Carol Flammer | Social Media, Public Relations, Horse Lover » General

The Year of Money

Carol — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:12:35 +0000

Maybe 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

Learning About Finances

Visual.ly Helps Me Discover Twitter Characteristics

Carol — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:59:48 +0000

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!

Priceless!

Carol — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:06:04 +0000

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.

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Bullet Work: Suspenseful from Beginning to End

Carol — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:03:48 +0000

As 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.

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Banned by WordPress

Carol — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:30:22 +0000

So, 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!

Caffeine: Are You Addicted?

LinkedIn Maps: A Spirogiro of Life

Carol — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:51:35 +0000

Remember 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!

Tradeshow Survival Tips from #IBS2011

Carol — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:58:10 +0000

About 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:

EMS machine
Happy Feet
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:

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.
A giant case of water – I drank water non-stop during the show.
Snacks – apples, granola bars, tea bags, apple chips, yogurt and popcorn made nice quick snacks before during and after the show.
Multiple pairs of shoes – I changed shoes almost everyday before evening events. This helped my tired feet from getting too worn out.
Multiple changes of clothes – I also changed clothes before going out at night. There is nothing like clean clothes to perk you up for a night of networking, dancing and walking.
Take breaks – Make sure to take time out from walking to sit. It is even better if you can sit and enjoy the company of a friend!

I’d love for you to share you Tradeshow survival secrets with me. And please, please comment if you have a great source for an EMS or Happy Feet!

Quirky Things That Business Owners Do To Keep Employees Happy

Carol — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:35:08 +0000

Want to make your employees LOVE you? Recently I asked members of Professional Building Women LinkedIn group for the Quirkiest Things that Business owners do to keep employees happy. I received some fabulous responses and thought it would only be fair to share! (If you are a member of the PWB LinkedIn group, you can click through on these links to learn more about the people who are featured. If you are not a member, please join us!)

Todd Lincoln • I grill lunch or an early dinner for everyone on our job-sites, and make ice cream when it is really, really hot.

Linda Hebert • One of my sales agents was complaining that the stress of the market was taking a toll on her appearance and she couldn’t afford to do anything about it. I Really needed one of our models to sell at a price at the high end of a very tough market. Incentive? Botox. Outcome? Success! ….. And a very happy, motivated and younger looking, agent.

Terri Everhart • Take a ‘lunch’ break at the local driving range – - everyone gets a bucket of golf balls to swing out some aggressions. Doesn’t take much to organize this event; just pick up and go. And it’s fun for every level of golfer.

Katie Middleton • Once a quarter, we host Bingo Day with a potluck. The Bingo cards are themed around season or a holiday and our well experienced receptionist calls the “spots” through our phone system. Winners are given their choice of prizes from a selection of fun and unusual gifts. It’s great for morale to hear the laughter, BINGO, and all the other comments that come, especially when the same person keeps winning. We really have a good time and our customers get a kick out of it too.

Jenn Engle • We often do things such as bring in donuts, buy them lunch or dinner, keep a stash of candy bars, have family fun nights with pizza and a band, hold a safety meeting at an upscale place they have never been to, but I think the thing they all like the most is when we framed their certificates and hung a copy on our wall and gave the other one to them. They really feel like they are part of the team and so do we!

Amy Martino • This one is not quirky but very broad thinking. At the company I used to work for, the principal would go to the farmers market every weekend and bring in boxes of fruit. It would be gone in two days, but addressed healthy lifestyle while making everyone happy! In the opposite spectrum, years ago another company had a vending machine which they filled with beer. Happiness comes in many ways.

Darylene Dennon • In the summertime, on a very hot day we have brought cold watermelon to the job site and announced we are having a watermelon break. Needless to say this a surprise.

Life in 2010

Carol — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:55:21 +0000

Thanks to my Mom for sending this to me in an email. This is hilarious!

Here goes, you know you are living in 2010 when:

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first
20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12 You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message..
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list

Happy Thanksgiving!

Carol — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:58:58 +0000

A very happy thanksgiving to my friends, family and clients. My Mom and I spent the entire afternoon cooking yesterday and we prepared a number of dishes including homemade rolls, asparagus casserole, sausage and cheese breakfast souffle (to be eaten shortly), deviled eggs and cherry Coke jello salad. It felt good to prepare for the big celebration in advance, but more than that if was fun to spend time with my Mother. Today I’m thankful that my husband already has the turkey in the oven (he got up at 5), and that soon the house will be full of relatives to celebrate a year of blessings that we are all thankful for.

Tomorrow I might Cybershop as I’m not a huge fan of the Black Friday crowds. If you are in the mood to shop, make sure to visit Atlanta Real Estate Forum where the writers have been busy preparing a written feast for you. From Atlanta events to celebrate the holidays to home sales on Black Friday to what Sarah coined Throw-Off Thursday (shopping on Thanksgiving Day), you’ll find something of interest. Thanksgiving has always heralded the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Happy Thanksgiving to you! Please share your Thanksgiving traditions with me!