyers and greedy real estate agents.

Enjoy Part 1 - Part 2 is coming soon to a blog near you...

November.

It's a month filled with Thanksgiving. At this very minute I'm filled with thanks for many things: my health, my family, my country and my faith.

However, today it's my particular profession that I'm thankful for. And for one very specific reason that doesn't have anything to do with buying or selling a house:

This is my 8 year old, Mason.

You may (or may not have) noticed that I've been somewhat MIA on Active Rain for a while.

In mid-October Mason became very ill for almost a week before doctors finally realized his appendix had ruptured. The entire week he was ill, prior to being hospitalized, I was able to stay at home with him and attend to his every need. I didn't need to call in to HR to let them know I wouldn't be coming in to work. I didn't need to risk losing a job because I couldn't make it in to the office. I stayed with him. Moms, you know how important this is.

After doctors realized what had happened and he was admitted to the hospital, I was able to stay with him again.

I am so thankful for this simple fact.

Our jobs, as Realtors, allows us flexibility. Actually, any business owner or self-employed person has this luxury. But I'm doubly blessed because I have a partner that could handle this business while I was unavailable.

I'm so thankful that I made the plunge into the scary, challenging world of owning your own business.

I'm so thankful that I'm not married to Corporate America and all of it's rules and restrictions.

While being a business owner is not void of risk, it is certainly worth the rewards.

What has your profession made YOU thankful for?

2104 Benbrook Drive, Carrollton, TX 75007.

That was the first address I ever learned to memorize. The first one I ever scribbled in crayon in elementary school.

It was also the first address I ever put on a drivers license. I still remember the first time I learned to back out of our curved, sloped driveway in my stick shift Hyundai hatchback.

It was the address that even as I typed it today, I have a flood of emotions and memories come at me like a tidal wave.

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Jason Crouch, fellow Texas Realtor and Active Rain member, created a special blogging contest asking AR members to blog about Memories of their Childhood Home. I think of that home time and again, and have reflected on that home more intently since beginning my career in real estate.

Why?

My childhood home serves as a lesson in SIMPLICITY. I'll explain...

...when I first entered real estate I was a Buyer's Agent for a team. I worked ONLY with buyers. There were wealthy buyers, buyers with some savings and others were just able to scrape up the required funds to close on their first home. But what I found, was that regardless of income levels, some buyers were conservative and chose to purchase a home that met their needs that fell well under what they qualified for. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, pushed the limit of exactly how much home they could afford. To them, bigger was better, and appearances meant everything.

...now rewind back to my childhood in that home on Benbrook Drive. The year was 1979 and I was two. We were a family of five living in a 1608 square foot home. My home did not have a gameroom or media room. It did not have a study. It only had one living area. Four bedrooms and 2 baths.

And guess what - I don't ever remember growing up thinking that I was deprived of living in what we would consider today a "small" house.

But here is what I DO remember:

• I remember the exact corner of the living room that our Christmas tree was displayed, down to almost every ornament that we brought home to hang on the tree. My mom never had a "themed" Christmas tree - only allowing a few certain colors or styles - we had a wide assortment of her 3 kids' best ornaments, hand made with love.
• I remember my bedroom - and the fact that while in Junior High and High School you could not see one square inch of the wall due to New Kids on the Block posters.
  
• I remember the UGLY wallpaper MURAL we had hung in our kitchen. Yes, it was a mural of some kind of tropical water garden. HID. E. OUS!
• I remember fighting, laughing and crying with my brother and sister. And of course, nearly dying in my garage from suffocation when my older sister (now business partner!) tried to choke me for refusal to help her clean (don't worry, we laugh about it now). 
• But I also remember the not so happy times, but I won't go on about those. All in all, I had a GREAT childhood!

You see, that house taught me many lessons.

**It taught me how to be a great mother - that your house doesn't have to be perfect (cosmetically) to provide a safe, fun and nurturing environment to raise my own kids.

**It taught me a lesson in financial responsibility. Who CARES about the Jones'. They're in debt, foreclosing on their house because they had to keep up with everyone else.

**It taught me how to be a better REALTOR. When possible, I like to remind my clients that the HOUSE they are about to buy will be their HOME. And there is a difference. I like to remind my clients that bigger isn't always better. More expensive homes don't mean happier homes.

I look at my kids and the memories I help them make in my home today and I look to my past to help guide my future. Do I try too hard to keep up with the Jones'? Do we really need a bigger home when we all fit so nicely in this one? Will my kids remember where we put our Christmas tree and celebrated holidays with the family?

There's value to reflecting upon your childhood...

Thanks for the challenge, Jason!

Born and raised up North, in blustery Minnesota, Kym Jackson knew that when she grew up she wanted to do two things: be a mommy and run her own photography business. After she married her highschool sweetheart, Brad, he was able to convince her to leave the land of 10,000 lakes (and 10 million mosquitos!) to settle down near his childhood hometown in North Dallas. However, Kym left a strong following of loyal photography clients and began making plans for her business in McKinney, TX.

Soon after purchasing a home in McKinney, TX Kym was able to fulfill her other dream of becoming a mom - and had two beautiful kids. Not leaving behind her dream of continuing her career as a photographer, she transformed a room of her house into a working studio. Taking advantage of her two new beautiful subjects, and many nephews, nieces and friends' children, she incorporated her passion for photography and the joys of motherhood into one.

Kym's children's and baby portraits are by far some of the most unique and emotion filled pieces that you can find. She has a knack for capturing each child's personality on film and mastering the difficult task of snapping a shot at just the right moment before a happy grin turns into a sad grimace.

If you've just moved to McKinney, TX or surrounding cities (Allen, Plano, Frisco or Prosper) and are looking for a photographer, I would encourage you to book a session with Kym. Sure, you could seek out the standard big-chain photography studios, where everyone under the sun has the same backdrops, OR you could schedule a personal session at a location of your choice, your own home, or in Kym's very own studio.

In addition to Children's photography, Kym also specializes in the following: Wedding Photography, Maternity sessions, Newborns, Families, Senior Portraits, Business/Professional Headshots and sittings, Holiday Card designs, Custom Birth Announcements, Business Card design, Real Estate photography and product shots.

As a personal note: Kym has done over two dozen sittings for our family - yearly Christmas card pictures (AND Christmas card design), maternity sessions, newborn sessions INCLUDING designing a birth announcement that features one of her photos) and yearly children's birthday photos. Professionally, Kym shoots pictures for all of my real estate listings and has done my business card headshot and design. I have never met someone so dedicated to their profession and whose passion is evident in each piece of work she puts herself into.

Find Kym online at www.PortraitsbyKym.com, or become a "fan" on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/McKinneyPhotographer.

Call Kym direct at 214-280-2122. Tell her that the "other" Kim referred you, and she'll take great care of you!

Right now, I'm working hard to earn the title of Multi-Task Queen. I'm stuffing this month's Brian Buffini mailing to my spehere (which includes printing letters, signing them, folding, stuffing, stamping & sealing), reading this morning's headlines on Active Rain, while trying to comment (simultaneously fearing that one of my comments may soon appear on Todd Clark's Comment Hall of Shame), watching my inbox & Blackberry for a counter-offer and listening to Mercy Me on the office JAMBOX (while singing to myself)! 

The music is a soothing, calming thread to my day. I don't know why, but I don't like silence in the office. Depending on my mood, I may have 80's hair bands cranking, 90's hip-hop to get my groove on before a listing appointment, or the uplifting words of Christian band Mercy Me. I also enjoy Sarah McLaughlin, Sting, Coldplay, old-school country music (Loretta Lynn!), new-school country music (Kenny Chesney and Texan Pat Green) and jazzy Jason Mraz.

Outside of the office there are much more enjoyable sounds. I enjoy the sounds of my 17-month old giving a good belly laugh while playing with his balloons (he LOVES balloons), the sound of light sabers as my 7 year old duels his cousin or the sound of the outdoor grill sizzling as my hubby makes dinner.

What's on your play list? What are your favorite sounds to get you through the day? We all have our favorites. It's important to pay attention to our senses and do what feels best to get us through every day. We always preach to our sellers to highlight all 5 senses when preparing their home to show. I think we should do the same thing in our work and home environments.

Well, gotta get back to my Multi-Tasking...and to my tunes....

Catch ya later, singing in the Rain!!

Yesterday I went to check my mail and I got a card-sized envelope in the mail. I opened it up only to find a Thank You note from a fellow Active Rainer, Rick Tourgee with Century 21 Shoreland. It thanked me for commenting on his blog and then mentioned that he would welcome any referrals for the Cape Cod area in Massachusetts.

At first, I couldn't remember WHAT blog post I had commented on that made such an impact. Then I tried to think of any blog posts that I had commented on that could have been particularly kind or generous. So I looked up Rick to find the post in question. Rick had posted about a recent Valentines Party he held for clients and community members. My comment wasn't a candidate for "Best Comment of the Year". It was a simple, 'atta boy - good job - type comment.

This simple act touched me, and what's more is that I am certain to add Rick to my referral network. If Rick was thoughtful enough to go out of his way to send me a Thank You card, I am confident that he would go out of his way to treat any referral I had sent him even better.

So, Rick - a big Thank You from Texas!

Happy Valentine's Day to my Active Rain Family!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, laughter, advice, friendship and fellowship with me.

And now a little bit of free Valentines' Day advice from me to you:

Men- go out NOW and get a little something for your wife/girlfriend/mom. It's the 13th. You've got time! Sometimes it's a single red rose that means more than a huge bouquet. Sometimes it's a home-cooked meal that means more than going out to a 5-star restaurant. Sometimes it's buying a house for your significant other that says in an understated kind of way: "Hey - let's put down some roots! I think I love you."

And if you're the guy that opts for that last tip, you're reading the right blog! Call me up - I'll even take you "shopping" in my car for the perfect house! I'm still working on how to giftwrap it though, so stay tuned...

All kidding aside, have a great day with the ones you love!

SOMEONE'S HAVING THE BEST WEEK EVER! ME!

I must apologize up front - I normally hate when people use all caps - but this post simply wouldn't be the same without it.

I JUST MADE PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE FOR THE SEARCH TERM "MCKINNEY REAL ESTATE AGENT"!

This. Is. HUGE!

My market is FULL of top producing agents, and as I did my "Google Check" on my favorite search terms for McKinney, TX I nearly had a heart attack when my name appeared - #7 - on page 1. I quickly scrolled to the bottom of the page, ready to hit "page 2" hoping I might have squeezed onto p.2, when what to my eyes did appear but MOI! It was my Active Rain profile page! BINGO! Yet another reason to have a good profile page, right?

This is the gigantic cherry-on-top of my first month-plus in 2009. If I may, I'd like to brag a little bit - I'm sure Active Rain won't mind:

• I finally have my #1 spot back for McKinney, TX (although I've got my eye on those who are on my heels. Thank you for the boost of competition I need to excel!)
• I finally had my first featured AR post - not just one either, TWO in the same week!
• I was asked to be a guest blogger to the Christianity and Real Estate blog - I felt like I had been handed an Academy Award!
• I have been contacted by many asking to use my information in their newsletters, online blogs and asking to add me to their referral database. ME!
• I signed up for an outside blog - www.McKinneyTexasHomesBlog.com
• My blog subscribership has doubled - not many - but still, doubled!
• AND - finally - Page 1 of GOOGLE!

...and all of this in the first month on Active Rain

...all of this within the day I wrote down my Active Rain goals, my 2009 Business Plan, and have been working the plan.

I don't know what you are putting into that Google Juice, Active Rain, but keep it coming!

And a note to those of you not yet "getting it": Active Rain is the best FREE place of real estate knowledge, information, advice, referrals and SEO you're ever going to get!

You all can do it too! Who's going to have the "Best Week Ever" next week?