The BVAS Connection» Blogging

Fun Little Widget For Your RE Blog

megbarberva — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:05:09 +0000

When searching for new plugins and widgets for my own blog, I stumbled upon this nifty little gem that I thought would be great for the “green conscious” Realtor and their blog.

Check out this Green Living Tips widget. It’s a cool little box that randomly cycles some tips for living a little greener and I think would be great little addition to a real estate blog. Right now it is only available for WordPress or Joomla sites, but it installs easily and looks great.

I’m always on the lookout for fun things to make your RE blog better. And if you need help setting your blog up, it’s a great job for your Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help with. Just sayin’.

12 Days of Thanks – Day 3

megbarberva — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:36:57 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Today is Day 3 of my 12 Days of Thanks leading up to Thanksgiving. And though today has been a somewhat stressful, not-so-great day, I’m making an attitude adjustment. These things brighten my day so why not reflect on them. Gratitude is the Attitude!

Today I am thankful for:

My lovely and warm home. We are so fortunate to have a roof over our heads without worry.
Sirius satellite radio and their has started their holiday music stations which just started. And I am listening of course! A sure way to cheer me up.
My healthy baby boy who at the doctor today got a gold star for growth and everything. His parents know what they are doing I guess.

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC, and runs blogs, The BVAS Connection and The Virtual Perception. Megan has been in a Virtual Assistant for 4+ years and has spent 10+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

12 Days of Thanks – Day 2

megbarberva — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:18:37 +0000

Day two of my 12 Days of Thanks on my blog comes to you on a lovely Monday morning. If you missed Day 1- find it here. Gratitude is the Attitude!

Today I am thankful for:

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

The gorgeous sunny fall day that we are having here today
My very clean and dust free family room, thanks to my awesome husband who worked very hard cleaning it yesterday
My trusty Keurig coffee maker. Without it, I would be a complete zombie.
Getting things done. I love that feeling when I tick things off my to-do list.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” -Melodie Beattie

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC, and runs blogs, The BVAS Connection and The Virtual Perception. Megan has been in a Virtual Assistant for nearly 5 years and has spent 10+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

12 Days of Thanks – Day 1

megbarberva — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:34:33 +0000

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. And no, it’s not only because of it’s the time of year where we have an

Image by Markus Rödder via Flickr

excuse to stuff our selves silly with yummy food loaded with carbs. The

reason it is a favorite holiday of mine because because it is gateway to the holiday season and a day to give gratitude to people and things in our life that mean the most and truly give thanks for all that we have.

Today I’m starting my 12 Days of Thanks, leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m putting it out there, the things that I am thankful for. Gratitude is the attitude.

Today I am grateful for…

A laid back Sunday morning with my son and husband
The huge toothless smile my baby boy gives me when he spies me in the room
A day without rain so I can go and take a walk, which always makes me feel good
The fact that I have started this today and get to reflect on those things that I am truly grateful for.

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha

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Another Great Active Rain Post – It’s Time to Step Up or Step Aside – Life Before Activerain and Now

megbarberva — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:36:54 +0000

via activerain.com

Kate Wheeler says "Step Up Or Step Aside", and SHE IS RIGHT! If you are an agent that is not getting active in Active Rain (and Localism), what are you waiting for?

Kate’s post is a great example on why you should be on there. It is a great platform writing to your target market and making yourself a trusted authority in your local world. Not to mention it’s an awesome place to network and learn from you real estate peers.

If you are still unsure what to do with Active Rain, or how to get set up, contact a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help!

Posted via web from megbarberva’s posterous

Video Blogging Makes Us Cool

megbarberva — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:06:19 +0000

What do you see here? I’m using video now? That is right, I have started some video blogging. Right now I’m playing around with video and incorporating it into my business. I’ve decided to use every tool I can in my social media marketing arsenal, and video was next on my list. So here it is, my first video.

Video blogging, or vlogging, is a fantastic tool that real estate pros should seriously consider incorporating into their real estate marketing plans. They are super simple to make with a webcam, or small camcorder (My favorite is the Flip), and can be uploaded numerous places like YouTube, Facebook, etc., to gain you more online exposure.

From being a "talking head" giving informative advice, to showing off your newest listings or favorite local businesses, incorporating real estate video on your websites or real estate blogs is a great real estate business tool. And of course, video a task your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can help you get started with and maintain.

More tips and tricks are to come in the future. For now, I invite you to come along on this video blogging journey with me. I want to see YOUR videos too!

Testing out the Very Cool Posterous

megbarberva — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:15:02 +0000

I found a cool tool today, called Posterous. And if it worked right, you are viewing this not only on my Posterous page, but on my blog as well. Posterous is a simple and very cool tool that you can easily post anything with email. Share thoughts, photos, videos, blog postings, etc right from your email.

One great way to use it is to make blog posts anywhere you are from your mobile phone. For example, take a photo of your newest listing from your phone, make a quick write up, and email from your phone to post@posterous.com, and boom, it’s posted. And even better, set up your Posterous account with Autopost and you can updated your Facebook, Twitter, or your blogs (as I have done). So it’s one-stop instant posting.

There’s many other cool ways to use Posterous, so I recommend you run over and check them out.

Gotta love all the many of ways you can post your content to anyone, anywhere, any time. Thanks for letting me have a little fun here testing today. J

Posted via email from megbarberva’s posterous

Incredible Contest I Found – The Blog Boost Giveaway

megbarberva — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:26:22 +0000

Attention all bloggers, young and old, newbie and experienced. I stumbled upon a great contest today that you may want to check out. The prizes are the coolest (at least to geeky bloggers like me) and they would be of tremendous value to whoever wins. Plus, I think it is impressive that he is using this as a great way way to snag list subscribers, and get great traffic. Kudos to him!

Check out The Blog Boost Giveaway at Miguel Alvarez’s Marketing Factor.

New Outside Blogs from Active Rain

megbarberva — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:56:53 +0000

I am always talking about the importance of social networking and blogging, and some cool news was announced last week from Active Rain: Active Rain Launches Outside Blogs.

The awesome people over at ActiveRain had made blogging for real estate professionals that much easier by offering Outside Blogging. Some of the coolest features about their outside blogging includes:

The ability to host outside blog on it’s own domain (that you must own)
You can totally customize the blog to fit your branding and marketing materials
Can be setup in minutes
No need for AR users to learn a new blogging platform – it is all within ActiveRain
Great SEO benefits from ActiveRain
With the click of a button, agents can syndicate those same posts to AR, Localism and the outside blog all at once!

ActiveRain couldn’t have made it any easier for agents new to blogging, and agents in ActiveRain that want more exposure.

So calling all agents- if you are still trying to figure out how to start blogging and haven’t yet jumped into the rain, get started today!

Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, and publisher of The REAL Advantage E-Zine. Megan has spent 9+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

We Made Blog of the Week!

megbarberva — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:13:59 +0000

I just found out and I am pleased to announce that our BVAS Connection blog has been selected as th Virtual Assistant Networking Association’s (VANA) Blog of the Week!

VANAis one of the largest and most wonderful networking organizations in the Virtual Assistant industry. It is a place for aspiring and “veteran” VA’s to come together to share, learn and succeed! I have received so much help and support from their forum over the last 3 years I have been in business and I believe it to be a valuable resource to all VA’s.

I honored to have my blog recognized and I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful organization. Thanks VANA!