Category: Blogging (page 18 of 84)

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I think I have a pretty good track record at picking contributors for BloodhoundBlog. The people who write here are a cut above, clearly, but I think what sets them apart is that they are all so interested in getting better. We’re all constantly reading, learning, thinking, inventing, re-inventing, and we all end up driving each other to new ideas. I love this, as you might guess, since it pushes me to do better, also.

Here’s a true confession: When Russell Shaw approached me to write with us, I wasn’t quite sure what to do about him. It was still just me and Cathy in those days. We knew of Russell, of course — no one who lives in Phoenix does not know of Russell Shaw. I have no idea what Russell’s firing clause looks like, but I built our firing clause from the literal words on his radio commercial: “Fire me at any time.”

Even so, I would not have thought to trust the Russell Shaw I knew through the radio. I had no reason to distrust him, nothing except the generalized mistrust in which I hold all Realtors I don’t know. In truth, there are a lot of genuinely nice people out there, but our business attracts more than its share of crooks, misanthropes and morons. I had no reason to think ill of Russell, but I had no reason to think well of him, either.

Two facts swung the balance for me. Second was Russell’s having mentioned that he had read Hugh Hewitt’s book on weblogging. Anyone who actually prepares for a new undertaking can’t be all bad. But first, I had read in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent that Russell knew that in the previous year his team had gotten 519 listings from 912 listing appointments. My impression of Russell was changed from then on — not the production, but the presence of mind to have tracked the statistics.

You can laugh at me, if you want, for having been so careful about what has turned out to be such a great decision. BloodhoundBlog is what it is because we don’t Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Odysseus Medal this week goes to Geno Petro for Geno’s Wrong (bang a gong):

My mother brings in a ham sandwich on a kaiser roll from the kitchen. It has mayo, mustard and a pickle on it. Onion, too. I rarely eat any of those things but I dare not say a word for fear of offending her.  “Diet Coke?” she asks.

“No mom…you know what Paris Hilton says about Diet Coke, don’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t like her.” declares Mitzi.

“What?” my dad pipes in, apparently with a different opinion of the media icon.

“Only fat people drink Diet Coke,” I say.

“Fat people?”

“Yeah, it’s a joke I think.” I say,  now wondering myself if it’s even funny. They don’t get it and now, I don’t get it either. My wife Mona, is taking a nap upstairs, belly full with as many sandwiches as she’s probably eaten in a month. The volume is turned down on the television and closed captions are streaming across the top third of the screen, covering  the faces of everyone on the Fox News Network. My parents read, watch and comment unfavorably whenever someone bashes Hillary or Obama and hiss in unison when anything positive is said about Bush or the War. I ask them why they even watch Fox at all if they are Democrats but they don’t really get the question. I guess I don’t really get it either in this particular election year. Perhaps they just have trouble working the remote and are afraid to mess with the Dish. There are Post-it notes taped to everything electronic in the house and most things static, as well.

And despite what I have just witnessed, I feel like I too, am losing market share quickly in this wildly out of control time warp where one second I’m a kid and the next, I’m in my 50s selling real estate in a down market.  In 10 minutes, I’ll be my father looking for any small victory I can muster. I sometimes feel as if I’m lagging behind all the youth and technology in my chosen industry of real estate. I have to read something three times before it makes sense, lately. I can only Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We have 13 entries on the short list this week, out of a long long list of 74 posts. I’ve already decided on the winner of the Odysseus Medal, so I’m not linking that way. Instead, again this week I’m showing nothing but Black Pearls, practical hard-headed ideas for working better, faster and more profitably.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

< ?PHP $AltEntries = array ( "Barry Cunningham -- Marketer, Advertiser or a Salesperson? Are you a Marketer, Advertiser or a Salesperson?”,
“Barry Cunningham — Sun Tzu and the Art of the Short Sale Sun Tzu and the Art of the Short Sale“,
“Chris Johnson — Rapport Rapport: You Don’t Matter. You Are Here To Add Value“,
“Daniel Rothamel — Getting Myself Organized Getting Myself Organized (with a little help from Chris Brogan)“,
“Darren Rowse — Should I Change My Website Into a Blog? Should I Change My Website Into a Blog?“,
“Jeff Turner — Panasonic Lumix FX35 vs. Kodak v705 Panasonic Lumix FX35 vs. Kodak v705“,
“Jim Cronin — Blogging SEO All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So.“,
“John Coley — Talk Like a Woman? Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?“,
“Mark Collier — 10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog Traffic 10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog Traffic“,
“Mary McKnight — 1 Month of blog topics 1 Month of blog topics: Ultimate guide to building real estate blog content that gets results“,
“Mary McKnight — Real Estate blogs are stores Real Estate blogs are stores, not newspapers – so blog like you are selling houses, not writing for your local paper“,
“Sean Purcell — What’s Your Six Month Plan? What’s Your Six Month Plan?“,
“Tony Schuricht — Make your buyers Read more