A little something about everything

internet marketing and website development made simple..

How to target Safari only using CSS and Javascript while keeping your page W3 compliant and completely valid

Here is a neat little trick you can use to target Safari and make it behave while fixing cross browser layouts. This method will allow you to keep a page valid and it will allow you to only target Safari.

First thing you want to do is use javascript to inject a css file for all browsers that support webkit with this code: 

Now, like I stated above this will target all browsers that currently support webkit and add support for it in the future so you cannot rely on only this. So now you need to create the css file and add some code that is Safari specific by using the double # method. Some people will ask, why not just include the double # to begin with? And the simple answer is that it will cause your CSS not to validate.

Here is the example css code that will target only Safari

Enjoy!

Steps, How to become a successful Real Estate Agent, Buying and Selling a Home

I recently spent some time looking into what makes a good Real Estate agent. I was able to gather some good ideas as well as add quite a few of my own. Here are my notes for new and existing Real Estate agents that will help them to provide a better service to the client:

  • Get Client
    • First decide on an Area where you would like to sell homes
    • Hit the pavement, talk to everyone in that area so when they are ready they will list with you
    • Aggressively contact other sellers expired listings
    • USAA
    • Many people who go to open house are looking for a good agent
    • Maintain good relationship with previous clients
    • Offer something of value for free to potential home sellers
    • Ask for referrals from satisfied clients
    • Find a charity benefiting a cause close to your heart and offer to make a donation for any transaction where the client mentions the charity
    • Find a niche and tailor to it
    • Hold a seminar teaching the basics of being a landlord and encourage investors to buy homes through you
    • Put out a weekly newsletter(s) with valuable information to home buyer groups such as; new home owners, landlords, people moving to the area
    • Talk with contractors in your area and establish a client exchange
    • Hand out your business card to EVERYONE
    • Hire an Internet Marketing Specialist(like myself) to properly design and optimize your website(SEO) for potential clients
    • Ads
      • Geo-Target potential clients using Adwords, Facebook, and other online display networks
      • Offer to place Ads on popular local bloggers and photographer websites.
    • Send out business card and a letter to everyone you know telling them you are now in real estate and you would be happy to help them with any home transactions
    • Start a blog or YouTube channel with daily/weekly tips
    • Review what is working and what is not each month/year and adjust to be more efficient with your time and resources
  • Sell House
    • Be Available whenever the client wants, you work on their time not yours
    • When showing homes first ask lots of questions, only show them homes that match them first, move on to additional homes and then offer to revisit homes that they seemed to like the most
    • Send out fliers to people in the same neighborhood that the homes is for sale in
    • Ads
      • Include “Text for more info” in your signage, fliers and mailers
      • Google Adwords, geo specific
    • Advertise in your city's welcome packet sent to people who move to the area
    • Include new listings in a newsletter for home seekers
    • USE PHOTOS in your MLS listings, so many listings in the MLS do not have photos or if they do they are either bad quality or not of the things home buyers want to see.
    • Give the homeowner a guide to help them sell a home, things to do like, clean the windows, use brighter lights, paint, add a bird feeder, etc
  • See Step 1.

I am not a Real Estate Agent; I am an Internet Marketing Specialist and Developer. I can create unique profitable internet marketing strategy and online presence for you and your business. If you're in Real Estate and are looking for a profitable internet marketing strategy please give me a call: 507 536-9556

How to install silverstripe on IIS 7.5 - Manually

Step by step process to install silverstripe on IIS 7.5 (Windows Server 2008 R2 / Windows 7)

  • First download the full package, you will need a way to extract the file from tar.gz files such as WinRAR
  • Extract the files to your wwwroot or manually specified website directory
  • Create a site using InetMgr.exe with the following settings
    • Authentication should use ApplicationPoolIdentity
      • Application pool needs to use "No Managed Code"
      • Application pool also needs to be 32-bit "True" as php does not run in 64 bit
      • Application pool Managed Pipeline Mode needs to be "Classic"
  • Set file permissions as follows for IIS AppPool\Identity (ie. IIS AppPool\mywebsite.tld)
    • wwwroot/ & all subsequent directories - Read/Execute
    • Remove execute and add write permissions to the wwwroot/assets folder as well as wwwroot/web.config file and wwwroot/mysite/_config.php file.
  • Now open your browser and go to your site by name or ip/install.php and follow the instructions.

 

If at this point you get the error: "The web server isn't letting me identify where files are stored." you will need to edit the bad code in install.php file as follows:

Open install.php with a HTML editor like notepad++ and On line 863 update the line "if(!$this->baseDir) $this->baseDir = realpath(dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'])) . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;" to read "if(!$this->baseDir) $this->baseDir = '(DRIVELETTER):\(your-path-to-wwwroot)\(silverstripe-home)\';"

How to stop Harrasing Telemarketing calls - 101

The FCC provides a complaint form as one method of stopping telemarketing calls that won't remove your number from their list.

You can make a complaint for any of the following reasons:

  • Unwanted/unsolicited telemarketing calls (including Do-Not-Call) received on your home telephone
  • Prerecorded messages received on your home telephone
    INCLUDES:
    Unsolicited prerecorded advertising messages
    Prerecorded messages that do not identify the caller
  • Prerecorded messages received on a business telephone
    INCLUDES:
    Business telephone line seizure by live or prerecorded calls
    Unsolicited prerecorded advertising messages on a business telephone
    Prerecorded messages on a business telephone that do not identify the caller
  • 'Abandoned Calls' ('Silent Calls,' 'Dead Air Calls' from a telemarketer) and 'War Dialing' received on your residential or business telephone
    INCLUDES:
    Abandoned Call:
     A telemarketing call that is not connected to a live representative within two seconds after being answered by a live person
    War Dialing:
     Using any technology to call a telephone number to determine whether the line can receive faxes
  • Live telemarketing calls, prerecorded messages, 'Abandoned Calls,' or 'War Dialing' received on an emergency telephone or a patient telephone in a hospital, nursing home, or eldercare facility
    INCLUDES:
    Abandoned Call:
     A telemarketing call that is not connected to a live representative within two seconds after being answered by a live person
    War Dialing:
     Using any technology to call a telephone number to determine whether the line can receive faxes
  • Live telemarketing calls (including Do-Not-Call), prerecorded messages, advertising text messages, unsolicited commercial emails, 'Abandoned Calls', or 'War Dialing' received on a wireless phone
    INCLUDES:
    Abandoned Call:
     A telemarketing call that is not connected to a live representative within two seconds after being answered by a live person
    War Dialing:
     Using any technology to call a telephone number to determine whether the line can receive faxes
  • Live telemarketing calls, prerecorded messages, 'Abandoned Calls,' or 'War Dialing' received on a toll-free number

The form is located here: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

You can also make a complaint by phone at: 1 888 225 5322

By mail to:

 Federal Communications Commission
 Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
 Consumer Complaints
 445 12th Street, SW
 Washington, D.C. 20554

by email: fccinfo@fcc.gov

or even by fax to: 866-418-0232

DO:
Check Page Settings - the most commonly accepted page size is US letter (8½ X 11 inches).
Check Fax Print Quality - ensure that Text Darkness is set to Normal before faxing.
Ensure that form pages are legible before faxing.
Send yourself a test fax if possible - experiment with different Text/Page Settings to see what works best.
Insert the fax with the printed side oriented correctly - either face up or face down, depending on your fax machine. Otherwise, you will only fax the blank side.
Ensure that you receive a confirmation message from your fax machine that the fax was transmitted successfully.

DON'T:
Try to scan more than one page per sheet before faxing (Pages per Sheet).
Reduce the Page Magnification below 100%.