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Finally, it could help to free you from the intimidation of all those salespersons clad in guru's clothing who conduct seminars and office meetings, touting the latest product or service that is claimed to be "essential" for your survival in the wild-and-wooly world of real estate in cyberspace.
It has been my good fortune to have an early look at this book published by Prentice-Hall. The authors, not real estate practitioners themselves, are both spouses of web-enhanced Realtors in South Orange County.
They know whereof they speak, as both are active providers of Internet related services to Realtors, and they have both had the combat photographer's up-close view of real estate in the trenches. Their target audience will find the book both practical and appropriately written.
"Internet Marketing in Real Estate" consists of five parts:
"Creating and Building Your Internet Presence: Your Web Site"
"Getting Found" (the all-important section)
"Effective E-mail"
"Time to Get Started" (developing tasks, time-lines, and a budget)
Appendices
No technical expertise is presumed on the part of the reader. Each part that deals with Internet and marketing related concepts begins with a friendly "learning the language" section. A great deal of effort is made to explain to the reader, in plain language aided with illustrations, how things work in the initially mysterious world of Web sites, search engines, keywords, and meta-tags.
Textbook-like, "Internet Marketing in Real Estate" starts its sections with "the basics" and then develops the concepts that have been introduced. Sections end with exercises that encourage the reader to put his/her new knowledge to work.
The book also integrates related topics that are not Internet specific. Chapter 1 of Part 1 could be titled "Real Estate Marketing 101." It is important toward understanding Internet marketing concepts but that is because it is basic to marketing per se. Parts of the effective e-mail" section are straight out of basic composition. They are highly relevant.
"Internet Marketing in Real Estate" doesn't deal with all the issues that bear discussing. No book does. For example, the authors do not engage the serious questions that can be asked vis-à-vis the relative effectiveness of dollars and time spent on Internet marketing as opposed to other kinds of marketing. That is not their purpose.
When confronted with a new marketing medium, a businessperson (real estate or otherwise) must always ask the question, "If I adopt this, what will I stop doing that I am doing now?" (If the task - or the dollars - represents an addition to present efforts, rather than a replacement, then presumably it replaces something we were doing or spending in our non-business lives.)
To the credit of Cox and Koelzer, they present with great clarity the tasks and range of costs associated with various levels of involvement in Internet marketing. They provide the real estate businessperson with the information that will enable him or her to make an informed decision about this medium.
For those who have already decided that they want to make an effort at Internet marketing, the Cox and Koelzer book will provide an invaluable tool. Even the sales-focused agent who leaves the details to his marketing people and technical assistants will want this book - to give to them to read.
The book gives advice on the "whys" and "hows" and even "how much" of the internet, including how do you build a web site, who can design it, how do people FIND you on the internet, how much will it cost, and more! Internet Marketing for Real Estate is a practical guide that REALTORS will want to keep handy as a reference for years to come.
Any REALTOR who is not on the Internet is not making a commitment to their profession. This book makes it easy to get started, and establish a winning presence on the Internet.
For $19.33, you can't lose with this one!
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I enjoyed the book, and of course, the pictures. The cover alone is worth buying it for! I read it from cover to cover. (Well okay..I didn't read about every single episode ever made..they were all in there, but I got a little bored after reading quite a few of them so I stopped!)
The reason I gave it 4 stars, and not 5, is because I wish there was more of a biography about Liz. Sure, he tells a bit about her life..but I know if I would have been writing a book about her, and was granted an interview.. I would have tried to pry a few personal stories from her! From what I read she was a pretty private person, so maybe she wouldn't have revealed many..or maybe the author of this book was too shy to ask..but I was very disappointed that it didn't reveal more.
Yet and still, I do highly recommend this book if you are a Bewitched fan, or if you are buying a gift for one! It is a must!
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Stuart Little is an interesting book. I enjoyed reading it beacause it was funny and it had interesting vocabulary. There were some sad parts in the book. This Book got me absorbed into it.
I would recommend this book for children of the ages of 8 to 12. If you like fantasy stories then you would love this book. If you are a person who likes certain kinds of fantasy books then you should probably enjoy Stuart Little because you may get absorbed into the book. Also if you like fantasy books that have animals in it that talk and you like the Author E.B.White then you'll like this book.
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I first found Green Knowe through a listing in the "Best Books for Children" guide. It's now my absolute favorite! I won't attempt a synopsis here--you can read the other reviews for that. But I did want to say it's absolutely MAGICAL! The story is a bit spooky, definitely old-fashioned, mysterious, and sweet, all at the same time! I have to say, as someone who reads a lot of "kiddy lit," I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in this book. In a lesser novel, the sweet old grandmother character would've turned out to be secretly evil, or a witch, or some such nonsense. Happily, she's a magical sweet old lady, and the relationship between this ancient one and her little (great) grandson is really charming.
As a matter of fact, the real conflict only comes in just at the end (with a scary scene I won't spoil), so parents who are overly-concerned that their child not read *anything* containing conflict, "bad guys," or evil, be forwarned--all is not goodness and light here. Personally, I find a story about the struggle between good and evil (in the same category as C.S. Lewis' Narnia books) uplifting. The magical "ghost" aspect of it is also treated in a way that promotes good feeling, in my opinion (I know some parents do not appreciate *any* references to the paranormal, either--so I wanted to mention it).
But for the rest of us--what a FIND the Green Knowe books are! I've bought a copy for all my neices and nephews. They're off reading Harry Potter and the like. I've read HP, by the way, just to be able to make educated remarks about it. It certainly wasn't the worst book I ever read, but I sure hope you parents are also giving your kids copies of: The Hobbit, and the rest of Tolkein, the Narnia books (Did you know C.S. Lewis and Tolkein were good friends?), the Edward Eager books (start with Half-Magic), the E. Nesbit books (talk about classics in Brit. Kid Lit!! C.S. Lewis cited Nesbit as a big influence!), and Lucy Boston's beautiful series!! Why not throw in Richard Peck's series? Wow--I've got a lot of books here--time to make a list! Happy Reading!
Lucy Boston was inspired to write these books--this is the first in a series of eight--after restoring the Manor House at Hemingford Grey, which dates to the year 1130. The restoration process discovered all kinds of hidden fireplaces and windows and other reminders of the house's ancient past. This apparently awakened in her a sense of history on a human scale and reminded her of how easily we ignore such things. She set out to help others recall this sense of wonder:
I would like to remind adults of joy, now obsolete, and I would like to encourage children to use and trust their senses for themselves at first hand--their ears, eyes and noses, their fingers and soles of their feet, their skins and their breathing, their muscular joy and rhythms and heartbeats, their instinctive loves and pity and awe of the unknown.
She succeeded brilliantly. This enchanting book is suffused with an aura magic and a real spirit of joy.
GRADE: A
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A boy named George wakes up one morning to find that he is only three inches tall. He also finds a note from his parents with a list of chores he must do (which becomes Joyce's unique way of telling the story--the parent's note is the actual text of the book). The story follows George as he heroically navigates through the now gigantic house, evades the hungry house cat, and completes all his chores in very creative ways.
The illustrations, done in watercolors (though not pale and washy), are a mixture of highly realistic details (the house and surroundings), and a comic style (the characters). Included are several wordless full-page spreads of George flying a toy airplane which on their own are worth the price of the book.
If you can, buy the new large format of the book (November 2000 edition). The illustrations are much larger and the colors are more brilliant. The illustrations were probably rephotographed since the original edition is back from 1987 or so. (...) The newest version has a brand new cover illustration recently done by William Joyce.
Well, enjoy this book and happy shrinking!
William Joyce, who will be most familiar to folks as the creator of Disney Channel's Rolie Polie Olie. George too has his own series now, on PBS, and a spanking new
reprint of his original adventure.
The story here is fairly basic : George, suddenly three inches small, follows the instructions his parents left behind in a note, to clean up the house and watch his little
brother (now a BIG little brother). Along the way he avoids an ornery house cat and rides in a toy plane. Our kids favorite page features George scrubbing dirty
dishes by skiing down them on a sponge.
As with Rolie Polie Olie though, the story is secondary to Mr. Joyce's remarkable artwork. In Olie he manages to combine Art Deco with Futurism; here it's all
throwback. George Shrinks looks like a really hip version of the Dick and Jane books. A story with a miniature hero kids can relate to and illustration interesting
enough to hold adult attention--what more can you ask?
GRADE : A
A boy named George wakes up one morning to find that he is only three inches tall. He also finds a note from his parents with a list of chores he must do (which becomes Joyce's unique way of telling the story--the parent's note is the actual text of the book). The story follows George as he heroically navigates through the now gigantic house, evades the hungry house cat, and completes all his chores in very creative ways.
The illustrations, done in watercolors (though not pale and washy), are a mixture of highly realistic details (the house and surroundings), and a comic style (the characters). Included are several wordless full-page spreads of George flying a toy airplane which on their own are worth the price of the book.
If you can, buy the new large format of the book (November 2000 edition). The illustrations are much larger and the colors are more brilliant. The illustrations were probably rephotographed since the original edition is back from 1987 or so.
Well, enjoy this book and happy shrinking!
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The title is self-explanatory, a little town on the prairie, which is in Dakota, USA. The story is set during the 1880's. The Ingalls family, consisting of six people, was always moving from place to place. When they came to Dakota, they were very happy with it. Their little "shanty" that they stayed in during the summer was built into a new, improved house. Mary, the oldest sister, is accepted into the college of the blind, and Laura continues school and has a summer job. Things are going very well at the Ingalls household. There is enough food for everyone, and there wasn't another hard winter, like everyone expected. Most problems have solutions like when there were gophers eating their corn, they got a cat to kill them. The only problem is school, because of the new teacher, Eliza Jane Wilder. She is Almanzo Wilder's sister. She turns out to be horribly mean to Laura and her younger sister, Carrie, because Nellie Oleson (Laura's enemy mentioned before in "The Banks of Plum Creek") told the teacher negative remarks about Laura. Soon, a new teacher replaces her. All of the problems work themselves out somehow, which is what I like about this book.
In my opinion, Laura Ingalls Wilder does an exquisite job captivating all her readers with her refined choice of words, meticulous detail, and up-beat plot. This is absolutely the best piece she's written. She does an admirable job of describing the setting so it makes you feel like you're right there, witnessing the whole scene. The book also has a good balance of good times and bad times, because if it was all bad times the book would seem depressing, and if it was all good times, the book would seem hard to believe. I would recommend this book for those who enjoy realistic fiction or historical fiction. I think a possible theme for this story would be hold on, things will get better. This theme is displayed throughout all the "Little House" series. This is my all time favourite book, and I hope you enjoy it, too.
The hard winter is finally over, and the Ingalls family finally moves out to their claim, where Laura enjoys the outside work and the sunshine. But then she is offered a job as a seamstress in town, and takes it even though she misses the outdoors. The work is hard, and the environment is unpleasant, but Laura sticks it out.
Ma=ry finally has a chance to go to the blind college in Iowa, and while Ma and Pa take her there, Laura, Carrie and Grace clean the house.
School finally begins again, and an unpleasant surprise comes along on the first day - Nellie Oleson from Plum Creek, who schemes and causes trouble. The high point of this situation is the troble between Laura and Ms. Wilder, the teacher, who only hears unpleasant things about Laura from Nellie, and Laura's short temper, especially where Carrie is concerned, does not help the situation... But Ida, the new girl, is nice enough to make up for Nellie's unpleasantness.
Laura is grown up enough to want fashionable cloths and all other fashionable things other girls her age in school have, such as name cards. She is invited to parties and attends her first evening sociable.
We start seeing the relationship between Laura and Almanzo Wilder start developing (even though I think her relationship with his sister, her unpleasant ex - school teacher, might give things an interesting twist).
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For any non-southern American whose sole exposure to what happened there was from history books, this should forever shatter the pat preconceptions and simplistic black and white (no pun intended!) formulas they were taught.
The book plunges you into a vast panorama of ambiguities and contradictions. It was clear to me from the first paragraph that Faulkner was a genius. In the whole history of literature, he surely stands among a select few at the very pinnacle of greatness.
Go Down Moses is a tremendous struggle to get through. Some parts are straightforward and easy, but there are others that you can't hope to make literal sense of. You're bombarded by its twisted grammar. Its frantic confusion. Its endlessly unresolved sentences. But through these, Faulkner ultimately conveys the pain of history -- past and present. The emotion of that pain seems more real to him than the specific incidents it sprang from. Why else would a book begun in pre-Civil War Mississippi -- entirely skip it -- picking up again a generation later?
This book is about the South. Having read it, Faulkner walked beside me every step of the way I took through his state. But this book also has a sub-theme that should not be overlooked. Faulkner was a profound environmentalist, although sharply contrasted with how we usually think of that term. Hunters don't much fit the mold of environmentalism -- and Faulkner was an avid one of that lot. So, in that sense, along with all the sociological, he can shake you up pretty good! Go Down Moses contains some of the most wrenching descriptions you could hope to find on the loss of wilderness. There is nothing ambiguous in his portrayal of that loss. Faulkner may confound everything you thought you believed of Southern sociology, but in an environmental sense, he leaves no room for confusion. Leave those trees standing!
This book will grip you; I can't imagine it having a lesser effect. Like all truly great art, it should change you forever.
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But then it gets to what a lot of agents want to know. How do you build a web site, who do you get to design it, how do you get found on the web? Lots of great stuff like that.
One reason it is important to read is because it teaches you that you can't just put up a web site and stop there. There are keys to becoming a successful internet agent, and dealing with internet leads is different than dealing with up-calls or ad responses.
I recommend the book for every real estate professional on the web and those who are just thinking about it. As someone I know once said, "the web is here to stay."
Buy the book and read it. It will help.