What a great article by Our Lynda Eisenmann

I was on ActiveRain the other day and reading through the featured articles and there it was, an article by Lynda. It was called "Do most real estate professionals really take off four months each and every year?". I thought this was a great article. Since Heidi and I joined ByreferralOnly we have made it a priority to take time off.

We have had many wonderful trips with Lynda & Marlene. We sometimes talk about business but we try to enjoy the time away.

Lynda covered about feeling guilty which we use too. But we found that when you step away from your businesss and recharge you actually serve your clients better. Sometimes you also find out that the business does just fine without you. Heidi has had several properties sell while on vacation. Have you had this happen?

Thinking of going some where, start here.

Whenever I start to think about traveling some where, I want to know the best hotels and area activities to select. So I go to Trip Advisor. This website provides me with unbiased reviews and opinions from people who have already been there. More than 5 million honest travel reviews and opinions from real travelers around the world. The reviews come with a rating and some times photos. The site also features:

• New! Saves - a personalization tool that makes trip planning easy by allowing travelers to save hotel, restaurant, or attraction reviews to personal "My Trips" folders. Travelers can customize and expand their plans by adding maps, photos, their own notes and travel plan details.
  
• Maps - makes finding the perfect hotel, at the right price, in exactly the right location, incredibly simple. TripAdvisor Maps mashup combines hotel popularity, price and availability with a dynamic mapping tool.


• TripAdvisor Inside™- allows millions of travelers to view, contribute, and edit the freshest "guidebooks" available on more than 24,000 destinations worldwide, using wiki functionality.
  
• goLists- a tool that allows travelers to publish and reference lists on everything travel
  
• Hotel Popularity Index - the first index of its kind to dynamically rank hotels worldwide based on the popularity of a given hotel, as measured by both the quantity and quality of content written about the hotel on the Web
  
• QuickCheck - a unique tool that, with one click, checks hotel pricing and availability across multiple vendor commerce sites
  
• TripWatch - the first personalized, time-sensitive e-mail newsletter for travelers planning a vacation, giving customized e-mail alerts on the specific hotels, attractions and cities requested by the traveler
  
• Weekend Getaway Guide - the only free, weekly e-mail guide that personalizes travel research based on a person's specific zip code, giving subscribers suggestions for weekend getaways within an easy drive of their hometown

More photos

When we went to Tahiti we read every single review and it really helped us to select what islands to visit and what hotels to select. It's also great way to come up with your next trip. If you are planning a trip soon, drop me a line I would love to hear about it!

Shining a little light on Lighted Signs

After looking at several ways to light a sign here are my thoughts on the different products available to light a sign.

ListingLight.com provides a solution that uses 6 C batteries rather than using solar power. 8 LEDS
Price: $65.00

I found this to be the brightest solution and provides the best even lighting.

14 LED lights
Sleek and lightweight design
Price: $45.00

I like the fact that it is solar and does not require batteries but I found it to present a dim uneven light. More info can be found at Sunpal.com.

Single LED
Price: $64.90

This one created a single hot spot on the sign and I actually had one stolen as they were not very secure. Sanzo Specialties carry these.

After trying each of theses I will probably stick with the battery powered one till solar improves. Have you tried any lighted signs?