What sets a great real estate agent apart from all the others?
We've all been bombarded with junk snail mail from local real estate agents. Always with a big picture and a big smile with lots of offers to do 'free evaluations' of your home. ...Big deal. So they tell you what your house is worth, do they share their innermost secrets about the market with you? Is that all you'll get from them for paying almost ridiculous amount of money for their services? Besides, don't they realize how much actual real GARBAGE they are creating? 99% of people who get those paper mail flyers usually throw them out. These agents are literally creating garbage.
Thankfully, there are more conscientious realtors out there, and specifically there is a local real estate agent in Brampton, Canada, who is going that extra step for his clients by sharing his years of accumulated knowledge about the local market - for free - on his blog www.RealEstateBlogger.ca.
Jim Junkin talks about the daily happenings in his local market, as well as how the national and international picture affects things in your neighbourhood, and with the value of your home.
A great example to other agents who haven't woken up to the fact that we are in the new millennium.
Keep up the great work, Jim .
11:49 - 2008-Feb-22
SO, you're having a bad day? Need that little extra pick-me-up but can't seem to get motivated to get it? Well, it seems that just a few chuckles may make a major difference.
"I believe that if people can get more laughter in their lives, they are a lot better off," says Steve Wilson, M.A., CSP, a psychologist and laugh therapist. "They might be healthier, too."
But researchers are not certain if it's laughing itself that makes people feel better, or the factors that bring laughter that are most important. A good sense of humor, a positive attitude, and the support of friends and family might play a role, too.
"The definitive research into the potential health benefits of laughter just hasn’t been done yet," says Robert R. Provine, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation.
Need a good chuckle now? Check out some of the very funny videos at www.PhdComic.com.
Laughter Therapy: The Physiotherapy of Laughter?
Physiologically, our bodies undergo immense change when we laugh. Our face and body muscles stretch and contort, our pulse and blood pressure rise, and we breathing pace increases, sending more oxygen to the tissues in our body.
Some people say the benefits of periods of laughter can be equal to a mild workout — and may even provide a few of the same advantages as exercise.
"The effects of laughter and exercise are very similar," says psychologist Wilson. "Combining laughter and movement, like waving your arms, is a great way to boost your heart rate."
William Fry, an earlier researcher into the effects of laughter, claimed it took 10 minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of sustained laughter.
Laughter may also help you shed weight by helping to burn calories, too. Maciej Buchowski, a researcher from Vanderbilt University, published a study in which he measured the amount of calories expended during laughter. Results revealed that 10 to 15 minutes of laughter consumed 50 calories.
While the results are intriguing, don’t count on watching South Park as a method of exercise. One small piece of chocolate has around 50 calories; and at a rate of 50 calories per hour, losing one pound would take about 12 hours of heavily sustained laughter!
The Physiology of Laughter
Over the last 20 years or so, scientists have studied laughter's effects on the body, revealing some very interesting information on how laughing affects us:
Regulates blood flow.
Raises immune response.
Regulates blood sugar levels.
Want to do some good for your health, watch this funny video about bacon, or this Japanese ball slapper video - which both seem a little unhealthy in themselves, but will sure get your giggler tube lit up!
01:38 - 2008-Jan-16
Sometimes the hardest part about decorating your tree is deciding what theme to use. Firstly a decision has to be made whether to go with a modern pre lit artificial Christmas trees, or natural? Then come the decorating decisions - should you go with a vintage theme or go with a completely contemporary theme?
I found a great series of free Christmas tree pictures that will be sure to help you decide. They have plenty of ideas for you, with other links to places where you can find the perfect tree. Check out the many decorated Christmas tree pictures to get great ideas for decorating your tree.
06:44 - 2007-Dec-4
There's lots of new blogs being added to the web every day - but many are poor quality, and don't stand the test of time. Usually, people who start a blog don;t realize how much work it involves and quickly give up. Many others are just not web-savvy enough to provide good content, but then there are those who lead us right to the good stuff. Here's a few we've found we're sure will be growing fast soon.
iwantBACON.com is the great beginnings of a blog based directory of great web finds.
WebCarTV.com is a great looking blog that will help with everything from how to fight your tickets, to how to snag a great deal on a car, and other related web finds.
SuperVeg.com looks like it will be coming on strong with a diet of nutritious web goodies.
They may be thin now, but wait a few months... they'll be your favorite places to go to find interesting internet sites, shopping, deals and more.
05:55 - 2007-Nov-26
Of course, when you are about to do any home improvement project, it's best to consult with several resources before beginning. When hiring contractors, you should always get quotes from several sources, then decide from your list which best suits you financially and by comfort. Get references!
The beautiful thing about the internet is that it lets you do all of this research in a very short amount of time. You can check various home improvement resources lists, from contractor referral sites like ServiceMagic.com, or go right to a full service site like RemodelingMySpace.com that has all of the resources you'll need, from picture galleries, to how-to videos, to cost estimators and more.
Start your home improvement project off right by planning, getting the right advise, using the right tools, and hiring the right contractors if needed.
08:58 - 2007-Nov-5
If you are currently undertaking or planning a remodeling project on your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, basement or any part of your home - you know you will need help. Help comes in the form of resources, and there is a great list of remodeling directories that can provide everything from how-to articles to contractor locators to color tools and conversion widgets. One of the newest sites is www.RemodelingMySpace.com who offers all this as well as photo galleries, cost estimators and more. It's all there.
01:01 - 2007-Oct-17
So, you’ve just decided to become an online entrepreneur and you're just getting your feet wet in the ‘blogosphere’... but there's one thing you still need - traffic. If so, try a handy little widget called BlogRush .
BlogRush (<- bad review) is a little widget you put on your blog. The widget shows posts from other blogs that are in your same category. For every the widget gets displayed on your blog, one of your recent posts is displayed on another blog that has the widget displayed - this is where you can get free traffic from. You can also earn points for referring others.
We’ve had it on The ideaBlog for a few weeks with decent results.
03:14 - 2007-Oct-14
I just found this great blog that posts great shopping finds and other interesting stuff found on the web. They have everything posted there from men's underwear links to remodeling ideas to funny stuff and more. Looks like they're just getting start providing shopping information but I'm sure they'll be posting more in the near future.
They're also going to start selling memberships where you can buy in and have access to make your own posts on their site to help promote your business and get some link love.
02:25 - 2007-Oct-14
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