realweenie

Taming the wild weenie

Thought that headline would grab a few people.  The weenie, as others  call this blog cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand is not so wild . . just a little maybe.

Just wanted to write a post as a reminder that the weenie does except guest posts.  It can be therapeutic and give people a chance to say what is on their minds in a place where it may be more appropriate than on their onw blog.  Todd Carpenter has written some wonderful posts on the Weenie.  Dave Smith has written so has Larry Cragun, and Bonnie Erickson too.  If I am missing someone let me know.

Writing on the weenie is easy.  Your post does not have to be funny, it can be drop dead serious.  Personal attacks are not aloud.  In general if the post is truthful, or at least reflects an honest opinion . . . even if your opinion is wrong. :) I am happy to post it.

Next time you want to vent, or just want to have fun, consider the weenie.  Personally I find it therapeutic and we all know how badly I need therapy.  It isn't easy writing the St. Paul Real Estate Blog.  People actually read it so it makes me a little nervous.  If they stopped reading it that would make me nervous too. . . yup therapy is the only answer for me.

News Media

I can't think of a single single industry that deserves to be mentioned on this blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand.

The news media seems to control the economy and of course the housing market.  They like to take little bits and turn them into great big dramatic stories.

They call when I am in my car, or on an appointment.  They never ask if I have a second, like everyone else does, they just start talking.  I think most people will just drop what they are doing and talk to the news media.  It is after all free publicity.

Me I have to be difficult and have passed on some opportunities that I am sure most people would get excited about.  I just can't see helping the media spread half truths and even lies just so I can tell everyone to watch me on TV.

They often know what their story is before they call.  They spend quite a bit of time trying to get me to agree with what they are saying and get me to give an example.  When it comes to buying and selling homes they like to take one small part of the process and turn it into a big story. 

Sometimes the media wants access to my  clients.  It doesn't work that way.  I have contracts with them and part of that contract includes confidentiality.  I can of course call a client and ask if they are interested in being on the local or national news.  I have called clients with just such a request.  Most are not interested in sharing their story with the world even if it does mean they get to be on TV.

Most people who know me know that I can be difficult.  I argue with just about every reporter who calls.  Over the last couple of days I have been trying to convince one reporter that the story they are working on really doesn't make sense.  I guess it is up to them to decide what their viewers want to see.   They will be able to find another Realtor in the metro area who will back them up on the ridiculous story they are working on.  Most would be thrilled with the publicity and not even consider that they are hurting their own industry by  helping spread stories.

The news media don't know much about real estate or the housing market but they like to tell stories about it because that is what people are interested in right now.  The "spin" that they put on it becomes a kind of reality for many people and might even change consumer behavior.  What is reported by the news media does not always reflect reality but I think some times reality becomes what the news media reports.

When you watch the national news, local news or read the paper please keep in mind that what you are seeing is not the news.  It is some ones idea of what viewers are interested in seeing, reading or listening too.  It is mostly stories and make believe.

My Email Scares me

I was spammed today by this Realtor via Top Producer.  He has a blog but apparently has not caught on to the whole RSS thing where instead of dripping or spamming it is possible to get readers to come and subscribe.  Think I have 1200 or so subscribers to one of my blogs and 160 people who have signed up for an "opt In" email newsletter.

For those who don't know what opt in is, it is the opposite of opt out.  Instead of me sending you spam and you having to take action to make it stop, opt in is where you sign up for my newsletter or you don't get it at all, not ever, no way no how. (I mean it too!)

As if that was not bad enough he sent this picture too.  It was embedded in the email and I have posted it here in the actual size as shown on the email. I may have added a little text but other than that this is the picture.

I am not going to say anything about the picture.  I  don't think I need to.

I hate spam.  This was a canned email sent to a huge mailing list (like I have to define spam).  Bloggers contact me all the time, daily even.  Some send polite notes, you know the kind that are just to me and do not go out to a huge mailing list.  Others call, and some leave comments on my blog.  That is all fine and I have friends that I met just that way.

I know my email should not frighten me but the amount that I get is almost staggering, and some of the content is appalling. The type of email the gentleman sent is simply annoying.  He came uninvited into my business email and to make it worse he sent himself along to.

Generous Realtors Work For Free

Generous Realtors donate several hours of their time each week so that companies can make a profit. These dedicated men an woman give selflessly of their time so that sites like Trulia, Zillow, Active Rain and others can be successful.  User generated content is needed to populate the sites with information.

How do these companies get so many writers to write for free?  Easy they convince them that if they provide content to external corporations they will some how get more business.  It is working, every day more Realtors write for web sites without understanding that it isn't the web site that is getting them some leads, it is their own content.

These companies are not the first to get people to work for free.  It is becoming a common practice in the internet world  Time Magazine has an interesting article about getting rich off of those who work for free.  There are products like the browser I use, Mozilla Foxfire that are created and developed through the mutual cooperation of people who work for free.  Wikis and Linux work the same way.  How much work will people do for free?  That is the big question.  I can see my self working for free to help create something of value that could be used by many, or to raise money for charity or for some other worthy cause.   I just can't see myself doing it for real estate web sites when I have one of my own.

There are several successful Realtors out there who get business by writing on their own blogs, and do not provide free content for other companies. I provide some free content to other companies but not much and the local content that drive my business stays on St. Paul Real Estate Blog becasue it really is one of my most valuable business assets.  I would consider selling it, but not giving it away. 

My local content is somehow more valuable if it can only be found in one place.  People have to come to my web sites to read it.  I get traffic and generate  business becasue of it.  I don't have to share the stage with my closest competitors, or depend on another company for an internet presence.  It is really very empowering to be my own rain maker. 

Now housevalues.com has become an investor in Active Rain, with 65,000 members and maybe 1000 active real estate professionals working for free to provide content for Active Rain and their Consumer Site Localism.  It was a smart move on the part of housevalues.com  They can see the value of unqiue content provided by industry experts and are willing to invest 2.75 million.

I know that I am a late comer to the party here but I have begun to explore some business models where I get people to work for free so that I can make more money.  Active Rain apparently has not made a profit and I don't know about Zillow or Trulia or the others but I suspect there is some money to be made off of the free content.  This blog is open for anyone who has something to say.  I could sell ads on it and beef it up a bit.  Make it the go to place for people who want to go on a rant.

Thousands of real estate pros will continue to give away their content and perhaps that will create more opportunities for someone to make money. They do not understand how powerful there words are and that they alone can beat out the bigger companies and have a strong internet presence in their own market.  They don't understand the value of what they give away or that they don't need to give it away to make it work for them.

There is nothing wrong with working for free.  It just doesn't make a lot of sense.  The writers on Active rain may own the content but I think Active Rain owns the web site.    They can delete it, sell it, change the domain name or do anything they want to it. They could go out of business and just shut the whole thing down.  Writers who contribute to active rain's Localism site are helping their competitors attract readers and if they have another real estate blog they are competing against themselves and their own blog.

I do love the idea of getting people to work for me for free and I welcome anyone who would like to do it.

Drinking and blogging

I highly recommend drinking while blogging. 

From IntoTheBoxTV   Rachel Natalie Klein is the founder of into TheBox tv.  She is one crazy lady.  I am not sure she expected me to endorse drinking while blogging.  Beer for bloggers is held the night before the Inman blogger connect conference begins.  It really does help us do a better job when we speak at the conference.  The event was sponsored by Zillow.  By putting a link to Zillow on this blog I can expect a visit from Drew Meyers or David Gibbons, so I would like to say that I had a great time at beer for bloggers gents, see you on the net. ;) 

Does Any One Know?

Do any of us really know who Todd Carpenter, if that is his real name, really is?