CORE #147 - Carnival of Real Estate Hosted at Mike's Corner

I'll be hosting the CORE (Carnival of Real Estate) next week. This will be the 3rd time the Carnival has stopped at Mike's Corner here in H-Town. The uninitiated should take the time to check it out. Why is it called a carnival?. Rembember when you were a kid? The carnival would show up in your town. In my case we would cut grass, hunt down pop bottle refunds and suffer the indignity of baby sitting my little sisters only to find out the carnival was bout to pack up go to another town that was way to far to ride our bikes. In the case of CORE, the town happens to the location of a selected host blogger and the stay is for a week starting every Monday. The carnival host accepts submissions of the best post(s) of the past couple of weeks from other real estate bloggers from across the web. The host then selects the best of those posts to showcase and provide awards. In my opinion, if the Carnival Host is doing things correctly, there will always be a clear winner.

Over the last couple of years the hosts have been very creative with themes for hosting the CORE, usually based on a holiday taking place at that time or just a generally entertaining way to introduce what the host believes to be the best in real estate blogging content.

When if first stumbled upon the real estate version of CORE if found it to be just the tool I had been searching for to help me in my quest to keep up with great content. As the real estate blogging community has grown, so have the number of top notch blog destinations. It can be a daunting task to search out and read only the best. CORE helps that effort in a big way.

MLBroadcast hosts a great audio podcast for the Carnival of Real Estate. From time-to-time the folks at Zillow will interview the CORE host for insight on their picks, criteria for selection, themes and more. Get a free subscription here (iTunes). You will enjoy the conversations.

Submit your best post(s) between now and this upcoming Saturday. If you ned to get your submission in a little late and the form is not working you can e-mail it to me. Be sure to include all of the required information. I will start making selections Sunday afternon. If you're interested in becoming involved with CORE, check out these links:

• Host a Carnival
• Promote the CoRE
• Write for CoRE

Real Estate Blogging - Filling The First Gap

A New Direction For Mike's Corner
As you may have noticed from my new bio and tag line, this blog is taking a decidedly different approach. I'm going to start bridging the gap between perception and "realty" (you can cram that pithy little i in there yourself and make it Reality :) I was going to write a long post that explained why I decided to make the change and then I realized nobody really cares. They either read me, or they don't. I'll bet you're glad I spared you the Dennis Miller rant!

My first "Gap" post: Real Estate Blogging
I have a new featured REALTOR® Blog coming up after this post. It's been ages since I've picked one and I wanted to set the stage for it, basically to "say it again for the first time". The world is full of experts on real estate blogging, I know both of em.. but I digress.

Perception: A good blog should cover a wide range of topics from around the world to impress the search engine gods. Putting things like a celebrity name in the title will get you a ton of traffic! Better yet, Piss em off!, contrived controversy is a great traffic builder.

Reality - It Has To Be Local. Writing random thoughts about the industry or diatribes that are off topic and have no real bearing on what a prospect wants to consume will generate nothing but crap that nobody will read or care about. A person interested in listing or selling probably has a pretty good idea of the national market already. If you think stuffing keywords or talking about Britney leaving her drawers at home will get you traffic you're right, that is if your target market is prepubescent punks. People are looking for the real meal. If you give em peanuts, you're only going to get monkeys.

Perception: Blogs Are For Generating Hot Leads!

Reality: Don't get caught selling. If your blog is stuffed with keywords and every third sentence is designed to get someone to "look at my listings", forget it. Go back to mailing just listed and sold cards. Your blog is a resource to help consumers consume content, good content. If it's written correctly the SEO gods will smile on you without the need to listen to carnival barkers or pay some Shylock your last commission check for absolutely no useful purpose at all. Blogs build long term relationships and "top-of-mind" awareness and branding with potential prospects. You will do business from a blog if you do it right. If you're like a lot of agents that spend an hour or a dime on something and expect immediate results or a dollar back the next day. Blogging is not for you.

Perception. If it's on the web - it's there for the taking.

Realty: Don't Be A Common Thief. It seems to me that the leaders of the industry coddle people too much when they tell them not to copy and paste content. They always come from the angle that re professionals don't know any better. I have to call BS on that one. People learn in kindergarten that it's wrong to steal. They learn the hard way too. They don't listen to the teachers. They find out when they steal little Sally's candy and she bitch slaps your butt into next Sunday that it's not right to take something that doesn't belong to you. So, go ahead and rip off your colleagues. Don't come crying to your AE at the board or me when you get nailed for it.

Perception: I can just copy and paste data and stats from the MLS for readers.

Reality: Control-V Stats & Data = Fail. If your posts are a string of copy and pasted stats from the MLS. You're wasting the 3 minutes of time you put into "writing" a blog post. As you will see with our next featured blog, without putting your personal thought and analysis to the stats, they are just numbers and it sounds like the Charlie Brown teacher to readers. If you add your well thought back story and deliver stats in a way that will have an impact on your prospects' potential transaction, you've established yourself as a real professional. If not, you've established yourself as Captain Obvious. You might as well print out the stats drive to random houses knock on the door and say, I have some stats for you. I'm not sure how they apply to you but here's my business card. Call me if you decide to sell this house. Hey, it may work for you.

Perception: Blogs are all about the SEO (search engine optimization)

Reality: BS! I have a pal I talk about too much. Since we are so much alike in our thinking, I will just put it his way. BS! Basically that's it. As he says, SEO means "write good shit". If you're concentrating your time and efforts on trying to be found in search engines based on terms that you probably didn't even research in the first place, you should put down the mouse and get out the do-not-call list and smile when you dial. Blogs are built to be search engine friendly out of the box. The content you put into it is really all that matters in the end. I know this will bring out the so called experts and the people that claim otherwise (haters) but I don't care. My comments are moderated and I reserve the right to ignore you if I think you're spewing crap all over my sphere of influence. There's nothing wrong with paying attention to the basics of SEO, but it's not a panacea. If you're paying for the effort, there's a 99% chance you're just getting separated from your money. There are some people out there that are honest in their approach to SEO and get paid to consult on it. I'm guessing since they are SEO experts you should be able to find both of them on Google.

Perception: I should blog every listing I get.

Reality: Blogs Are Not Advertisements. Look, there's nothing wrong if you feature a really cool house now and then. But once again, don't get caught selling it. If it has a history, tell the story from that perspective. If you just slap it up there with a lame "doll house" mls description and feature list, you've created an ad, not a story.

Perception: All Real Estate Professionals Should Have a Blog

Reality: Most Shouldn't. We're in a brave new world. If you're going to be a real estate professional of the future, you'd better be armed with some basic business acumen - acumen that is in short supply today. The ability to communicate, both in business situations and for developing marketing copy, will be integral to the success of a contemporary real estate professional. You'll need to be able to do it transparently and without the constant WIIFM that seems to permeate the communications of the average agent and broker today. I predicted almost 3 years ago that there would be more abandoned than active real estate blogs by now. It's worse than I thought, a recent stat said that of all blogs, 95% had been abandoned. I'm not sure but I would have to guess that puts RE blogs at 99%. If you really don't think you have the stuff to write a blog and are not prepared to bust your butt and write good shit - Don't bother. Just because everyone else in your cube farm has a blog doesn't mean you absolutely have to have one too.

Updates: Hurricanes, BlogWorld & Real Estate Barcamp Houston

Ike Update: Oak Ridge North Gets Smacked Around
The past 12 days or so have been about as action packed as they can get. Hurricane Ike decided to treat my little town of Oak Ridge North and southern Montgomery county Texas harder than any area not directly on the coast. We are still without power and I am crafting these 0's and 1's to you via a generator generously loaned to us by future in-laws. Our home suffered no major damage at all and as luck would have it, I had business trip to Las Vegas scheduled right in the middle of these days of recovery. If you're an MLBroadcast client, please accept our thanks for your patience in the delays that have resulted in production. We are working hard to get back on track and should be caught up soon. Call me directly if you have a concern or issue 832-331-4846.

REBlogWorld
Last Thursday through Sunday was spent at the Real Estate Blog World and Blog World conference. Todd and Jason should take great pride in successful first time event with REBlogworld. The sessions were great, the preparation and execution stellar and the overall experience definitely a worthwhile one. I highly recommend this event to any real estate professional or company interested in blogging and new media as a part of their strategy. We are proud to be a sponsor of the event and look forward to getting involved with the event in a big way again next year. Stay tuned for information regarding videos that were captured for each session at the event.


BlogWord Expo
The BlogWorld Expo was amazing. I've either been involved in the planning of or in attendance at more expos and conferences than I can remember and I believe this event was as well done both in execution and content as any I have attended before. It's only the second year for this event, but I can already see it becoming one of the larger and more well attended "digerati" events in the future. It covered much, much more than blogging, in fact, if it had to do with new media of any kind, it was addressed in some way. I enjoyed speaking with my old pal Paul Cheney who is now the president of the International Blogging and New Media Association, we became members because Paul is at the helm and I had a chance to find out more about their charter and see how I can become involved. Look for a podcast interview with Paul in the coming days. The highlight for me personally was being able to network with folks in the speaker ready room. I had a chance to talk to the social and new media folks with Wal-mart and get a preview of their cool new iPhone app being released this week. It's pretty cool to hang out with people like Guy Kawasaki. Most of the people in this industry, not matter what their celebrity status, are very approachable and that carried through to the sessions and the expo floor. Keep in mind for next year that by attending REBlogworld you are also able to attend the entire BlogWorld event. As Jeff Turner put it during a conversation we had, BlogWorld has been very "mind expanding". After all, isn't that why we go to these things? Oh wait, it was in Vegas, let me rephrase that, "Isn't that one of the reasons we go to these things?"

REBarcamp Houston Is Still On
I had a few conversations with some of my REBCH cohorts prior to my departure about whether we should postpone Real Estate Bar Camp Houston. The overwhelming consensus was to stick with the original date and plan. With all that will be taking place afterward like NAR's expo etc., it just makes sense to push forward. We will need as much help as possible from volunteers. Rich Jacobson of Active Rain being the awesome human being he is, has offered to come in a day early and help set up. We need sponsors! It's only $250 to be a sponsor of the event, so if you know of a person or company that wants the extra exposure and overall warm fuzzy that comes from being a part of a cool grass roots effort like a barcamp, have them get in touch with me.

Attention REBloggers: CREST Survey #2

The Center for Real Estate and Social Technologies (CREST) released the results of their first survey at REBarcamp recently and they revealed some interesting information about blogging within the real estate vertical (view the results here). The second survey delves a little deeper to find out which social media tools are being used to enhance blogging efforts. I think if CREST can get a good cross section of participation in these surveys it could go a long way toward helping the industry craft some meaningful educational and reference materials for beginning bloggers. Participants in the survey will be able to receive the executive summary when it is released. Deadline for this survey is on Aug 21st.


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REBlog World - Podcast w/ Todd Carpenter

BlogWorld is the world's largest conference expo dedicated to blogging. When Todd Carpenter and Jason Berman attended the event last year they were amazed at the size and diversity of the event. They were also amazed that Real Estate was a vertical woefully under represented. The idea to team up with the folks at Blog World was hatched and the result is REBlogWorld. Here's a snippet from the BlogWorld site.

If you blog, dabble in new media, are a full time digital communications junkie ... or just dream of getting your feet wet in this phenomenon with a 6,000% growth rate ... you have to be at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas, September 20 & 21, 2008. Join more than 4 million bloggers who know this industry is going to continue to grow ... and want play an active role. Don't be left behind ... attend the show to secure and further your stake in the Blogosphere!

REBlogWorld is co-located with BlogWorld and will take place on September 19th in Las Vegas. Todd and Jason have pulled together a stellar crew of speakers and topics. If you're a real estate blogger you will not want to miss it. The price of admission gets you into the entire Blog World event and from what I've heard about last year's show it's worth every penny. I'll be on a real estate video panel with my new friend Morgan Brown from The Blown Mortgage Blog and Turn Here and my old friend Daniel Rothamel, aka The Real Estate Zebra. I spent some time with Todd to produce a podcast interview that should answer any questions you have about REBlogWorld. Check it out below. I hope to see you in Vegas next month!



To subscribe to our audio podcast, click the Mike's Mic link the right sidebar. (Requires iTunes)

Mike's Corner 2008 Resolutions

This blog was the idea of my close friend and business partner, Mark Basile. At one of our infamous marathon brain storming sessions he suggested the simple title for the blog and the idea that it be a digital version of an informal conversation. It's been 18 months and we couldn't be happier with the results. We've been blessed with awards and accolades that I really didn't envision when we started. I would be a big fat liar if I said I they didn't matter to me. Thanks to anyone who recognized in 2006 and 2007!

We're going to do all we can in 2008 to take this blog to the next level and provide even better content, more stimulating conversations and little levity right when you needed something to brighten your day.

That said, we're going to be making some little changes, some big changes and add some new things as we go. We hope you like them, and if not, we hope you'll tell us.

Plumbers With Leaky Pipes
One of the first things you will see are MLBroadcast video podcast episodes. We've been like plumbers with leaky pipes, too busy to use our own tools to keep our house in order. We have a series of screen capture videos planned that are designed to demonstrate not only our own products, but other tools that can you can use to gain an edge in even the most challenging of markets.

Other Ch Ch Ch Changes
New Name For The Blog
New Regular Contributors
Guest Contributors
New Platform (A very painful switch to Wordpress will take place Q2. Because this blog is in the old blogger platform, it will take a while)
Video Interviews With RE.net Veterans and Newbies
More "Featured Realtor Blogs"

So, there you have it. Thanks to each and every person that has seen fit to add this blog to your RSS subscriptions. We promise to give you a reason to keep coming back!

Cheers,
MP

See You In Vegas

I'm heading out early Monday for the NAR event. My twin brother is in the furniture business and as luck would have it, will be there for a yearly industry trade show. So if you see someone just as good looking as me but doesn't answer to Mike, it's Mark.

Another important Mark will be at the event with me, MLBroadcast co-founder Mark Basile. Many of you may know him from his 30 plus years with First American. Anywho....If you have an interest in our product a strategic alliance or just want to say hi, call the iPhone at 832.331.4846.

Don't Forget To Meet The Bloggers
There will be some awesome opportunities to gain insight into blogging from the best and brightest of the RE.net. Be sure to come by and meet your favorites. You might even snag some cool giveaways.

Mortgage Online Podcast Interviews

Owen Raun of RMC Vanguard Mortgage recently launched an audio podcast series. The interviews feature a wide variety of real estate topics. The latest interview is a Q & A with Todd Carpenter of Mariah.Com. Todd was recently named to the Inman list of the 25 most influential bloggers.

"Todd gives his perspective on successful blogging, how his work fits into the blogesphere and also announces a new blog to go live on Oct 10th."

Subscribe in iTunes or Via RSS below:

Featured REALTOR® Blog - The Housechick

Our search for good REALTOR® blogs takes us the sun baked town of Tuscon and The Housechick Blog. Kelley Koehler is an agent with Long Realty and it looks as if she only been blogging for a short period of time. Her posts are local and informative. The feature I like the most in her blog is the password protected area in which she communicates with buyers and sellers. Using the blog to direct clients in this area is a brilliant idea. It helps establish long term relationships and will certainly generate referral business down the road. The categories of her blog are perfectly suited to an Internet consumer. The community tours are well written with good photos. Kelley is off to a great start and sets a great example of quality real estate blogging. Keep up the good work KK. ~MP

Previous Featured Realtor Blogs:

• Harper Team
• State of Mind Real Estate
• Every Kid Deserves A Yard

CORE Expands Efforts

Drew Meyers at Zillow wants to take the Carnival of Real Estate to a new level. He has a lofty goal to for CORE to become a destination for "All Things Relating to Real Estate Blogging". I've had the opportunity to get to know Drew over the last few months and I have no doubt that he will be able to meet his goal. The guy has an awesome work ethic and a keen grasp of the RE.net. Drew is currently asking former CORE hosts to apply for an opportunity to be a contributor to the CORE blog. Shaun from EkDay has already posted and I'll be submitting my first post soon and I would encourage other previous hosts to discuss the opportunity with him.

Speaking of CORE, #45 is live today at Christian Real Estate Network Blog.

Mike's Corner Celebrates Its First Anniversary

A little over a year ago at a board meeting our Executive VP, Mark Basile, suggested the concept of developing a blog for our prospects and clients. Our product is a single spoke in an entirely new kind of wheel that for better or worse has been slapped with the Web 2.0 moniker. It was clear to us that we had an opportunity and an obligation to help explain the landscape of Real Estate 2.0.

When Mark and myself get together to discuss business, we almost need a moderator to keep us on point. We both enjoy talking about everything we see as having an impact on the industry. Mark suggested we create the blog in a fashion that would establish a one to many conversation about technology and it's impact on the real estate industry. A face to a name, a direct connection to the leadership of the company. While I haven't exactly stayed on point every time, I think what I've had to say has been done in the spirit of our orignal goals.

Yesterday was exactly 365 days from my original post. I'm pretty proud of what we've accomplished. We plan to take the blog to another level in the next few months. If you've just started reading or you've had us in your RSS reader for a while now, let us know what you think and what you would like to see from us in our second year.

In Search of Great Realtor® Blogs

Recently we decided to start a feature to showcase a new Realtor® blog every month. I have been trying to dedicate a little time every day to finding my next selection but I have been too swamped to do much research lately. So far I haven't been able to find anything that really stands out. I know there are a few good blogs that have received extensive coverage in the RE.Net and I like them too, but there must be more. I would like to enlist your help in finding my next selection. The following are the 6 primary criteria that, in my opinion, make a great Realtor® blog.

1. Great local content. Well written articles that deliver relevant and useful information that you wouldn't find in the chamber of commerce newsletter or local newspaper. I think in order for a RE blog to succeed, the author must convey more than just re-purposed mls data or the minutes of the city council meeting. Here's an example. If you listen to the average conversation of Realtor, there's probably enough information to come up with more than one good post just based upon their daily activity. Don't over think it. Your night out on the town can be a great way to showcase a neighborhood. It's called a "web log". Each new day is the source of your content. It's been said before, and it bears repeating, "know who you're writing for".
2. Clean Design / Navigation. Keep it simple, please. It seems like each new day brings some new kind of "bling" for a blog. There are some blogs I've tried to visit that literally crash due to the plethora of craplets trying to load from another server somewhere. Not only does this make it difficult to view the content, it oftens causes the viewer to struggle with basic navigation. If someone doesn't know where to click next, chances are the only thing they will click is the button to close the browser tab or window.
3. Brand integration. There's a reason that the look and feel of great marketing materials are consistent. Keeping that "top of mind" awareness fresh with your long term prospects is critical. Your blog should follow that same tenet. If you have a web site, your blog should be consistent with the brand you've established in your site. (I know, our blog doesn't do the greatest job of that, we're plumbers with leaky pipes.)
4. Minimal Listing Promotion. Add links to your inventory in the side bars, or through links back to your web site's inventory. If every other post showcases a listing, you're missing the concept of blogging all together. Listings that have a story to tell and tie in with other content are an exception to the rule.
5. Consistent Updates. I have found several blogs with great content. Problem is, the content is stale and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the schedule on which the posts are written. Blogs are based upon a theory of "push content" and if you're not sure you can be consistent, re-think the effort. If you're counting on your blog to generate instant leads on a consistent basis, you're going to be disappointed. In my opinion, the primary benefit of a blog is to establish brand awareness, not direct lead generation. The transaction cycle is very long, and that all important first "touch point" can be achieved with great blogging content. If you're doing it right there is no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future someone you've done business with will point out the fact that they first heard of you through your blog and followed you, (and your brand) until the time they decided to become a client.
6. Style Without Gimmicks. Your blog is representation of you as a professional. Don't be afraid of finding your voice. I had some concerns when I started this blog, primarily because I find it much easier to be a good communicator in "one on one" conversations. It's not that hard once you get started. The biggest mistakes are "over thinking" or being afraid to make a mistake. Stay away from the gimmicky blogging advice. Creating controversy for the sake of garnering readership is a mistake in my opinion. It's o.k. to have an opinion, as long as that opinion is stated in professional manner and has some relevance to the ongoing conversation. For more information visit this post from Jim Cronin on the difference between a "reader and "visitor" to your blog.

" It’s enticing that audience to actually read one’s work that eludes most."

If you're goal is to just stir things up to create blog traffic, it will be apparent to your readers. Getting hung up on "SEO", rankings in blog directories, gossip etc. takes the focus off of the goal of your effort. Be more concerned with the quality of the traffic to your blog and whether or not the person viewing it will see you as the type of person they would entrust their transaction to.

The bottom line? Great Realtor® blogging isn't easy. No amount of off the shelf software is going to be able to do the heavy lifting and using a ghost writer from the west coast to blog about the market you farm in your community on the east coast makes about as much sense as me writing for a dentist's blog. That said, I know there must be plenty of blogs that rise to the occasion, I just need some help finding them.

Are You a Good Widget or a Bad Widget?

I'm not a big fan of most of the "craplets" that seem to plague so many blog sidebars these days. If the widget serves a useful purpose for the blog viewer, I'm all for it. Some of them are nothing more than time wasting tools that do more to benefit the blog author than anything else.

I received an e-mail today from Frenchman John-Baptiste Rudelle, CEO of Criterio announcing the beta of his new blog widget, AutoRoll. I get a lot of e-mail asking me to write about or test the latest and greatest web apps etc. etc. I usually give all of them at least a cursory overview and most of them end up in my digital circular file.

I decided to give this one a whirl. The concept is good , the execution is going to require some pretty good traction on Criterio's part for it become successful. AutoRoll is a sidebar blog widget that uses Criterio's "recommendation" engine to dynamically generate blog links for sites that have similar content to your own.

I'll try this for a while to see how well John-Baptiste's recommendation engine does in providing quality links. I hope it works. The time I set aside to do research for my blogging efforts is limited, this is one way to add value to our blog without eating into that time.

International Real Estate Bloggers

I've added a section to my Blog Roll for international RE blogs. I've peppered it with a few that I am fond of. Which Non-North American* blogs do you think are good. Lemme know! If I dig it too I'll add it to the Corner.

*O.K. I'll conisder Canuck entries on one condition, it'll cost you one cold Canadian beer of your choosing. :)

Interview: Ken Brand - Exceptional Leadership Through RE Blogging

I'd like to introduce a long time friend and MLPodcast client, Ken Brand of Prudential Gary Greene Realtors in The Woodlands, Texas. I am proud to share this interview with the RE.Net because I believe Ken is one of the brightest minds and most effective leaders in the business. Ken's blogging efforts are different than most RE blogs.

The title of Ken's blog is Ken's 411 - Greener Grass. It's the only blog I've found in the space that is used as a management tool. Ken has used the platform of blogging to communicate, motivate, educate, entertain and more! Ken's 411 primary focus is on his team of agents, but also shares information with consumers in a very transparent manner.

Question: How long have you been blogging?

Answer: January is my two year anniversary. I’ve posted 646 times, generating 28,421 page views.

Question: What is the primary goal of your blog?

Answer: Authoring a blog is powerful. A blog empowers you to create a living web expression, reflecting the personality, interests, creativity, values, beliefs and quirks of the owner…all on display.

I have a fun, never a dull moment leadership role. I’m a Sales Manager for 80+ elite-performing, make it happen now, Realtors. In today’s swirling go-go fast, band on the run, hyper-tasking, independent contractor, pay for performance Realtor world, keeping big fat, crystal clear lines of communication/Information flowing seamlessly is a ginormous challenge. A blog provides the perfect simple and elegant medium equal to the challenge.

With my blog I make announcements, share stories, teach, lead, persuade, compliment, recommend, train, entertain and educate.

Last but not least, I enjoy infusing my personality into what might otherwise be oatmeal dull subjects.

Question: Do you think blogging will become a mainstream business tool for Realtors?

Answer: Like most bright ideas that require commitment…winners will, most won’t. The investment of time, energy and attention will prevent the normal people from blogging. For Sales Managers, making the commitment will actually save time in the long run and provide bonus benefits for their sales team.

As for mass adoption by the real estate agent community, I’m not certain that everyone should have a blog. Because of the time required to service clients, develop relationships and nurture new leads, carving out a block of time to maintain a worthwhile blog might not be realistic for the masses. If I were in sales, I would eliminate my static web site and create a hybrid agent web site. It would be a marriage of the traditional – a resource linked, listing search engine and a wicked useful blog with fresh, salient content. For a smart, bright idead, achiever, an interesting blog would provide many benefits and a remarkable competitive advantage.

Question: What blogs do you recommend to your agents?

Answer: Including Mike's Corner, I have a twenty seven bloggers in my blogroll. The majority of my recommend blogs are centered on authors who share bright ideas, creative approach, communication arts, marketing savvy, service focus and remarkability.

Today, if I had to choose three, they would be:
Seth Godin @ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
Scott Ginsberg @ http://www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/
Tom Peters @ http://www.tompeters.com/index.php


Question: Your blog has become a central point of communication to your agents from posting calendars to sharing documents. Have your agents embraced it as such?

Answer: Yes. A blog is a beautiful, super-simple and practical tool for keeping our team members in tune with fresh opportunities, coming attractions, newly minted marketing strategies and campaigns. Also, they have Download-Print-Go access to our Market Studies/Trends & Statistics, Presentations, Team Calendar, Book Recommendations and a purse full of other stuff.

Question: How many blogs are in your feed reader right now?

Anwer: Yikes…probably too many. I’d say I spend about thirty to forty five minutes a day skimming for interesting stuff. I skim while the boob tube broadcasts. I just clicked on my NewsGator Feeds tab….do I really have 96 feeds? I guess I do.

Question: You've read dozens of books on marketing and Internet related topics. What are your top 3 recommendations for agents?

Answer: I love to read. Oddly, there aren’t many books that specifically talk about the internet. The books I most recommend are by authors who are uber-tech savvy. Their books aren’t aimed point blank at the internet per se…rather they are pointed at creating “personal remakability”…it so happens that using the web to amp up a persons “remakability factor” is shared common DNA. The books I most often recommend – anything from Tom Peters, Roy A. Williams, Seth Godin and Scott Ginsberg’s book – How To Be That Guy. I have Book Recommendations as a “Category” on my blog sidebar. Right now there are twenty eight recommendations.

Featured Real Estate Blog

I've decided to start featuring what I think are good examples of good Realtor® Blogs. Great local content is the primary feature that I believe sets the standard. My first feature is The Harper Team, a Keller Williams team in Danville, CA. Here are 3 things that set this blog apart from the pack:

1. Local content that is "narrowcasted" to a specific audience. This establishes credibility and experience.
2. Clean, easy to navigate design. The blog isn't cluttered by useless elements and they have done an excellent job of integrating the design into the feed links. I wish we had time to re-design our blog to integrate with our brand better, which brings me to number:
3. Brand integration. This site blends into the overall web presence of The Harper Team. They have done an excellent job of delivering relevant blogging content without self-promotion, however, in the the likely event that someone is a prospect, they are only a click away from the content they need.

Pat Kitano of Transparent RE is working with John Harper to begin training their counterparts on the world of Real Estate blogging. I think they will be very capable educators indeed. If you're a Realtor® struggling with your blogging efforts, the Harper Team blog is a shining example of what to strive for.

Vertical and Tactical

To those of you who read this blog regularly, I apologize for the lack of updates lately. My lower back decided it was time for me to take a break from the keyboard. It also decided, for a while, to have me take a break from being able to roll over in bed or string together a sentence that I would be proud to have my Mother hear. I am happy to say that, as Mark Basile my best friend and business associate coined, I am now vertical and tactical. To anyone who's recovered from a really tough illness, you know it's possible for the body to feel better but the mind sort of lags behind in the race. I think my feeble little mass of gray is ready to unleash itself on the world again. Many thanks to my customers, business associates and especially my family for tolerating me. Especially to those who were kind enough to put my cell phone in my pajama pocket and wish me well as they abandoned left me alone on my sealy posturepedic with Bob Barker, Judge Judy every episode of a "My Baby's Daddy" show ever made. If someone can figure out how to get back 30 minutes of a life wasted watching an episode of Jerry Springer, please let me know. I dropped the remote and couldn't move to retrieve it once. All I can say is, I feel violated on several different levels. (I'm just kidding about the abandonment part, my girls took good care of me )

I thought since I had a great deal of catching up on my reading to do, I would include some posts and story links I've found interesting. First up is the interesting tide of debate over at the Bloodhound blog regarding dual agency. My hat's off to Greg for giving unfettered access in his blog to those who share opposite points of view. It shows once again that Greg has the best interest of his readers at heart and he should be commended for walking his talk. It started with this excellent post from Jim Brown, a guest commentator. Follow the thread from there, it's awesome. Greg, Russell and Jim all provide us with insightful commentary on topic that seems to be a hot potato issue these days.

Next is a good snag by Joel at The Future of Real Estate Marketing on a new web metrics tool called Quantcast. Assuming the data is good, it could be a great demographic snapshot tool for tracking the web viewing habits of real estate consumers. I didn't have a lot of time to play with it, so the jury is still out on how effective it is. Looks promising though.

Yawwwwnnnn. Zune, Microsoft's answer to the iPod was released 11/14. They were hoping for a big bang with a bunch of release parties and the like but it looks as if it's been more of a popcorn fart. Maybe they should have taken a cue from Sony and figured out a way to get a bunch of geeks to give up a few days of their lives to camp out in front of Circuit City. On the other hand, it was probably a good idea that they didn't. I'm guessing when the news crews showed up to interview the campers there would have been enough iPods in plain sight to make it embarrassing. A couple of days later we learned that it isn't even compatible with the new version of Windows. I downloaded the Zune software to see how well podcasting will integrate with the device. As far as video podcasting goes, you can put an .mpg4 or iTunes compatible video on the device, but that's about it at this point. Word on the street says podcasting will soon be fully integrated. Looks like they should have done a little more work before asking people to come to the social. I'm not counting them out yet, but it looks like '06 is definitely not the year of the Zune.

Jim over at the Real Estate Tomato asks "Who Are You Blogging For?" It's a step in the right direction to help those that are making a concerted effort to blog for business success. In the coming months I plan to expand on that concept and look back on the impact blogging has had thus far and explore the real potential, or maybe even the lack thereof that blogging has for the average full time real estate professional.

Finally, I have gained some valuable insight to a few things and I am willing to share my new found knowledge of the following,
- How To Get Cash Now From J.G. Wentworth
- Where to go if you need Social Security Disability Help
- The advertising agency for Campbell Soup had a large casting call for people who can't sing.
- Disco Still Sucks
- There's a reason why Gunsmoke still holds the record as the longest running television drama.

Carnival of Real Estate

This week's carnival is at True Gotham. I didn't have time, or a worthy post to submit this week. In fact, until today I've been nursing a bad back. I'm vertical today, but not completely tactical.