Seattle area? Come join me for an evening of Blogging 101 and discussion. - 11/22/06 01:40 AM
One of my friends founded a business networking group called Biznik.
If you are in the Greater Seattle area. I am holding a meeting on Thursday, November 30th from 5 PM to 8 PM @
Third Place Books- Lake Forest Park Towne CentreAddress: 17171 Bothell Way NE Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 
This is an open 'go anywhere' conversation meeting and happy hour combined. I will personally be discussing friendly ideas for doing business online through blogging, search engine optimization, word of mouth, and buzz marketing. I don't care if you are a beginner or an expert in your field, but I'll be … (1 comments)

Why blogging and being a kid are nearly identical - 11/20/06 06:51 PM

At some point, we all realize that we have no clue. We are kids that don't even know how to play. Yet then we pick up the ball, bounce it a few times, and fairly soon we are making new friends. 
I’m sure we are all experts in various things- one of my strengths is writing. I’ve written media copy, magazine articles, classified ads, government grants, a book or two, technical manuals, job postings, executive presentations, lines for stand-up comedy, intensive plot for theatre, and a few strange ideas on post-it notes.
When you are an expert in a specific field, … (35 comments)

Online Communities- What are they? Why are they? - 11/20/06 05:46 PM
*Disclaimer- Blogging Systems is in the business of building online community sites utilizing blogging and social networking software.

Wikipedia defines an online or virtual community as- A virtual community or online community is a group of people that primarily or initially communicates or interacts via the Internet. The dawn of the "information age" found groups communicating electronically rather than face to face. A "Computer-mediated community" (CMC) uses social software to regulate the activities of participants. An online community such as one responsible for collaboratively producing open source software is sometimes called a development community. Significant socio-technical change has resulted from … (7 comments)

What makes a blogger worthwhile? - 11/20/06 01:09 AM
I get a lot of inquiries regarding how to write effectively in a variety of markets. Blogging is a different beast from periodical or printed media- it lives and breathes. Once you let the cat out of the box, it can run around on it's own accord and never come back home. While it can be a scary thought to blaze your thoughts to the electronic world- it can also be an incredibly enlightening act.  In regular print media, you have a moment of absolute 'crisis' as you sign off on the final draft of your article and it goes to … (2 comments)

I survived NAR - 11/14/06 03:40 PM
BloggingSystems was at NAR over the weekend and I had to sorely relax my blogging duties on all aspects to get everything ready for the weekend. It was an amazingly good conference for us. My friends Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney (our CEO and VP of Marketing) had a great release of their book Realty Blogging, I had the chance to have some wonderful introductions with Matt Heaton, Jonathan Washburn, John and Mary McKnight, Ralph Roberts and a list of endless other smart and inspiring people.
Our booth was staffed by ten employees through the entire convention and always had several … (3 comments)

Do you love I-Pods and want to share data? - 11/07/06 03:57 PM
Some of my peers have been going back and forth about what metrics really lay at the heart of Real Estate Marketing. To address the issue, our CEO came up with a great way to compile a report that can help everyone involved in the process. I think there are some amazingly smart professionals here on ActiveRain and I would love to get them to partake in the survey so that it is as comprehensive as possible and details what I feel is The Best of the Best.
If you can think of other interesting metrics you would like to see, zip … (0 comments)

Win a Real Estate Blog at NARdi Gras from Blogging Systems - 11/07/06 03:28 PM
We are giving away a free Community Publisher real estate blog valued at $2500 dollars and change. The catch is, you have to come to New Orleans to get it! We’re giving it away at NARdi Gras.
Community Publisher is a real estate marketing tool that:
Generates Real Estate LeadsBuilds Brand AwarenessPlaces your company in front of thousands of website visitors Visit the Blogging Systems booth #981 for your chance to win. (OK…so you can’t make it to NARdi Gras…we give in. You still have a chance to win.)
… (2 comments)

NAR Schedule - 11/07/06 03:23 PM
Thursday night I’ll be leaving the wonderful security of my Seattle lifestyle and jet setting down to NAR in New Orleans. I’ll be getting off the plane at 9:00 in the morning, which mean I’ll have to double my morning dose of coffee.
This year the NAR conference will be a blast. A good portion of our team will be on the show floor, helping with feature panels, and meeting with a variety of contacts we’ve made across the country. I’m jazzed up about it. I really look forward to meeting the people behind the conversations I’ve participated in here. … (2 comments)

Laugh of the Day - 11/06/06 10:47 PM
This has nothing to do with real estate or blogging.... or does it?
This post is about The Show - with ZeFrank
The above link takes you to a zany guy who does a daily video blog covering all sorts of topics. It can be funny and sometimes pushes the envelope with odd humour and personal commentary.
Yet I cannot deny, ZeFrank knows how to market himself online. He has 3000 forum members talking about his antics on a daily basis. Each day he takes 4-6 hours to produce one little 3-5 minute blurp. Sometimes his videos are downloaded hundreds of thousands of … (3 comments)

Just Ask Barry- How do I expand my network? - 11/06/06 10:24 PM
One question I keep receiving over and over again from real estate professionals is “what online services can help me expand my network?”  One of my favourite face to face networking sites is www.Meetup.com. It maintains a very active list of over two million people that are categorized into various groups by interest and geography that usually meet once or twice a month. I have literally met hundreds of potential clients and business contacts in friendly dinners and casual gathering focused on topics I have an interest in.
For example- just in the Seattle area I belong to the following meetup … (3 comments)

Congrats on the Realty Blogging Book - 11/06/06 08:07 PM

I have to add honorable mention to my friends Richard Nacht (BloggingSystems CEO) and Paul Chaney (our VP of Marketing) for having a successful release of the book they co-authored: Realty Blogging.
They have been bouncing around the best selling list on Amazon for the past few days even thought the book doesn't get shipped out from Amazon until the 15th and they have also been invited to do a book signing at NAR. I have to give them an official round of applause for putting that book together. You can read more about it here on Paul's blog post.
As … (3 comments)

Just Ask Barry- What is Technorati? - 11/06/06 02:21 PM
As part of my Just Ask Barry articles-
“I've heard a lot about Technorati, but - what does it do, why should we use it, and then HOW do we use it?” Sharon Simms.
What is Technorati?
Technorati is a search engine that indexes blogs. When you post an article to ActiveRain (or most blogs in general) the system sends out a message to various blog directories and search engines. This message is called a ‘ping’.
When Technorati receives a ping, it sends an automated search spider to take a look at the recent article you just wrote. It … (11 comments)

Writing Tips: I’ve got Writer’s Block, Now What? - 11/06/06 12:12 AM
Typical Causes of Writer’s Block- Most of us have great ideas trapped in our heads. Yet we want everything we write to have a “perfect” quality to it. In normal talking, we have built up the experience to talk through our fumbles and errors while trying to keep ourselves at least partially graceful. Writing is different. When our thoughts are placed on a physical page before us, they seem concrete. We look at them and wonder if our words are wrong, we begin to question ourselves, and pretty soon every thought that is transcribed to the written word gets erased by … (7 comments)

Absolute Tech for the Busy Office - 11/05/06 09:12 PM
In searching for nifty tools to use with my office cohorts, I came across two little browser plugins that offer a great feature- the ability to share notes and information on websites that I visit.  The first one is www.trailfire.com. It allows you to add notes, pictures, and video to any webpage you visit. Anyone who has the plugin installed can see your notes (or you can set the notes to private or friends only). You can used the trailfire plugin to create a virtual tour of different sites, and users are prompted with page buttons to walk through your comments. … (0 comments)

Just Ask Barry- What is link popularity? - 11/05/06 09:01 PM
As part of my Just Ask Barry line of answers- I shortened the question from a friendly reader here on AR.   Link Popularity is the metric of quality AND quality of web sites linking to your site. The number and quality of sites has a good amount of significance in determining where your site ranks in search results.
Many SEO companies concentrate a lot of effort on matching search terms and alliances with quality sites that include the terms you are looking to reach.
Two very easy tactics for increasing link popularity you should consider added to your blog knowledge-
Visit … (2 comments)

Blogging 101- Historical Conversation - 11/05/06 08:37 PM
In a radio interview I recently did, I briefly touched on one of the real benefits of blogging- historical conversation.
What is historical conversation?
Historical conversation is what happens when an article is taken from a blog and indexed by the major search engines. Very popular phrases and search terms used in a conversation will continue to pull up an article that was written two years ago along with all the commentary and discussion surrounding it.
When a new visitor arrives and reads it for the first time, they have the ability to add additional remarks to the previous … (0 comments)

Great blog site to learn about Tech... TechCrunch - 11/05/06 12:13 AM
As most of my friends here are not techy blogger geeks like I am, I would like to take a moment and point you over to TechCrunch.
According to TechCrunch itself- "is a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to new companies, we will profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space."
Why am I pointing this out to all you Real Estate people? Easy- knowing about the latest and greatest internet sites and services coming out is VITAL to you maximizing the benefits they provide. … (2 comments)

Blogging Just- Just Ask Barry - 11/05/06 12:03 AM
I was thinking for awhile about what I could offer the ActiveRain community in terms of strange skills and professional outlook. Could I be superman and leap tall buildings? Probably not. Could I sing a Podcast for the ActiveRain slogan song? Probably, but you'd all turn me off and send me comments to keep my day job. 
So I'm offering an open 'Question of the Day' for members of Active Rain. 
As often as possible (baring holidays, special sporting events, and potential events), I'll sort through my comments and e-mails and provide an in-depth answer to any question related to blogging, online social … (1 comments)

Brain-storming and Dry-Spell Writing Ideas - 11/04/06 08:54 PM
One of the most crucial elements of successful blogging is consistent writing over time. If more than a few days go by without some up to date writing, readers will slowly and surely stop checking your blog. Yet even the most prolific and creative mind has writer’s block and dry spells where nothing comes out. The following list provides some suggestions for days when bringing your creative energy out seems to lead nowhere.
Share your thoughts on a current topic. Browse through the top five article or news links on your blog and find a recent topic that you have … (6 comments)

Writing effective blog articles - 11/04/06 08:51 PM
There is no cardinal rule of how to blog. Blogging is about providing your ideas and information in an easy to interpret manner, with the goal of opening a new line of communication. With no specific rules, there are key elements that many successful bloggers pay attention to- Some recommendations to writing blog entries-
Keep writing short, focused, informative, and easy to understand. The average person reads 200 words per minute. Keep articles to the point and under reasonable time limits. A typical entry should not exceed 250 words and you should reread anything over 500 to make sure you are … (3 comments)

BloggingSystems on Mike Kent's "Radio Real Estate" - 11/04/06 03:01 PM
This morning I did a radio show with Mike Kent on his “Radio Real Estate” program on KGMI am 790. (we'll get a link to the show when available)
A quick recap- Online communication is changing the real estate industry back into a word of mouth business. Five years ago online marketing and brand building concentrated on getting eyes to look at what you had to offer. The technology of blogging has changed that formula into “providing interaction with the minds of people”, rather than focus of what you are interested in offering; blogs open a two way door for communication … (0 comments)

The University District - 11/03/06 10:40 PM
The University Distict- home of the University of Washington, excellent walking shopping areas, some great restaurants, and a great selection of independent stores.
1) Giggles Comedy Club 5220 Roosevelt Way, Seattle, WA 98105 Phone: 206-526-5653 Giggles serves up a full bar and menu as well as great laughs. Friday and Saturday nights are hosted by comedians from all around the country, including many top-name acts that have been seen on various late-night shows. Thursdays and Sundays are “open mike” and the venue tends to be a little more friendly for the family. 2) Seven Gabels Theater 911 N.E. 50th Street at … (0 comments)

Seattle's Park List - 11/03/06 10:39 PM
Seattle has a variety of major parks including Discovery, Volunteer, Seward, the Washington Park Arboretum, and Gasworks. The large size of these parks highlights them in the community, but there are also many small parks that feature great places for picnics and scenic views of the area. A number of these parks are named for local figures, giving you an idea that Seattle is a place of interest and intrigue depending on the park.
1) Emma Schmitz Overlook The Schmitz family donated this park in 1945. It has outstanding views of the sound, including Bainbridge Island, Kitsap Peninsula, and Vashon Island. … (0 comments)

Real Estate and Blogging - 11/03/06 10:38 PM
Over the years the left and right sides of my brain have been invaded by thinking about the way real estate online has evolved along a parallel path with other online technologies. In general real estate as a whole has been a few steps behind other industries in applying various marketing and networking strategies to the online model. As blogging and social interaction software evolves, I foresee a push to establish real estate campaigns past a product level and further into a public relations level.
In essence, companies are slowly evolving into a reverse ‘client reference’ idea.
This line of … (0 comments)

Blog Business Summit - 11/03/06 10:34 PM
Over the years, my personal ‘theme’ has evolved around two primary phrases- “Changing Reality” and “Technical Disaster”. Both are tongue-in-cheek outlooks at where the world is today, and where we can go. Technology (not just on the web) is evolving so quickly on a basic level there are amazing new avenues to travel down. That leads me to today’s topic- the Blog Business Summit. The fundamental feeling here at the summit is peeking into the future, not only asking “where are we going?” but also “where do we want to go?”

After dealing with all levels of clients in businesses … (2 comments)

Local to the Puget Sound- listen in Nov 5th. - 11/03/06 10:25 PM
My name is Barry Hurd. I'm a Seattle local who loves the northwest, enjoys making new connections, and is always looking for interesting people to hook-up with.  I write in many other locations on a frequent basis, and I just started adding ActiveRain to my writing list.
For those of you who are real estate oriented and want to know about blogging- I just found out that I'll be doing a radio show with realtor Mike Kent  Saturday morning at 10:00 AM on Puget Sound "Radio Real Estate" program, KGMI am 790 (located just north of Seattle).
I know it is last … (1 comments)

 

Barry Hurd

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