Inside Blogging

All about real estate blogging.
There are 64 articles written on this subject. The most recent 10 are listed here:

Less is more (in most cases) On this day: March 25, 2005 Commenting on this blog The Guide breaks the local real estate sound barrier A pot of coffee, FusionCharts, PHP and mySQL...

Social networks emerging in a community near you sellsiuso visits the Guide on Blog Tour USA The Guide goes to Real Estate Connect Ha...Ha...Ha...Ha...ha...h The Kiss of Death to A Real Estate Blog!

You will find a complete Index of Articles by Category and by Month in the Archives.

November 6, 2007

To declare that social media is exploding in our society is an understatement. The Washington Post published an article yesterday in the Business section about the many "start ups" that have emerged in the DC area seeking to take advantage of the new social media frenzy. Here's an excerpt:

Web's New Field of Dreams Emerges in D.C.
New Internet Companies Piggyback on Popularity of Social Networking
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 5, 2007; Page D01

The wave of social networking and interactive content companies that has washed over Silicon Valley, promising to upend Internet business models, has reached the Washington area.

A modest community of about a dozen such companies, with names like Mixx, Searchles and Qloud, has emerged in the region in recent months. These start-ups hope to build on the success of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and other interactive media sites by creating applications that piggyback on -- or replicate -- the goliaths.

The rest of the story...

One such venture not mentioned is Modern Mom launched in October by Hulya Aksu. Ms. Aksu served in many leadership roles of businesses catering to women including CNN International as a writer and producer.

Modern Mom is a combination of web social media and a print magazine focused entirely on catering to Moms, from health, children, home, and lifestyle to fashion, food and just plain Mom fun. Modern Mom is initially focused on Loudoun County and hopes to capture 20,000 Moms as loyal readers and social participants. Hulya discovered there was a void of anything catering to moms and has put the infrastructure in place to build a community of connected moms contributing to the lifestyles they share. Modern Mom is complete with "Blogs Du Jour, Modern ChitChat, Sisterhood News" and much more. This is social media at a very local level.

Think globally, act locally

Another social media site recently launched is @Home in Raspberry Falls. Raspberry is a local Loudoun County community developed by Van Metre Homes and its Marquis Custom Home division and is set in the midst of the acclaimed Raspberry Falls Golf and Hunt Club. The new site is sponsored by the community HOA and features a public portal with community news and information as well as a private section for Residents Only to share important information of common interest. This may well be one of the first HOA community sites completely based on Blogging infrastructure.

The old media is static and is designed to push information to its audience. The new media is about audience participation. In both examples above, content is created and shared by its participants. A successful global capability brought to a very local level.

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July 5, 2007

Surprise! Surprise! Joe and Rudy made a special effort to stop by the Guide on their Blog Tour USA. Welcome to Northern Virginia. We had a great visit and I kept them here way longer than what they had planned, I'm sure. Interesting that they look the same as their pictures I see on the sellius blog. Rudy does appear to be much younger than Joe. I couldn't resist documenting the event with pictures (Rudy had a camcorder running the entire time and I probably said some things that will haunt me for at least a few days...).

Click photos for a full page view.

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Yours truly will be attending the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco July 31st through August 3rd. I am looking forward to meeting all my real estate blogger friends at Blogger Connect, a subset of the conference.

An excerpt from the Connect Website:

The Inman conferences are the premier networking, information, and technology conferences for the real estate industry.

Executive-level real estate professionals, opinion leaders, technology giants, industry experts, and press gather each year at Connect Conferences to discuss a broad cross-section of traditional and cutting-edge topics critical to the real estate industry, opening the door to a wealth of opportunities for business development, information and idea exchange, discussion and debate.

So many great Bloggers to meet, maybe too little time!

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June 15, 2007

Ran across this in my SiteMeter stats search words: ancient merv.

This is what they got linked to: 2 for 2 and we are done. Google is getting soooooo good, aren't they? What the hell will they think of next? Zero in on age from a picture. Hot diggety damn!

No joke.

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May 8, 2007

The folowing basis for Blogging is the perverbial "Kiss of Death!"

SPECIAL! SIGN UP FOR EMAIL ALERTS WHEN I POST SO I CAN TURN YOU INTO A LEAD.

I will DRIP MARKET you to my own death.

Turn Blogging Into A Lead Generation Tool
by Blanche Evans

"We truly believe that if a blog doesn't lead to more new business, then it's a waste of time," said Rusty Lindquist, vice president of broker and agent products for a la mode, Inc., a real estate technology company based in Oklahoma City. "If blog visitors aren't being treated as leads, then blogging is really a waste."

Read the full article here.

I love Blanche Evans. She writes great content and I have quoted her many times. BUT, she and a la mode have GOT IT WRONG! Let me ask my readers a question: If I took your email addresses and turned it into drip marketing (that's sending you a periodic email extolling the virtues of my services and encouraging you you contact me for your real estate business) or became a pest to you in other ways to get your business, would you want to continue being a participant or a reader of the Guide? Only YOU can answer that question. I think I know what the answer is.

I AGREE with the notion that if I spend time and resource doing something related to my business, I should be generating business from it or simply, not do it. I truly believe that if you get to know me and how I think via this Blog and my website and you want to explore a business relationship with me, you will, in your own time, on your terms, not mine. I don't need to push it into your face. In fact, if I did, I would be soon "out of business." And, this Blog would just become another DEAD real estate agent website.

I do get business from the Blog and I appreciate it immensely. Thank you to those that found me here.

Blanche, these guys have it all wrong. I'm sorry you got sucked into their garbage! Talk to some real Bloggers about their business.

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May 2, 2007

On many occasion (in this Blog and to those starting a blog) I have said that you don't have to write essay after essay to become an effective Blogger. Well folks...I got stymied by not heeding my own advice. I have a least 3 to 4 articles that are drafted but not published and/or ideas for articles that I believe would be meaningful to consumers. So, why haven't I published them? Because they are turning into intellectual ESSAYS! It is frustrating to say the least. What the $%& am I thinking? Just do it I tell myself.

In the meantime, I have received a couple of interesting requests (actually one request of me and one request by me). First, AOL Real Estate asked if I would feature a series they are running called "Inside Stories of..." on this Blog. Here is the exact email message I received:

Dear Choice Realty Team,
I’m a Promotions Manager for AOL Real Estate, and have read your NOVA real estate blog, being a Loudoun County resident myself. Your insights are thought provoking and often times right on the money. I would love to get your opinion about an “Inside Stories of…” series we are currently running. We interviewed various players in the real estate process for candid (some harsh) realities of the business. I know you’ve posted about such subjects, and thought you could take a look at what we’ve done, and offer a fascinating perspective; good, bad, or ugly.

I’ve included our entire lineup for this original series. If you decide to blog and need more info from me, please feel free to contact me anytime. Thanks for your time.

~Stephanie Heese
Promotions Manager
AOL Marketplace

So, I have taken them up on their offer (I am flattered actually) and will publish one of their articles at least weekly along with my critique, comments and advice. I would also appreciate your perspective on these articles by giving your comments.

Next, I recently met Kyle Cascioli who has real estate related articles published by Inman News and by his local Realtor Association in Colorado. Kyle has been in the real estate business most all his career, is the broker-owner of Barrett Associates and is an adjunct Professor of Real Estate at the University of Denver. He is also the Manager of Real Estate Services at HomePoint.com, Kyle has given me permission to republish a number of his articles here and I, of course, will add my commentary and you can too...

Which brings me full circle...if I can't get MY ESSAYS published on my own Blog, use OP's (other people's). Seriously, I'm looking forward to getting these started and your feedback. I'll continue to update all the tables and charts on a daily basis and/or when the public data is available. AND, I will work on my essays as well as some short snippets to satisfy your real estate appetites.

This turned into an ESSAY of sorts...AARRRGG...or is it ARRRRRG!

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March 25, 2007

In the beginning there was the Blog. It first appeared with a different name, a different look and an unknown focus. It was an experiment. By the very nature of "experiment" we had no expectation of what it may lead to or what it may bring us. The Blog has led to learning, connecting, and exploring.

Our very first post was about this time two years ago to the day. When I look back it seems so naive. Thank goodness we evolved...and are still evolving. Nothing stands still I guess. Our first comment was by Dustin Luther..."sort your entries newest to oldest, that way we can always see your most recent post at the top," or words to that effect. Duh! And then, Dustin advises that we should link to his "home page" not an embedded post. Now I am feeling immensely foolish. I'm still trying to figure our how RSS works.

The thing that is the most important about this medium is finding a niche that consumers and other people want to read or learn about. We found ours by giving more real data about the local market than anyone else. And, presenting it in a very organized, professional way to include our commentary and opinions. We Blog for consumers pure and simple.

As I look back over the last two years, I dug up what I think are the better efforts at publishing meaningful content (no particular order):

• 16 ways to sell for top $!
• Everyone feeling the pain and an industry gone wacko!
• Happy Talk
• Message to our Clients
• All About Property Market Values
• No wonder we rank next to used car salesmen...

I'd better stop there otherwise you might get the entire archive listed.

Over the past two years, I have learned how to manipulate MovableType to my advantage. I have become somewhat of an amateur PHP, mySQL guru (you really don't want to know what this means). I've built websites, Blogs and community forums as well as property Websites for our clients.

From other Blogs, I learned that all real estate is local. I'll go one step further: "All real estate is individual." It really comes down to one seller and one buyer at a time.

So, what is in store for the next two years? I have no earthly idea. I just hope I can find the time, energy, creativity and stamina to keep doing this. Maybe it is time to sell our home and go on the road. See America. Re-acquaint ourselves with friends and family that we have neglected. Maybe do something that will change the world. Or, maybe not. Maybe do something that just changes me. For the good. Or ... not. Maybe just continue being me. Or ... ... ... ...

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March 2, 2007

I'm getting reports that some are having trouble leaving comments. If that is happening to you, please send us a note via the Contact page (under Quick Links). Thanks.

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February 2, 2007

We surpassed another major Blogging milestone in January: over 22,000 visits and 105,000 page views! (Forgive me for rounding up. We were actually 1 page view short of 105,000.) It is a result of giving real estate consumers pertinent information about the Northern Virginia housing market and timely commentary on real estate in general. What is amazing to me is our 13 day absence in January not publishing an article.

More information, more timely, more objective than you can get anywhere else. Period. The real measure of our success will continue to be interpreting the data, gaining knowledge and using the wisdom of our collective experience to give our buying and selling clients our best advice. Coupling this with a highly professional approach to business, exquisite marketing, a completely transparent fee structure and honesty above reproach delivers real value.

I apologize in advance for the self promotion and a big thank you to our visitors and regular followers.

It will be a tough act to follow.

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January 17, 2007

+ + + = I think I am transforming myself into a real estate techno-nerd. Why else would I be up at 4:00 am rummaging through the MLS, updating data tables and a weird obsession to make the Daily Market Charts more sophisticated and meaningful? PHP? Don't ask. mySQL? My next technical conquest. I have become a monster of science fiction movie proportions. I love real estate...I am passionate about using technology to drive more capability and useful data to real estate interested consumers!

I finished updating the Daily Market Charts this morning to make them easier to see the relation of the various market indicators. And, I'm not done. More to come over time (when I have time). Now back to development of the ACRE™ Coaching Forum. You can take a peek now but it will be closed to the general public when it goes live.

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