tcar's blog

Making the most of getting F2F.

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:36:03 -0500

Are you going to Inman connect? How many people do you intend to meet? What areas of knowledge do you want to boulster? Are you along for the ride, or do you have a plan? Whether you lobycon it, or buy a full honking pass to Inman Connect San Francisco, there's little dispute that this event is one of the most opportune chances to learn and network with peers in your industry. Will you make the most of it?

Here's my plan so far for the first week of August.

Monday whatEVAHcamp - I planned an informal unconference of sorts with several of the people I consider thought leaders in real estate. Two hours of idea sharing with feedback from all.

Tuesday RE BarCamp - Man, if you don't know yet, where have you been? This marks the first anniversary of the first event. Many people told me last year's event was the best part of their week at Connect 08. Don't miss it.

Wednesday - Breakfast. Yep, I'm having breakfast. With who? I don't know yet. it's my goal to have breakfast Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with someone I've never sat down with before. Interested?

Thursday - Bob Hale speaks on agent ratings at Inman Connect from 3:40-4:25. Bob is one of the smartest guys in real estate. This is the session I want to see the most.

Friday - It's all about the halls baby. While I might be burnt out on trade booths and seminars by Friday, I still plan to spend as much time as possible in the halls, and meeting people. If you see me, come introduce yourself. I WANT TO MEET YOU.

Saturday - Siteseeing. I love the bay area. I'm actually going early and staying late to take in the sights. But it's one thing I don't intend to do during the week days.

Thousands of people are coming to connect F2F. Grab the bull by the horns. You never know when you'll have another chance to form relationships with a possible referral source from across the country. Online relationships are awesome, but turning them into F2F relationships strengthen them that much more. Are you going to Connect? What's your plan?

Reconnecting... No wait. Connecting with Active Rain

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:39:12 -0500

I've been away from posting on Active Rain for eleven months. So long, that every link in my profile was wrong. So long that my avatar was outdated. So long, that I forgot how to post here. But the truth is, I was never really here, even when I was here. I think it's kind of funny that the folks here at Active Rain gave me this badge. I guess it's time to start living up to it.

A Brief Introduction

I've been blogging in the real estate industry since January of 2005. I created lenderama, Denver Modern, Lucid Ninja, and at least a dozen blogs that failed. Over the years, I've contributed to the Inman blog, The Real Estate Tomato, Realty Blogging, and most importantly The Real Estate Weenie. I currently write for REALTOR Magazine's Speaking of Real Estate Blog. I'm also the host of REBarCamp.com, the online home to a grassroots real estate focused unconference.

Now, I'm the Manager of Social Media for the National Association of REALTORS. I'm helping the association to communicate more effectively on social media platforms like twitter and facebook. But with so many REALTORs here on Active Rain, it's high time that I start participating in the one social network, dedicated to our members. So here I am.

Connect With Me

I'm on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more. More importantly, I really want to connect with you face to face. I'll be in San Francisco the first week of August for RE BarCamp SF and Inman Connect. If you see me, come say hi. I'm also doing a webinar for REALTOR Magazine with Doug Divitri and Mariana Wagner for agents just getting into social media. If you're new to the game, I hope to see you there.

Can I Get Your Advice?

Okay, so back to my early point of never really connecting here. I tried a few times, but never really had to much success. So let me put it to you. What would you like from me? How can I best contribute to this community? I'm all ears.

Why REBlogWorld is unlike ANY real estate or mortgage conference you’ve ever been to.

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:28:44 -0500

We receive the occasional email asking if REBlogWorld is available ala carte. That is, just our event on Friday, and not packaged with Blog World & New Media Expo. We can’t do that. But I wouldn’t want to offer it, even if I could.

We’re supremely confident that sessions we have set up for REBlogWorld are going to impress, but as much as I’d like to brag, Friday's sessions are not the best reason to come to REBlogWorld. It’s the rest of the weekend that is really gonna blow your mind. The sessions being put on during blog world are coming not just from the best bloggers in real estate...

They’re coming from the best bloggers period.

Here’s an example. Lani Anglin-Rosales is well known for bringing great blogging and technology advice to our industry. Ever wonder where she gets it? In a recent post on Agent Genius, she comments that “Darren Rowse is kind of my go-to guy when it comes to blogging”. She’s not alone. During the course of the blogger interviews I did on Blog Fiesta, at least a dozen top real estate and mortgage bloggers mention Darren’s ProBlogger as one of their favorite blogs. Same goes for Brian Clark’s Copyblogger.

Wouldn’t you think that what the top real estate bloggers are reading for inspiration and advice might be a good place for you to visit as well?

Darren Rowse and Brian Clark are speaking at Blog World.

But it gets better, because that’s just one session out of dozens. Robert Scoble is speaking. Elisa Camahort is speaking. Chris Brogan, Liz Strauss, Nicole Simon, and a hundred more top bloggers will be there.

When RE.net SEO Experts are giving you advice, where do you think they get it from? Michael Gray and Lee Odden are in most SEO minded blogger’s feed readers. They’ll be at Blog World.

When you started your real estate blog, how many of you went out and purchased the McGraw Hill published book, Realty Blogging? Paul Cheney, it’s author, is speaking at Blog World.

There’s sessions dedicated to Twitter, Facebook, hyperlocal blogging, legal risks, podcasting, dealing with trolls and spammers, search engine optimization, and building relationships online.

Any of this sound useful to you?

With all this content coming at you, you won't need to party for you're head to hurt. Oh, but we're gonna party anyway. This is Vegas after all.

We’ve been asked on several occasions how we were able to attract so many of the top RE.net bloggers to REBlogWorld. It was easy. We gave them a ticket to the rest of the show. Our speakers know who these people are, and what they can learn from them. Shouldn’t you?

REBlogWorld early bird pricing ends FRIDAY! Now is the time to act. Active Rain Members save an extra 20% by entering ACVIP (case sensitive) into the promo box before checkout. Register here.

Before questioning the value of Twitter...

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:32:28 -0500

... should't Louis do a little more than this in his effort to evaluate it?

I questioned it's usefullness as well. But once I started using it, really using it. I finally "got it".

I'm tcar on Twitter. Let's connect!

Teresa Boardman, Mariana Wagner, & Dan Green to speak at RE BlogWorld

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:56:00 -0500

We'll have more than a dozen speakers at RE BlogWorld. Here are the first three

Teresa Boardman

Author of the St. Paul Real Estate Blog, Teresa Boardman is a great blogger in many respects. She has a lethal sense of humor, she’s a great writer, and she’s an even better teacher. But what truly set’s Teresa apart from her colleagues is her ability to leverage her photography skills in her marketing efforts.

Mariana Wagner

Mariana is an ideal example of how to generate real business in a web 2.0 world. In addition to achieving market leading organic search results on her main blog, Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection, she also markets at the hyperlocal level with several neighborhood blogs. More...

Dan Green

It pains me to say this, but Dan Green is, in my opinion, the best mortgage blogger. It pains me because I’m a mortgage blogger myself. I’m feeling far less pain tonight though because Dan has agreed to share his strategies on authoritative blogging at RE BlogWorld. More...

Stay tuned to our blog for the latest updates!

Join me at RE BlogWorld!

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:30:23 -0500

OK, so you've made it to Active Rain. That proves at the very least that you understand the importance on building your online reputation, and the power of Internet marketing. So, no what?

Join me at RE BlogWorld to find out! This three day conference on September 19-21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center is part of the biggest new media convention and trade show in the world. On the 20th & 21st you'll be able to take advantage of BlogWorld's offering of over 50 seminars on SEO, podcasting, video and much more. To kick things of on the 19th, we're bringing content specific to the real estate and mortgage industry from industry leaders with a proven record in new media marketing.

Subscibe to our blog for the latest details and speaker announcements. We're announcing our first speaker tonight, and anyone who's spent any time at Active Rain will certainly be psyched to see this speaker featured!

Are the days of Keyword Search numbered?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:20:29 -0500

I used to sell web sites to mortgage brokers in the Pre-Google erra. At that time, being on page one was everything, and we knew how to do. One problem though, Google came along and changed the game. It's because of this experience that I've never been a proponent of SEO as the only, or even the most important way to market a blog.

In article in Tech Crunch today reflects my opinion that while Google's search model dominates today, it's future is uncertain.

What kind of software to you use to send email campains to your client base?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:21:17 -0500

I speaking at the REALTOR Rally in Denver next week on Client Relationship Management and am curious as to how many of you currently use email to keep in touch with your client base. I really appreciate any feedback on services or software that you use as well.

Originators - are you signing up for Zillow Mortgages?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:23:07 -0600

I wrote about Zillow Mortgages' initial entry into the mortgage industry last night. Is anyone going to sign up?

If so, I'd like to feature your experience on lenderama. You'd be a part time contributor, reporting throughout the year as to how it's working out for you. If you're interested, visit this page for details.

Who's coming to RE Bar Camp?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:36:00 -0600

Are you planning on attended Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco this summer? Come a day early. We're planning a free event for RE.net.

RE BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendee. Plus, It's free! Visit our wiki and our blog for more information. I also set up a AR group for the event.

If you're planning to attend, please RSVP!

We need to have a pretty good idea as to how many people are going to show up. Please fill out this form if you think you might go. Here's a list of people who are already planning to attend.

I'm looking for a title insurance blogger

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:46:13 -0600

Can someone help me out? I'm looking for a potential blogger to contribute to lenderama who works in the title industry. Know anyone? It's a unpaid position, but I can provide exposure to mortgage and real estate professionals, and some really great link love. I'm looking for someone who would like to talk to mortgage professionals about the title industry. I'm interested in someone who can post at least twice a month, but they'd be welcome to post more often then that. Please email me, or comment below to nominate someone (including yourself).

What will Zillow Mortgage bring to the table?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:06:00 -0500

I posted this on lenderama, but I want to get people's opinions here as well. What do you think Zillow Mortgage will bring to the table?

As I said in my post, I think the core plan for moving forward will include the following:

1. Informing the consumer - the obvious answer would be focused on rates, but I have a different idea.
2. Advertising - will it be traditional banner ads, sponsored territories, a competition platform like Lending Tree, or will they come up with something else?
3. Community - Zillow’s Discussions forum will likely play a part on the mortgage side, but how so?

So what do your think?

Do you play god with your blog's comments?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:02:13 -0500

Well it happened today. I had one of my comments deleted here at Active Rain. Two and half years of leaving commens on other people's blogs, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Don't get me wrong, I've deleted more posts on lenderama then you could ever imagine. But that's because they were comment spam, or contained innappropriate language, or simply had nothing to do with the conversation.

I think the reason why it's taken so long to have one of my comments deleted is that I always try to add to the conversation at hand. "Great Post" to me, is not adding to the conversation. "See my sweet deal on Costa Rican property" doesn't either.

However, if someone comes along and disagrees with me, Yahoo! A lively discussion on a topic! This is the whole point of web 2.0 as far as I'm concerned. That's why I was surprised today to see my post deleted. All I did was respectfully disagree. The post's author has left a note in his comments section that many posts were deleted due to personal attacks. I'm not sure if that applies to my comment or not.

Anyway, the post in question is not important. It just made me wonder how much control you all take over the comments section of your blogs here on Active Rain, or on your real blogs. What's your opinion?

Is anyone going to Blog World?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:12:24 -0500

It's November 8th & 9th in Las Vegas. More info here.

This is an expo for all bloggers. Political, Business, Entertainment... It looks like they are offering some pretty good classes as well. I'm thinking about making the trip as it's the same week as NAMB West (for mortgage brokers). Anyone else planning to attend?

Do you DO BUSINESS on MySpace or Facebook?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:16:40 -0500

I know there are plenty of RE professionals that are signed up with Facebook, and MySpace, but I'm wondering if anyone is actually doing any business through these social networking sites. I have a Facebook account, and it's great for it's intended purpose (connecting with friends online). But I keep reading that these platforms are the future for online marketing. Personally, I really don't see how.

So, is there anyone actually making money by being a part of these networks? If so, how are you doing it?

What kind of music do you listen to while blogging?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 02:34:15 -0500

When it comes to blogging, I usually listen to Jazz. Jane Monheit, Dianna Krall, and Madeleine Peyroux are all favorites. I also like Amy Winehouse, although it's not really jazz. I don't know what it is. I also listen to the Dave Mathews band quite a bit while I'm on the computer.

Tonight, I had to get a bunch done, and needed a little more motivation. So it was The Ataris, Jay-Z & Linkin Park, Helmut, Korn, Social Distortion, Ministry, and The Crystal Method. I have my Sennheser Headphones on, and the volume was at eleven. That's right, my amp goes to eleven.

Now I'm just relaxing to some 10 Foot Ganja Plant, and thought it fun to learn about the listening habits of other bloggers.

So, what do you listen to while you are blogging?

What's the biggest mistake you made, marketing on the Internet?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:01:33 -0500

The only thing better than learning from your own mistakes is learning from someone else's. What's the biggest regret, or mistake you made concerning what you've done to market yourself on the net?

Personally, I think my biggest mistake was to not allow contributors for the first two years of blogging at lenderama. The first person I knew who brought on contributors to their blog was Dustin Luther at Rain City Guide. At the time, I couldn't conceive how someone could give up so much control over the voice of their blog. Later, I became a contributor myself. First at Realty Blogging, then at Inman News. Soon, I could see that a group of great minds is always going outperform a single one. The final straw was when I had some health issues this spring. I contracted a really bad infection in my leg, and was stuck in bed for a couple weeks. My blog really suffered when it shouldn't have. Adding contributors ranks among one of my best decisions regarding lenderama. Waiting so long ranks as my worst.

Do you have an event related to AR, or blogging that you wish to promote?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:19:17 -0500

I teamed up with Drew Meyer today at the Carnival of Real Estate. I'll be contributing to CoRE by updating the events list. For anyone who attended a BlogTourUSA, AR, or Inman event over the summer, I think you'll agree that getting out and meeting all of your online colleagues in person is a valuabe and fun excercise.

The best way to let me know bout a new event it to email me at todd@mariah.com

Want to get a cup of coffee? (offer for members in Colorado)

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:47:01 -0500

My partner and I are organizing a "focus group" type survey to help us fine tune a seminar we are building for next year. The seminar will go way beyond blogging, and cover ways to help professionals use affordable technology to make themselves more effective in their industry. We will be charging for this seminar, but if you want to help us out now, we'll let you come to it for free.

It looks like we are going to meet next Wednesday morning, September 26th. We basically are going to ask you some questions about how you handle your email, to-do's, marketing, etc... It will be highly informal. Nothing is going to be pitched or sold to you. It's open to any professional that works in a realty related field. This will most likely happen at a Starbucks, in the Denver Tech Center. We'll buy you a cup of coffee and put you on our free admision list for the Seminar in exchange for about 30-40 minutes of your time.

Depending on initial response, I may set up two or three different times to keep the groups smaller. You can invite a non-blogger to come along. In fact we would very much appreciate it.

Please leave a comment below if you are interested. I will have more details on exact times by the end of the week.

What kind of camera and software to you use?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:34:35 -0500

Greg Swann has an excellent post on the best cameras to use, but what I want to know is, what king of photo equiptment do you actually use. This could be for your blog, your listings, or whatever.

I'm not an agent, but for my blog, I use an Olympus C-740. It is a great camera for outdoor scenery, but pretty bad indoors. The lense is very narrow as well, to accomadate the 10X zoom. I would really like to get a new, cheap camera that shines when the light doesn't with a wide angle lense. All suggestions would be appreciated.

For software, I use Photshop Elements. It's the $100.00 version for consumers. I used to have the full boat version a few years back, and today's version of Elements actually seems like a step up. Does anyone here use gimp? What else?

Do you remember your first computer?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:45:49 -0500

I intended to ask everyone how long they have owned a computer. Instead I thought it would be kind of neat to look how far computers have come by recollecting as much as you can about the first computer you actually owned.

My first computer was built by Magnavox (really). It was a 286 that ran a glorified DOS shell style operating system. It had a 20 megabyte hard drive and 256 kilobytes of RAM. I remember that I later purchased enough RAM to run WIndows 3.2. I can't remember exactly, but I think the total amount of RAM ended up around 1 meg. I was using it to access the Internet through AOL. I can't remember just how slow my modem was, but I had my computer set up next to my TV so I could pass the time while it loaded pages. Basic pictures took several minutes to download. I also remember wasting countless hours playing a military strategery game called Conflict. Because there was so little room on the computer, you had to run the game from a floppy disk.

So lets hear it. It's fine if you don't remember the specs. I'd mainly like to here stories about the experience itself.

When do you blog?

Todd Carpenter (National Association of REALTORS) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:04:55 -0500

I hope you all have seen the interviews of other bloggers I've been doing on my blog. I've been learning a great deal myself. Now I would like to ask some more general questions to be aswered by the AR community as a whole. My first question is, "when do you blog?"

I'm posting this a 8:00 AM, but I'm usually for more likely to be posting in the wee hours of the night than in the middle of the day. I catch up on my email at that time as well. It used to shock me when another blogger responded right back, despite it being two or three in the morning. But it's become so common that I half expect it now.

So, when do you blog? In the middle of the night? Bright and early? Do you actually set aside a specific time? Your comments are much appreciated!