How Influencial Are You?  Have you ever asked that question?  You are connected to people on linkedin, friends with people on facebook and have followers on twitter but HOW influencial are you really? Do you want to know if what you post on social media is having an effect on anyone?  Fast Company Magazine has created a project to find out just how influencial you are and it is easy!  Click on the link below... register and start sending out your own url to see just how connected you are!  (pssst there is a great reason to click.. you will have your picture in the November issues of the Fast Company magazine) Click Here Need to know more....the information below is directly from the site: "ABOUT THE PROJECT We started with a simple question: Who are the most influential people online ri... 08/13/2010

My House Is Not Selling And I Want To Buy Now! This is the dilemma I heard from a Broker I was talking with recently who was frustrated with a seller. The seller has an overpriced condo in an area which is not easily accessible from a main street. The seller wants open houses and newspaper ads to ger her condo sold so she can move on to a bigger home.  This sounded to me like a familiar problem. The broker had given the seller the statistics of the sales in the complex and the prices.  The seller still did not want to reduce the price of the house. I shared with the broker the four key factors that sell a home: Price Terms Condition Location As we talked about the property the answer came down to PRICE, as it usually does. I asked the broker if she had heard of "conditional marketing" a... 08/09/2010

Safeway Sale Stimulates Cosmic Cooking! Sounds strange.. but that is the way the Safeway ads work for me! When I read the weekly ads my Creative Cosmic Cooking genes kick in and I start to have some fun construing economical dishes! This week the Williams, Arizona ads included 3 green peppers for $1.00 and last week yellow corn 5 for $1.00. Think about the value here!  $0.33  per pepper and $0.20 per ear of corn!  Cow Tip: Meal plan from grocery sale ads!  You can actually create your shopping list on line and it will organize by category.. so planning healthy meals and saving money could not be any easier if you use the Safeway tools. If you use site you can also get the weekly coupons added to your club card so no paper going green! The ad made me start to think about Stuffed Green Pe... 08/02/2010

Are You  A Step Monster? Yes, I am!  Or I should say: I have been a Step-Mother for 35 years in August.  Many times the Step-Mother in a family is considered to be a MONSTER just like the character in Cinderella. I don't think I was a monster and only the kids can tell now! We had a lot of fun but that was because I came from a divorced family and knew what I didn't want to experience again. Family relationships are a factor in all major decisions. The differences can become daunting when buying or selling a home if there are issues going on within the family unit. Eleanor Spackman Alden  from Denver, Colorado has written a life changing book for step family members to help adjust to new family dynamics in her  book, "StepWisdom." Meet Eleanor Spackman Alden, LIVE in Williams, Arizona o... 07/31/2010

Do Constant Mortgage Changes Have You Singing The Blues? How can a buyer shop for a lender and feel safe with the decision? Is the New HUD closing statement good or bad for consumers? If you would like to have the answers to some of those questions, join Gene Mundt on CarraRileyLive.com to get the inside scoop on how to deal with the changes. Mark your calendar for  Friday July 30, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. CDT to hear mortgage professional Gene Mundt on CarraRileyLive.com.  Gene will help "connect some dots" with guidelines that home buyers need to know about right now. Gene is a professional mortgage banker from Naperville, Illinois. Gene will be explaining some of the recent changes in the mortgage industry's practices, and how the changes effect today's buyers. Gene will talk about the new ... 07/26/2010

Half Way Through 2010, How's That Workin For Ya? Have you created some plans, set some objectives or identified goals for 2010 and are you on track? The mid point of the year just past and it IS time to look at your strategy to assess how it is working.                                      Looking at the 2010 plan: What is working?  Keep doing that! Do the financial outcomes need to be adjusted? What needs to be changed in the strategy to accomplish your objectives or goals? What is not working?  Stop doing it and take it off the list! Do you know what really makes you tick?  Is that your passion? Are you living your passion?  How can you live your passion?  Is Plan A really working? Could Plan B possibly be a much better alternative? NOW is the perfect time to start to get a jump on 20... 07/21/2010

A Good Day On Facebook! This evening, I was busy getting ready for Monday and thought I would check facebook one more time before closing the computer. I read the update from Liz Miller and was singing praises for social media!  Now that  is the type of sharing I would like to see everyday on my facebook wall!           The update reads:  Liz Miller " I have a referral for you in Williams.  Just Call Liz!  You can see from my response to her comment that I was dialing right away to connect. Carra Riley:  Woo hoo...Liz love the new picture.... I am dialing now. I called Liz, we talked, made the connection and the client will be in the loop tomorrow!  I sent Liz a Thank you on her real estate page, Lake Havasu City Area Real Estate with an open invitation to post some of "great deals" on ... 07/18/2010

Classic Car Show AND Miss Rt 66 Pageant, Williams Arizona Coming soon! August 14, 2010 10:00 AM  Community Events room at Christmas Tree Gallery 420 E. Route 66 Williams, AZ 86046 Williams celebrates Route 66 with a tribute to their youth and the "Route 66" pageant. The pagent is open to area girls 14 to 18 the winning contestant will represent Williams at the Miss historic Route 66 Pageant in Seligman during the Fun Run May of 2011. The Pageant will be held in conjunction with the Cool Country Cruise-In Go back in time and enjoy the 1950's again on Route 66. This Classic Car Show had over 270 entries last year! This show is a regional favorite with trophies given for various classes. Enjoy a burger burn Friday & Saturday. For online car registration visit www.route66place.com          ... 07/11/2010

Breakfast With The Babies At Bearizona! Williams, Arizona is home of Bearizona a Drive-thru Wildlife Adventure. The perfect place to come and enjoy the mountain atmosphere when either riding the rails or driving to the Grand Canyon. It was a beautiful summer day to have breakfast with the new babies at Bearizona and watch their jovial antics.                                              Meet Cassidy and Kid the new fox babies.                                                  Check out Foxy and Memphis the new lynx babies and Sig the baby Bob Cat on the video! Owner Sean Casey and his family were gracious hosts sharing their love of the animals with all in attendance.            The Bearizona blog series started with the soft opening May 22, 2010. See the bear cubs getting frisky in this... 07/10/2010

Need Your Help And Vote Through 7-3-10 I really did it!  Got out of the comfort zone and put it all out there! I had to apply several chapters in "Cosmic Cow Pie...Connecting The Dots"  to my thought process to move on and just DO IT!  So that is what I did.   Yes, there were are pits in my stomach because of the UNKNOWN. Every time we go on a listing or interview with a buyer there is a chance it will not work out but that does not stop us from doing what we do.  We just keep on plugging away working toward our goal. One of my goals is to : "Connect on the right level with the right people to make a difference"  To that end I have submitted a video to the Oprah Winfrey Network as an audition for a new talk show on her new network. The name of the show:  Cosmic Cow Pie.  Please Listen t... 06/26/2010

A Funny Thing Happened on Rt. 66 June 11-13, 2010 the Arizona H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) Rally was held in Williams, Arizona. Bikers were in town from all over the world and the Williams, Arizona was alive with the sound of booming engines.  I was "working the street" with a book signing event in front of my favorite Rt. 66 restaurant, the Grand Canyon Coffee and Cafe. I purchased a Biker "wannabe" vest to fit in see what would happen as I sold my book and buttons on the street.  I had lots of fun meeting the most exciting people just wanting to soak in the magic of Rt. 66.  As the day finished up a couple inside the Grand Canyon Coffe & Cafe  stopped me as I was putting my sign away for the next day.  We started talking about what I did as an author and a consultant for small busines... 06/20/2010

Blog Ranking SEO 101 for Beginners Part 2 of 3 Content Blog Ranking SEO 101 for Beginners Part 1 of 3 Title Part 2 of this very elementary beginner post series will discuss CONTENT in relation to SEO, Search Engine Optimization ranking on Google, Bing, MSN, Yahoo, and other search engines. This is a follow up to the Rain Camp in Las Vegas where Ben Kinney presented information on this somewhat complex topic. His presentation helped me formulate a plan for this post content.    From Wikipedia: "Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page (such as a blog) from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.".  Another term that could be associated with SEO ranking is "google ... 05/26/2010

Fun Tool From FLICKR FLICKR.com is a FREE site and resource to manipulate and store digital images and videos. Once you upload a photo you can obtain a url for the image, re-size it, share presentations online with an embed code or link. Take screen shots and create links or re-size and edit to use as a jpeg if you don't have a tool like snagit. You can create groups for your customers or clients to upload their photos and establish a fun online community sharing pictures. Think about the possibilities for your local communities.  Set up groups within your personally branded account for schools, for events or a specific subdivision and it's activities or amenities. I created a group called "Bearizona" in my Flickr Cosmic Cow Pie account to share with anyone who has come to Williams, Ari... 05/24/2010

Bearizona Soft Opening With Black Bear Cubs in Williams Arizona Saturday, May 22, 2010 Bearizona had its official "Soft" opening. What is Bearizona you may be asking? Bearizona is a drive-through wildlife park at the gateway to the Grand Canyon in Williams, Arizona. Live animals in a natural habitat in one of the world's largest Ponderosa tree forests.  See bison, mountain goats, big horn sheep, black bear and wolves all roaming freely in 160 acres of Arizona wilderness.  Bearizona has easy access located just south of I-40 at Highway 64 (Historic Route 66) Only 58 miles to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and 25 miles west of Flagstaff. Having attended the Soft Opening on May 22, 2010 I must say this is well worth the price of admission.  The time we had in the park was MAGICAL!  No o... 05/22/2010

                              What Every Seller Needs To Know In Today's Real Estate Market                                                                                                                                            The real estate agent is only the messenger                                                     Sellers please take several deep breaths before shutting down on any offer in today's real estate market. The agent YOU selected to represent you is doing the job you hired them to do with your best     interest at heart when presenting an offer.  You selected the agent based on a thoughtful process     now give them a chance to do their job and help you sell the house. The agent has a fiduciary responsibility to present all offers.  It is perfectly normal to be mad... 05/13/2010

Happy Mother's Day                                            From My home to your home, enjoy the day! A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you." The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy." Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience a... 05/07/2010

Blog Ranking SEO 101 for Beginners Part 1 of 3 Title Last month I attended Rain Camp in Las Vegas. This was an event to share what activerain is and how dedicated the blog platform management is to educating blog participants.  We had a fantastic day connecting with people from all over the country.  The day was packed with so much great content it has taken time to follow up with all the take aways and share the information! This three part series should make it easy to start to understand how 3 easy concepts help you get good search engine optimization, SEO. This post is for anyone who does not know much about blogging or SEO.  This is SEO 101 The first question you might be asking is... What is SEO or Search Engine Optimization?  From Wikipedia: "Search engine optimization (SEO) is t... 05/06/2010

Friday Funnies...TechnologyAt a certain age, everyone will understand this poor guy... I thought about the 30 year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a Blackberry that played music, took videos, pictures and communicated with Facebook and Twitter. I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space. That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world. My phone was beeping every three minu... 01/21/2010

Happiness-- Happiness keeps you Sweet, Trials keep you Strong, Sorrows keep you Human, Failures keep you Humble, Success keeps you Glowing, But .... Only Friends ....Keep You Going !!!  Just a note of thanks to everyone who has been helping me learn here at activerain! It's a long journey but like the Beatles sing.....I get by with a little help from my friends!  That's you! Your friend in the Cosmic Cow Pie! 01/19/2010

Wordless Wednesday...What's That Cow Doing? The middle of the week and time for some fun! I checked my Google alerts today and found some very cool COW videos!  And some NOT so cool! Who would think there would be hundreds of cow videos... well there are... the one below is VERY short. The message from me to you is to have you start thinking about a contest to Name That Cow!                           If you have some ideas.. let me know in the comments what would be fun to name the new Cosmic Cow icon...He/She really needs a great name to carry on with the BRAND!  So until the contest time.. here are some Cow mooovement to inspire your creative side... now stop that... mooooovement!  Not cow pies. Remember to be thinking about NAME THAT COW! Contest rules to be announced soon! 01/05/2010