Owasso, OK

I saw this on tv the other day and just about rolled! If you're from states like Oklahoma where the icy winters just tear up the roads, you will especially love this commercial by Geico.

Whoever the actess is that does the voice over is great! There's another great commercial out right now about visiting Louisville, KY. I can't find it on YouTube, but when I do, I'll post it too! Have a great day in the world of real estate!

Inspiration. The word conjures up all kinds of pictures in our mind, doesn't it?

You can be inspired by what someone says at a seminar or in a class you take.
You can be inspired by a song that just hits you right in your guy.
You can be inspired by a show you go to see or a concert.
You can be inspired by what you read in a book.
Many people find inspiration through their faith.
Others find inspiration in how they tackle the challenges of their career each day.

How and where do you find inspiration?

Think of inspiration as a source that gives you energy to do what needs to be done during the day. It gives you energy, creativity and the freshness you must have. And why is that?

Because each day you will be drained.

You know how it works. Selling real estate is demanding enough, but then there are those days when you bump into someone in traffic or at the store or on the phone or even in person who just drains you. Sadly, in the real estate world it often can be another Realtor or a client. Sometimes you just encounter a person who, for some reason or other just has the ability to leave you empty after they chew you up and spit you out.

These are the kind of people that Brian Buffini calls the "D" people of your database. They need to be DELETED immediately! And not only from your database, but from your life as well. That's because it only takes only one "D" type of person to drain you!

Have you ever noticed that? You can be having a great day and then you encounter that ONE "Ivan the Terrible" kind of person and suddenly, your just wiped out. You can have 5 good clients you are working with or five friends you are close to and then that one person comes into your life and they alone just suck the life out of you. All the good stuff you get out of the five relationships can just be flushed down the toilet in an instant by that one negative Nelly.

What do you do to recover?

We all have different methods for recovery after a bad "person" experience, but making sure you go back for inspiration from whatever your source is is one of the most important things to remember!

If you are religious, you understand how faith can help you dump your load of crud and come away refreshed and inspired again.

If you are creative, you understand how a picture or something you see in nature can just fill up your soul and restore your faith that all is right with the world in spite of Mr. or Mrs. You Know Who.

If you have found the essence of love within your relationship with the person you married, you know a source of inspiration that is amazing.

If you are blogger, I'm betting that some of those negative, life draining experiences find their way to AR. Of course, we know to change names, genders, places and other pertinent details to protect the innocent (ourselves), right?! Many of us find amazing support here in the Rain. Unfortunately though, there are some here who bring their negative energy with them. Their comments give them away.

So, what is your source for inspiration and how do you recover?

How do you recharge your life batteries?

If you're a long time agent, what is your secret for longevity?

Vacation? A certain book? Your spouse? Ice cream? Chocolate? Church? Politics? Your dog?

Is it one thing or maybe a combo meal assortment that keep you going?

Share you secret(s) for inspiration with us!

You do know about Google alerts, right? You ARE using them to know whenever someone is searching for you or for information about you on the internet, right? You're in the know about your properties and websites and the goings on on the internet about all things YOU, right?

If not, get your Google Alert set up TODAY!

Here's the why's and the how's...

First, you can set up a Google alert to notify you immediately or once a day on anything you want.

- For example, you can be alerted whenever someone searches for you by your name.
- You can be alerted whenever someone searches for your website.
- Want to know if someone is looking for your competitor? You can do that too!
- Do people search for your blogs? Set up a Google alert to see!
- How about your property listings by address? You can set that up too!

Secondly, setting up a Google alert is super easy to do!

The first step is to make sure you have a Google account. If you have GMail, then you have a Google account. If you don't have a Google account, it is super easy to set one up.

Step one - Google the words "Google Account"
Step two - click on the link that say's "Google Account" or just click here! When you get there, the webpage should look like this.

Step three - Click on Google Alerts

Step four - Set up your Google Alerts!

Type in your search terms - that's whatever search or words you want Google to watch for you, such as your name. Then choose the Type. This means everything on the web (comprehensive) or just blogs, news, video, groups, etc. For example, if you've posted a video on YouTube, a Google alert will tell you when someone searches for it or watches it. Next, pick how often to be notified. Your options are once a day, once a week or as it happens. I always choose as it happens because I want to be in the know!

Finally, put in whatever email address you want your alerts sent to. If you're using Microsoft Outlook and have all your emails forwarded, then you'll see these alerts pop in throughout the day or once a week right on your desktop.

To find out more about using Outlook in this way, click the following link:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1278207/simplifiy-your-life-with-microsoft-outlook-

Now, let me show you how to make your Google alerts effective and powerful!

Here's what your Google Account management screen should look like. You can see that I have lots of alerts set up. To see if an alert is actually finding anything, just click on it!

Here's the search results for my name with the "Blogs" type selected. You can see that this Google alert see's lot's of results!

But now let's look at one that isn't going to do anything for me. Here's a Google alert I have set up for one of my listings. It is just a search alert for the address with the type set to "Blogs". You can see that there are NO results that show up. That's not good!

But when I go back and adjust the alert to the address, city and state AND name of neighborhood, I suddenly have an effective search alert! Now, whenever someone searches for this home and any of these three results pop up, I will be notified!

So there you go! Remember, the power of Google search results come when you drill down and make your alerts specific to what you blogged about at Active Rain. Keywords are vital here. Connecting your Google Alert to your keyword tags will give you the information you are wanting to know.

And if you use a smart phone, you should be able to see your Google alerts pop in there via your emails. Now, you're really connected!

Congratulations on living a digital life!

Open house scheduled for 9908 North 120th East Avenue in Bailey Ranch Estates, Owasso Oklahoma!

MLS #924317

OPEN HOUSE - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2009 FROM 2-4 P.M.

This three bedroom, two full bathroom, three car garage beautiful home is located at 9908 North 120th East Avenue in Owasso, Oklahoma in the Bailey Ranch Estates neighborhood. It was built in 2000 and offers 2269 square feet in an open floor plan.

Bailey Ranch Estates offers a community pool, several park areas and paved walking trails throughout. It also has several ponds where you can enjoy the scenery or walk on the paved trails!

Several features of the home include the large kitchen, an open formal dining room, kitchen dining area and a wonderful covered back porch that was a later addition by the home owners.

To find the home in the Bailey Ranch Estates neighborhood, use this helpful map. Turn drive to the house, go North on Garnett from 96th Street in Owasso. Turn right on 100th Street and follow the road all the way to 120th East Avenue. Turn right onto 120th. The house will be on the right side of the street.

That's a few of the highlights. For a more complete listing and description of this incredible home, visit my original blog by clicking below.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1218081/welcome-home-to-9908-north-120th-east-avenue-in-bailey-ranch-estates-owasso-oklahoma-

Home Owners Association

Home Owners Associations exist for one purpose: to protect your homes' value. To find out about the HOA rules and restrictions, be sure to visit the Bailey Ranch Estates HOA page at http://www.baileyranchhoa.com/index.html

In Conclusion...

You can see that this wonderful home is located in a great neighborhood. And that's really what you're looking for when you're investing in your family, isn't it? Not just a house, but a home. And a place where neighbors call each other friends. That's what you'll love about living in Bailey Ranch Estates in Owasso, Oklahoma.

You'll find all that and more when you make this wonderful house at 9908 North 120th East Avenue in Owasso OK your new home.

For a personal showing contact Bob Haywood at 918-272-7272 or visit www.BobHaywood.com

DexRex: A Must Have Program for those who Text Message

Do you use text messaging to talk to your clients? How about for negotiating deals with other Realtors? Maybe you text your kids to keep up with their busy lives.

If so, consider this...how are you keeping a paper trail of the conversations you have with people, especially in regards to real estate (or ex spouses!).

Remember, having a paper trail of who said what is the most important part of transactions...just in case things go sideways.

Fear not! DexRex.com is here to help you out!

Dexrex installs easily on your Blackberry smart phone and also on your computer. I do not know if it works with the Iphone or not. You have to install it on both your phone and your computer for it to work properly.

Once installed, it works behind the scenes on your phone. But on your computer you have what is called an extension.

To see what this is, mouse over the Dexrex icon, then right click with your mouse and choose the "Show Extensions Console" option.

But let's say that you don't use a screen name for communicating with people. Let's say that you just use your phone number like I do. In that case, you use DexRex.com online.

When you open the website, you'll be able to sign in. Be sure to include your country code before your phone number or you will be very frustrated. The country code for America is "1".

Once you are logged in, you can see your most recent text message. I sent myself a test message. Now it shows up in my DexRex console as my last message sent. Notice that this is the HOME page.

Click on the Conversations page and you'll see a list of the people you have been having text message conversations with.

Now, are you ready for the real power of the DexRex program? Just click on anyone in your Buddy List and all your conversations with them will pop up, organized by date! Print them off and you've got your paper trail! How cool is that!

You can even filter your conversations. This is handy when you forget the day or time someone texted you and you need to remember that specific conversation. You can also filter phone numbers, email address and forwarded texts.

Oh, there's one other thing I forgot to mention that is very important.

THIS PROGRAM IS FREE!