realweenie

It is alright to have an opinion of your own

You don't need my permission to have an opinion of your own. I guess I am writing this because it seems like the first people in our industry to express opinions on important issues are the people who sell products and services to us.  They are outspoken and articulate, knowledgeable and well liked and when they write everyone reads. The discussion of the important topics of the day are viewed through a narrow lens and the big picture is missing. 

Keep in mind as you are reading their most eloquently expressed opinions that their opinions often support their product or their coaching or consulting practice. The opinions are worth reading and they do have merit as long as we put them in the context of our own business goals.

It is easy to be a sheep and to follow the shepherds but real estate is still local and if you are an agent who has been in the business for awhile listen to your own experience chances are you have a better understanding of your business than some of the thought leaders do.  Go one step further and picture them doing your job, even for a day. I don't think they have to be able to do our jobs to give us advice but I think we need to filter the advice and put it in the context of our own experience and local businesses.

There is also some value in thinking outside of the box instead of following. Innovation and new ideas seem to come from the black sheep. 

Transparency and trust

I have seen some of your on-line advertising. You lie like a rug, and speaking of rugs, what is that on your head?   I see the smiling face of a twenty five year old dressed to the nines but when I meet you I see a 50ish person dressed in jeans and a T.  You say you are number one but fail to mention that the number 1 stands for the number of real estate transactions you have had this year.

If you want people to trust you . . and I know you do because trust is the word that the cool kids are flinging around with reckless abandon . . you need to be honest in your advertising. 

It's part of a promotion -- ILoveLocalCommercials.com -- in which a production team makes free commercials for small businesses. Fell free to nominate me for one of their free commercials. Just put in Teresa Boardman, they will understand. 

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Twitter influence that matters score

I have been thinking, which is never a good thing but it happens. I think I came up with a meaningful way to measure twitter influence, but with a twist, it will only measure twitter influence that matters.

So get out your calculators and follow along.  My calculator is pink and looks like a kitty cat. They had an orange monkey calculator at the office supply store too but I think monkeys are as scary as clowns, so I bought the kitty instead.

This is a very scientific method for Realtors to use to determine their influence on twitter.

There are a possible 1000 points

• Give yourself 1 point for each follower
• Subtract 10 points for every follower who is a Realtor.
• Subtract 25 points for every follower who has the word "social media or marketing" in their profile.
• Subtract 25 points for every follower in the porn industry.
• subtract 50 points for every follower who has the word "guru" in their twitter name, or if their profile indicates that they are a social media coach or trainer for the real estate industry.

• Subtract 100 points for every follower that has an avatar that is a company logo if they sell to or have a product or web site for the real estate industry.
• Add 75 points for every follower who is a member of the local media, they have to get their news from some place.
• Add 50 points for members of the national media, they are not as valuable because real estate is local.
• Add 75 points for every follower who lives or works within 20 miles of your home or business who does not meet any of the criteria that points have previously been subtracted for and is at least 18 years of age and is not a member of your immediate family.

If one of your followers is @respres don't add or subtract him, he follows everyone and is in a category of his own.

It took me an hour to get my own score and with 2600 or so followers I came up with a score of -200. Lucky for me one of my followers is a legal secretary who lives in Minneapolis or my score would have been -275. 

Influence on Twitter is important and the criteria I have come up with is for your own use. There will be no list or recognition for the people with the highest scores because  a list would lower the score as hundreds of  Realtors would follow you.

Free advice

There is a lot of free advice on the internet.  I found this through a tweet a few weeks ago and I really liked it.

I'll make it easy. The link is to http://www.howtousetwitterformarketingandpr.com/ which is a nice domain name, I wish I owned it.  How to use twitter for marketing and PR goes to a page that simply says don't.  Using social media for business can be very effective but the idea has already been corrupted to the point where twitter is becoming a spam fest. At least tweets are limited to 140 characters and we can choose who we follow and who we block. 

Just a question

My spam says I can get rich working with short sales. What I want to know is why the people who send the emails send emails instead of getting rich selling short sale listings. Does anyone know why that is?

There are people sending me spam about getting rich selling foreclosures. You would think they would be so rich by now that they wouldn't bother sending me email. Maybe they just work for something to do because they are bored with counting their money. How they keep their secrets a secret is another mystery.

I guess I don't know much, I just have questions.. .

Photographic Evidence

I publish this photo as proof that a person with a real estate license can take a photograph in a room that has a mirror in it, and use a flash without mucking it up. I took the photo because I can.  I would be happy to share my EXIF data as proof that the flash fired should anyone want to examine it.

Mucking it up is a technical turn for huge flare of light in the mirror.

News Flash from the weenie

warning alert news flash important must read . . . warning alert news flash important must read

A word to the wise . . and I know anyone who reads the weenie is wise . . if you don't have a facebook page for your business your business will cease to exist on February 13, 2010. If you do not know how to make a facebook page please read  help now!  If you don't have a facebook account you are screwed. Your life is over. It is just a matter of deciding if you want to continue breathing or if you would rather jump. That might sound drastic because death is forever . . but so is facebook. 

Table for One

This post has been floating around in my head for a few weeks.  I was going to call it "confessions of a has been" but decided not to.

I was recently at a conference and out dining with a group of people that I consider friends when most of them got up and left. 

They were all invited to a dinner hosted by a major vendor who has a web site for Realtors.  Some of the people I was with are not Realtors but they were also invited to the dinner.

The purpose of the dinner was to get some feedback from people who use the product.  I have used the product but had to discontinue because of some problems.  I could write about it or send an email but at this point I am inclined to just not use it and hope that maybe one day they will work some of the bugs out.  Chances are they wouldn't listen to me anyway.

It was a bit awkward but I am lucky.  I don't actually have feelings so it didn't bother me like it would bother most people. 

The only comment I will make is that the company that held the dinner is heavily involved in social media and I will suggest that perhaps what they did was a bit anti social.

From the time I was a small child I have been used to being alone and am as comfortable by myself as I am with friends, and as a Realtor I have learned to handle the most ackward situations with out missing a beat.  This was not the first time that I dined alone in a restaurant while traveling. I have met some interesting people that way too. . . yet dining alone can feel . . . alone.

Table for one please and yes I would like a glass of whine. :)

My very best Active Rain Post - Fact or Fiction?

This is a post I wrote on active rain for members only in December of 2008.  It got 169 comments. Is it a work of fiction or a true story?  You decide. 

How I got Rich using the power of Active Rain 

I wrote a post on active rain one day.  About an hour later my phone rang and the owner of a 5 million dollar home asked me if I would list his home today.  Shortly after that and before I even got the listing on the MLS a buyer called.  The couple said they had cash and they wanted to spend around 5 million.  You guessed it a perfect match.  With in 5 hours of writing the post I had an offer to the owner from the buyers and a deal.  Now that is power.

On my way to drop off the earnest money check my phone rang.  A home owner a block away from the home I had just sold heard about what a good job I did on the 5 million dollar home.  He said that he already knew about me because he spends a few hours each day on Active Rain.  He asked me if I could list his home right away and I did.

After leaving the home I headed back to the office with my newest listing contract and the earnest money check, and the other contracts I had written that morning.  My phone rang again.  It was the white house.  It turns out that they read active rain every day. Word had already gotten out that I am a one woman selling machine.  When the new administration takes over they will have a new cabinet position, which I have agreed to fill. 

The job is about turning the economy around by stabilizing the housing market. It seems that it has already been determined that Active Rain is the answer. For months future high ranking white house staffers and advisers have been reading advice to consumers that they have found on Active Rain and they think they pretty much have it nailed and that it won't take but a few weeks before all is well again.

I am not sharing all of this to brag or anything.  I just want a gold star for writing a post about the power of Active Rain and I want to encourage everyone to take advantage of all that power. I talked to an unnamed source at Google and was told that Google does prefer Active Rain posts over all others. He said that it is silly to write any where else. I have not had the time to delete the St. Paul Real Estate Blog but I will as soon as I can. I don't need it any more and I have to admit it is a huge waste of bandwidth

Blog on!

** the post did get the coveted gold star

Can't say it

I  like to let everyone know that if they have something to say they can say it on the weenie. Several people have done that over the past few years.

There is something that I need to say and I don't think I can even say it on the weenie.  This is causing a huge problem for me because I feel like I can't write another word on this blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand until I say what I need to say.

Now the snark is bottled up inside of me and I have developed this kind of twitch.  That is what I like the most about the internet.  if I leave my web cam off no one can see the twitch.

The words I need to write to keep my blogs going are bottled up behind a wall of words that need to be written on the weenie.

I would like to thank my friends who read the weenie and remind everyone that life is full of content for the weenie, and the next time you want to rant or when you have an observation share it with us by sending me a post. The words that you write may help break down your own wall of words.

Conferences are a time to share

Todd Carpenter, AKA @tcar, AKA . . well  I could go on and on. Todd took the time to share some of his opinions and insights with me at #icsf thanks Todd.

Proposed curriculum of the stupid designation

By Kathy Drewien

One of the requirements of keeping a real estate license active is to earn continuing education units (CEU) . The number of CEU an agent needs depends on each state's license law. With just a little bit of planning, a real estate agent can meet all the licensing requirements without spending any money. And, even better, they won't be required to think.

Core Curriculum for the Newly Introduced STUPID Designation

• Alphabet Soup Using Generational Differences to grow and retain your client database. (Please come prepared with age appropriate eating utensils.) 3 CEU
  
• Building Codes for Dummies Codes, codes and more codes. Working with builders during and after construction. (Students must supply own builder. The ones we know have gone belly up.) 3 CEU
• Mortgage Fraud This course (designed for agents living under a rock the past year), will define and discuss the cost of mortgage fraud, the punishment of mortgage fraud, and the red flags of mortgage fraud, ethical considerations and classic mortgage fraud schemes. 6 CEU
• Super-Agent Excellence This course produces the inner ability to apply outstanding qualities of attitude and abilities which enable Superior Real Estate Agents to lead in their market and prevail as an industry leader through business and personal attention. 6 CEU
• You Can't Fix Stupid!!! This course will provide answers to the questions that EVERYBODY should have! 3 CEU
• Electives (choose one): 3 CEU per class
  
  • Skylights: They Will Leak Ya' Know
  • Termites or Flying Ants (bring samples to class)
  • Closing the Lid on Toilet Seats

Upon successful completion of each class, measured by being in your seat the whole time, agents will be awarded the STUPID designation, be entitled to display STUPID on all marketing materials and receive the coveted STUPID pin. (Logo designs being accepted now.)

Now for the legal stuff.  Any resemblance to other logos or pins past or present is purely coincidental as is an resemblance to actual course titles and descriptions.  This is a work of fiction and it is unlikely that anyone will take responsibility for it so don't bother asking.

There should be a stupid designation

There are several NAR designations Realtors can earn.  I think there should be a stupid designations. They could give it a catchy name, like STUPID so it would look classy on business cards.

Recently a colleague found one of his photos in the MLS on another agents listing. That is all too common and not that unusual. What was unusual is in this case the agent left a water mark on the photo with the web address of the agent that the photo was taken from.

It actually constitutes two MLS violations. The first violation is stealing the photo and the second is publishing the address of a Realtor web site in the MLS. 

Remember stupid is as stupid does, and Realtors are held to a higher standard.

ROI? You say you need ROI?

It is nice to write on the weenie this morning.  My blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand, now with a photo of a grocery store on it too.

I am going to mention social media and networking in this post if you are so tired of the subjects that they almost make you gag now would be the time to mosey on to another blog. I recommend Boing Boing.

There have been a couple of times over the years where I have gone to the grocery store and ended up talking to a neighbor and through that conversation I listed a house or put a buyer under contract. I used to swear by going to the grocery store and planned to continue my visits as we like to eat at least twice a day and we will run out of food again soon.  Going to the store is just a part of life, yet I am not so sure about the ROI.

If the house I listed or buyer that I picked up didn't result in a closed sale then I guess I did a bad job at the grocery store and I shouldn't rely on it as a source of income.

Is getting an appointment and getting a contract signed by a client the same as prospecting?  

I have to say this isn't shaping up to be the best year for me. I have some real estate listed in an area where we are now having a huge problem with financing. Three listings of the same type in the same area. One will be taken off the market in August, another is unsalable unless someone can pay cash and the third isn't looking so good right now either. None of this has anything to do with the real estate market or the economy it has to do with social networking.

I am here to tell you that blogs, and social networks don't work.  All three of those listings are with people that I met on the internet.  One from Flickr, two through my blog. 

I need to be transparent about this.  These methods of prospecting do not work.  Had I gotten these clients by cold calling, drip emailing or doing an open house things might have turned out differently.  Instead I chose to squander my precious time writing blog posts and posting pictures of St. paul.

If you are thinking that social networking and blogs are a waste of time you are right.  Closed sales are all that matter. We all know that having a signed contract should guarantee a closed sale and if it does not then the prospecting methods used to win the potential business didn't work.

I never really liked going to the grocery store.  I am not very good at it.  I find myself overwhelmed with the choices.  There is noise and bright colors and little children screaming their lungs out. I never know what to buy or how much to buy. The ROI might not be high enough.  I am not going to invest my time going to the grocery store anymore.

The secret lives of Blackberries and their owners

In an email from a distant state:

"My flippin Blackberry decided to spend the weekend at the Post Office - WITHOUT ME. Now, normally I don’t care what my BB does (or doesn’t do) when I’m not around, but for some reason, I think it had too much fun playing with the meters and stamps after hours, because it is taking 2 WHOLE days to fully recharge. All the while I have to call people from my home phone – so now all those idiots that I had to call HAVE MY HOME NUMBER. Geesh, as if the survey people and Policeman Ball solicitors weren’t phone-filtering-entertainment ENOUGH!

Now, of course, several people told me that I needed an iPhone instead of going back to retrieve my new BB Curve. But Why? Would an iPhone make me more responsible as a PDA owner? Would it sound an alarm if left on a strange counter for too long? (Now, PLEASE don’t say “There’s an app for that…”) I don’t think an abandoned (yet obviously partying) Blackberry needs to be replaced with and iPhone when it was user error that I was phoneless for 2 days. IS that fair? Is that REALLLY FAIR?? I think not.

Anyway, I go to the Post Office Monday morning to pick it up and they won’t let me have it because when they searched “home” everyone in my address books home number showed up and they couldn’t verify WHO owned the phone. Only after I recited the contents of my home page, did they reluctantly hand it over. Personally, I think it was my BB’s attempt at spending another night.

Which brings me to this: WHY on EARTH are people so dumb? Of course I am not excluding myself from this question. Inquiring minds just want to know.

 Thanks for listening,

Mariana

 p.s. So, I wrote out this email and didn’t know who to send it to. You seemed like the best candidate. J"

My response:

Funny!  I use a blackberry and honestly they will have to pull it from my cold dead hands one day. I can’t even use a iPhone because of the keyboard. 

 I will have to ask my pearl what it is about the post office. The pearl has the same features and software as the curve but it is much smaller and I like the keyboard better because I can operate it with my thumb which is safer when I am driving or walking.  At this point I mostly don’t want a iPhone because everyone else has one.

 I feel left out though. When people get the iphone all they talk about is iPhones and they only want to talk about iPhones.  Sadly I have lost a few friends because of it and am looking for replacement type friends.   It is rare that I meet someone like you who is so secure in who they are that they don’t have to have an iPhone like the other  kids.

 Thanks for sending this. I think we have bonded in a special way that no iPhone user could ever understand. Lets never talk about it again.

T

True Confessions from a facebook page pimper

By Kelley Koehler AKA @Housechick

I admit it.  I took place in the facebook page pimp fest.

I didn't bulk email suggestions to fan me to anyone, but I put it out on my wall and via twitter. I begged and coerced others to do so on my behalf. If you weren't on facebook or twitter for those 4 hours, then you wouldn't have even noticed my efforts. 

And it was fun!  Heaven forbid we have fun anymore.  I actually enjoyed being social. And at the end, I named my page wheeebacon.  Because it doesn't really matter.

I think the backlash is funny too.  Maybe if I got more spam fan-me emails, I'd be more angry.  But I'm not.  I think it's funny some well-known well-admired social media peeps were on twitter saying how cool it was that people were banding together to help each other get a URL.  Is that so wrong?

I mean, hey - I know my page sucks.  I kinda hate facebook.  It's difficult to use and all I really like are the pokes.  I just thought it'd be fun to get a URL for my page, and I was willing to help my friends get theirs too.  Even if their page provides no value to me other than it was started by someone I like.

I give the hubub a solid meh.  I can always un-fan them later if they're annoying or if I decide I don't want to be associated with that particular page.  In the meantime, I helped a friend get a URL and they helped me get mine.  And it was fun.  I could use a little fun.

Wheee!  Bacon!

Kelley can be found all over the internet and even on FaceBook - - if anyone else has a confession to make, you know where to find me.

 

A social Object for the times

The blue couch is old and worn out and has a log on it so it can't go anywhere. It was abandoned and is sitting in an alley. There is a message for all of us in the blue couch. Don't get old or worn out if you do you may be tossed out and remember that no matter what happens you shouldn't be blue.

Are you a REBarCamp Ho?

 
I put the question out on Twitter this morning, asking what are some of the signs that someone is a REBarCamp Ho.

Todd Carpenter said that you might be a REBarCamp Ho if you have a wall in your office that looks like his in the picture.

I got tweets from some other REBarCamp experts:

@ResPres: You might be a rebarcamp ho if you talk using four crossed fingers as a hashtag symbol. #rebarcampho

@agent21 #rebarcampho When you hand wash your rebarcamp t-shirt so the logo doesn't fade.

@AnnMarieRealtor You might be a #rebarcampho if you tell your husband you are visiting your mother and go to ReBarCamp instead.

@craig42k: You might be a rebar camp ho if your day begins looking for the schedule board. #rebarcampho

@BeeRealty You may be a #REBarCampHo if you came just for the Pokes #IRL

@SarahWV You might be a rebar camp ho if you have more photos of RE.net than your own family. #rebarcampho

@Billlublin if you order eggs and hashtags for breakfast. #rebarcampho

 Are you a ReBarCamp Ho?

I am not transparent

This transparency thing has gotten way out of hand. I am learning too much about some bloggers as they strive to be transparent.  They share things that I honestly don't want to know about.  I hate to sound like I don't care but . . I really don't care what your had for lunch or if you had your annual mammogram.  You call it transparency, I call it too much information! 

Honestly you don't need to write about everything going on in your life on your business blog, I don't think that is what transparency is even about. Transparency is more about honesty and disclosure but it doesn't mean that every aspect of your so called life has to be written about. 

Hyper What?

The Re-net decided a couple of years ago that the St. Paul Real Estate Blog is "hyper-local".  I have no idea what that means.  Perhaps it got the name because it is a business blog for local consumers as opposed to the ever popular blogs about blogging or blogs written for Realtors by Realtors. Who knows why the deciders decided on hyper-local.  The term has no meaning for me but it seems to have meaning for others. Being Hyper-local seems to make my blog special . . I guess being special is kind of nice but does it really matter?  My readers don't care what it is called and I guess I should not care either but when we go out to teach others we should have a definition for hyper-local. Maybe the tern local is good enough? If a phrase is needed how about 'local focus'?