MLBroadcast.Com Blog

Carnival of Real Estate #165

2009-11-09T12:24:00.005-06:00

This week's edition of CORE had 17 submissions. Here are my picks.

Honorable Mention - Matt Swanson - GeekEstate Blog

How To Eliminate The Guesswork From Site Design

While I personally think there are many more intracacies and nuances of establishing a winning web presence, Matthew does a great job of exposing readers to some fantastic analytic tools and links to other posts that, when combined, create a tremendous resource for understanding what does and doesn't work in your real estate web presence.

Honorable Mention - Erion Shehaj - ErionShehaj.com

The Ray Kroc Principle

If you've never had a chance to read Erion's posts on his blog and over at AgentGenius, you're missing out on one of the best voices in contemporary real estate. Erion is someone I classify as one of the good guys. Not only is he one of the more pleasant people you will encounter in this industry, he says what he means and means what he says - without reservation.

Erion gives us what I look for in a great blog post. It's concise, to the point and leaves you with something to ponder. In this case it's simple, "Show me that it works". I agree completely.

3rd. Place - Cindy Jones - VARealestateTalk Blog

The New "Deed For Lease" Program Hits A Neighborhood Near You

One of the newer and lesser known options for those facing foreclosure is the "Deed For Lease" program that essentially offers someone the ability to turn over their Deeds in exchange for a 1 year lease in their homes. Cindy does a good job of explaining the program and its potential impact on the Real Estate industry.

2nd. Place - Stan Humphries - Zillow Blog

New Homebuyer Tax Credit Proposal: Impact on the Housing Market

There were several posts regarding the Tax Credit extension. I think Stan's information and analysis was the best of these posts. Like so many things being established via legislation, the long term impact of this program is going to have a huge detrimental impact if it is not coupled with a strong and concerted effort to create jobs and programs designed to TRULY support small businesses.

The banks that gobbled up the stimulus coin need to start lending it to the engine that really keeps our economy thriving. To me that engine is defined as the sole proprietors and entrepreneurs with a handful of employees that put passion and endless energy into the dreams they have built for themselves. One of my big fears is that the current administration doesn't really understand the definition of small business. So many things are happening now that could have many of them throwing in the towel because it just doesn't make fiscal sense to even try. Stan says "...so they can start hiring now that the economy is officially growing again." There are a lot of reports surfacing that the "official" numbers were left to bake in the oven a little while. It will be official when your conversations with friends and family are about how well everyone is doing, not about who got laid off or had to shutter their business.

1st. Place - YOU!

I've intentionally left the winning spot open. I want to take an opportunity to use it to help breathe some life back into core and draw attention to what a tremendous resource it can be for any real estate blogger.

The Carnival of Real Estate was established by Zillow to allow the RE.net to take advantage of the popular concept of exposing the best blog posts in a particular vertical. The weekly hosts of CORE receive great exposure and the highlighted posts receive traffic they may not have otherwise received. As the folks at Zillow become busier, they don't have the resources to do as much promotion for CORE as they once were able to do. It's up to the RE.net community to take ownership and breathe some new life back into a tremendous resource. I know when I first started blogging almost 4 years ago, I turned to CORE as a tremendous way to help me find the best content to engage with. If you have ideas, want to be a host or just forgot that the CORE was out there as place to promote your best writing - get involved again. I'll have more to say in future posts on CORE and GeekEstate. Until then, let us know what you think and get involved.

UPDATED: Podcast: Paul Chaney Discusses His Upcoming Social Media Book, The Digital Handshake

2009-08-19T22:02:00.007-05:00

In the latest episode of Mike's Mic, Paul Chaney takes time to discuss his forthcoming book, The Digital Handshake. The book covers proven strategies geared toward small businesses interested in exploring how social media can be used productively and proactively. With the shelves stuffed full of tomes on how to become an expert in the still nascent world of social media, I asked Paul why his would stand out. If the book stands up to his answers, I think it will do very well. As always, I will be doing a follow up book report once the final version is released. If you're a real estate professional or small business person just entering into a social media strategy, or if you want to find out about the best tools for the job - mark September 22nd on your calendar. That's the date the book is scheduled to start shipping.

You can now listen to any episode of Mike's Mic directly from the site with the new widget in the sidebar. Let me know if you have any issues with it. Click the graphic below to get a free subscription of Mike's Mic via iTunes.

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Update 08/21/09. Want a chance to win a signed copy of "The Digital Handshake"? Just subscribe to the podcast and listen to Paul's interview. Leave a comment or a question here regarding the episode and you'll be entered into a drawing to receive one of the first copies of the book personally signed by Paul (there will be two winners). How cool is that?

Yahoo Launches New Real Estate Resource

2009-08-05T17:08:00.004-05:00

I didn't make it to Inman Connect this year in SF but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the steady stream of announcements and information coming from the event. I have been tracking #icsf in Twitter and following some of the live Qik streaming that a few people are doing (thanks Rudy @Trulia) and it helps ease the pain of being in Houston in this sweltering weather instead of wearing a sweater out by the bay.

One of the more interesting things I saw come across the Twitter stream was an announcement by Yahoo that they have launched a new real estate resource entitled "In The Know". When you have the benefit of being able to track so much information and data you also have the ability to package an deliver it in a meaningful way, and at first blush this looks like an awesome resource for consumers and real estate professionals alike. At the top of the interface you will find a pane that allows you to scroll right and left through topics and expand the topic to get a bit of the information that you might possibly link out to. It's an efficient way to preview the info. The other categories include "Trend Surfing", "Know It All?", "Industry Buzz", "Industry Search" and "By The Numbers". What I found somewhat surprising was that the top search topic was "manufactured housing".

I haven't had a chance to put it completely through its paces yet, however, Yahoo's "In The Know" resource for real estate just might be a daily bookmarked visit for me. What do you think?

"How Cool Is That?" - RE Barcamp 1 Year Later

2009-07-16T11:48:00.007-05:00

Quantity or Quality?
Who knew that when Andy Kaufman presented the idea on Twitter a year ago that maybe a Real Estate focused Barcamp was a good idea that close to 30 events will have taken place or been planned to take place by the end of the year? (Don't know what a Barcamp is? Click Here) Who knew that one of our own would be hired by NAR as the Social Media Director or that an RE Barcamp would take place at NAR headquarters with NAR President, Dale Stinton there as one of the Campers? Brad Coy, Todd Carpenter, Jason Berman, yours truly and many others jumped in head first to the inaugural effort in SF without any idea what would happen or how many people would attend. I worked the phones and e-mail, did a logo and every person I spoke to said yes to sponsoring at $250. Benn Rosales and a few other people had the same result. Our friends and contacts were buying in based on the group of people involved. Zillow even located their "Beer With Bloggers" Inman Connect sponsorship right next door to the location of the event. That's a pretty expensive sponsorship slot and Zillow gambled on moving it so far from the venue. It was a resounding success and the format was pretty much pure Barcamp rules. There have been a few open conference calls to discuss the state of the movement and what could be done to help those interested in setting up events in their own respective areas. There have been some great successes, however, many of them were done in more traditional conference format with leveled sponsorships etc. I can only assume that the measure of success was based on a comparison to other traditional style events. I can understand why some of the organizers took this route. I alluded to it in my analysis of the second RE Barcamp that I helped organize in Houston. Brad Coy, Andy Kaufman and Ginger Wilcox recently had a meeting regarding the one year anniversary of REBC, here's what they had to say:

"For the one year anniversary of RE BarCamp, Brad, Andy and I sat around a table trying to figure out how to make REBC bigger and better, but we realized that it doesn’t need to be bigger. The size of the event does'nt really make it better. So, how do we make it better?"

I am in complete agreement. Quality is more important to these events. I'm not sure where the tipping point is, but I would guess its at around 90 to 100 registrants. I would rather see people do more events with less participants. In the end what I think doesn't matter, it's up to the local organizers to plan their events and establish their own goals and measurements of success.

Participants, Not Attendees
I think that trying to get large groups of re professionals to attend an "un-conference" is probably antithetical to the concept, certainly so with first time events. Barcamps need participants, not attendees. The format can be a bit intimidating due to that fact. Because they are volunteer based and done without a profit motive in mind, you'll always have a hard time getting enough people in a ground crew out to explain it to enough folks ahead of the event. NAR is behind the movement and perhaps over time the events can be larger and still achieve the same benefits for the participants, but until then I think the idea of keeping the events limited to the resources at hand is a good one. For instance, Seattle is about to embark on their second event. The first was a resounding success and there were enough people participating in REBCSEA1 to help get the word out for a second effort.

I have no issue with conferences and seminars. It's pretty easy to pack a room of re attendees these days and talk about Twitter, Facebook, Linked In or any number of other cool web, social or technology related tools. They are the hot topics of the day. I'm glad to see these type of traditional events and expos taking place. MLBroadcast is one of the new tools being used to leverage the new rules of real estate. Anything done to help our clients have a better understanding of how their content is being exposed and distributed these days only makes our job easier.

All Your Base Are Belong To Us
What shouldn't happen is for anyone to make the mistake of comparing a properly executed BarCamp to a traditional tracked event where the agenda is owned (literally and figuratively) by event planners.

"Barcamps are not days filled with speakers and power point decks. If the complete agenda has been established before you get there and has not been generated by the event's participants, it's a conference. In a Barcamp you do not have to participate in the discussions etc., however, it is strongly encouraged"

When you look at "The Details" sidebar of the SF RE Barcamp site you'll see when, where, how and the most important - Why;

"Why: To build connections. To better grow our businesses. To push boundaries. To be creative in an open and supportive forum."

The topics and complete agenda for a Barcamp should be created on the fly, the morning of the event. It's o.k. to come up with some example session topics ahead of time, but whether or not they get implemented should be up to the participants. Here is the official description of what is now a world wide phenomena.

"Barcamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants who are the main actors of the event."

Even at the regular Barcamps I have attended I haven't seen anyone stick to the rule that session topics shouldn't be product presentations or demos. Sponsors are going to talk about their products, so be it. Chances are the kind of sponsor that ponies up for an RE barcamp will spend more time waxing philosophical and sharing deep knowledge than they will trying to sell you product. It just seems to be in the nature of the type of people that frequent these events. Don't get me wrong, they want you to buy their products, but like those with the right kind of social media strategies, they are just as concerned with creating a branding position and top of mind awareness.

I Gotta Get Outta This Place
Personally, what I am more interested in seeing, hearing and being a part of are debates and discussions that are local and/or topical. In many cases they wont have anything to do with technology or social media, and to that I say, "Thank Goodness". I spend the better part of my awake hours deeply ensconced in all of this stuff and sometimes I really want to just engage in a real life human to human conversation! I want to hear about new business models. I want to know about the things that impact my customer base that have absolutely nothing to do with 0's and 1's. The more I know about what keeps my clients awake at night, the better job I can do designing solutions for them. The 2nd of all of the RE Barcamps was held in Houston. We had a really sharp guy show up to talk about consumer credit issues and ideas that were way outside of the box, It was fascinating and really opened up the eyes of those that attended. Two way discussions that spark debate and open the minds of the participants to new ways of thinking are proffered along side the typical agent questions "How does "X*" make me money?" or "Where do I find time to Blog if I am selling real estate?"

It's What You Make of It
The RE Barcamp movement will continue to evolve and change. It obviously is going to look completely different from one market to the next. The format lends itself to providing content at whatever level you want it to be and the answers you get will more than likely come from someone with a deep well of knowledge based on real world experience. The best part, it will probably come from someone without any other value proposition in mind but to be helpful to a fellow human. How cool is that?

PS, I won't be making it to REBCSF next month. I would love to be there but it's just not in the cards. I hope to see many of you in October at RE Blogworld Though!
PSS, Planning for RE Barcamp Houston is going to need to get under way soon, if you attended last year and want to help with this year's event, email me at mprice AT mlbroadcast DOT com.
Cheers Everybody

*Where X is Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Podcasting etc. etc.

Mike's Corner Now MLBroadcast Blog - New Website Launched

2009-07-06T14:49:00.005-05:00

I would like to extend a big thank you to all of the faithful readers of Mike's Corner over the past 3 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of blogging and a platform that has allowed me to share my opinions of the real estate industry and real estate 2.0. No worries, I am not going away, just sort of relocating. MLBroadcast.Com/blog needs to morph into a platform that does a better job of focusing on our product and the niche we serve. As such, I will be working on a new location (and name) for Mike's Corner where I can continue to write the kind of content that seems to resonate with more people than I could have imagined it would. If you would like to receive an email notification when I launch, please drop me a line at 360podcast AT gmail DOT com with your email address and I will let you know the new URL.

As for this blog, I hope you'll remain subscribed as we talk about how our product and syndicated content in general can be one of the most effect tools in your real estate marketing arsenal. In our goal to do a better job of presenting our product to the real estate community, we have launched an entirely new web site. I hope you'll take a few minutes to review it and let me know what you think. Coming up next: How MLBroadcast community content creates tremendous search engine results.

Carnival of Real Estate #147 - Get Out Your Shades

2009-06-22T13:18:00.002-05:00

Ah summer time! Most Americans are getting excited about vacations, camping, boating, fishing, swimming and carnivals... in other words, sunglass weather - gotta watch those UVA's. - Real estate professionals typically get excited about the short couple of months where the offers are multiple and the closings bountiful. Of course, for most that's a distant memory of summers gone by. So what are most doing to fill the void? Sharpening the saw. Right? Learning new skills, joining the social networking craze, reading blogs etc. The Carnival of Real Estate is an invaluable resource for the latter because it protects sensitive eyes from viewing blog posts that cause time loss and retinal damage from exposure to poorly written pabulum and overtly self-promotional content. It's with that in mind that this weeks carnival theme assigns the FDA's new UVA rating of 1 to 4 stars, (4 being the most protection ).

I picked Dave Smith as the overall winner because I feel so strongly that there exists huge opportunity in finding creative ways to deliver great community content that is part of the RE professional's own intellectual property, not just linking to the same information or using template content that does nothing to set you apart as the location expert in your area. Good stuff Dave!

Overall Winner, 4 Star UVA Protection

Dave Smith - Real Estate Blog Lab

Post Title: Loosen Up, Look Around, Sell Your Town

3 Star UVA Protection

Jack Schmidt - Sector Matic Money Journal

Post Title: Making Money? "Trust Me: I'm In Real Estate"

2 Star UVA Protection

Tina Merritt - Hampton Roads Virginia Real Estate - Tina in Virginia

Post Title: The Ten Commandments of Commenting - Thou Shalt Not........

1 Start UVA Protection

Jay Thompson - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy

Post Title: The Perils of a Part Time Agent

Thanks to everyone ( except the spyware removal tool spammer guy - jeez!) for submitting your entries to CORE. If you enjoy CORE as a resource as much as I do, visit the site to see how you can get involved!

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

2009-06-15T18:36:00.002-05:00

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:

I'm Back!

2009-06-07T20:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I haven't gone anywhere - Life and family matters had to take a front seat to my social networking and blogging efforts for a while.

I will be posting again on a regular basis soon and look forward to reconnecting with my friends in the RE.net.

The Breaths We Take

2009-03-26T13:57:00.003-05:00

I want to thank everyone who extended well wishes during my recent stint in the hospital. I am overwhelmed by the compassion of my friends.

I am feeling great and glad to be back to work. The docs are still not sure how the pneumonia came on so strong but at last check everything is clear and I continue to take a round of antibiotics at home as a precaution.

The photo below was taken by my wife. The quote is from a gift given to me by a family member some time ago, I do not know who the author is. I have created a screen background and uploaded it at as a zip file in several different sizes. Feel free to use it as your "spring has sprung" image and know that when you look at it, I am thinking of you.

Thanks again, I love each and every one of you.

Land of The Peach & Home of The Braves - Meet Us In Atlanta

2009-03-13T06:18:00.006-05:00

RETech South takes place one week from today in the city of Atlanta. We're really looking forward to the event. I've heard great things about last year's event. Brad Nix and Matt Fagioli have been working hard to make sure this year's event exceeds every expectation.

RETech South is a real estate technology conference that packs quite a bit into a single day. There are RE.net luminaries coming from around the country to present and be part of the panels. Scheduled to Keynote is Dave Jenks of Keller Williams who will be telling us how we can get order from chaos.

Yours truly will be moderating a panel on the main stage at 2 pm entitled,"Hype or Help? Does Real Estate Video Work as a Marketing Tool?" The panelists are a varied group of real estate professionals that I feel confident will result in one of the best sessions of the day!

The organizers of the event are using an interesting web based platform to allow the attendees to connect in a social media platform called Crowdvine. I've spent some time in the Crowdvine site for this event and I am very impressed with the clean, easy to navigate elements that bring together the event calendar, twitter feeds, documents and more under one interface. If you're attending the event I highly recommend you join me in using Crowdvine to make your experience even an better one, before, during and after the event.

Joining me on this trip will be two of my business partners, Mark Basile our Executive VP and his lovely wife Sandra. We will be conducting a breakout session at 3:30 pm to introduce ourselves and demonstrate the features of MLBroadcast and show how it generates results for marketing listings, communities and beyond. Come and find out how you can use your still photos and great copy to take advantage of advanced video distribution channels, easily and very inexpensively. We promise to make it entertaining and worth your time. If you come to this session you'll get a coveted RE Barcamp Houston '08 T-shirt and a chance to win free MLBroadcast video episodes and a custom graphic set up valued at $136!

If you haven't registered there's still time! Hope to see you there!

Interview With AcreScout.com on Commercial Real Estate & The Web

2009-02-26T15:05:00.003-06:00

One of my recent Twitter connections has been with Kent Shaffer. Kent is one of the founders of AcreScout.com, a commercial real estate portal. Commercial RE has always lagged behind the residential space when it comes to the web and its full potential as a business and marketing tool. I'm not aware of any notable moves to a web 2.0 model in the industry, including the biggest player, Loopnet, who operates under a basic search model. The goal of AcreScout is to develop a Trulia style platform along with a mobile tools and integration of social networking connections within their system.

Kent and I had a great conversation about the state of the web and commercial RE and AcreScout's ambitious business model. Enjoy!

PS, You can now listen to any episode of Mike's Mic directly from the site with the new widget I've installed in the sidebar. Let me know if you have any issues with it. Click the graphic below to get a free subscription via iTunes.

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REBARCAMP Seattle Live Streaming

2009-02-13T12:23:00.006-06:00

Tons of great stuff happening on the REBARCAMP fronts lately. Right now as we speak (2/13) you can view a live streaming feed of some of the sessions thanks to Andy Kaufman and his Mogulus feed.

UPDATE: Now that the even is over I have removed the live feed link. Look for more streaming video of sessions in future REBarcamps.
Check out what people have to say about the Seattle event on Twitter
Check out REBarcamp Photos in the Flickr REBarcamp Group.

Creative in Canda - 72HourOpenHouse.Com

2009-02-01T15:08:00.003-06:00

Kye Grace, a Realtor in Vancouver BC had a challenge on his hands. It's a challenge keeping plenty of people awake at night - great listing, no traffic. With a little help from a friend Kye came up with the idea to hold an open house. It wasn't your average open house though. Kye created a concept, built a marketing campaign, generated some serious buzz, grabbed his sleeping bag and provisions and parked himself in his listing for 72 hours straight, ready to show to whomever came by, at any time during that period.

I had the opportunity to speak with Kye a couple of days ago. We talked about the results of his efforts and much more. Although Kye has only been an agent for a couple of years, he has some great insight and a good approach to building his business model. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

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Gary Vaynerchuck - "It's Over...."

2009-01-26T20:05:00.005-06:00

As promised, Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibrary.Com took the time to create an episode for Mike's Mic today. We spent about 30 minutes discussing transparency, social media and more.

"It's Over! - The way people gather and are attached to brands has fundamentally changed"

Gary minces no words when he speaks to his beliefs regarding what it will take for a real estate professional, or any professional for that matter, to succeed in the future. He makes a very compelling argument for putting in the extra time and effort necessary to capture and keep long term market share using social media and new media publishing tools. Anyone can dominate or as Gary says - "Crush It". It's a matter of keeping an open mind and having the drive and dedication for doing things a little differently than you have in the past.

I have to say, having a conversation with @GaryVee literally took the wind out of me at times, but I enjoyed it very much and I think it provided a way for him to expound on his keynote address at Inman. Whether you agree with him or not, his passion is genuine and his success is a testament to his vision and timing. When it comes to today's real estate industry, the timing couldn't be better to get out of our own way and realize this isn't about technology at all. The technology is merely a tool that allows for an economy of scale in doing the same things that successful people have always done - a medium for a message. The same rules of learning, ingenuity and old fashioned hustle apply.

I hope you enjoy listening and I look forward to your comments.

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Join Us in Atlanta - An RETECH South Podcast

2009-01-21T19:11:00.004-06:00

The skill set required to thrive in the real estate industry of the future is shaping up to be something entirely different than many could have imagined. It really isn't as daunting as it may sometimes appear. Like any other profession, it comes down to how well you sharpen the saw. Events offer an opportunity to hear from those who are creating and using new tools to meet the challenges of new rules with great success. At MLBroadcast we invest in efforts like REBarcamps & Inman Connect Conferences not just because of the exposure it provides, but because we know we have as much to learn as anyone.

March 20th is the date for the second RETech South Conference to be held in Atlanta Georgia. I didn't have the chance to go last year, but everyone I've spoken with that attended had nothing but great things to say about it. I'll be joining a slate of really great speakers.

The organizers of the event, Brad Nix of Maxsell Realty and Matt Fagioli of Diamond Dwellings took the time to answer some questions about what you can expect should you attend. (I'm just glad to finally be going to an event where my southern drawl won't seem so out of place :) Hope to see ya'll there.

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The Buzzword For 2009 Is.......

2009-01-14T01:56:00.004-06:00

I had an awesome trip to NYC last week to participate in Real Estate Barcamp NY and another stellar Inman Connect conference . After reflecting on the general messages it's a pretty safe bet to predict that "lifestyle" will be the real estate buzzword for 2009. I've been a huge advocate of building business models and marketing messages based on the fact that people do not buy homes. People buy a dot on a map surrounded by a whole host of tangible and intangible things that make up a great deal of what we commonly refer to as the pursuit of happiness.

The New Reign of King Content
Somewhere around '98 or '99 a company called Homescout unveiled what was perhaps the first "radius" search built around listings. The site offered options pick from several basic items such as schools, churches etc. all within X mileage radius and it would show up along side the homes for sale in search results. New search technology is taking this to a whole new level. In a Web 3.0 world It will happen semantically without the need to tick a bunch check boxes and spend a great deal of time telling the servers what you want. Based on your profile, servers are going to do some pretty deep relational data mining to pull together content and deliver it in a nice neat little package that is so targeted it will seem almost frightening that a machine could know you so well. So how do you make sure that somehow your branded content stands out amongst the items in the package? Content. Great content. It should be specific to you, developed by and owned as intellectual property by your brand alone. The quality and relevancy of this content is infinitely more important than any search engine carnival barker strategy. Optimizing is taking on a whole new meaning when it comes to the web and eventually the only strategy that will matter is to understand your prospect and deliver better and more relevant content than the next gal or guy. Sounds like a real challenge huh? Perhaps, but not beyond the grasp of anyone with the desire to earn and continually sharpen the skill set necessary to accomplish it.

Branding
Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibrary.TV was selected as this year's keynote speaker for Inman Connect and it was very entertaining. What Gary had to say about his path to success and brand building can be applied to just about any vertical. I think perhaps due to his message being compacted into a short keynote that it didn't have enough set-up to resonate with absolutely everyone in attendance. As I listened I realized what Gary was conveying aligns with a lot of the things that myself and others have been saying for some time about branding and content.

The path to building a brand as a real estate practice or practitioner is changing drastically. It is going to become necessary to start crafting a business foundation based on production and publishing as if you were your own media company. The barriers to entry in accomplishing these goals are all but gone. Building networks and books of business are forever being changed by the ability to attract and keep the attention of people through social networks and top notch content that delivers information way beyond square footage, beds and baths.

Now that consumers are empowered with data, what actions do you take to establish your value? What can you deliver to your prospects that truly keeps you at the center of the transaction? Transparency (buzzword of the year for 2008) is a given. Transactional efficiency is obviously critical and will come from experience and the decisions of whom you hire and align yourself with. Continuing education will take on new meaning and look entirely different.

Wearing New Hats
I think in the end the biggest winners will be those that combine transparency and transactional efficiency with creative business models designed around lifestyle. Defining niches, blogging, developing audio and video content, etc. and doing so in a way that keeps the intellectual property uniquely yours will be critical to garnering and keeping market share in the coming years. I know it sounds complicated, but if you break it down into it's components and start spending a dedicated amount of time every day to the effort, anyone with a reasonable level of overall business acumen can build a brand and a business model designed to be nimble enough shift with the changes in the way consumers are selecting the consultative services of real estate professionals, in fact as I write this an invitation came in to participate in a round table discussion open to anyone. The topic is centered around the very heart of this post. It demonstrates that the resources are there and the timing is perfect to invest in new ways of thinking. Explode some old myths in 2009 and grab market share. Sure the pie is smaller right now, but every crumb you grab now will take on new meaning when things turn around.

To sum it up, I think creating a culture of perpetual learning and top notch content creation will be the keys to crafting your future in the business. If you're willing to wear some new hats and think outside the box, it could be very rewarding in many different ways.

Keynote 2.0 Extending The Conversation With @GaryVee
I was fortunate enough to meet Gary Vaynerchuck and spend some time with him while in NY. We have scheduled a podcast interview in a little less than 2 weeks from today. I'll have about 40 minutes with him to expand on his message and bring as much clarity to it's practical application as possible. Once you've grasped the concept of his message and who he is you'll find out why in such a short period of time he's become a highly paid speaker, author and cult of personality on the web. His passion is genuine. If you have a question you want me to ask Gary, leave it here in the comments and I'll do my best to get it in the interview.

Update: My buddy, Dale Chumbley from WA posted his bootleg version of @GaryVee's keynote that he shot from the front rows. Thanks Dale!

Hello From The Big Apple

2009-01-05T22:30:00.004-06:00

Arrived in NYC for REBarcamp and Inman Global Connect today. Really looking forward to

seeing old RE.net friends and making a few new ones. I've already had a chance to engage in some awesome conversations with the folks from Zipvo, Drew Meyers and I had a couple of beers at Hard Rock Cafe and I spent an hour or so talking about the future of RE business models with the Strong Team from Virginia, (Real Estate Zebra, His awesome wife Kari and her Mom, Patsy.. who is funny, witty and full of ideas outside of the real estate space. Daniel has yet another killer idea for getting people to think and share their ideas. When they came to visit me in my room he gave me a fortune cookie, it said to visit http://www.realestatezebra.com/fortune. Be prepared for an awesome, energetic, heartfelt and genuine experience sure to get you thinking in the right direction.

REBarcamp NY kicks off at 9 am tomorrow morning, so I guess I better hit the rack and get up early to help check people in tomorrow. If you're a Twitter user, use the hashtag #rebcny for REBarcamp and #icny for the Inman event.

Shifting The Year Into Gear

2008-12-08T11:12:00.003-06:00

I've been invited back to Inman Connect in NYC again this year. This time to moderate sessions in the new "Digital Video Summit" event. I've been attending Inman events as far back as 1998. The word "Connect" is more appropriate than ever. I've always come away with meaningful new relationships and can say with certainty that there is a return on investment for my participation.

Now is the time.
You might be of the mindset that now isn't the time to invest in things like industry events. Everyone is watching every dime these days and nobody gets that better than us, we're a small business and attending long distance events isn't a small investment for us. I think now is the time to put yourself in the middle of the conversations that are taking place. Those conversations are shaping the future of an industry that, in just 2 to 3 years, may look nothing like it does now. New business models are emerging and it's nothing like the old days of grabbing a bunch of VC capital and throwing it against a wall in the hopes that some of it will stick. There's a different vibe running through the industry these days and it's being fueled by a group of visionaries that are determined to build something with substance - something built to last. Connect, like many of the other industry events that will be taking place in 2009, will be one of the ways that you can be at the core of the industry's shift. If you've been on the fence, I recommend you book the trip and join us.

Barcamp Bonus!
As many of you know, I have been a big proponent of REBarcamp. The folks at Inman are HUGE supporters of the format because they get it. They realize that it doesn't compete with traditional industry events, if anything it enhances them. Not only have they sponsored all of the events thus far, they have graciously donated space at the Inman event in NYC for a Barcamp to take place a day ahead of Connect on Jan 6th. I'll be there to pitch in and I hope you'll come too. As always, it's free to attend REBarcamp, so all you need to do is come in a day early and enjoy an extra full day of being engaged in the conversation. You'll get something from it, I guarantee it. Click here to RSVP.

What Would You Ask?
Video has become one of the big buzzwords in the world of real estate marketing these days. It's still a nascent activity but it's proving to be one of the best ways to take advantage of the flow of traffic in a web 2.0 world. I'll be moderating sessions in the "Digital Video Summit" and I'd like to get a feel for what kind of questions you would ask the panelists. Here are descriptions of the sessions. I'll see if I can get the answers for you!

Wednesday, January 7, 10:15 am – 11:00 am
How to get video cheap—from do it yourself to consumer-pro to low-end production
Show me the money... Just how much will video cost? Learn some tips for doing it on the cheap, from DIY to hiring a professional.

Morgan Brown, Director of Marketing, TurnHere
Phil Thomas Di Guilio, Co-Founder, WellcomeMat.com
Fred Light, Video Producer, NashuaVideoTours.com

Wednesday, January 7, 11:00 am – 11:45 am
Share Your Video With the World
Learn the secrets to successful marketing, syndication and distribution of your digital video from these experts.
Paul Kontonis, Co-Founder & CEO, ForYourImagination
Kelly Roark, VP, Interactive Sales & Development, Frontdoor.com
James Shiner, Lead Developer, ZIPVO, LLC

It's A Go - REBarcamp NYC - Jan 6th 2009

2008-11-23T10:03:00.003-06:00

Thanks to help from Inman along with The Real Estate Zebra and Trulia's Social Media Guru - NYC will be rocking a Real Estate BarCamp! The event is being held in conjunction with Inman Connect. Details are still in the works. If you plan to attend Connect this year, you do not want to miss this event.

Facebook group and event pages have been established. They are a little redundant. Dan and Rudy are your "go to" guys, so if you're interested in volunteering, attending or sponsoring, leave a comment here or on Facebook.

It Doesn't Mean Crazy Talk - Loco Musings - Featured Realtor® Blog

2008-11-13T13:44:00.006-06:00

Perception: (overheard comment at REBarcamp Houston) You can't run a business effectively if you're spending time writing blog posts.

Reality: Our featured blogger balances life with a husband, four kids and a real estate career. She happens to write a kick ass real estate blog too.

It's All About Being Local
It's been a year I've picked a featured REALTOR® blog. It's not because I haven't been on the lookout, I have. I spend an evening or 2 every month just doing random searches on real estate blogs to feature and usually just give up and wait until next month to try again. It's not that they are not out there. It's just that there are few and most of the good examples have already been trotted out in so many places. That doesn't make for very original content.

The Background
Who knew that a another shining example of excellent blogging by a real estate professional was pretty much right under my nose the whole time? It's penned by Heather Elias and it's titled "Loco Musings". Heather is well known to those in the circle of digerati known as the RE.net. I've had the opportunity to hang out with her in SF and Las Vegas and we've had some great discussions on blogging and the future of the industry. I recall a great conversations with Heather and Danilo B (Heather's competition) on transparency and how different things will look just a few short years from now. It wasn't until she recently asked for my vote in the upcoming VA Association of Realtors "VARBuzz" blog wars, that I took the time to visit her blog. (Sorry Heather) (BTW - You should vote for her today, she deserves it she is in "Zone 1"}

It's Not Crazy Talk
Loco Musings doesn't mean crazy talk. It's all about Loudon County Virginia and it's a stellar representation of local content and pinpoint focused real estate information.

Keep It Simple
The design of the blog is easy to navigate and has a really calming feel overall. A nice touch is the photo in the header rotates each time you visit the page. I really like the regular feature of the "LocoPhoto" where Heather features a single photo. It's usually one she has taken herself, and has a story tell with it. How does that keep a potential prospect engaged? Let's say it's someone from the area that has less than a casual interest in buying or selling a home but they wait patiently for Heather to post a new photo and story. The branding that Heather is driving home with that simple feature is one that will remain with that person until the day they start to think about real estate. I promise you that when they do, they will think of Heather. By not over-thinking SEO, Heather is also building a great body of search friendly content by writing posts that include information that a person would be likely to search on at a later time. The best part, she doesn't have to think about it or pay someone for the privilege of "optimizing" her content to begin with.

Data With A Story
As I have written in the past, good blogging is storytelling. Data, any way you look at it, is pretty boring stuff. But it's important stuff. Heather does a tremendous job of taking the market trend data for an area and giving it a story. She speaks to her own personal analysis of it and in a way that keeps you engaged. This approach is critical to anyone who wants to be considered a true business professional. While the entrenched agents of old gripe about having to continually defend their compensation, pros like Heather demonstrate it's value without every having to broach the subject.

Part Of The Fabric
Writing posts about her involvement as a local Softball Mom or being nominated for the County Fair's "Kiss A Pig" contest give Heather the ability to demonstrate to prospects that she is a part of the local fabric that makes up her area. Prospects want to know they are dealing with someone that approaches "location,location,location" as something more than a tired old real estate phrase.

She has the ability to talk about the impact of local taxes and then pen a post about the local coffee shop being her second office. The result of her craft is a living document that exemplifies her easy going personality and solidifies her stature as someone who can be counted on to help a prospect from a trusted level of experience.

You can't do that by slapping a magnet on your car or putting your mug on a park bench. (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Previous Featured Realtor® Blogs:

At Home In Scottsdale - Dru Bloomfield

The HouseChick

Harper Team

State of Mind Real Estate

Every Kid Deserves A Yard

Real Estate Blogging - Filling The First Gap

2008-11-13T07:23:00.005-06:00

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.

Book Report - Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki

2008-11-07T19:07:00.011-06:00

Reality Check.

An Irreverent Guide To Outsmarting, Out managing and Out marketing Your Competition.

~Guy Kawasaki

No B.S.
Guy and I have a few things in common, not the least of which is irreverence. I like how Guy says what's on his mind and isn't afraid to call "Bull Shiitake*" on anything or anyone if they have it coming to em. With that said, you should know I wrote this Book report fully prepared to call it "Bull Shiitake" if that's what I deemed it to be. It's anything but BS. I called my twin brother immediately after finishing it. I interrupted his round of golf to tell him to buy a copy on the way home along with two highlighters of different color. I told him to read it once and highlight it as he goes. Then to let it sink in for a month or so and read it again with another highlighter. The next step is to pass the book on to someone in his sphere of influence in the hopes they will be able to take actions that strengthen his relationships and solidify his support base. Twins rock because they love each other more than the other kids love their brothers. Just ask us.

*This is a Guyism and he says in the acknowledgements that his editor busted his chops for using it too many times. I think it's funny how the "itake" part isn't used when he does some keynotes and podcasts. :)

A Great Reason To Kill Trees
Reality Check is arguably one of the best collection of dead tree pages ever printed on the subject of entrepreneurship and contemporary business. My brother is a VP and national sales manager for a Canadian furniture importer and manufacturer. His job is to get their product represented by and sold to furniture stores across the U.S. Can you think of tougher business to be in right now? There aren't many. I devoured Reality Check from as many perspectives as I could. Primarily as it applies to real estate, as it applies to my start up efforts and as it applies to my family and friends in businesses of all stripes. There is something in each chapter that has meaningful, actionable and entertaining content. For my brother, it represents a way for him to divert his attention from all the uncontrollable elements his business is faced with and approach strategies and tactics from an entirely new, passion powered perspective. I honestly believe if he applies what he learns from the lessons in Reality Check, he's going to change the dynamic of his industry and be one of the first to emerge from the flames of circumstance.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a vertical that couldn't do the same.

Weapons of Mass Construction
I love how Guy uses the metaphor of weapons applied to the tools and methods he uses with great success. Weapons have power. Weapons gain respect and get results and sometimes in away they weren't originally intended for. Reality Check is a weapon of mass construction for me. I've gained valuable new perspectives on the way I am approaching solutions, innovating and understanding the dynamics of my prospects and the market I serve. It's also been a deciding factor in picking up the pen and finishing the book I started a while back. The working title is the new tag line I just applied to this blog. (It's at the top of this blog and I came up with long before GK announced Reality Check :)

Foreword Thinking
You really need to read Foreword 2.0 in Reality Check to see why Guy calls it the best foreword written in the history of business books. It was the last thing written by Fake Steve Jobs before retiring the persona he represented in the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. I laughed my ass off. If you've ever followed either of the Jobs', real or fake, you will too. If Guy declines to write the foreword for my book, that means it sucks. I will have two choices. A rewrite, or I can pray that a generous "fake" Guy Kawasaki emerges before it's published. One way or the other, I'm getting him in there somehow.

If Blogging is an Art, Guy is a Picasso of Explaining It
In almost 3 years I have seen or presented dozens of different explanations on what blogging is and why someone should undertake the effort. I've lamented over my presentations on the issue, shook my head at the explanations that others have given and more. Just when I thought I had it down, Guy writes the equivalent of two pages that sum it up pretty well. Here are a few thoughts from Guy on blogging.

~ "On a business level, blogs are a marketing and communications weapon."
~ "Truly, if no one but your dog reads your blog, it's still worth doing"
~ "Think Book. Not Diary"

If you need a quick way to present blogging to a group of real estate professionals, this chapter makes a great guide post.

The Zen Art of Exposing Lies and How To See Reality
Guy's writing style is so fluid and easy to digest, it's no wonder all of his books are such big hits. Chapter titles grab your attention and the paragraph headings allow you to easily consume the content. It's the answer to a bad attention span. The book includes a great deal of the best content from his previous tomes and his blog, but it is in no way just a "best of" book. He actually has taken a great deal of blog and book content and connected it to new content, interviews and more. The Chapters start with the following and more:

The Art Of...
The Zen Of....
How To......
How Not To....
The Reality Of...
The 11 Lies Of...
and so on and so forth.

Seriously, how could you not find interest in Chapters entitled How To Suck Up? Or its counterpart Chapter entitled How To Suck Down? He certainly has the market cornered on the Art of Making Mike Laugh His Fat Ass Off while reading a business book.

I'm a Realtor®, Why Should I Bother Reading This Book?
If you really did ask yourself that question you need Reality Check more than the next guy or gal. Luckily there is some really good content specific to how some are building new real estate business concepts by the CEO of the company that owns the registered trademark, Real Estate 2.0® , Glen Kelman of Redfin. (guess I better ask if I can keep using it in my writings :)

If you didn't see the original blog post back in 2007 that Guy published with the help of Glen it's in the book. There is also a guest chapter written by Glen that is tremendous reading. The title of the original blog post is "Financial Models for Underachievers: Two Years of the Real Numbers of a Startup" It chronicles the breakdown of the Redfin financial projection models as compared to their actual results. I remember thinking how outside of the box Glen was in exposing his company's numbers and analyzing the thinking behind the whole process with the whole world watching. It's eye opening stuff for any entrepreneur, especially one who is considering a kick ass new real estate business model.

The short chapter Glen provides is entitled "The Inside Story to Entrepreneurship". It's not so much about the real estate business, but more of a guidepost on the trials, tests and successes of a team deep into the process of passionately building a model for a new way of doing business. With paragraph headings such as "Startups are freak-catchers" and "Fearless leaders are often terrified", you can see how Glen has taken his transparent efforts of the 2007 blog post to a new level. I've always admired Glen and followed his efforts on and off with great interest. The inclusion of his writings in Reality Check will have me following more on than off.

I could use this book almost exclusively to work with someone in the real estate industry to help increase their productivity and profit. From creating effective presentations using the 10/20/30 rule to improving the way the presentations are delivered to applying a new understanding of innovation, to understanding the art of branding and so much more. So. If you're a Realtor® that asked that question. Get the book.

The Most Quotable Book In The History of Business Books
Here are just a few of the quotes I found noteworthy.

"...innovation is not an event. It's a process"
"...successful innovators may think they are right. They're not right; they're just successful on the previous curve"
"Cash is not only King. It's Queen and Prince"
"Don't let the bozos grind you down"
"Think digital, act analog"

I hope you've enjoyed the best review in the history of business books. If you decide to buy a copy or two, use the link below and a commission for each sale will come to me. I will donate the money to a needy family for the Holidays. Namely mine. I plan to do all of my shopping at the .99 cent store and think It will allow me to buy that coffee mug and ramen noodle soup my wife's had her eye on.

Previous Book Reports From Mike's Corner:
Truth - New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World
Movies in The Mind

Be Unreasonable
Citizen Marketers
The Power of Place
The Long Tail
An Army of Davids
Mavericks At Work
Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?
Real You Incorporated

Real Estate BarCamps Move Forward

2008-11-06T20:56:00.003-06:00

Ricardo Bueno a.k.a. Ribeezie called me several days back and asked if I would help him work on an REBarcamp for Los Angeles. He also called Jeff Turner and some other folks. Luckily enough, he heard many of the same suggestions from everyone. My very first recommendation was to gather as many "ground troops" as possible before even getting started.

Wow. In just a few short days Ricardo pulled together at least 15 people, it may have been more, for a conference call to discuss the planning of the event, and what could be done differently to attract more of the folks that really need to be a part of this type of event. It was a lively discussion with great input from everyone. I think Ricardo and his team are well on their way to putting together a February REBarcamp to remember. Here's a link to the Facebook Group page. A dedicated site for the event will be forthcoming.

Along those lines, Todd Carpenter has pulled together a base site for REBarcamps. It looks great and is starting to come together with some good content. The purpose of this site will be to allow REBC's from all over the country to have a location in which to launch their events and share with other events the plans and follow ups. The purpose is to take what is learned from each event and have a living document that will allow for accumulation of successes (and mistakes) to create a best-of-breed platform for all to use. The site is being crafted in the spirit of the REBarcamp mission, it's owned by those who are active participants in the process, not by any one person or entity.

If you're considering planning an event, feel free to contact me ( mprice AT mlbroadcast DoT Com ) or leave a comment on the REBarcamp main blog for many of the other folks out there that can give you some guidance and assistance.

I nailed down the key adjectives of REBarcamp from the collective thoughts from the first two events. Synergy. Substance. Passion. & Sharing. That's what the format of these events are all about and I think there are some awesome people setting the pace for a movement that will carry on for some time.

How To Be A Clueless Twit and Social Media Failure

2008-11-01T19:13:00.006-05:00

When I was a kid and I did something dumb my Dad would call me a Twit. Usually, in a somewhat loving way, He was trying to tell me that I should have given more thought to my actions. These days I seem to be running into a whole new breed of Twit. Yesterday I was having a good time making people chuckle on Twitter. It was Halloween and the din of the political vitriol was starting to really bug me. I thought I would lighten things up and make people laugh. As a result I started picking up a following that trended up more than the usual conversation flow that takes place on Twitter. Nothing earth shattering, but right in the middle of it someone that had just started following me posted this "Tweet".

It appears that someone was trying to interlope my conversation flow. Do I love the "Brand X*" baby carrier? WTH? I didn't say anything about baby carriers. You have a store? So what? My kids are grown, I bought my last baby carrier a long time ago. These days a baby carrier to me is the parent that walked into the house with the baby in the first place. Toys and candy I will do all day long. I'm not buying any more "equipment". I don't even think the conversation I was having had much to do with babies at all until I remembered I told someone earlier that my Grand Son was about to be born any day. Then it dawned on me that either through some slick automation or just plain Twitter stalking, someone jumped in with the full intention of trying to sell me and those in my sphere some over priced baby crap. FAIL! I immediately "unfollowed" the "person" and blocked them from being able to enter into the conversational flow that was taking place.

The sad fact? More and more people are completely missing the point of social media and trying to immediately sell into the spaces they are INVADING. It doesn't work that way. Never has, never will. I confirmed a real estate professional on Facebook the other day. He immediately answered with a post that tried to sell me on his secrets of short selling. The only thing short about it was how long it took to hit the delete key and block him. Do yourself a favor and look at Paul Chaney's power point deck that he presented to the attendees of the recent Real Estate BarCamp. Do your homework on what Social Media and Conversational Marketing is.

If you're the type of RE professional that looks for an immediate return on every investment you make, be it in time, or cash. Don't bother with social media or blogging. It's not for you. If you're the type of professional that understands that these tools are a means of establishing your brand, defining your niche and creating a long term ROI, rock on. There's really no such thing as a "social media butterfly" and the definition of Twit hasn't changed since the first time my old man slapped me on the back of the head 40 some odd years ago.

I'm not Dear Abby. I can't tell you how to act at a party or at Church. Use some common sense. If you wouldn't walk up to everyone in the receiving line after services and slap a business card in their hand and tell them you want to help them with "all of their real estate needs", don't do it online either. If you are the kind to do something like that, you're running the risk of someone writing a snippy blog post about or "Tweet" about. They may not be kind enough to do the following:

*Twitter Handle Removed To Protect The Clueless.
**Name of Lame Baby Carrier Brand Removed to Prevent The Brand From Getting Any Google Juice From The Clueless.

REBarcamp Houston Wrap Up Post

2008-10-28T23:54:00.007-05:00

It's taken me a while to get caught up to the point where I could write this post. Let me preface it by apologizing in advance for anyone that I forget to acknowledge. There were so many awesome people and companies behind REBarcamp Houston, I'm bound to miss something. It's not intentional.

REBCH was a resounding success. The attendance was a little lighter than I had hoped but I will have more to say about that in another post that is designed to help the next cadre of brave souls that undertake an REBarcamp. The journey to Oct. 22 started last July when I pitched in a little bit to help Andy Kaufmann, Brad Coy, Todd Carpenter and others kick off the very first RE focused BarCamp in San Francisco. We had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be the talk of the Inman Connect event that took place immediately afterward. The folks at Inman were a part of making it a success and understand that the dynamic of this type of event actually dovetails with their conference, so much so that they were one of the first sponsors of REBCH. If there's one thing I've learned in business, it's to press your bet when things are going well and remember you're only as good as your last effort. That's why I jumped in with both feet and volunteered to get the ball rolling almost immediately for the next event. For those unfamiliar with the concept of a BarCamp, I encourage you to read up on it at Barcamp.org. It's like a group of friends pitching in to pay a big bar tab. Sponsors are set at a strict limit amount that is no more or no less for each one. This keeps within the BarCamp spirit of sharing. The agenda and sessions are designed and owned by the attendees, not the sposnors or planners. When I asked for sponsors Not only all said yes... other sponsors came directly to me and said they wanted to help. What can I say about them, this event was a success because we collected almost to the penny what was needed to make it happen right. To be honest, a few didn't come through with the $ and some were in-kind donations, but it doesn't matter, they all we're part of the process in some shape or fashion. I don't want to give more exposure to one sponsor than another, but it should be said that a certain guy from Hawaii named Jeff Manson put in for multiple sponsorships because he could and wanted to see REBCH become a success.

Next I would like to thank the people that stepped up in a big way to help make sure the nuts and bolts fit together, starting with my lovely wife Laurie. She did so much more than any of you will ever know to help make things run smoothly. I said it once before in a tweet and it bears repeating. After 25 years of marriage she still has my back, what an awesome human being. Next up is Stephanie Edw ards M ussa. She called me every day asking what she could be doing. Without her tireless efforts it would not have happened. Frances Flynn Thorsen of Trulia (another sponsor) showed up early just to throw in a hand, she jumped in and made sure that so many things like registration went smoothly. The folks at the Shenandoah Meeting Facility allowed us to use extra rooms without charging me for them and had the set up done just the way Stephanie told them to do it. The wireless connection stunk, but I think I jinx just about every internet connection at every event I have ever been a part of. (Must be my magnetic personality). Ca rson Coots, who I failed to mention in the keynote, (sorry I caught my mistake 3 minutes too late) designed and hosts the REBarcamp web site, designed the logo and helped us handle registration and other tasks. If you need kick ass design work, call Carson - He rocks hard! Same for our late sponsors SouthTxt.Com they asked - what can we do? We put em to work and they did it with such enthusiasm and selflessness, it made my heart glow.

I really want to drive this next observation home with as many people as possible. Rich Jacobson of Active Rain said it better than I ever could. Here's a link to the video of his wrap up, pay attention to what he has to say about the vendors and thought leaders that spend their time and money, the "supplier vendors" he speaks of and that I represent. These people are the best and brightest in the industry and they are transparently sharing knowledge without very little, if any, self promotion. Many sponsors and attendees flew in or drove long distances on their own T&E to be a part of this and they have my undying gratitude for doing so. Fran Thorsen from Trulia, Scott Sa mbucci from Altos Research, Rich Jacobson and Brad Andersohn from Active Rain, Drew Meyers from Zillow were sponsors that sent folks from far and wide. My good friend and a Web 2.0 favorite Jeff Turner flew out from LA and kept everyone engaged while doing live video sessions via Qik.com.

I picked up the phone and called Paul Chaney, author, social media luminary and president of the International Blogging and New Media Association. I asked him to help me with a new concept for a BarCamp, a Keynote. I think it's important to kick these type of events off with a way to set the tone for what's going to be a major impact on the way RE professionals do business now and in the future. He said yes with no reservation and drove all the way from Lafayette LA. He rocked the presentation in a way that HONESTLY exceeded my expectations.

Photo By Brad Andersohn
Our Sponsors Rock!:

The attendees grasped the concept of a Barcamp quickly and seemed to get a great deal from it. I have gathered a few links from across the web for your reading and viewing pleasure. If you know of a blog post, video or photos we should link to, please post them in the comments and I will get it done. Thanks everyone for a great event. Stay tuned for links to other REBarcamps as they get announced. Also if you use the tag REBC, #REBCH or REBarcamp Houston in searches you should be able to find a lot of content.

Vendors In White Hats

Flickr Group Photos

T-Shirt Photo Above By Lisa Heindel from the West Bank of New Orleans.
Here is her wrap up post on AR.

Paul Chaney's PowerPoint Deck

Paul Chaney's Wrap Up Comments

Active Rain Group

FaceBook Group

Marchel Peterson's Wrap Up

Brad Andersohn Updates

Stephanie Mussa's Wrap Up

Recorded Videos of Sessions From Jeff Turner

Fran Thorsen's Top 5 Takeaways

Comments From Deb Brooks

Crystal Ledbetter's Take