This site is a map of everything about me online. Look for links to my blogs, social networking sites and favorite Web sites. From news about my Trakehner horses to upcoming seminars - This is designed to be a single source for business associates, clients, family and friends to find it all. Enjoy and visit often! - Carol

Hello and Happy New Year!

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be starting the year off by giving a seminar, “Facebook for Business: Build Fans and Grow Customers” at the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce. The seminar will be held this coming Friday, January 13 at 11:30 am in the Anheuser-Busch Community Room.

Facebook is such a vital tool for personal and professional life- I don’t know where we’d be without it. Did you know that Facebook has nearly 800 million active users? More than half of them log on daily. Think of the fantastic potential for networking and marketing!

Whether Facebook is still foreign to you or you’re just looking for some fresh ideas for your profile, there’s something for you at the seminar this Friday. Come join me in navigating Facebook’s newest changes and hear tips for branding yourself and your company.

The event is free to all members of the chamber, and lunch can be pre-ordered for only $8. The cost to attend $35 for non-members.

If you would like to attend, there is still space! You may register online by January 12.

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Oct
18

The Year of Money

By Carol · Comments (1)

chinese numerologyMaybe it is because I just celebrated a birthday this month, but I found this information on Chinese numerology and Feng Shui for 2011 very interesting.

This year we are going to
experience four unusual dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11, and that’s not all; Take the last two digits of the year you were born and the age you will be this year and the result will add up to 111 for
everyone! This is the year of MONEY.  (So, like Tom Cruise, show me the money!)

Also, this year, October will have 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays & 5 Saturdays.
This happens only once every 823 years. These particular years are
known as Moneybag years. The proverb goes that if you send this to
eight good friends, money will appear in the next four days, as is
explained in the Chinese feng shui. Those who don’t continue the
chain, won’t receive. It’s a mystery, but it’s worth a try. Good luck
to you. This only happens once in 800 years

Categories : General
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Twitter is one of my absolute favorite social media sites. It is where “birds of a feather flock together.” I love it because unlike many other social sites you can really target the people and the content that you want to follow. visual.ly created this cool info graphic to demonstrate my Twitter profile. visual.ly is a new site that just launched.  It can help you build info graphics to illustrate your trends and statistics.  Make sure to check it out!

Categories : General, Social Media
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Jul
19

Priceless!

By Carol · Comments (0)

social media book Now that the new version of my book is out apparently the old one has become priceless.  Amazon has one copy of “Social Media for Home Builders: It’s Easier Than You Think” remaining and this exclusive edition is available to one lucky (and perhaps wealthy) buyer for $101.41.  All I can say is priceless!

Of course, you can always purchase the new version “Social Media for Home Builders 2.0″ for its regular price of $19.95. Besides it is the expanded version with new real estate case studies, more tools and twice the pages.

Categories : General, Social Media
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bullet workAs a blogger it is always nice to be offered something for free.  It is even better if that which you are offered is something that interests you!  This is certainly the case with  Steve O’Brien’s new book Bullet Work. I literally could not put it down and read in over the course of two days.  For the little girl who grew up dreaming of owning a horse and now has several of them, anything  related to horses is always a huge plus. Apparently my horse crazy streak has followed me into adulthood. For all of my friends who love Dick Francis and his murder, mystery books about horse racing, you are going to love Bullet Work.

Bullet Work is suspenseful from beginning to end. It shows a  side of horse racing that most of us never experience first-hand, the backside of the track. A cast of colorful characters show determination, greed, the hard work and luck needed to win at the races. An unlikely friendship between a gifted boy and an owner develops along the way and through a strange path of twists and turns the plot thickens.  This look at the backside of the track will keep you guessing who is responsible for the horse murders until the very end.

If you are looking for a fun read, I definitely give this a blue ribbon.

Categories : General
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May
28

Banned by WordPress

By Carol · Comments (1)

WordPress blogsSo, until today I’d only heard about blogs that have been banned by WordPress. Today I found one. We always advise our clients that it is best to have a self-hosted WordPress blog, not a free one. The biggest reason is because of the SEO. On WordPress.com, the free site, you have little to no control over your SEO (search engine optimization) on self-hosted WordPress, the version you download to your own domain from WordPress.org, you have total control of your SEO and the rest of the site.

As you probably know, I think you should own your blog. It is the only part of your social marketing program that you can have complete control of. Best of all on a self-hosted site, like www.AtlantaRealEstateForum.com you will control your SEO and your destiny. You are not subject to anyone’s rules and regulations, much less their whims (think Facebook). Your self-hosted blog is sortable, indexable and searchable. When was the last time you tried to find a post you made on Facebook two weeks ago?

Happy Blogging!

Categories : General
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May
02

How Do You “Like” Me Now?

By Carol · Comments (0)

The Facebook “like” button is how consumers prefer to support local businesses online. A new study by CityGrid Media conducted by Harris Interactive® also shows that consumers are doing their homework when it comes to making decisions about which local businesses to frequent, but no one factor or source overwhelmingly influences the final choice–including those highly-touted deals and discounts.

“Surprisingly enough, Likes are trumping reviews when it comes to sharing feedback, but this does not translate to Facebook being the first or only place consumers turn when deciding to try someplace new,” said Kara Nortman, SVP, Publishing at CityGrid Media. “What this means for small businesses on the Web is that they should encourage Likes, but also round out marketing efforts to reach consumers across a variety of touchpoints. The truth is, there’s no one silver bullet to influence people that are choosing local businesses on or offline.”

Key findings:

Likes Trump Reviews; but Face to Face Wins Over All

  • Three-quarters of people (75%) tell their friends
  • 20% of people say they “Like” it on Facebook to show their support, compared with only 13% who write a review
    • Millennials are even more likely to favor Facebook over reviews, as are women:
      • 40% of people under 35 “Like” a business; that went to 49% in the 18-24 group, versus 18% who said they would write a review
      • 25% of women hit the “Like” button, versus 11% who write reviews

People do Their Homework, but The Deal’s Just Extra Credit

While Facebook may be one of the first places people go to give feedback on a business, it’s certainly not the only stop. Surprisingly, despite a sluggish economy and the Read More→

Categories : Social Media
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LinkedIn NetworksRemember all the cool patterns we made as kids on the Spirogiro? Well, LinkedIn has a cool new tool that will remind you of  your childhood, while at the same time allowing you to visualize your LinkedIn network. My LinkedIn Map is pictured here.  It is interesting to be able to picture the interconnectivity between all of my social networks, yet see each of them distinctly! I love all of the colors and patterns.

If you want to create one of your own visit Linkedin Labs and follow the directions!

If you are too young to remember the Spirogiro, guess what? They are still available at Amazon. Of course they call them Spiral Art now!

Categories : General, Social Media
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social media labDo you want to learn how social media can help your business reach existing customers and build relationships with new ones? If so, bring your laptop and join us for a fun and exciting Social Media Lab at GNTC (Georgia Northwestern Technical College) in Rome, Georgia. This hand-on lab will help you start using social media immediately.

Social Media Lab is a five-week program offering the “how to” basics for promoting your business through social networking and blogging. Each week we will cover building a different site in a 3-hour lab. Find out from Carol Flammer of mRELEVANCE how to build your business as you build Friends, Fans, and Followers.

Labs will be held on the Floyd Campus on Monday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon (registration starts at 8:30). The upcoming lab takes place Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 and March 7. Classes can be taken separately, but for the best overview and value, register for all five weeks together! Register for individual weeks for $79 each or for all five for $289. Register for the complete program and bring a friend, and get $10 off the second registration. Register five or more people together and receive a 5% discount on all registrations! Register at GNTC.

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trade show survivalAbout half-way through the International Builder’s Show, I realized that my back already hurt and my feet were starting to hurt too.  I found myself in the Professional Women in Building (PWB) lounge lying on my back on the floor! It was just then that Cindy Cepko entered the lounge and loaned me her EMS (electronic muscle stimulation) machine. Having never used one before I was completely surprised that this portable, light weight piece of equipment not only worked, but also fit into my purse.

A group of us started chatting and we quickly realized that Cindy was quite the prepared tradeshow goddess!  In addition to her EMS machine, she pulled out of her brand new rolling bag extra shoes with Happy Feet insoles. These three items will be on the top of my shopping list for the next show I attend:

  1. EMS machine
  2. Happy Feet
  3. A rolling briefcase

If anyone bought the top two items during #ibs2011, I’d love to have contact information for these vendors. I’m definitely in the market for these! And the sooner, the better!

My personal tradeshow survival kit for the show included:

  1. Folders for each event or meeting – this allowed me to only bring to the show the files I needed that day and leave the rest at the hotel.
  2. A giant case of water – I drank water non-stop during the show. Read More→
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