realweenie

Facebook - Just for Realtors

Last month I wrote some posts to help spread the word that twitter is not just for Realtors any more. Then I wrote another post about blogs. They are not just for Realtors any more either.

Today I am happy to say that I have found an application that seems to be just for Realtors.  They call it Facebook.

Yesterday I went to my Facebook account so that I could start going through the  "friend requests".  I don't know any of my friends but maybe some day they will introduce themselves. Most of the requests were from Realtors, or people in the real estate industry but I found a past client in the mess and I found that one of her friends is also one of my friends, so I sent a friend request.

I never had a friend before who isn't in the real estate industry so it will a new experience. I hope they don't get thrown out of facebook. I told them that it is just for real estate but they decided to stay.

While I was in facebook I took a look at my profile.  I set it up a couple of years ago and like with everything I do I did it in a hurry and didn't think about anything weird like following instructions or coloring in the lines.

I noticed a lot of important information missing.  For one thing I wasn't married. So I decided to change that. The change updated my "wall" and I started getting congratulatory emails and tweets on my recent marriage. Some even sent notes to my husband to let him know. Even though he does not have a facebook account, because he isn't a Realtor,  he already knew that we are married.

He must have some source of information that I have not discovered yet because he knows a lot of things. Just the other day he found out that we were out of bread and he bought some more. I checked all over the internet and I still don't get where he got the information or who told him and why I didn't know about it.

I didn't want to change my status back because then someone would tell him that we just got divorced.  A guy shouldn't find things like that out through email or twitter so I deleted the update on my wall and left my marital status alone.  Too late, the congratulatory messages are still coming in.

My dad also has a facebook account. He isn't a Realtor and he didn't congratulate me either.  He started a group in facebook for people who are not realtors.

He is still the only one in the group and is now thinking about starting a group for fathers of Realtors who just got married so he will have some facebook friends and open it up to people who don't have real estate licenses.  I think he is on to something but I am not sure he totally understands the marriage thing.

I feel kind of threatened by the idea people outside of the real estate industry joining facebook but I guess if they have friends who are Realtors they must be OK.

Since I am still on my honeymoon I have to go. Enjoy the reception and the cake. Next time I get married I'll tell my husband about it before I update facebook.

We Are The Twitterati

By @mizzle, @gingerw, @HouseChick, and @tcar

Recently, our friend Greg Swann referred to some people in RE.net as The Twitterati. Who exactly he was addressing, we don't know. It didn't sound like a compliment. But damn. That's a great name! We're claiming it.

We are The Twitterati. The coolest clique on RE.net.  Are you a member?  Maybe you are, without even knowing it.

If you're in this picture, or can identify everyone in it, you're absolutely Twitterati.

• If you are a master at responding to EVERYTHING in 140 characters or less … You are the Twitterati
• If the first things you do when you sign up for things like blip.fm or dailymugshot is look for the auto-Twitter-notifier …
• If you won't sign up for any social network that DOESN't auto-notify Twitter...
• If your friends call you by your Twitter name IRL (In Real Life)...
• If you've known for forgetting the D at inopportune moments...
• If you've ever been in a Twhirl vs. TweetDeck debate...
• If you secretly look up other people's Twitter Grader, then try to scheme out ways to bump up your grade...

If you make a business decision to purchase 600 bumper stickers with your twitter name ONLY on it because you know SOME people will "get" it … then YOU and those people who "get" it are DEFINITELY the Twitterati.

• If you ever leave a comment on a blog post using your Twitter name and a link to your Twitter profile instead of your name and website … You are the Twitterati.
• If people tweet how excited they were to have met you...
• If you have Twinkle, Halo, Twitterific and Twitter Mobile on your iPhone, and are still wishing for something more ideal...
• If you've ever dropped the F-Bomb on the CEO of Zappos.com via Twitter... (sorry about that)
• If people tweet, wondering where you're at when you haven't tweeted in a few hours...
• If people follow you just to join in on the twittercizing...
• If you've ever worn an @Mizzle tie...

• If you follow @NARSocialMedia on Twitter, and think it's for real, you're NOT Twitterati!
• If you've ever used the term "wiffle bat orgy" or "more cowbell" you are Twitterati...
• If you can never again listen to "It Takes Two" from M.C. Rob Base without laughing...
• If you're married to Mr. HouseChick or Mr. Mizzle...
• If you own both twitternames @mrhousechick and @mrmizzle...
• If you have to write your twitter name under your real name on nametags to have your friends recognize you, you might be Twitterati.
• If you ever replaced your Twitter Icon with something that said e-Twit, you need help … I mean you are the Twitterati.
• If you know the qualifications for e-Twit without having to look it up...
• If people who AREN'T in the real estate business know your Twitter name, and EVER reference you by it …
• If your children have ever called you by your Twitter name …
• If you ever tried to explain Twitter to someone only to give up half-way through the conversation...
• If you've ever declared a Twitter-hiatus and you only lasted 45 minutes in the cold silence of a Twitterless world, you might be Twitterati.
• If you secretly wish for Fail Whale schwag, you might be Twitterati.
• If an item you wear in your Twitter avatar is now a social object...
• If you have jewelry custom made with the @ symbol, you are Twitterati...
• If you've ever been in a blip war...
• If you miss McLovin...
• If you're thinking of lobby-conning Inman Connect New York, just because you want to go to the parties...
• If you've been to an Altos Research After, After Hours Party, you're Twitterati for life.

And finally, if you have been to more than one Altos After After Party, you're not just Twitterati, but Twitterati SUPER elite.

Are you Twitteratti? Tell us why.

At last a blog about real estate

Just heard about this site a few days ago.  I think it is so exciting that I now have a place to go to connect with the real estate community.  A real estate blog where we can get some tips and how-to's, why didn't someone think of this before?

Daisy Unchained part 1

You can tell by the title of this post that I am being bad.  Some days I just can't help myself. 

Daisy, my dog, the pup on the sidebar has never been chained but she does have a leash and when she is outside she does have to be tied up.  Beagles are smart dogs but they have the tendency to wonder away from home.  They are tracking dogs and will pick up a sent and follow it until they are hopelessly lost.

She is also very friendly and I know that she found a person or a dog person to talk too she would be out of here in a heart beat.

She would make a great blogger becasue she is so friendly and she doesn't quit once she picks up a sent.  She is like a machine in her relentless pursuit of people, dogs and small furry critters.

Daisy does not have opposable digits so she really can't have a blog of her own. She can't handle a camera either. Photos are such an important part of a real estate blog and so is having a kind of conversational tone.  Real estate blogs need to be friendly, yet they also need to have some solid information in them.  People like to look at pictures of property, and see neighborhoods, street scenes, public buildings and sunsets too.  Readers see the pictures and get a sense that they have traveled to a new place.

My real estate blog is "hyper local"  If you look at it you will notice that it really does cover a variety of topics, but the idea is to create a kind of atmosphere where the reader just knows that they are visiting St. Paul, and they are reading a kind of letter from some one who lives, and works in St. Paul.  It is highly focused on what I do for a living . . . but that is becasue it is a business blog. 

There are many different styles of blog that work.  The writer should chose a style that is natural and easy for them so that they can post on a consistent basis.  The consistency is a huge part of what makes a blog work.  It helps to write about something that you have a passion for.  Like historic homes, architecture, golf, fishing, there are a wide range of topics that can be integrated into a real estate blog and bloggers are only limited by their imagination.

I don't get why people think of blogs as being technical.  A ton of technology goes into producing the local newspaper, yet no one talks about having to be "techie" to publish a newspaper. The amount of technology used to create and maintain a blog is so little that I don't understand why we talk about it at all.

Blogs are about user generated content.  Users who can generate content can have a blog.  They are also social in nature, not anti-social.  To have a great blog there are only four things needed:
1.  Content
2. The desire to be social, or socialize.
3. Commitment.
4. An imagination.

When it comes to technical the best investment a blogger can make is to learn how to take photos and post them.  The most important skills for any blogger are communication skills.  Without them nothing else really matters.

When looking for educational opportunities think in terms of ideas, broad concepts, marketing, writing, photography and how to develop an online persona that is friendly, welcoming and social. . . . I guess bloggers don't have to be all that friendly, weird seems to work for me. . . . but in a nice way . . I hope.

This is part 1 of a series, a kind of intro.  If anyone would like to contribute a post they would be most welcome. I could use some more daisy's too, it will be months before it is warm enough to have flowers to photograph.   Future segments will include topic ideas, how to take pictures with a point and shoot camera and upload them, blog plat forms, mobile blogs, photo blogs, what is a wiki? social networks, property marketing, tools, tricks and widgets.

If you stumbled on this  and are not sure what a blog is, here is an excellent overview: "Blogs in Plain English".