The Energy of ActiveRain - 01/25/11 12:38 AM
The fastest way you can tell the health of an organization or a person is to observe their energy. We are all wired to pick up on energy and we can observe it on two levels:
1. Intensity (high and low) and 2. Direction (positive and negative). 
Constantly throughout the day I do a personal self assessment of my energy on both levels: intensity and direction. As a manager I am also constantly feeling the vibe of "the room" and checking in with my fellow co-workers to make sure that the office has a healthy atmosphere. When the office is feeling off … (123 comments)

Reputation Architecture: How to multiply the effects of 'Remarkable Service' - 01/19/11 08:03 PM
"I think we live in a new age of transparency, which is a great thing if you're fantastic at customer service. Customer service is the new marketing" ~Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp

The real estate industry is on the cusp of the biggest shift in marketing strategy ever. Over the last few years we saw the widespread adoption of blogging and social media, and the decade before that was characterized by IDX-based lead generation. The future will bring the age of Reputation Architecture, and the real estate professionals who execute on this change will be highly rewarded.
The effectiveness of capturing leads from … (136 comments)

Your Internet First Impression - 01/15/11 10:11 PM
Your "Internet First Impression" is what people see when they do a search for your name. It's important that you do an audit regularly to see how you look to people who are seeking to get to know you. 
In conjunction with my audit today I took the following actions:
1. Since most of my user accounts were under the username "jonwashburn" and I have been splitting my SEO power between two names I decided to change my professional name to "Jon Washburn" from "Jonathan Washburn."
2. I created a profile on the new profile service About.me. You can see what … (100 comments)

A peek into ActiveRain's corporate culture - 01/13/11 04:28 AM
One of the things that I get most excited about in my job is when one of our team members executes on one of their ideas to make our company better. Will Curry has done just that with the creation of the ActiveRain Vlog!
Today he talked with some of our coworkers about the culture at ActiveRain. Please take a moment to watch the video and get to know our family a bit better. 
The Active Culture from ActiveRain Vlog on Vimeo.
… (79 comments)

My proudest accomplishment with ActiveRain - 01/11/11 05:27 PM
"Do you have any questions for us?" Doug asked at the end of the interview, after we had put this potential ActiveRain employee through the ringer. She replied with a doozy.
"What is your proudest accomplishment with ActiveRain?"
This one caught my interviewing partner and I completely flat-footed. We expected to hear one of the handful of softball questions that are usually lobbed at us to round down an interview. Questions like, "Do you have health benefits?", or "When will I hear from you about whether or not I got the job?". We never expected to be giving an account of … (107 comments)

The home buying paradox of choice - 01/11/11 02:14 AM

According to a study conducted by two Social Psychology professors at Columbia University, a jam shopper is ten times as likely to buy a jar of jam when they are presented with six choices of jam flavors instead of twenty four. In other words, the jam shopper is ten times as likely to be successful and satisfied in their mission to secure jam when they are choosing from a selection that is 75% smaller. 
Yet, if you ask that same jam shopper if they would rather choose from six choices or twenty four, they will always indicate a preference towards the … (64 comments)

Curing Social Media Addiction - 01/10/11 04:22 PM
Utilizing social media marketing and networking tactics to improve your business is good. Letting it overtake your life, causing ruin to your business, and detachment in your real social life is not.
Real estate sales is a social business and naturally draws people who are more inclined to become social and internet addicts. Fortunately, awareness of these dangers is increasing and products and services are being created to help people keep a healthy balance. 
Here are two examples of products I've stumbled upon over the last 24 hours:
Anti-Social: A software program that allows you to self-restrict access to social website for … (42 comments)

 

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