Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and food. In the spirit of remembering what Thanksgiving is about, I found a brief history to share with you.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest
feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations
in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and
interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast
is considered by many to the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was
actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving
thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the
Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized
harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for
centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America. Read More...

And some fun facts to share around your dinner table:

• Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.


• The cranberry is one of only three fruits—the others are the blueberry and the Concord grape—that are entirely native to North American soil, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.


• Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."


• The first time the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving Day was in 1934, when they hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit stadium, in front of 26,000 fans. The NBC radio network broadcast the game on 94 stations across the country--the first national Thanksgiving football broadcast. Since that time, the Lions have played a game every Thanksgiving (except between 1939 and 1944); in 1956, fans watched the game on television for the first time.

Labels: CyberSunshine

Tablefy is a nifty online tool that allows you to compare things. You can make your own tables or search the ones already made by other users. I made this one so I could see how it works:


go to the table!

It's pretty easy to use. All you do is choose the topic and the components, and then the attributes to compare. It only takes a few minutes. I found all my info by doing Google searches (Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't know all that superhero info off the top of my head!). You can use this tool in a variety of ways to help you with personal things and business things. It doesn't tell you which of the items is best, but it does put the most important information side by side so you can better evaluate which (of the items you're comparing) is best for you. You do have to register with the site, but it's free.

A few good uses for this tool:

• Comparing cell phones or any other electronic device
• Comparing cities (this would be a good idea for a post, making your city the favorable one, of course!)
• Pros and Cons of a situation, for those times when you need to make a decision but you're stuck

I am sure you can come up with a million other uses for this tool, so have fun and get started!

Labels: Real Estate Blog, Stuff You Need, Website Tools

Page Rank - n - Page rank is a value that Google assigns to a web page based on the importance of the page on the internet.

Page Rank is a Google feature, owned and trademarked by Google. Basically it's a ranking system that determines how important your website is to the world wide web. In Google's own words:

"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important'."

Basically it's like all the pages linking to you are voting for you, and you're voting for all the pages you link to. Sites that link to you and have a high page rank get you more "votes" than sites that link to you and have low page ranks. It's sort of a popularity contest, but the popular kid's vote counts more than the unpopular kid.

There are other factors too, like your keyword relevancy and the amount of traffic you receive to your site (which is why SEO is important). I know there's some math to the whole thing, but I'm a writer, not a mathematician, so I can't help you there.

Some SEO companies (but not CyberSunshine) will manipulate the Google Page Rank for you, to make yours higher than it actually is. But that's cheating and I wouldn't recommend it. In the long run, cheaters never win. The best way to increase your Page Rank is with good old-fashioned hard work. Get out in the blogosphere and make friends, and hopefully they'll like you enough to link to you. You can even ask people to link to you if you have the nerve. Most bloggers wouldn't be offended by you asking, so go for it! But be prepared to link to them too.

Wikipedia's article on Page Rank

How to check your Page Rank

A complicated article on the math of Page Rank

Labels: Blog Dictionary, Real Estate Blog, Website Tools

You know how sometimes you just can't figure out what you should write about, and you really need to post something? That happened to me today. I have this small window of time to write in, and the part of my brain responsible for writing blog posts is apparently on vacation. So while navigating the vast sea of posts still unpublished because they aren't finished yet, I came up with this idea. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets stumped and can't get their writing brain in gear, so in the event that you find yourself in this predicament, here are some ideas to get you out of your rut.

1. Tell your readers who you are, or what you're thinking. It's your blog, so nobody's going to stop you. You can take an online survey and post it with your answers in it. For some reason people like knowing odd, intimate details of other people's lives. The details don't necessarily have to be too personal if you don't want them to be though! You could simply make a list of your favorite things (raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, anyone?). For some quick and easy surveys, go here. Make sure you keep it rated PG though.

2. Find something funny on You Tube. Not only will you have a blog post in mere seconds, but searching for the perfect funny video will boost your mood as well. Maybe it will even clear up that darned writers block so you can post something important to follow your goofy You Tube video.

3. Publish A Poem. It doesn't even have to be one you wrote, although it could be. But for those of us less poetically-inclined (like myself), here's a good place to find old favorites. If you're not so into poems, you can also find song lyrics and other quotes there.

4. List some cool facts or laws. Here are some laws (pick your favorites) and here are some facts. Yes, this is a "fluff" post. But it gives your readers something to think about for a bit.

5. Show off the kids. Or the fluffy little dog that fits in your purse, if you don't have kids (or the purse-dog with the kids, if you're like me and have both). Your female readers will ooh and aah over the cutie pie (applies to both purse-dogs and human-kids). To accompany the photo(s) you can write a caption about it, or an antic that might have something to do with the photo.

Remember, don't take yourself too seriously. Yes, your blog is about real estate, but you have a personality outside of your job and it's okay to show that sometimes. So when you get stumped, reconnect with your readers by showing them you're a person. Your guaranteed to get a better response from any of these blog ideas than from doing yet another space-filling (and sleep-inducing) market report.

Related Reading: Ten Tips to Spice Up Your Real Estate Blog

Labels: Blogging Ideas, Real Estate Blog

This is probably the easiest thing you can do to improve the image of your blog. It sounds simple and silly, but it really does have benefits. An image can make or break your blog post. If you use the right image, it can attract readers. Images can also be used to make a point or to give an example. Here's a blog that strictly uses images.

I use images from time to time in my posts, but not too often. I don't see the need to use images frequently for my own blog, since it's more tutorial than anything, but you might be able to use images more for your blog. And that's great. You can certainly use an image in every post. I know of some series posts that require images. Here's an example of a good one. These kinds of posts are interesting, fun, and frequently shared, especially if the images are funny or really odd. People like to email interesting things to their friends and colleagues. Your blog can be one of those interesting things. On several blogs, I've seen a series where the blogger features a different mailbox, or a different local flower, or a local attraction every week. You don't have to make a series to use images, but it does make it easier.

I think the only "rule" I'd advise on this topic is to keep the number of images per post to a minimum. You don't want to have so many images that they overpower your writing. The image should accent your writing, not take over the post. Of course, also make sure your image isn't offensive or vulgar, unless you want to anger your readers!

Labels: Blog Project, Real Estate Blog, Website Tools

RSS Subscription is a term you'll hear often in the blogging world. So for all you novice bloggers, I am going to provide the definition of RSS and tell you what purpose it serves and how it can benefit you.

RSS - n any of various XML file formats suitable for disseminating real-time information via subscription on the Internet; Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication

I like the term Really Simple Syndication best. That is a clearer example of what RSS is, in my opinion. Basically, an RSS is a tool that allows readers to subscribe to your blog, and in doing so, they will get emails every time you publish a new post to your blog. So if people "Subscribe Via RSS", they must really enjoy reading what you have to say. In addition to receiving emails, some people might have a Feed Reader. Microsoft Vista, for example, provides a feed reader, and you can constantly get updates via the feed reader. It keeps track of your subscriptions and posts a link to each new entry on each blog to which you are subscribed. It makes it easy to keep track of all your reading material in one place.

Now if you are the owner of a blog, you'll need an RSS Subscription tool on your blog page. It should be part of the side bar, and it should be prominently displayed on every page of the blog, so people don't have to look for it. People like to subscribe, since it simplifies their lives, and they don't want to have to look for the subscription tool. So be sure to have the tool on your blog, and make sure it's visible. Usually the RSS tool is recognized by the color orange, and a little logo, which I have attached in this blog post.

If you are a blog reader, you'll also like RSS. I, myself, am both a blog writer and a blog reader, and of course I have favorite blogs that I like to read. I'm not telling what they are though. But I do enjoy having the option of receiving emails with links to the new posts, rather than having to track them down myself. It saves time when you get an email, because the email tells you the name of the post, and usually gives you the first few lines of the post, so you can determine if you even want to read it. That way, you don't have to waste time visiting each of your favorite sites to see if and what they have posted lately, or whether you'll even want to read it.

In each of these "Dictionary" posts, I am going to provide useful links that will further your knowledge on the topic. So here they are:

Wikipedia's RSS Definition

Tech-y info on RSS

More definitions are coming to you, so if you have a special request for a term or word that flabergasts you, email it to me. You can remain anonymous in case you feel silly asking.

Labels: Blog Dictionary, Real Estate Blog, Website Tools

This is part of a new series I'll be doing that will give you tips on how to improve your blog with subtle changes and easy-to-implement techniques. The first tip I'm going to cover is replying to comments left on your blog.

There are several reasons why you'll want to reply to your comments. First, it shows the commenter that you actually read the comments you receive and you value them. Most of the time when people leave you a comment they come back to see if their comment got any responses. People get the warm fuzzies when they see that the blog author read the comment and actually responded. You'd be surprised to know how many blog authors don't bother to respond to comments, even though it seems like simple logic to you and I. Personally, when I leave a comment and it doesn't warrant a response, I feel ignored, and I find that rude. It's like when you leave someone a voicemail and they never call you back. Another reason to respond to your comments is that it can gain you additional comments. You can start a dialogue of sorts on your blog. If someone comments to you, you have the opportunity to respond and possibly open up a conversation (depending on the topic, of course). Then you can invite other people to share their opinions on the comment, and then you have a dialogue (or a debate, but we'll talk about that some other time). Not only does this dialogue get you more hits to your blog from people checking back to read the comments, but it also gives the commenting parties a feeling of community, as if they have made friends on your blog and they're sharing ideas and thoughts. That's another warm fuzzies type of feeling.

Now on to how to do it. First of all, you can't really respond to a comment like, "Great point, I love your blog!" and expect to start a conversation. You have to look for the right type of comment. If someone asks a question or makes a point that corresponds with your original point (the reason you wrote that post), then you can comment to get an intelligent conversation started. Sometimes it won't work, and the commenter won't return, and nobody else will comment. That's okay. You did the polite thing by responding, so let it go. Don't post an additional comment asking for more opinions or wondering where the original commenter has gone. It makes you look desperate, and nobody wants to look desperate. Another thing to remember is that you do not bother responding to mean, hurtful, or negative comments unless you are fully prepared to deal with the lashback. The blogosphere can be a harsh place. There are so many types of people with so many varying opinions, so make sure you can handle the heat if you're starting an arguement. When I get unpleasant comments, I usually just delete them and move on. To me, it just isn't worth the hassle of starting a huge arguement, and it makes your blog look unprofessional.

Good luck in your commenting endeavors, and try to remember a very important point. You will not get a lot of comments. That doesn't mean your blog is boring or you're unpopular. You're not writing a blog for the comments, you're writing it to boost your site and to introduce yourself to potential clients. The comments are just an added bonus.

Labels: Blog Project, Blogging Ideas, Commenting, CyberSunshine, Real Estate Blog