Simon Conway is NOT a Moron

I just enjoyed a very prolonged and delightful conversation today with one of our members, Simon Conway. It was a phone call that was long overdue. As a Community Builder for ActiveRain, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone (just ask my wife & kids) talking with the members of our beloved community. It's a part of my role that I thoroughly enjoy.

Today's phone call with Simon came as the result of my recent post, "ActiveRain - A Purpose Driven Community" and some of the perceived concerns and misinterpretations that were being stated in the comments section as a result.

I have read many of Simon's ActiveRain articles, and have followed a number of his comment streams. He becomes a legal U.S. citizen on May 22nd, an accomplishment that I proudly applaud him for. Read his ActiveRain profile and become better acquainted with him. You'll be glad you did.

Simon was kind enough to initiate our phone call and discuss our views intelligently, as opposed to comparing me to Adolf Hitler.

He made some valid points, one being, that regardless of how honest/genuine my views may be, I don't have the luxury of having my own personal opinions anymore, at least as they relate to our community. Part of me wishes this weren't the case. As a licensed real estate professional, I like to believe that I'm a vested member, just like the rest of you, and entitled to an opinion. Unfortunately, that's not possible.

And so, I apologize for thinking I could have my own personal opinion, apart from my role with ActiveRain. I promise that I will be more cognizant of that reality in the future.

Additionally, Simon also made some suggestions on how to improve our Network. He recommended that we hire an East Coast based Community Builder, and that we consider holding an annual ActiveRain Convention. I think there is tremendous value in providing opportunities for our members to meet in person. It serves to strengthen and solidify the friendships we've already started. Even something as simple as a phone call can make a world of difference. I will share these suggestions with the rest of the AR Team.

Thanks, Simon, for a very helpful and engaging conversation. And congrats again on becoming a U.S. citizen. We could use a few more patriots.

P.S. Just so we're clear here...I have never considered Simon to be a moron. It's a private joke that I know he would appreciate.

"Open Mouth, Insert Fine" or "Real Estate Roulettel"

With the advent of the Internet, information has become accessible at blinding speed. Want to know the migrating habits of the South African Gnu? What is the proper way to eat sushi? Or what was the original color of coca-cola? Powerful search engines enable us to locate virtually anything we want at the touch of a few keys. Websites, forums, and networks abound where we can obtain answers for every conceivable question. Information equips and empowers. It serves to form our opinions and guides our decisions.

This rapid accessibility and transfer of information is changing the way we conduct business as well. Companies and business professionals are moving away from one-sided, static websites to dynamic, interactive platforms, such as blogging, that allow consumers the ability to directly engage in virtual conversations.

Open and transparent dialog is a welcomed development in the real estate industry. The shrouds of mystery surrounding our profession have been quickly dissipating, offering consumers a well-deserved look into the inner-workings of the real estate world.

But there are inherent dangers to this new-found ‘free-for-all’ of information. And the potentially damaging ramifications exist for either side of the discussion.

Here’s an example of an actual ‘real’ question that was recently posed by a consumer on a popular real estate site:

“We just recently put our home on the market and we’re wondering, what is the selling market like now? What is the average time to sell a home in the $800K range?”

I’m not going to publish the various ‘responses’ to this inquiry (there were 5 answers at last look), but suffice it to say that all of the respondents chimed in with very detailed local markets statistics, jockeying and positioning themselves as the undisputed resident authorities. Almost all of them offered some measure of advice or counsel, and added the ‘perfunctory’ “for more information, my website/email is blah, blah, blah“….

What I found curiously missing was the question that should always be asked right out of the gate:

“Are you currently working with a licensed real estate professional?”

I’m thinking to myself, does this person have their home listed through a licensed agent, or are they attempting to market it on their own?

As real estate professionals, it’s ingrained into us from almost day one (Realtor Code of Ethics, Article 16) NOT to engage, counsel, or solicit someone who is, by contract, under representation by another agent. When in doubt, ASK!
And, as a consumer who is asking the question, how do you know if the individuals responding to your questions are actually ‘qualified’ to answer accurately? Are they licensed in the State where your home is located? Do they know and understand the unique nuances of your particular area? Who holds them accountable if they provide you with misleading or false information?

Now don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled about all the advancements in Internet technology and their impact on the real estate industry. Many of the applications are having a very positive effect, both for us professionals, and for consumers.

But as real estate professionals, in our drive and desire to be helpful, we need to be ethically prudent, and exercise caution on what we say, and to whom we respond.

And, as consumers, though the Internet opens up a unlimited wealth of resources, remember that ultimately, real estate is local. The best way to obtain a qualified response?

Ask a local expert.

"Pacific Northwest TwitterFest 2008!"

Calling all TwitterBugs in the Greater Pacific Northwest! We're in the process of coordinating an event in the next couple months, and inviting all our fellow Twits to join us.

We're open to suggestions on venue location and time/day. Is there a Sushi bar that holds 100? Would you prefer Seattle? Vancouver? Portland? Centralia?

Leave your name and RSVP in the 'Comments' section, or send me a DM on Twitter to 'activerich' if you're interested in getting involved....

  Rich Jacobson ~ Community Builder ~ Social Media Guy

"Just What Part of 'Referral' Do You Not Understand?"

Okay, jumping up on my soapbox today. For those of you who actually 'get' this, please forgive my rant in advance!

We have a feature here on ActiveRain. It's called the "Referral Exchange." It's one of the primary tabs, right there at the top of your AR page. It's for the expressed purpose of passing referral clients between our members. Here's the definition/requirements clearly stated on the referral submission page:

"The Referral Exchange is the place for members to effectively pass/share client referrals with one another. A referral is a 'live' client contact, someone who is seriously considering either buying or selling a home in the near future. The Referral Network IS NOT a place to advertise your listings, promote your development, or solicit 'potential' referral partners for some unknown possibility down the road. It is ONLY for members to share/pass actual 'live' clients who need a real estate professional to assist them now."

The Referral Exchange IS NOT a means of promoting yourself as a 'potential' referree or referrer. It's only for passing 'live' clients who are legitimately in the process of buying or selling real estate. PERIOD!

If you want to promote yourself as a potential referral partner, then NETWORK! Yes, that's right. NETWORK! That's why it's called the ActiveRain Real Estate NETWORK. You interact with other agents, you develop meaningful relationships, you NETWORK.

Every time someones DUMPS their self-serving, self-promoting 'so-called' referral into our system, it automatically alerts members who have genuinely taken the time to input their specific market area. Imagine their disappointment when they respond, only to find that the 'referral' is not actually a 'referral,' but is your inconsiderate tease.

How can I say this diplomatically, maintaining my professional composure as an ActiveRain Community Builder? 

"STOP DUMPING YOUR ADS INTO THE REFERRAL EXCHANGE! IT DESTROYS THE VALUE OF THIS FEATURE!

Okay, rant over. Continue with what you were doing....

Rich Jacobson

ActiveRain Community Builder/Social Media Guy 

"Striking a Balance" - Avoiding the Lop-Sided Blog - Blog Tips for Rain Drips

I'll keep this one short and to the point (okay, so maybe I'll just try hard)

"Is Your Blog Lop-Sided?" By that, I mean, "What are you writing about? Who are you writing to? Who is your target audience?"

I suppose a more foundational question would be, "Why are You here on ActiveRain?"

Please, don't take me wrong. I am not being critical of anyone in particular here. I just think it's a good thing to constantly evaluate what we do and why. Especially as it relates to our business and our yearly marketing plan. You do have a yearly marketing plan, right? Or do you just shoot from the hip?

I wrote a recent post reminding us all of the ActiveRain Weltanschauung. It's the mantra, guiding principles, and philosophy of our community. It serves to renew our energies/focus on the core purpose of our Network - real estate. In a nutshell, this platform exists to build a community that encourages and educates one another, and at the same time, provides a clearinghouse of highly valuable content for consumers.

With that in mind, let me ask again, "What are you writing about?" 

As a Community Builder for ActiveRain, I get quite a few emails from among our members asking if particular subject matter/topics are permissible or appropriate for our community. Sometimes it's recipes, other times it's jokes. Political and religious articles take a lot of hits as well.

It has been debated since the very beginning as to whether or not to allow post content that isn't real estate related. The founders of our network provided the following posting categories for us:

ActiveRain Community                                   

Obviously, the 'Off topic, humor, etc' category allows for posting content that isn't necessarily real estate related. Personally, I prefer a variety of topics/subjects on ActiveRain. I enjoy reading the human interest stories. Some of my most favorites articles have had little or nothing to do with real estate. For the most part, the content posted here will bear a direct reflection on the majority of our membership. As the Weltanschauung states, "the true value of the ActiveRain community rests entirely with its members."

It is not our plan to censor or prohibit our members for posting certain subject matter. As long as the community guidelines are followed, we will continue to embrace/promote the freedom of speech.

However, let me encourage you to consider balancing your blog. Go back through your archives and evaluate what you've been posting. Do your articles sound like a broken record? Are you constantly writing about the same topics or categories? Perhaps it might be beneficial to your readers and to your business, to write a greater variety/balance of articles? You might even want to develop a regular weekly strategy of blogging.

Let me make the following suggestions:

Create some good, quality 'Consumer-Oriented' articles that you can categorize and post to Localism.

Share some golden nuggets of sage, professional advice or experience with your Fellow Rainers.

Generate eye-catching and informative monthly market reports for your region.

Reveal something of your unique personality, and passions/interests outside of real estate.

And then, every once in a while, toss in a listing or two.

 

By 'Striking a Balance' in your writing, you'll generate a larger readership, and attract more consumer traffic to your blog!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  ~    U  P  D  A  T  E    ~   *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Allow me to clarify my primary point in this post: it starts with my lead-in question,

"Is Your Blog Lop-Sided?" By that, I mean, "What are you writing about? Who are you writing to? Who is your target audience?"

What I've observed lately within our community are members who publish very little, if any, real estate-oriented content to their blogs. Since this a network for Real Estate Professionals, our primary focus should be generating good, quality, relevant content that is related to real estate. This benefits everyone. It offers the exchange of helpful/practical expert advice among fellow professionals; it serves to educate consumer readers; and it keeps the Google spiders fat and happy! Of the five categories I mentioned, four of them are specific to real estate.  If you're only posting 'off-topic' material most of the time, then perhaps you should consider finding a social network that focuses on that particular topic? I apologize if my point wasn't clear enough.

"LinkedIn" - Social Network Review

Okay, so one of the questions I'm constantly asked is, "Which Social Networks are the best? Which ones are really worth my time investment, and will benefit my business?"

Well, in my humble opinion, it just depends. Yeah, I know. Sounds like a cop-out, right? But it's true. Just as no two people are alike, no two social networks offer quite the same features/benefits. Each one typically has a primary core focus or strength. Each one seems to specialize in reaching and catering to a particular genre/group.

LinkedIn is one of the more professionally astute network offerings (Think virtual Rolodex). If you're looking for a hot date, this ISN'T the place to go! And don't expect all the fancy gizmo's, widgets, and colorful custom backgrounds. This is your grandparent's MySpace.

HISTORY

Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. As of this past December, its site traffic was 3.2 million visitors per month, growing at an annual growth rate of about 485%. Just this March, it had more than 20 million registered users, spanning 150 different industries.

LinkedIn's current CEO is Dan Nye. The original Founder and former CEO, Reid Hoffman, previously the exec VP of PayPal, remains President of Product and Chairman of the Board. Corporate Headquarters are located in Mountain View, California. LinkedIn reached profitability in March of 2006.

CORE PURPOSE

The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know, respect, and trust in the business world. The people in the list are called Connections. Members can invite anyone (whether a current member or not) to become a connection.

This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:

• Your contact network is built up consisting of your first-tier direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second degree connections) and also the connections of second degree connections (termed third degree connections). These can be used to gain an introduction to someone you wish to know through a mutual, trusted contact.
• Your connections can be used to find jobs, people, and business opportunities recommended by someone in their contact network.
• Employers can list jobs on the network, and search for potential candidates.
• Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can possibly introduce them.

The feature LinkedIn Answers, similar to Google Answers or Yahoo! Answers, allows members to ask questions for the community to answer. This feature is free and the main differences from the two previously mentioned services are that questions are potentially more business-oriented, and the identity of the people asking and answering questions is known.

The LinkedIn Groups, feature allows members to establish new business relationships by joining alumni, industry, or professional and other relevant groups . This is another free feature of LinkedIn. Although the groups directory is not searchable from LinkedIn’s site, there is a working LinkedIn Groups Search available.

A mobile version of the site was launched in February 2008 which gives access to a reduced feature set over a mobile phone.

One of the features I have appreciated is the Profile Completeness Meter. From the moment you join, there is a meter that gauges your progress, and tells you what additional steps you need to fulfill before your Profile is complete. Another thing is that it obviously enables you to cross-over and network through multiple vocation/career/industries.

They also have a corporate LinkedIn Blog and a LinkedIn Store. 

LinkedIn is like most social networks. You get out of it what you put into it. But in my humble opinion, for business, it's one of the more serious, practical, and beneficial ones out there!

For your Further Reading Consideration:   Top 100 Tools on LinkedIn   CrunchBase Review   10 Ways to Use LinkedIn 

"Plagiarism for Dummies" - The ActiveRain Community Guidelines Re-Visited

Well, it's time once again for this weeks edition of "ActiveRain Community Guidelines Re-Visited" where we're going through each of the guidelines, one by one, and expanding on their meaning.

This weeks guideline is perhaps one of the most important, and often, the one most violated:

• Respect copyrights. Only upload content/images that you have the right to use (what you have paid for or own), and whose copyright rules allow for commercial use.
  

• Do not plagiarize (copy and paste) content from another source, and publish it as your own. You must obtain expressed permission from the original source to republish, and give reference to such within the body of your post. Permission to re-print is NOT the same as permission to re-publish.

Let me start off by confessing that I was guilty of violating this guideline very early on in my initial few weeks on ActiveRain. I was a newb. The only blogging I had done was on MySpace, and I don't think that really qualifies. I was totally ignorant about the whole 'copyright' 'plagiarism' thing.

Well, ignorance is bliss, but it doesn't keep you out of jail, or court, for that matter.

Let's start off first by defining what exactly constitutes copyright infringement:

"The original author of a particular article or blog post is the only person who has the right to derive any benefits from the publication and subsequent distribution of that article/post. You must purchase/pay for the right to publish or distribute someone else's intellectual property, otherwise you do not have permission to publish that material as content on your own blog."

I think a lot of well-intentioned, and seemingly innocent people are guilty, at one point or another, or copyright infringement or plagiarism. Many of us enter the ActiveRain blogging fray with little or no prior experience. We simply lurk and learn. We watch other members, and mimic what they appear to be doing. We assume that certain practices are accepted. But many times, they aren't.

It's usually not until someone makes a comment in your post, or sends you an e-mail, that you realize you've messed up. Or worse, one of the AR gods robs a few of your points, and you cry 'Foul!' Fortunately for me, I had some very kind mentors who helped point out the errors of my ways.

Just so we're all on the same page here, points are awarded for your own original content. Points are not bestowed when you simply reprint other people's intellectual property, whether you have permission to republish their content or not. But we'll deal with that issue at another time.

Perhaps one of the resident authorities on this subject is our own, Lenn Harley. If you peruse her blog archives, you'll find a wealth of very helpful and practical advice as it relates to copyright infringement. Lenn herself has pocketed a nice chunk of change from those who were foolish enough to mess with her content/images.

In one of her articles, "You cannot 're-print' on ActiveRain," Lenn states: 

"IF YOU DIDN'T WRITE THE ARTICLE, you do not own the content and cannot publish it - EVEN WITH ATTRIBUTION."

Hold the Bus, Gus! You mean, even if we give credit to the original author within the body of our article, we can't publish it?

Lenn goes on to say: 

"If you ask an author for permission to "REPRINT" and receive that permission, you may PRINT the article and distribute, perhaps in mailings or hand-outs in a relocation package.  The author's name will be on the article.  You are merely distributing the article and will benefit only by the limited number of copies distributed. The author still benefits by having their writing distributed."

So what you're saying is that obtaining the original writer's permission to re-print doesn't mean you have the right to re-publish their content to your own blog?

As Lenn affirms: 

"PERMISSION TO REPRINT IS NOT PERMISSION TO PUBLISH"

(Now might be a good time to go back through your archive of past blog posts, and delete/amend any suspect content, whether text or images)

So what if you only want to use a small portion of someone's content, perhaps a sentence or two, as quotes within your blog post?

Well, according to Lenn: 

"USE SNIPPETS AND LINK - THAT'S "FAIR USE"

"The proper or legal way to get the information to the reader would be to publish an "introduction" or "snippet" (three or four lines of the original material) and then LINK to the article on the author's web site. The "Fair Use" exclusion under copyright law was intended for reviewers of original material, critics of books, movies, etc. to use "SNIPPETS"or short excerpts of original material and then publish the review of the original, not the original.  When one publishes an entire article, they have violated the copyright of the author, even if you give attribution and include the author's name in the article."

~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~

So there ya go! A crash course on copyright infringement and plagiarism. I don't think we've quite covered all there is to say on this topic, so next week, I want to discuss further the issue of copyright infringement as it relates to the copying of images/pictures.

Until then, have a fun (and legal) rest of the week in the Rain! 

(Note:  All quoted source material is the intellectual property of Lenn Harley of Homefinders.com, and is used by both expressed permission and 'Fair Use' exclusion)

For further reading enjoyment:  How to Kreate Kwality Kontent   Is There Really Copyright Confusion? 

~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~   o   ~

UPDATE:  A suggestion was made to make this post available to our members when they encounter a blog post on our Network that clearly constitutes 'plariarized' (copied & pasted) content from another source, and to simply insert a link to this article into the comments section of that post. Others may feel more comfortable sending an e-mail to the fellow member, with the link embedded there. Either way, please feel free to use this post in whatever ways are most appropriate in assisting other members to better understand the importance of this issue. And always remember to demonstrate grace to those who are in error. Thanks!

Craigslist considers Limiting HTML - "Goodbye vFlyers & Postlets!"

The nice folks at Craigslist recently announced that they're seriously contemplating limiting the use of HTML on their platform.

Here's their statement:

"We're contemplating limiting HTML in classified ads to a specific list of tags."

"Unfortunately, much of the HTML in postings these days is used by spammers for harmful purposes, such as cloaking spam links, embedding false keywords, and overriding the flagging system."

"Given the relatively limited value of complex HTML markup in the context of a classified ad (many users are annoyed by it even when well-intentioned), we are considering limiting HTML in postings to a few basic tags."

So what does mean for us real estate professionals? Well, it means you'll no longer be able to upload your vFlyer or Postlets virtual fliers onto Craigslist. The professional visual effect that helps to distinguish you from the hoarding masses of posting wannabes will cease, and you'll quickly become lost in the sea of 7-Day ads!

Well, it's not the end of the world, but it certainly isn't a good move on their part, in my humble opinion.

If you wish to voice your concerns, you can go to the Craigslist Forum. 

For Further Reading Pleasure: Todd Clark: "Is the End Near for Realtors and Craigslist?"

Trulia and Google give Street View Street Smarts!

They say that a picture is worth a 1000 words. Well, if that's the case, then Trulia just cornered the Word market!

In their continuing efforts to become the Real Estate "Go-To" site, Trulia has recently partnered with Internet Goliath, Google, in implementing their 'Street View' application.

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps that was introduced in 2007 and provides 360° panoramic street-level views. It allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level. When it was originally launched, only five cities were included. It has since expanded to more than 40 U.S. cities, and includes the suburbs of many, and in some cases, other nearby cities (For the list of cities currently available, GO HERE).

So, in addition to being one of the premier home listing aggregation sites; offering excellent source information relevant to real estate; and providing a forum for consumers and real estate professionals to interact, the inclusion of Google Street View (referred to as "Walk the Neighborhood" by Trulia) allows Trulia Users the opportunity to view high-resolution, street-level 360° captured shots of prospective neighborhoods/homes.

Now your Buyers can see that HUGE water tank next door. Or maybe the description of a 'filtered' or 'partial' view by the Listing Agent gives new meaning to embellishment. And who knew that the Next-Door-Neighbor was a Used Car/Appliance collector? You can begin to see the value that this incorporated feature will offer.

I especially like the way Trulia has streamlined the integration of Street-View into their platform, and incorporated it into each listing where the service is available.

And, as is typical with Trulia, ease-of-navigation is very straight-forward and seemless.

Kudos once again to the folks at Trulia for bringing further enhanced value to their platform, and providing more useful tools for consumers.

Get the full story at the Trulia Blog

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