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online: Pythons and Emoticons-- Why It's Hard To Discern Emotion From Online Thoughts - 02/21/08 12:30 PM
There I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle online when the headline grabbed me: "Gulp, The Pythons Are Coming" and I clicked in.  Seems there are pet pythons abandoned to the wild in Florida and they've proved highly adaptable and somewhat mobile-- they can, apparently, travel up to 20 miles a day!  The story continues with a somewhat forked-tongue-in-cheek description of how long and how possible it would be for these reptiles to make their way across the country.  What's great about this story isn't the python, the ludicrous time-line of migration, or the fact that a puff piece like this could … (8 comments)

online: Wells Fargo's Business and Real Estate Financing Group Selects PsPrint for Templates - 07/19/07 05:37 PM
PsPrint, LLC has announced that it will assist Wells Fargo's Business and Real Estate Financing Group (BREF) in creating and fulfilling direct marketing tools and resources for BREF's independent brokerage network.  PsPrint LLC is a leading provider of printing, mailing and design services for small and medium-sized businesses and specializes in producing direct mail solutions for the real estate and mortgage industries.  The alliance will deliver brokers with professionally-produced design templates suitable for customization by independent brokers to market themselves more efficiently to consumers and businesses.    
"They were trying to find a way to better support their brokerage network with the tools … (2 comments)

online: Traditional Courtesy and Online Behavior -- Flaming Has Consequences! - 06/25/07 01:11 PM
Do we take advantage of the relative anonymity of the Internet to be more rude and insensitive online than we would be in person?  The thought occurred to me after responding to a blog post here on AR about a month and a half ago when I chastised the post writer for being spiteful toward a company that didn't react 'fast enough' in his mind to resolve a dispute.  
The blog poster contends he was well withing his rights to 'flame' a company online because they 'should have known' and should have prevented the collection agency they utilized [for a legitimate claim] from attempting to collect … (4 comments)

online: Find and Keep The Online Booty! - 04/20/07 01:43 PM
I read this morning in RISMedia's digest a quick article by Stefan Swanepoel titled "Pirate or Partner? A Closer Look At Lead Generation."  This article reaffirms what I've long contended-- like any other sales mechanism, success with online leads is dependent upon playing the numbers game, not obsessing about the deals that "didn't" happen, and concentrating on doing enough of the right things with the opportunities that you can work to create an overall positive ROI.
Swanepoel contends that online lead generation, like any lead generation, is a numbers game and that a heavy proportion of the activity that happens is simply junk … (0 comments)

online: 'Logo and Brand' Protection Made Easy Online - 03/29/07 01:37 PM
The big franchises all have 'em but it still surprises me how many other brokerages and offices don't-- and they easily could!  I'm talking about a design center with protected images so agents can produce business cards, flyers, postcards, and other marketing materials quickly and easily without risk of the company's 'logo and brand' being distorted or misused by poor designs. 
We just completed building a template for an up-and-coming brokerage in Central Florida, Five Star Realty Group, LLC, so they now can produce materials quickly and easily online without paying their graphic designer for routine jobs that can be automated.  Jose Fleming, the broker, asked us to find a way that he could continue his … (2 comments)

online: Who's Entitled to the "Lead" Online-- the 80 or the 20? - 03/26/07 09:48 PM
I ponder things.  I'm a ponderer.  I mull this way and consider that way and-- when I'm in the mood-- I ponder from many angles.  And recently I started pondering about this whole online lead question.  After considerable pondering, I became convinced of two things:  1) online leads are clearly diamonds in the rough and 2) a lot of people have a strange sense of entitlement when it comes to who should get to extract these diamonds.  
For years I've watched [and occasionally participated in] the debate about online leads and the many lead generation companies that provide them to REALTORS®.  Clearly there are folks who have used lead generators and have benefitted from them-- just as there are … (40 comments)

online: Different Vantages Yield Vastly Different Views -- An Online Marketing Issue - 03/21/07 12:18 PM
A post on RealTalk last night about a change in HomeGain's Agent Evaluator product caught my eye.  As a former Director of Sales for HomeGain, I know a little bit about the company's products and how they work most efficiently.  The RealTalker was essentially calling out how things in the 'lead aggregator world' have changed so drastically that HomeGain is forced to eliminate their 'free' subscription to AE and now charge $29.95 a month for participation with the product.  The implication seemed to be that the push for revenue in a down market extended deep-- and that vantage is probably true, but not … (3 comments)

online: "I Got People" -- Social Networking and Your Business Plan - 01/23/07 06:45 PM
H&R Block is using this as a tagline to this year's tax season marketing campaign-- despite the crummy syntax!  It must be working somehow because I remembered the tagline and their name.  But it came to my mind in the context of reading and commenting on Jaclyn Erwin's blog today about databases.  I wrote: 
"Ask your clients to bookmark your website, return to it often, and to periodically update their contact information with you so they can remain 'eligible' for any special promotions or offers you might extend to your 'personal' network.  Also, allow them an opportunity to state what they 'do' … (0 comments)

online: Zillow To Replace Realtor® Expertise? Look At The Baby! - 01/03/07 11:53 AM
The splash made by Zillow's online launch last year and the ripples it continues to cast across the industry are well-documented across the blogosphere-- and passing judgement on Zillow and similar tools isn't my purpose here.  Rather, I reflect on the hysterical tone and the often paranoid thinking that marked so many of last year's postings.  The secretive style and the mystery prior to Zillow's launch kept speculation about their model at a fever pitch.  Though few people really knew anything at all, the lack of facts did little to deter the volume of presumption-- so much so that the launch was somewhat anti-climatic.  But everyone, it seemed, had … (10 comments)

online: Getting Started Being Successful -- Both of Us and Plain Talk About Sales 101 - 12/06/06 07:29 PM
Let's face it-- if this is going to work we're going to have to try and help each other become more successful.  And that's OK.  You may be a Realtor® or someone looking to find a Realtor®.  Either way, I can probably help you with that.  You may want to market yourself more effectively to your potential prospects-- whether you're in real estate or some other walk of life.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to expose yourself to more potential opportunities.  I want that.  I bet you do as well.  So let me tell you my plan.
My challenge is to create relationships … (0 comments)

 
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