San Antonio's Rockstar Turned Realtor®: December 2010

Tegley ???

I love CAPTCHA codes.  I found this one this morning while here on ActiveRain and had to laugh.  I wrote my message, started to type the letters from the CAPTCHA and then realized I had absolutely no clue what the second word was.  I think there's an "m" and a "y" at the end there, but that's about all I could see (or guess).  In addition to the usual non-sensical words that appear, I've found many instances where the words were more like an ink blot test.

Did you know?

Although it seems like it would be fairly obvious, I've seen people do the "I could've had a V8" head smack when they realized what the two symbols to the right of the text box were there for.

Headphones - Click this icon and you'll be played an audio version of the text.  This is often helpful when the words apear blurry and you can't read them, but it's also useful for making websites accessible to all.  If you're blind, you can't read a CAPTCHA and the text-to-voice software that you would use to "view" websites would not be able to read the text...as it's an image file.

Circular Arrow - You can use this button to refresh the words if they are unreadable or look like you've been out on a bender.  One note of advice, every site is different with their refresh button, if you've entered any text (comments, email, etc.) I highly suggest you copy what you just wrote and then click the refresh button.  I've lost some great text over the years when the whole page reloaded instead of just the graphic.  In the case of ActiveRain's contact pages (where this was taken from), the button only refreshes the graphic (9 times out 10 you'll find this to be the case, but it's that one time that will make your blood boil).

Previously, on ActiveRain...

I wish I had thrown a date in the ActiveRain Success Story (quoted below) that I wrote.  It seems like I wrote it about fifty years ago (I haven't even been alive that long, despite what you may think), but I'm guessing it was somewhere around a year ago, maybe more.  My time at ActiveRain has been fruitful; bringing me clients, friends, and contact with all sorts of influential people in the real estate industry.  It's garnered me recognition, both as a Realtor® and a blogger/tech-geek.  It's made me money and cost me nothing (other than a few sleepless nights when I just had to get an idea written out).  I have to repeat myself - it's been great.

My time on ActiveRain has been great.  I started here with the intention of "cutting my blogging teeth" so to speak and its done wonders for me.  I've been able to learn what I like and don't like in blogs and find my style as I write more and more.  Its opened up networking opportunities (my referral network reaches far and wide now), taught me a thing or two that I didn't know, and allowed me to make friends with people I might not otherwise know.  I've learned more than I can imagine right here on these pages - from technology to changes in the laws affecting real estate to negotiating tips to staging advice to new products.  It's like a giant online classroom - with a sense of fun and humor to it as well.  Many people might gauge their success on ActiveRain in dollars and cents, but I gauge it in what its done for me...the dollars and cents will follow.  I look forward to reading this in a year's time and seeing what I have to say about it then.

But times do change...

Through my time here on ActiveRain, real estate has changed and so have I.  You've probably changed a bit to since we first met.  We all do.  Time brings about change, no matter how much we try to stop it.  I blog a little less here at ActiveRain now and my focus has shifted a bit from being all about local real estate to covering much broader topics and focusing a bit more on giving back of my experiences and thoughts.  I spend more time here talking about the real estate industry and ideas about how to do this or that.  I guess in a way, I've moved into a more educational role here at ActiveRain, but instead of educating buyers and sellers (I do plenty of that at RErockstar.com) I tend to focus on the people around me, the members of ActiveRain and other real estate bloggers.  One of the facts you may not know about me is that I once wanted to be a teacher - I have a strong desire to help others through education and the sharing of knowledge.

So with that said, I write my next ActiveRain Success Story...

As an ActiveRain Ambassador, I've been given the opportunity to talk to many new (and not so new) members and share my tech-geekiness and love of real estate technology/blogging with many of them.  I've been able to connect with consumers (and generate business), expand my referral network, and speak with many influential people in the real estate industry.  As my recognition as a Realtor® and blogger has grown, I have been able to share my experiences and knowledge with the ActiveRain network - helping them as they once helped me.  My success comes in many flavors, but it has recently shifted into the education side of real estate, something I had an interest in, and ActiveRain has allowed me to expand that side of things.  As I continue to blog here at ActiveRain, you can expect to see much more information geared towards expanding the community's use and understanding of many of the tools and technology that we have access to.

So, who thought I was leaving after they read the first few lines of this post?

photo courtesy of David Reece

When a new blogger speaks.

I've had a few conversations with Eric Michael outside of ActiveRain recently, so was happy to see his first post.  It's never easy taking that leap of faith and writing your first one, especially when you get that nagging doubt that says "who will care" and "who wants to read what I have to say?"

I applaud anyone who takes that first step, but since I've spoken to Eric, I thought I'd applaud him a little more publicly.  I think he'll be just fine...