My first interview on iTunes

Recently I was interviewed by Jeff Chasin of Blogging for Mortgage Brokers with fellow mortgage bloggers Brian Brady of America’s Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker and Morgan Brown of Blown Mortgage.    Although the interview is intended for Mortgage Professionals who are considering blogging… I think the information is relevant to any real estate professional who has been wondering about whether or not a blog is for them.   To download via iTunes, click here or you can click the link under press and interviews.

Back up a moment…

What did I do over the weekend?  After my lap top decided to act up on Thursday Mybook_2 afternoon and give me a little scare… we picked up a portable hard drive at Costco.   

The Western Digital My Book has been a breeze for even the likes of me to use.  And, it’s a relief to have all of my photos (I love taking pictures) and marketing type documents OFF of my lap top…freeing up tons of space. I’ve always been a bit concerned that the photos I’ve been storing on disc may soon be obsolete…just like the floppy.

It does not come with any great manuals…and the web site is overwhelming.   BUT CNet’s site had some great tips and reviews that I found VERY helpful.   

I’m a happy camper!  Now…when my Toshiba Statelite bites the dust, as all lap tops must do one day…transfering all of my data should be much easier.

The Importance of Good Signage

SkcarLast week, I sponsored Jillayne Schlicke’s class at the Seattle King County Association of Realtors on High Impact Blogs and Podcast.

I had a great time.  I thought I was just bringing in a few snacks for the hungry Realtors to keep their brains going during her course…little did I know she would call on me to help the class build their blogs.  It was fun.   What was not fun…was trying to find SKCAR’s office.   

I thought I had it all planned out.   The night before, I entered their address into the car I normally drive and the system mapped it all out.  Simple!   Except my husband decided to drive that car.  I entered the address again into our other car…and no luck!  Our Japenese navigation was fine, our Swedish nav–not!   No problem, I use to be in title insurance and I’m certain I can find their office.

It’s located off I-90 in Factoria–super easy from West Seattle, where I live.  I stopped off at the Factoria QFC for sandwhiches and drinks and proceed to where I think their office should be.   There is an office standing alone with what appears to be appartment buildings.   I don’t see any sign that says SKCAR or Realtor-anything.  The building has the logo above (I snapped the photo above with my Treo 650)…I thought it said IMI or 1001 building.   It just couldn’t be right.   So I do a u-turn and drive down 32nd SE in the oppositie direction until I realize this wasn’t right, either.

That’s when I pulled out my trusty old Treo 650 and hop on the internet to SKCAR’s website which has directions!   Come to find out, their office IS at the lone building I was originally at.   

Good thing I didn’t buy hot sandwhiches with all of my driving around!   Class was great and all is good (just a little more driving than necessary).

Hey SKCAR, how about some signage on the building (beyond the gold lettering on the glass front door)?

Spam I Am…NOT!

SpamiamLately, I have been buried alive in spam.   I have approximately 30-100 forms of spam waiting to great me in my email box every morning.   What’s even worse is that a majority of it appears to be from my domain names/web sites (www.rhondaporter.com and www.rhondawitt.com).    Some spambots have “pharmed” my email address from my websites.   

It really burns me up.  Not only does spam waste my time, I’ve had companies like Comcast and spam-cops deem me to be a spammer…talk about insult to injury!   It can really make e-mail communication challenging for me at times.   Just this morning, I received Jillayne Schlicke’s email newsletter, which I really enjoyed.   However, I cannot respond to her in an email since I’ve been put into a spam box with my email addresses from my websites being hijacked. 

I do email quite a bit with my profession as a Mortgage Planner.  And, of course I email my family and friends, too.  I send a monthly email newsletter to my database of clients…and if any one decided they did not want my e-newsletter, they could opt out at anytime without any hurt feelings.

So if you receive a funky email that appears to be from me—it’s not.  And I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do about it!   If you do want to receive emails from me, please do add me to your address book.

Meanwhile, if you’re in the same spam boat I’m in.   Try searching your email address in Google.   You’ll see what other sites and directories your address spelled out for spybots to grab. I found that I was my worse culprit with having my email address all over my webpages.  Try to have your email text address removed and replace with a simple “email me” link to your email address.    

And please know, I will never sell your email (or any personal information) address or spam you!