Real Estate Appraiser Tips » Appraisers On Twitter

Home Appraiser Blogging Tip: Use Fotobabble.com To Add Voice Descriptions To Your Photos

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:37:02 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Home Appraiser Blogging Tip: Use Fotobabble.com To Add Voice Descriptions To Your Photos.

This past weekend, I had some extra time to spend online and discovered a way to enhance my blog reader’s experience by adding “voice” to my images or photos. See my attempt below with the housing chart. It’s very simple to use and I think you have about 30 seconds to record your description. Once created, it’s very easy to share your fotobabble on your blog via embed code and or share on sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc..

Something For Home Appraisers To Blog About For Their Local Market Building Their Trust Agent Identity!

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:39:48 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Real Estate Appraiser Tips:Here’s Something For Home Appraisers To Blog About For Their Local Market Building Their Trust Agent Identity!

On Trulia.com, Peter Middleton’s Blog reports on Moody’s Economy.com sobering predictions for 2010 Housing Outlook. Even the image below only shows the Top 50 Markets, 100 are listed on the blog post here giving both Peter Middleton and Economy.com credit for their reporting!

For example, home appraisers in Raleigh, NC could tell their market the truth – that home prices are expected to decline further into 2010 by -4.38% and the median home price is expected to hover around $215,510.

I will be posting my market’s local forecast later this weekend on my blog but didn’t wait to post it to Twitter where it will be indexed by Google:

Tags: home appraiser tips, home appraisers, real estate appraiser, real estate appraiser blogging, real estate appraiser marketing

Working RE: Using Real Estate Appraiser Blogs to Grow Your Business

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:40:25 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Working RE: Using Real Estate Appraiser Blogs to Grow Your Business

This is my recently published article as it appears in the new edition of Working RE Magazine.

“Editor’s Note: Bill Cobb is a wizard at using blogging, social media and other “new stuff” to increase business. Here, he generously shares his expertise.

Using Blogs to Grow Your Business By Bill Cobb

This may seem shocking to you but I don’t own an appraiser “website.” I don’t need one.

I am not an expert in SEO (search engine optimization). My sites are not “PR5”s to “PR8”s (Google page rank) but I have figured out how to grab the attention of Google for those searching for local appraisers. You may ask, “Why appraiser blogging?” And, “Is it worth my time?” These are excellent questions- the same ones I asked. Here are the answers.

In early 2006, my experience with appraiser blogging began out of major frustration. I was spending almost $1,000 a year for a fancy website with all the bells and whistles and around $1,500 a year for online appraiser directories that weren’t producing many appraisal orders.

About that same time, my friend, Wayne Pugh, MAI, owner of SFREP appraiser software, taught me how to set alerts for Google content. So on the particular website with which I was working, I spent time adding content and updating it. Still, not many additional orders were produced nor was there an increase in Google attention. Then I added a blogging feature to the website and began adding local content. But still, no attention from Google.

Fortunately, a relative sent us a link to his new Blogger Blog (Blogger.com), a free blog from Google, with photos from his missionary trip to Russia. So I started my own free appraiser blog that weekend. I took content from my website blog and posted it to my Blogger Blog and within one week I began receiving alerts of my published content called “posts.” Shortly afterward, I began receiving calls from national lenders needing appraisals. When I asked them how they found me, they said they Googled my area and I appeared at the top of the list. Cha-ching! So, I setup a free WordPress Blog as well as blogging on two other free blogs.

Unfortunately, within two months, both blogs were shutdown because they were about the self-promotion of my business- a violation of their Terms of Service (TOS). All of those hours invested into my blog posts just evaporated instantly. Gone.

I learned two lessons early on: Blogs built into websites do not generally index well and free blogs generally do not allow appraisers to promote their services due to violations of TOS.

High Returns

By mid 2006, I learned how to self-host WordPress blogs for my appraisal business ($8/month) while using free WordPress themes. I adopted my own TOS and self-promoted my appraisal business 24/7. Then I learned that WordPress was evolving from just a blog to a very easy-to-use CMS (Content Management System). Today, many are choosing WordPress verses traditional websites because a blog has a built in pinging feature which indexes in Google within minutes or hours of clicking the submit button. Traditional websites don’t have this feature and Google gets around to them only every so often. Everything I do online is built in WordPress- i.e. the appraiser blog setups that I build nationally with online appraisal ordering, online video business cards, video landing pages. No websites!

Why do properly setup “Appraiser Blogs” trump traditional websites?

When I take the market data from a recently completed appraisal report and publish it as a blog post, a chain of events takes place. Note that I set these features up in advance. First, the pinging feature alerts 25+ top directories, including Google and Yahoo, which indexes my content. Second, my blog post is automatically sent out as a tweet on Twitter which is a very powerful Google indexing free service. Third, my post becomes an online podcast into iTunes, which is indexed by Google. Fourth, with a few clicks, my post is bookmarked onto my Facebook plus 20 other social media pages, all indexed by Google. Fifth, my post automatically get posted to “My Page” on Appraiser’s Water Cooler (Appraiserswatercooler.com) and any other directory I feed the content to. Doing all of this might take five to 10 minutes after the proper setup.

Because my posts are syndicated as podcasts, the reader can listen to the post or article being read to them with click of a button.

Becoming a Trust Agent

Another appraiser experiencing success with WordPress is Ryan Lundquist in Sacramento, California (Lundquist Appraisal Blog and Twitter@SacAppraiser). Ryan has come a long way in a short period of time generating 8,391 visitors in 2009 based on his “hit counter.” His is a testimony to how easy WordPress is to use. Ryan has incorporated both local photos and short videos to make his posts very interesting. The philosophy that Ryan and I share is that our sites are where locals find out what’s really taking place in their uncertain housing market. Where else are locals going to get trustworthy news about their housing market? This is an appraiser’s opportunity to shine and become a “trust agent” within their local community. Has this effort paid off for Ryan? Yes, in the form of multiple tax appeal appraisal assignments (non-HVCC compliant appraising).

What Is Appraiser Blogging?

Appraiser blogging is simply taking information or 1004MC research data from your local market and quickly publishing it to your blog and adding a photo, aerial image or charting to make it appealing to your local and national readers. An appraiser can also take a published article from their local news or business report, tell their public about this news article and offer their expert commentary on what’s been reported. An appraiser can also engage their readers with polls about their market. Appraiser Blogging has replaced my traditional appraiser websites.

Why Do Appraiser Blogs Get Google’s Attention for Online Searches?

Google loves to index blogs with fresh content, images and video. WordPress Blogs have superior built-in pinging features that automatically syndicate your post to the search engines. In other words, when an appraiser in Birmingham, Alabama adds a blog post with the title, “Birmingham Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Offer Pre-Listing Appraisals,” that appraiser will be indexed in Google for national online search for those keywords. When a local homeowner wants to sell a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) and needs an appraiser to price their home, they Google similar keywords and that appraiser is found and gets the assignment. This works similarly for FHA work. Properly tagged images also help you get found– just do a Google image search for “Baton Rouge Real Estate Appraisers” and see what I’m talking about. Adding your own YouTube appraiser channel helps one dominate their markets for local real estate video search. Then, adding video content to your blogs further engages your visitors. Offering an email update allows your readers to receive emails when you post updates to your blog.

Measuring Time ad Effort

I take my 1004MC research data, a photo of the subdivision entrance sign and a trends graph and report that information on my blog. Since I’m already doing the work for my appraisal research, I’m not adding much time. Using free software, it might take me five extra minutes to format the post and click submit. At a minimum, two blog post per week are optimal, which adds about 10 minutes a week. And, when one begins to see how effective this is for Google Searches, it won’t take long to realize the reward for your time.

Michael Gerber, in his now famous “E-Myth” philosophy, spoke of working harder on your business rather than in your business. Gerber reminded us that “technicians,” like appraisers, especially have this challenge because we are so busy “doing it, doing it, doing it” or getting out appraisals. Consequently, we often fail to work on our businesses. For me, appraiser blogging has been my opportunity to work on my business and reap the rewards of being found online.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

I didn’t start this appraiser blogging trend and I acknowledge that appraiser Brian Davis, with Appraisal Scoop, was very inspirational and helpful in my start. Brian was the first to publish my “Appraiser Liability – Dodging The Bullet!” content nationally and took the time to professionally format the article in Typepad. Other inspirational appraiser bloggers are: OREP/Working RE Magazine’s Appraiser Talkback Blog, Jonathan Miller’s Matrix Blog and Frank Gregoire’s Appraiser Active Blog. And, to Danny Wiley in Tennesse, for introducing me to “Snagit” screen capture, which has changed the professional side of my life.

It’s 2009, quickly moving into 2010. Blogs, video, and the “Big 3” in social media (Facebook , YouTube and Twitter) are making it very easy to be indexed by Google. With 76 percent of real estate agents on Facebook, as per the National Association of Realtors, it’s time for appraisers to catch up! Appraisers who are taking control of their online marketing are seeing the fruits of their marketing labor and are saving time and money by spending more effort on their businesses instead of in them.

About the author

Bill Cobb is a full-time residential appraiser in Louisiana. You can find him on Twitter@appraisertips. Bill builds “appraiser video blogs” with online ordering capability, teaches appraisers how to “blog to be found” on local online searches, how to use the new social media and video marketing to increase business.Visit: http://www.appraisersblogsample.info/ “

http://www.appraiservideomarketing.com/

VIDEOS:

10 Ways To Increase Visitors To Real Estate Appraisal Websites, Part 1

10 Ways To Increase Visitors To Real Estate Appraisal Websites, Part 2

10 Ways To Increase Real Estate Appraisal Website Visitors, PART 2

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:44:39 +0000

http://www.appraisersblogsample.info/ – 10 Ways To Increase Visitors To Your Real Estate Appraisal Website or Appraiser Blog, PART 2

In this video, Home Appraiser and Appraisal Blog Builder, Bill Cobb, discusses how to attract more visitors to your real estate appraisal or appraiser websites and blog. Matching Articles are being published as this is being posted, due out shortly!

Home Appraisers: Why Pay $50 to $295 Per Year For An Online Directory When You Can Do It Yourself?

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:52:00 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.com/ - Home Appraisers: Why Pay $50 to $295 Per Year To Be Placed In An Online Appraiser Directory When You Can Do It Yourself…..AND BE MORE TARGETED FOR LOCAL KEYWORDS?

APPRAISERS, HERE’S MY QUESTION: Am I the only appraiser that receives a new offer each week from a new “Online Appraiser Directory” wanting me to pay them $50 to $295 per year to be listed in their directory? Now, there’s Appraisers2010 dot something. DO YOU REALLY NEED THEM?

COULD I DO THIS MYSELF AND GET MY APPRAISAL COMPANY RANKED ON GOOGLE PAGE 1 FOR “ESTATE APPRAISERS” IN MY CITY? The new push in online appraiser directories now is for non-lender work: “Estate Appraisers” or “Estate Setllement Appraisers”, “Probate Appraisers”, “Divorce Appraisers”, “Trust Appraisers”, etc.. On 12/11/2009, I was contacted about purchasing my spot on a new “Estate Appraisers” online directory for like $50/year. They’d also sell me a position on a “Probate Appraisers” for additional $50/year. The first thing I did was google “Estate Appraisers in my city” and that new online appraiser directory wasn’t listed on page 1. So, I asked myself if instead of spending $100 per year with them, could I do this myself? AND, THE ANSWER WAS YES I COULD, SEE BELOW RESULTS. In fact, I’m on 6 of 10 Google Page One Results. AND, I achieved similar results in my efforts to rank locally for “Probate Appraisers in my City” as well (not enough room in this post to show all of my results). The important point is that I ranked on page 1 for the keywords “Estate Appraisers” and locationally for “My City” where my appraisal business is located.

HOW DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS?

By combining minimal efforts utilizing Appraiser Blogging Skills, Appraiser Video Marketing and Twitter. There’s a new article due out soon in Working RE Magazine that explains this process. You know that data we’re extracting for the 1004MC for neighborhoods? With the permission of my local MLS, I just quickly take that data, work I’m already doing anyway, and publishing that data as a value to my local market, my local readers and for Google Indexing. Want to know more, check out http://www.appraisersblogsample.info/ . And, YES, blog(s) have replaced my traditional appraiser website. That’s Right! I don’t have a regular appraiser website and for very good reasons.

SO, ARE ONLINE APPRAISER DIRECTORIES WORTH THE MONEY, SINCE APPRAISER BUDGETS ARE SO TIGHT NOW?

As my results above show, I believe most of your advertising money for online search should be invested in your own Appraiser Blog and not Appraiser Directories. However, I have fairly consistent orders from www.appraisers.com (paid) and www.zipappraisers.com (free). In the early and mid 2000s, I’ve paid close to $1,500 to $2,000/year just for placement on online appraiser directories. I Know Better Now! Am I saying that ALL of them aren’t worth the investment? No, because I haven’t tried them all. After spending thousands on online appraiser directories since 1994, The one key Lesson I’ve learned is that nobody will market your appraisal business more effectively THAN YOU CAN YOURSELF!

ONE FINAL NOTE, See Above “Dominate Your Local Market”: The above illustration is how Real Estate Agents use online tools to gain buyers and sellers. What do you see on the flow chart? Blogging! Social Media! And, Video is on their website! So, why is it that Real Estate Appraisers think differently about marketing than Real Estate Agents? Can You Imagine Being A Real Estate Agent in 2009-2010 without a major online presence? I know of a couple of Real Estate Agents that ignored blogging and video marketing and are now suffering more than other agents are in this market downturn. Food For Thought!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tags: appraiser blog training, appraiser video marketing, home appraiser tips, real estate appraiser, real estate appraiser blogging, real estate appraiser tips, real estate appraiser video marketing, real estate appraiser videos, real estate appraisers

5 Trends That May Affect Your Real Estate Appraisal Business in 2010

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:14:14 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Tips For Real Estate Appraisers 12/11/2009: 5 Trends That May Affect Your Small Business And/Or Real Estate Appraisal Business in 2010.

John Jantsch, Founder of the now famous “Duct Tape Marketing” blog has written a new article entitled, “5 Trends That Will Shape Small Business in 2010“. While this article may be ahead of the times for real estate appraisers, some will resonate with the directions these trends are taking us. What John says is that we’ve been introduced to Social Media, now we know how to use it and the stage is now “set the table for the realization of some significant trends to bubble up into the world of small business in 2010.”

***TRENDS 1 & 5 MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT……NOTE: If Real Estate Appraisers Aren’t Using An Appraiser Blog or Twitter, They’re Not Getting Indexed In Google For Real Time Search Of Their Professional Services! ***

Here’s a snippet of the basic outline of the article:

1.) Real Time Is Big Time

2010 will bring real time search. Today, there was a short glitch in the map server for my appraisal software vendor. The answer to why and how soon it would be back up was on their Twitter Feed.

The RedLaser iPhone app is an example of scanning a barcode in Wal-Mart and having your iPhone tell you where else to buy it and competitor pricing.

Ustream.Tv just released their long anticipated iPhone App that allows one to stream live video on the spot with real time chat. Bryan McDonald, with REBliss.com, demonstrated on 12/9 how this works using the iPhone 3GS. Think about being on the spot at a home needing a final inspection to close the loan, emailing the lender a link to your Ustream.tv account and having them watch as you tour the 100% complete home so they can close the loan without delay! That’s “Real Time” Appraising! Click on the image below to view Bryan’s video.

2.) Location As Plumbing

“Location sharing services like Foursquare, Loopt and Google Latitude, are already receiving mainstream media mention. It won’t be long before every rating and review site, such as Yelp! and Insider Pages, build this into the foundation and push coupons and discounts out to you based on location. Anywhere you go you will be able to locate friends nearby or the location of every Twitter follower in a city you are visiting. Your location, or that of your customers and prospects, will become another data point in the marketing mix.”

3.) Filtering Gets Social

“When you search for the best attorney in town, a good movie or the best place to get some authentic TexMex, not only will you see the organic search results earned through Google’s algorithm, you’ll also see what your friend Jimmy had to say about such things.”

4.) Kitchen Sink On The Cloud

“Will desktop applications and computing become a thing of the past? While not completely, 2010 looks like the year that small businesses will truly embrace applications that exist online only. Entire software suites such as Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live will finally allow document, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software to function as Internet applications at greatly reduced costs and ultimate real time collaboration. File sharing and storage, including total file backup from tools like Dropbox and Mozy, will become standard in the small business toolbox.”

5.) Fusion Boosts Offline

“While the entire focus of this article to this point has been about changes online, the mantra for 2010 will be the convergence of online and offline for the greatest leverage. No matter how wired we get as a society and business, there will always be a need for face to fact trust, building engagement. Now that small businesses have moved more online, the smart play will be to find the best ways to fuse the online and offline activates in ways that make the return on both even greater.”

Image credit: prosto photos

Home Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/22/09: Twitter Marketing Testimonial and First List Of FHA AMCs Now Available

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:38:13 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Home Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/22/09: Appraiser’s Twitter Marketing Testimonial and First List Of FHA AMCs Now Available!

There’s Actually 2 Tips!

On Friday morning, I saw this “tweet” below from Appraiser Help and was immediately curious about this “First List of FHA AMCs”. So, I ordered my copy and glad I did.

According to the website, “This directory is fully updated with all new information not found in any other directory available online today.”

Their website also states that if you sign up for any of their appraisal directories ( FHAAppraisers.com, AppraiserHelp.com or TaxGrievanceAppraisers.com ), “you can have the $39.99 credited towards a one year directory listing. Members of our directories will always receive free updates.”

So, the 2 Real Estate Appraiser’s Tips On 11/22/2009 are this:

Tip #1: The way I discovered that this product was available was through “Twitter”. No, I haven’t received any email(s) from Appraiser Help about this new FHA AMC List. They chose Twitter to make their first initial announcement. That should give you, the appraiser, a hint about marketing in 2009…..rolling quickly into 2010.

Tip #2: That the First FHA AMC List is now available. To order yours, click on the FHA AMC Directory image above!

Real Estate Appraiser Tips | Home Appraiser Tips! is an information blog covering real estate appraiser related news and tips on these topics stated below. This site is operated by Bill Cobb, CREA, a full time residential real estate appraiser in the Greater Baton Rouge Market. Bill can be reached at 225.953.0638 @ appraisertips@gmail.com. Follow Bill on Facebook @ http://bit.ly/E0rsl and On Twitter @appraisertips

Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/19/09: Follow @USPAP on Twitter

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:43:10 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/19/09: Follow @USPAP on Twitter

Bud Hunsucker with CompuTaught offers tweets of value to home appraisers, see below. I’ve learned much about home appraisal through viewing his daily tweets.

Tags: bud hunsucker, computaught, home appraiser tips, online uspap, real estate appraiser, real estate appraiser tips, real estate appraisers, uspap

If There Are More Appraiser Members Of NAR Than Of Appraisal Institute or All Appraisal Organizations, Then What Does This Mean?

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:22:19 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - If There Are More Appraiser Members Of NAR Than Of Appraisal Institute or All Appraisal Organizations, Then What Does This Mean?

First, Please follow Bud Hunsucker @uspap on Twitter. Bud also runs the CompuTaught in Atlanta providing Online Appraisal Education Nationally. I plan on enrolling in CompuTaught for my last class needed in 2009.

This morning I found this interesting tweet from Bud, “More Appraisers members of NAR than of the App Institute, or all the other appraisal organizations combined!” There is no link to click within the tweet to find out more.

My question is this: What’s the relevance of this statement? Please don’t take me wrong as I am not criticizing Bud at all as he’s going somewhere with this statement and so am I. First, is there more appraiser members of NAR because our local MLS Boards force appraisers to join both them and NAR for MLS Access, thereby making us pay NAR approx. $400/year for membership and the local board about $35/month for MLS Access? Or is it that the NAR’s “Appraisal Section” has more members than all combined? I think not. I did a quick search for “RAAs” with NAR’s Appraisal Section and found that there are only 6 in AL, 7 in LA and 27 in TX. For Appraisal Institute (A.I.) SRAs, there are 56 in AL, 70 in LA and 338 in TX. So, the answer would be no, there isn’t more NAR Appraisal Section appraisers than A.I. appraisers.

Should we as appraisers be looking to NAR as our “Appraisal Organization”? Especially since we’re already paying them $400/year for membership, about the same dues A.I. members pay…..except A.I. members have to pay $400 twice to A.I. and NAR. After all, NAR is the lobby on Capital Hill helping to keep the appraisal orders flowing in the appaiser’s direction.

But, would it be a conflict of interest for the NAR to be our appraisal organization? Isn’t that kind of like letting the fox in the appraiser’s hen house? Bye Bye Appraiser Independence! After all, the purpose of HVCC was to create a buffer between Appraisers and Realtors® and Appraisers and Lenders.

Organization…or the lack thereof. I think what Bud is trying to accomplish is to get appraisers thinking more about organizing, especially since their lack of organization and infighting amongst themselves, as a whole, has led to them to having very little representation….not near the representation as the NAR. No, I am not saying that our Organizations and States have just sat on the rear-ends on representation. R. Wayne Pugh, MAI, in Baton Rouge and past President of A.I., did help residential appraisers during his term as President and also helped author and pass the Louisiana AMC Regulation Bill. During his Presidency, he also held a monthly breakfast with the Louisiana Chapter of A.I. to keep them updated. I know this because my dad, William F. Cobb, MAI, attended those breakfasts.

Valuation 2009′s Message To Appraisers: Organize, Period! Part of the message at Valuation 2009 was that appraisers must organize to survive, PERIOD! How do we accomplish this? Do we merge all organizations into One or Two Major Appraisal Organizations? Your Thoughts and/or Opinions?

So, what’s the “Real Estate Appraiser Tip”, Bill? Find A Way To Organize! Get Involved in directing your appraisal future! Join A Respected and influential Appraisal Organization!

So, I am applauding Bud Hunsucker for helping us to think about this topic! Be sure to follow @uspap on Twitter.

Real Estate Appraiser’s Social Networking Tips For The BIG 3 YouTube Facebook & Twitter

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:16:24 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser’s Social Networking Tips For The BIG 3 YouTube Facebook & Twitter

In 2006, I was introduced to Email Ideas and began using these FREE “BOJO” versions below of html email signatures. It wasn’t until early 2009 that I discovered how effective BOJO might be with Social Media Links for connecting to others.

APPRAISER’S MARKETING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA:

The BIG 3 In Social Networking are: YouTube, Facebook and Twitter…..AND Yes, you should care. As you can see from my email sig ABOVE, people receiving my emails can click on my YouTube Channel, Connect With Me On Facebook or Follow Me On Twitter! AND, they can also view my Online Video Business Card, which is a very reasonably priced website with video, client testimonials, appraisal order form, etc..

FREE versus PAID. On the FREE versions, you get their ad(s) to the side of your email signature. To get rid of the ad(s), you need to purchase their premium signature at $169.50/year. The FREE version gives one: Unlimited Updates, Bojo Image Hosting, Member Center Access, Statistics On Clicks/Views and Installation Support. With PAID, you can Sell Your Ad Space To Advertisers In Your Area, Promote Your Business, Recruit Employees, Champion A Cause OR Have No Ad At All.

INSTALLATION. Installation of the html coded signature can be either easy or complex depending on the email software you’re using. In Microsoft Outlook, it’s a fairly easy installation. I switched to Incredimail Premium in 2003 and it can be quite difficult an installation. Once I figured the Incredimail installation, I sent them my instructions and the owner of Email Ideas sent me a fine looking thank you note with $5.00 Star Bucks Gift Card. So, my experience has been a very positive one!