realweenie

writers block

Not trying to be a weenie . . .

It has been awhile since I have written on this blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand.  It seems that there was a time when I only wrote controversial posts here, these days I seem to be writing them everywhere.  It isn't my intention to be controversial, it is just that I question EVERYTHING.

I am not being intentionally anti-social these days either.  The reason I have not responded to the 123 friend requests I have accumulated on face book is because I don't know the friends.  They could be friends and heck we can never have too many friends but it is getting harder and harder for me to click the "accept" button when I have no idea who the friends are.

It is the same on Twitter.  I looked today and figured out that I don't know about 600 of my followers, and probably don't have any idea who a few hundred of the people I am following are.  Some don't tweet so it is no problem to follow them.  Some I do know but they have screen names and avatars that confuse this simple Realtor who lives in fly over land so I don't interact with them very much.  sometimes I figure out who people are but they change their avatar and after a few changes I lose track of them.

It is getting harder to be social.  My participation in multiple social networks has made me a bit anti-social.  I have a tremendous amount of contact with total strangers while at the same time the people I do know have a hard time reaching me as I struggle to hear their voices through the crowd. There are people in my community that I would like to get to know better and others that I would like to meet.

It would be nice if there was truly a general social network that I could use for business and maybe another that I could use for friends and maybe a third that I could use to meet people.  Instead they are all lumped together in one big confusing thing that is way out of control and has limited value for me personally or professionally.

Having hundreds of friends who are Realtors is kind of nice.  From a business point of view it isn't so great.  Yes I get referrals from other agents, a few a year but I mostly don't take them on becasue, It doesn't make sense for me to ever pay a referral fee, especially when the buyers are relocating and take an enormous amount of time and energy.  I just can't run my business that way.

I want to be anti-social, but I have not figured out how to do that without cutting myself off from the people that I would like to have contact with and from those I would like to meet or would like to get to know better.   There really is a huge world out there and a lot of people worth knowing who do not have real estate licenses.

Inman Connect, San Francisco

It is great to be back on the hot dog stand.  I have just one take away from the blogger connect conference that I would life to share.  There is more than one way to have a successful real estate blog.  Of course I like my way the best, and the other bloggers like their way the best, which is why it seemed like we don't agree on anything, because we don't.  I learned the typo's and misspellings are a really bad thing on a blog and so is bad grammar but I am going to keep writing my blogs any way.

The people who attended the blogger connect sessions must have left feeling a bit confused.  There was a lot of good information in the sessions.  My advice would be to keep in mind that none of the "rules" are carved in stone.  be creative, use your imagination.  Take the ideas and improve upon them.

I got to take some pictures while I was in San Francisco, and here are some of them.

How Fast Can You Talk?

You may have noticed if you read my blogs that I have a love hate relationship with my phone.  I sometimes miss calls becasue I have it off or on silent.  I need to screen my calls because I really don't want to talk to all the wonderful vendors out there trying to sell me blog platforms and a bunch of other stuff that I eaither already have or don't have becasue I am not interested.

When the messages go into voice mail I sometimes have to play them five or even six times to get the phone number if I want to return the call.  I am amazed by how fast people can say their phone numbers but would love to know why they say them so fast that it is impossible to make out the numbers and write them down.  I tend to say my own number slowly and I repeat my name at the end of the message because most people have forgotten it by the time they listen to the message and the number.

What am I missing here?  Is there some business reason for reciting my phone number at a hyper fast speed?  Some of my phone calls do not get returned because I don't have the patience to decipher the number. 

The Weenie Gets a Make Over

Yah I know it is kind of like putting lipstick on a pig but I thought with a little tweaking I could spruce the place up a bit.

This weapon of mass destruction  cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand got off to a bad start.  It started as a joke and shortly after it was discovered, it was deleted, only to be hastily recreated.  It won an award before is was 48 hours old,   and a follow-up post from Greg  the all knowing.  Within the first week of it's existence the weenie got some attention from Inman news, see bloggers go meta, and casualties of blog war,  Inman later bought the blog, or maybe it was just an April fools joke.

I never finished setting this bad blog up.  So I decided to do a little work.  It now has more categories, some pages that will appear in the next week or two, and a second sidebar.  I was never happy with the banner, I think when I deleted the origional blog, I  lost the final graphic I had for the weenie, so I made a new one.

I have added some blogs to the blog roll and plan to add more. The weenie has been badly neglected. In 2008 I am going to write on the weenie more often and as always welcome the contributions of others.  The blog will focus on some of the great uses of technology in business and on the best practices for bloggers. The Real Estate Weenie will also continue to poke fun at the real estate industry and highlight some of the worst practices in both blogging and in business.

Like most blogs what you find on the weenie is opinion.   The major difference between this blog and the others out there is that this blog reflects my opinions. 

It can be rough out there

This just in from GE:

ActiveKEY Agent Safety Alert feature to be released in 2008

GE Security is adding an alert feature to the Supra ActiveKEY. At no additional charge, Supra ActiveKEY users will soon be able to send an alert message to their designated contact list directly from their key with the push of a button. The alert will usually request a call back to the agent's cell phone and will include the address for the last known lockbox they opened.

"Agent safety has always been a primary concern for us," says Jeff Antrican, VP of Real Estate Sales for GE Security. "We continually strive to enhance the security of our system for both the home seller and the real estate agent. This feature represents a major milestone in that regard. Peace of mind for agents and their families are benefits that only a fully wireless system can provide."

Agents are raving about the ActiveKEY and its automatic renewals and real-time showing notifications. Adding the alert function to the list of ActiveKEY features is generating even more positive comments, like this one from Suzy Stone of the Washington D.C. metro area. "Safety is always a key concern and this new feature will provide another tool and another level of protection while out with our clients. Our business has the potential for all of us to be targets, especially women. Having another tool for calling for help is a monumental step for GE Security to take for its clients."

Following the 2008 launch, all Supra ActiveKEY users will receive this new feature by automatic wireless upgrade or by download, all at no additional charge. Watch for more information on this exciting new feature.

This system won't be of much value here in the Twin Cities with so many agents refusing to use electronic lock boxes.  They don't use them much at all in Minneapolis.  I guess it is the thought that counts and if it saves one life somewhere in the US it is a valuable service. 

The state of the Re Bloggosphere

I had not planned on turning this blog, cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand into  a gossip column but there are as always some disturbing things going on in the re bloggosphere, which as we all know is hell.

This week I received the disturbing news the Todd Carpenter, the re blogger who is loved and respected by all who know him, has joined the dark side, which is more commonly know as Active Rain.  This just weeks after the Inman connect conference where he scandalized us all by asking a panel: "what is a blog?". 

Our missing bloggers did come back, but they will never be the same.  They have been posting on the Sellsius real estate blog but are now talking about books, you know blog posts between two pieces of cardboard that can be read anywhere and do not require any scrolling down to see the rest.  They have also introduced the idea of talking to real people face to face, instead of the normal form of communication via email, twitter, facebook, Text, IM, Skype, or blogs.  I know Rudy and Joe are outside the box thinkers but outside the internet too?  My feelings are strong on this.  One day they will have to pry my blackberry out of my cold dead hands and for now absolutely no one can make me talk.

Then there is Drew Meyers of Zillow, whom I have always admired.   Drew has been on the Zillow Realtors forum letting agents know that blogs can work, I am impressed.  Zillow, helping agents, the very idea gets me all chocked up.

An update on new social networks being launched so that we can all talk about real estate would be appropriate for this post.  I will mention that Propertyqube launched and I can hardly contain myself.  My email box is filling up with invites from my facebook, landbrokr, ActiveRain, and linkedin contacts.  Many of these contacts are on Trulia and Zillow, chatting up a storm.   

Yup, it just doesn't get any better than talking about real estate 24 X 7 with my internet friends.  We follow each other on Twitter, so we don't miss anything.  Maybe some day a consumer will stumble (pardon the pun) across one of these sites and join us.  These sites are packed with information and pictures. We Realtors are extraordinarily good looking and photogenic. 

I recently learned that my adorable dog, Daisy, pictured in the sidebar, has more Google juice in some cities than local real estate bloggers do.  We did some Google searches on real estate and real estate blogs and she comes up pretty high.  One blogger complained about coming up 8 positions lower in her own market than my dog.  Daisy now has her eye on Denver Colorado and Tucson Arizona.  Go Daisy!

Then there is Jeff Turner.  I met him in person a month or so ago.  He is not as tall as I thought he would be but I was able to look past that.  After all it is what is inside that counts. (choke) Jeff writes some amazing poetry.  I won't provide a link because I am going to be in enough trouble over this as it is.  He recently had writers block and started posting poems he wrote in the 80's.  Jeff, 2007 just called and they want you back.

Silence

What is it?

Sellsius siteing

Sellsius was seen on Real Estate Blog lab earlier this evening.  After a month long absence, gone fishing, ya right, they appear to be in good health but still in need of a hair cut. Gossip, rumors and speculation continue about the real reason for the disappearance of the two real estate bloggers.   Not really but it sounds better if I say it that way.  Last week I heard a rumor that they will reappear later this week and that it is unlikely that they  will have any fish with them.

David Smith, the author of the Real Estate Blog Lab, who always wears the same red shirt and tie and does not appear to need a hair cut, really did go fishing.  He has pictures on  his Tuscon AZ real estate blog.

My apologies to the dogs, rainbow, and buildings in the picture on this post who really are innocent bystanders and do not belong on the weenie.

Related posts:  Don't make me link them in, just look at the last two posts.  There isn't that much on this blog any idiot can find the related posts without my help. 

The Missing Bloggers

This rare photo of Rudolph D. Bachraty III, of Sellsius Real Estate was taken on July 31st, 2007 in San Fransisco just days before he and the notorious Joseph G. Ferrara disappeared from the real estate bloggosphere, leaving behind this cryptic message:  "see ya"

We can only speculate as to where they might be, or if they will return.  Some of us miss them and wish for their safe return.   It is rumored that the cross country trip was just too much for them and that they are too heavily medicated to write blog posts.  The two are such close freinds that I heard from an inside source they are sharing a straight jacket.

I can relate to what they must be going through.  I met some of the real estate bloggers in person and have been having nightmares ever since.  I can only imagine what it must have been like for Joe and Rudy, if those are their real names, as they traveled across the country and met so many of us.  I know they were truly frightened when they met me and I did try to keep my dark glasses and baseball cap on at all times, but it just wasn't enough.

Gents, I really do miss you both but understand that you have probably gone to a better place.  Just keep taking the little pills the nice lady gives you and when you feel better come back to us.