I found a couple pretty sweet little applications for the iPhone this morning.

One was a shopping list for the iPhone – this list utilizes the Safari browser and was developed by Neven Mrgan (he also has a quote fetching service, Quip, which is pretty cool). How does it work? You bookmark the URL of the app: (more…)

My best buddy and I went on a road trip last night, barely eeking our way into the Maysville, Kentucky AT&T store at closing time. (OK, they actually held the store open for a couple minutes for us because I’d called and said I was on my way.)

Where to find an iPhone in Kentucky:

Maysville was one of two stores that still had stock in the entire state of Kentucky after the mad-dash run on the little devices yesterday evening. Corbin was the second. The first day of release was really nuts. But, I now have mine all up and running (am watching a large version of a Harry Potter movie while typing this blog entry, as a matter of fact.) (more…)

Today, people stood in line in the rain and the muck, awaiting the 6 p.m. opening of local AT&T “corporate” stores to buy the elusive iPhone. In under 50 minutes all the phones in the three Lexington stores were gone.

As of this evening at closing time, there were only two places in Kentucky you could still get the phone — Maysville and Corbin. (Maysville had over 20 units — both 4 and 8 gig models).

The Maysville store number is 606-759-5098 and the Corbin store is: 859-523-1888.

The photo was taken at 3:00 this afternoon at the West Reynolds Road location. I guess those wanting the new toys won’t be slowed by rain, or sleet or snow or dead of night, eh?

Sometimes life gives you lemons… without a WAY to make lemonade (cause the lemons are rotten from the get-go). It’s a fact, and it sucks.

While chatting with a client yesterday I determined that there seems to be an epidemic of this problem. I also determined that if you are at “wits end” with things going the way they are going, that perhaps there needs to be some help available. (more…)

Are you curious about WordPress as a publishing tool for your online success as a real estate professional? I was too. And I’ve been using WP on my own blog for some time now. I must say, I love it!

I’ve helped several clients switch over to WP. They love it. Currently I’m in the midst of the process to switch over a HUGE real estate resource site to WP for content management. Using WordPress as a real estate website has many benefits: (more…)

I read a recent breakdown of changes in the iPhone done by TheSimpleWebSolution.com by comparing the keynote speech images with the most recent Apple television ads.

Two completely unrelated thoughts cropped up as I read this…

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If you have a website, you need a custom 404 page.

Why?

• Because there is nothing LESS “sticky” than a standard 404 page and you want a “sticky” site to retain visitors
• Because you want to deliver the BEST personalized service to your clients online and face-to-face
• Because you hate 404 pages yourself
• Because getting a generic “Error 404: Page not found” makes people run away, feel stupid, belive they have done something wrong, or it simply frustrates them when they didn’t get what they wanted

People don’t like to feel stupid and they avoid situations that make them feel that way. They don’t like to be frustrated and ditto on the avoidance there. You don’t want YOUR site to be the cause of these feelings, do you? (more…)

I’ve collected a few great resources for the entrepreneur, solopreneur, or small business owner below and hope that others will add to the list any great resources I’ve failed to mention. (more…)

At the end of last year, I blogged about the buying power of women in the real estate arena over on ActiveRain. Now, having just made a move from the country (where I own a farm) to the city (where I’m begrudgingly renting for the next 18-24 months), I’m even more firm in my conviction that women do the lion’s share of decision making in families. *I’m exhaused!*

Today, I get a couple emails in from a client with an emphasis on the buying power and the decision-making role of single and married females alike. One is from Inman News and the other is from the New York Times (I apologize if a registration is required to read it):

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You have learned about the importance of metatags and contextual keywords and are now ready to select a handful of your own. Would you like some help with the project?

I’ve assembled a list of resources to help you keyword your website by first researching keyword popularity. Since most tools only evaluate the popularity on a single search engine, you are going to need several to get a well balanced picture.

You should also remember that your content will drive traffic. If you offer helpful, entertaining and well-written information that your niche market seeks, you will gain readership. Adding keywords and keyword phrases will get you in the search results, but may not secure visitor loyalty. You need a sticky site that gives good information.

Now, back to the keyword portion of this equation… (more…)

I’m loving this recent Inman post from Todd Carpenter of Lenderama on the new interest in using large metal shipping containers as the basis for a new type of housing. (more…)

While I’m working on resources to help (in particular) real estate agents using an independently hosted WordPress theme, I happened to trip across this wonderful post full of over 120 resources, links and tools for bloggers.

As soon as I get a bit more time, I’ll be reviewing each of these in light of my WP for RE project, in the meantime, Thanks, Mashable!

(Note: Image used under Creative Commons, and belongs to Cambodia4kidsorg and was found on Flickr.)

Ever wonder how secure your online information with various companies may be? This month a report from Privacy International stated that Google’s privacy policies were suspect. What has followed? Accusations of a smear campaign by Google toward Privacy International and several other unseemly accusations.

Google was not the only company reviewed. Other companies included Amazon, AOL, Apple, BBC, Bebo, eBay, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, Last.fm, LinkeIn, LiveJournal, Microsoft, MySpace, Orkut, Reunion.com, Skype, Wikipedia, Windows Live Space, Xanga, Yahoo!, and YouTube. (more…)

Want to know the top browser, top online game, top web-based communication option — selected by Webware readers and web based application fans from all over? Check out the WebWare 100 Winners for 2007.
Many of these I use, or have used, but a few… under the topics of “entertainment” and “community” are begging for some of my “free time” — whatever THAT is!

It’s good to know that WordPress beat out Drupal, Blogger and TypePad in publishing/blogging and web content tools. *grin*

It’s been awhile since I’ve really “dug in” where SEO is concerned. Basically, I’ve been working under the assumption (a fairly good one, IMHO and in my humble experience online) that if you build good content, organize it well and use common sense when titling your articles, posts and web pages — that the readers will come.

For my own sites, and my client sites, it’s worked like a charm.

To be fair, I have spent a great deal of time studying SEO in the past and still try to keep abreast of any big changes. But mostly, I’ve determined that avoiding the “tricks” and the “blackhat” methods — and relying on offering a site of useful information and making it easy to find and access that information is the best long-term SEO approach. (I do keep an eye on well-crafted metas and always have an eye on local search.) (more…)

I was talking with a client this morning, and got the best chuckle of the past two weeks. He informed me that he was recently told that he could use his mouth to amplify the signal from his car remote.

He said that he gave it a try this morning and holding the device on his chin, and with an open mouth, the range was dramatically extended. I nearly had a stitch in my side I laughed so hard. (I think he was offended.)

So, in an effort to find something, ANYTHING on the web about this… I did a search. And I found this little video. I’ve quit laughing at my client now, but I’m still not sure I’m ready to stick a remote to my chin and let my mouth gape open in public. I mean, SERIOUSLY, as if it isn’t difficult enough to appear to be a normal human being on a daily basis without this demonstration!

Boost Car Remote With Skull – video powered by Metacafe

Surf on over to Dell’s open source page if you would like to view a video introduction to Linux in general and Ubuntu in particular in under five minutes.
Ubuntu is the Linux version both my children are using on their machines (my 17-year-old installed and maintains those systems) and is the OS of choice for Dell in the open source arena.

Dell is also offering a DOS OS on some of their machines for those “old hands” out there that are still running (or who miss running) the old DOS programs.

Thanks to Richard Huston’s Blog for the heads up on the new video!

While surfing the web (yeah, again) I found a freebie issue of Small Spiral Notebook which was not only free, but thanks to the magic of NXTBook Media, was pretty cool in presentation as an online magazine as well.

If you want to check out some of the works and writers, take a peek at Issue #4 of this Literary Magazine of Writers and Poets.

A recent pearl in the www — a website promoting an author’s book that is so low-tech, but so original and so cool that I don’t care that it breaks all the “rules” for websites.

Visit a book website that you won’t soon forget — using what’s available in the kitchen, a dry erase marker and flash to tell the whole story!

Writers are ALL creative people, even when out of their “customary” element!

It seems that once you get a few good, national clients, the people at home start to notice you. Local businesses are interested in this “offsite help” or “remote professional” concept. I was recently asked by a friend if I would be working with the locals now that I’m living in the city. My answer? “I’m not interested.”

Why? For me, the “cons” outweigh the “pros” of working locally. Have you weighed out the pros and cons to determine if a local client list is more beneficial than a long distance one? Maybe you should…

Benefits of working with local clients:

• You are available for face-to-face meetings.
• You “know” your clients in a more concrete way.
• You can travel onsite to see how they operate.
• You can deliver something across town quicker than you can overnight it.
• You are in the same time zone so workday hours mesh.
• You are more likely to work with the subordinates, instead of just the boss.
• You may find that the number of projects you are assigned increases because you are local and/or more involved in the business.
• You can take your clients out to lunch occasionally and find other ways to build that working relationship with personal contact.
• Word of mouth marketing may be stronger on a local level and you may grow a local client base more quickly than a national or global one.
• You can market locally by joining local networking groups and business clubs and feel less “isolated” in your work.

Possible problems with working with local clients:

• You are expected to be physically present when there’s a crisis.
• You spend more time traveling to the client’s site (and if you don’t charge for travel time, you lose billable hours).
• You may experience a resistance to work done “virtually” when you are physically close. (“Can you just come in, it’s so much easier if I can just show you what I need…”)
• You can’t use “off hours” to complete projects and deliver them using the time difference (so you may work later).
• You may experience fewer eggs in your business basket: clients who lean on you more (because you are close) may monopolize your time and prevent you from maintaining a variety of clients.
• You may notice a less distinct line between “employee” and “independent contractor” — be sure to review the IRS guidelines on employee vs. contract labor.
• Getting paid may actually take longer. (Waiting when the “check is in the mail” takes longer than immediate electronic, credit card or PayPal funding.)
• You may spend more time being PC and less time doing the work when you are physically close to the client.
• You are easier to find and may encounter clients when you are off the clock, when you are at school functions, even at the grocery store.
• Your “business attire” is completely different when you have local clients that may “drop by” than when you have distance clients that never see how you dress to work.

That gives you ten pros and ten cons for cultivating a local client base. Personally, I have one local client that I maintain. The rest are long distance. Why? I find that on the average, local clients are “needy” compared to my national clients (my current client being the exception). I find that local clients expect me to drop everything and help when they have a crisis. I find that they plan less and are less likely to try to problem solve on their own before picking up the phone and calling me to come in. And, I like having the option to work in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. My days of the daily “power suit” are long gone. Thankfully, my “local” client is still a couple hours away, so I don’t have “drop in” surprises in my home office.

What do you like about local clients? What do you like about national/global clients? Help build the pros and cons list!