realweenie

A history of the RE.net

I have been wanting to write on this hot dog stand cleverly disguised as a blog of mass destruction several days now and was just waiting for an excuse and Todd Carpenter gave me one when he wrote  A six year history of the RE.net. notice he used the word "A" in the title and not the word "the" which is a good thing.  The word history, literally means 'his story' and that is what "a six year history is"  I know I was there.

I didn't meet Todd or even know that he existed until 2007,  yet I am relatively sure he existed before I discovered him and would have existed even if I didn't know he existed.. . . but maybe not, after all I am all that AND a bag of chips.

As for the RE.net here is an alternative six year history, in photos of course.  If you are not mentioned in my history it isn't because you don't exist . . . maybe you don't exist but it is up to you to prove that you do. 

 

2004 when the first real estate blogger discovered another real estate blogger.

2007 more RE.net bloggers joined and encouraged each other to speak up.  They began traveling in packs. 

The RE.net today. 

Time is running out

Maybe you have been too busy to read the postings on the blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand but I want to remind you all that the February 13th deadline is fast approaching.  What is so special about February 13, 2010?  That is the day that you will go out of business if your business doesn't have a Facebook fan page.

If you have not started your page do so today. The best way to get fans for it is to take the blog that you have spent years building and put a badge on it asking people to become a fan of your fan page.  That will drive traffic away from your blog but lets face it who needs a blog when you can have a fan page.  The blog is a great way to promote a fan page.  Your blog traffic may go down but your Facebook traffic will go up.  Google won't find you there but Google has been replaced by the little search box in Facebook, right above the Victoria's secret ad.

For people like me Facebook presents some challenges. It only works for people who have friends. I have a couple of friends and I won't embarrass them by naming names.   I used to wonder why so many of the losers I know have so many friends.  Now I know their secret.

 

They use the automatic friend finder.  In fact last time I was on Facebook I saw the names of some of my friends and this message" ________________found many of their friends using the automatic Friend Finder."  I had no idea it could all be done using a little program in Facebook.

I had no idea there was such a thing as an automatic friend finder. I always figured that I don't have many friends because I don't like people all that much.  Apparently all I have to do is automate the friend finding process through the Facebook friend finder. I am tempted to use it.  Maybe I could even find a friend who would go out to lunch with me and would be willing to sit at the same table. . . or maybe that would be pushing my social skills to the limit . . . but still . .

Please set up your fan page today.  Use your web sites or blogs to drive traffic to it and use the automatic friend finder to make friends.  If you can't get all of this done and end up going out of business on February the 13th don't worry.  The good news is you can always become a social media expert.  The bad news is you still need a fan page, so get cracking!

foursquare isn't just for Realtors

Ah yes a new year and finally my first post of 2010 on this blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand.

Here we go again, same song different verse. I wrote a post a couple of years ago about how  blogs are not just for Realtors and I wrote that Facebook is just for Realtors although it has changed and these days I see it is for fan pages and business pages of all types.  It isn't just for Realtors any more but it is just for marketing and sending fan requests. I guess that is an improvement.  I still stand by my prediction that if you don't have a Facebook page for you business you will be out of business very soon.  Either build it or clean out your desk and get ready to move on.  The choice is yours.

It seems like I wrote about twitter, and that it isn't for Realtors but I can't find the post. I know it is in here somewhere.  If it isn't in here it should be becasue I meant to write it and that is just as good as writing it.

Back to foursquare.  It isn't just for Realtors or for nation wide networking or a way to score a free cup of coffee or glass of beer.  There are real people on foursquare and if you like people, which we all know I don't you can meet them through foursquare.

 

If you want to play you can connect with people who do not have real estate licenses.  There are only five or six people like that in a given area but they have been known to use the services of someone with a real estate license.  Who knows maybe even someone sitting next to them in a coffee shop that they  met through foursquare.  I don't want to start any rumors and become some kind of a social media expert but it really can happen.

I understand why agents follow each other on foursquare it is because real estate agents are the most interesting and fascinating people on the planet and who knows if you get to be friends with enough of them they might send you a referral for a fee of course.   There are some exceptions to the most fascinating people on the planet thing but of course  I am not going to mention them on this blog . . you know who you are.

Great Big Lies

Have you all noticed how the quality of the spam aimed at Realtors has gotten even more spammy this last year?  As agents struggle to make a living in this new "shifted" market everyone has a get rich quick scheme that won't work.

This email as a couple huge lies in it:

"Distress Sale University Training... Free Webinar puts REO Listings at your fingertips and Guarantees Quick Bank Approval on Short Sales!!!

Outrageous commissions from distress sales"

No one can guarantee another persons behavior, especially not the behavior of someone who works in an asset management department. It isn't one person who gets to make the decision and at least here in Minnesota there is no such thing as a quick bank approval.  There isn't anything we can do to speed the process up, if there was shot sales would happen more quickly.  The truth is they mostly don't happen at all.

As for those outrageous commissions they really are outrageous. It is a true statement, they can be outrageously low.  I mostly can't afford to sell foreclosures and I won't even show short sales any more.

If I took this course it wouldn't change the way short sales are handled.

Phone companies suck

The sucking I hear is the dollars being sucked out of my pocket each month by mindless money grubbing corporations masquerading as phone companies.  I would tell you how I really feel but I can't use that kind of language on my blog.

I have two phone service providers.  I tried to find a less expensive way but for right now I can't.   I don't have any cable services at all because Comcast is beyond craptastic, not to mention outrageously expensive.   Fiber optic cable is faster and for TV instead of the outrageously expensive cable  there is that thingy on my roof that makes the TV work and seems to be picking up the signals from outer space, which is good because now I don't need to wear a tin foil hat and I am not hearing any voices.

I get all my services through Qwest, the local phone company at a much lower rate and my internet is always on, no outages but . . . my bill is different every month.  It fluctuates by as much as $100.  Every month I get the bill I call and have it explained to me and every month there are credits on the bill from the last time I called.

Yesterday no one could explain to me how one service that I have that costs $24.95 a month adds up to $78.00 for two months of service.   They tried really hard but I don't get it, not even with a calculator.  I keep coming up with $49.90 and neither of the two people I spoke with in the billing department have been able to convince me that 2 X 24.95 adds up to $78.00.  They must really hate it when I call.

My cell phone provider, T-Mobile is much better but they allow third parties to charge me for services that I never ordered, used or asked for.   Three months in a row they took extra charges off my  bill after I called and complained. They said they blocked my phone so these third party services can't charge me but I was charged for two months after the alleged blocking took place.   Of course the friendly folks at T-Mobile say it isn't their fault yet the bill is on T-Mobile letterhead and I make my  payment goes to them.  If it isn't their fault they should at least take an interest in what is a very questionable if not illegal business by certain "third parties".

Check your phone bill every month. If you have to call the phone company tell them that T sent you.

Social Media is for marketing. . but not just for Realtors

Social media has made self promotion and product pitches easier than ever.  It is good to know that the hard sell is not dead and that it has a whole new life via social media. Any successful sales person will tell you that scripts and dialogs are the way to go. Social interaction and permission based marketing are for weenies.We need to trick people into following us on twitter or becoming our facebook friends and then we can sell, sell, sell.

In the old days we used answering machines to screen our calls so we wouldn't have to listen to telemarketers.  Then we got Tivo so we could just skip the commercials.  We got spam filters on our email accounts so we didn't have to read the sales pitches we call spam.

With new media we can use the same sales pitches in a new way.  They can be deployed cheaply to large groups of people we now call tribes. We can even use the same words that we used in print ads and in our spam.

How will people tune us out this time? 

Social Implications of Twitter and Plausible Deniability

By Dave Smith

One effect of Twitter on society is the increased need for more restroom stalls to be built. As more tweeple use mobile devices to access their Twitter accounts there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of time spent in a restroom stall.

No longer is it do your business and get out. Now it is do your business and check your Twitter stream. (pun intended). On a recent trip I noticed the amount of time waiting outside restrooms has increased markedly. When finally appearing the response has been a sheepish grin and "I was on Twitter".

Plausible Deniability

For us guys it has been a boon. How so? Well lets face it, when we disappear to the restroom for more than a minute we are met with knowing looks and grins. However, that is all changing. Now we simply say "Oh, I was checking Twitter and responding to DM's.

Plausible, yes, : )

There is no doubt Twitter is changing how society communicates. A side effect I don't think anyone considered as this phenomena exploded was the effect it would have on the amount of time spent in restroom stalls and the need to build more for those waiting in line.

It is okay to check Twitter while waiting in line, I would think even more so.

It makes me think twice before taking someones phone to see a tweet they just received.

When a guy says to me "I just don't get Twitter, what would I ever use it for?"  I smile and say plausible deniability.

Dave Smith
Webmaster, Blogger, Photographer, Realtor
Tucson AZ Real Estate
Oro Valley Real Estate
The Real Estate Blog Lab
The ReImaging Lab

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.