Walter's Blog

Jerry Aulenbach raises some good questions

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:39:27 -0600

My original post - "Actually there is a right way to blog" generated a couple comments and this post is in response to Jerry Aulenbach in particular. Jerry's comment is below.

The only reason I read the whole darn thing is because I know you are for real and know your stuff. After reading it, I'm certainly doing some serious self-examination to find where I'm guilty and how I need to change my approach. I'd like to think that I'm not guilty of these offenses, and that my online participation is more than a take-all approach. It's difficult to know where to draw the line. How do I maintain an online presence while not selling myself? Or is that not what you're suggesting? Is sending out frequent mail to past clients and potential future clients a sin? Am I to blog my heart away and hope that, through osmosis, the people of Edmonton flock to my site and call me day and night? Must I curb my enthusiasm for what I do in public so as to not offend others who aren't interested in what I do? Is it possible to convert the Walter Schwabes of the world who have (seemingly) written off Realtors back to wanting, needing, and trusting Realtors (or at least one or two)? This raises more questions for me than it answers, but they are very important questions, because the answers will likely guide what I do on a daily basis.

-Jerry Aulenbach

RESPONSE: Push marketer vs. magnetic attraction.

Taking a moment to stop and look at your business, your processes and your philosophy is very good to do from time to time.
So many operate with the "push" method of communicating and marketing. Some even go further and get ridiculously aggressive and flood the market with their face, working with the volume approach. Despite losing credibility these business owners are about total advertising domination. This shotgun approach is expensive, unimaginative and impersonal in almost all cases. Further, it propagates the whole "customer is just a listing attitude." Consider with each post, tweet, comment, email, picture and video whether you're simply playing the numbers game. Do you really think the average person really "loves" advertising? I would argue that if the advertising is very creative, inspiring, emotive and maybe even has educational value then it will hold attention for a fleeting moment, but to say that someone "loves" advertising or push marketing on a mass scale and enduring thousands of marketing messages per week??? I don't think so.
Certainly you have to somehow compete with your colleagues and others for attention. How can you be "remarkable?" There's a difference between communicating something of value and "selling yourself." Can you describe the customer experience that clients go through with you?
Frequent emails or automated systems out of the blue really turn me off. I show people respect and take interest in them as human beings, these types of impersonal blasting activities do not support my philosophy. So when someone does that simply to push content they've lost my interest in most cases.
Time is valuable, so if blogging supports your desired outcomes then do it, if not then don't. Certainly, it takes a long-term commitment and patience and actually "osmosis" is pretty accurate. There is a wrong and right way to blog and promote your blog.
Certainly you need to be aware of your activities. Politics and religion are two subjects that polarize. If you engage in discussions or promotion of either of those two subjects in particular then realize that you are associating your business/brand with those issues, views and beliefs. That has consequences potentially. Whether that matters to you is a personal decision and then the client is now forced to consider whether they align with you based on those views in some way and it's less about your levels of service. Think of a pebble in your shoe detracting from an otherwise comfortable fit. This is not right or wrong, just a choice.
I suspect that conversions will depend on personal understanding and rapport building abilities and how that translates to the overall experience of working with you.

This is a business philosophy discussion that then impacts tactical decisions. If volume, impersonal push marketing is your style and what your comfortable with, you simply need to understand that within the social web you'll be less successful than you otherwise could be...

SCAMS in Active Rain??? Believe it!

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:12:53 -0600

This morning I recv'd this email and I took the following actions.

Message details: From: Rubel Ousmane Email: rubel_ousmane1@yahoo.fr Subject: Business relationship (Sent via Activerain)

Dearest one,

Please I would like to enquire your advise if you can be of my help. I want you to help me in the investment which I want to do in your country, though I have not meet you before, but I am fully convinced that you are the right person to help me. Some times in life one need to confide in another to succeed in life. My name is Rubel Ousmane, I am from Sierra Leone and I am 19 years and I was in the higher school when my father died and I could not continue with my education. I am single and living all alone here in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire as both my father and mother are dead and there is no body to take care of me and my education. I have USD$9.2m which was deposited in the bank here by my late father Dr. Leoard A. Ousmane and all the deposit documents are all with me as my late father gave them to me before he died. The name of the bank is; Bank of Africa (BOA), Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. As you know the transaction involves a lot of money and I will like you to confirm to me your sincere willingness and your capability to handle the investment of the money in your country because I have no experience of business investment. I will want us to invest the money in real estate and five star hotels or any other investment you will introduce in your country. Secondly, I will need to introduce your name to the bank as my late father foreign business partner who is to receive and invest the money in his country so that the bank will contact you and transfer the money to you. As soon as the bank transfers the money to your country you will help me to come over to your country to continue my education why you invest my own share of the money on my behalf. At this point I will like you to tell me as soon as you received this message the percentage which you will take for helping me in this transaction. In case you want to see and read the deposit documents of the money in the bank; you let me know in your reply mail so that I will scan them and send to you through email attachment. I will stop here so far until I hear back from you as soon as possible you receive this mail. Please contact me with this email address: (rubel_ousmane1@yahoo.fr) Thanks and my greetings to you and your family. Yours sincerely, Rubel Ousmane

AND MY RESPONSE TO the young scam artist Rubel Ousmane:

They're coming for you Rubel. You're being traced as you read this email. Enjoy jail!

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org

http://www.fbi.gov/contact/legat/legat.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0e-pPfITts

This is a variation of a well-known Nigerian email scam. Don't fall for it. I'm saying this because people do, that's why they still try this. Kind of like why "Viagra" spam emails haven't stopped. 8% of the people who get spam email BUY the offer, like fools...you want viagra go see your doctor.

Actually - There IS a RIGHT WAY to blog.

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:49:15 -0600

"Some folks think too much. My advice to folks? Just do it."
"I use my blog for lead generation."
"Keeps you connected - most of all to the consumer."

Above are quotes from comments made in support of Amy Gooden's recent blog post "There is no wrong way to blog." here on Active Rain today. Amy's efforts and the comments that followed have inspired me to respond with a blog post of my own.

There is definitely a 'right way to blog", a right way to use social media in general. The above quotes are a snap-shot indication of attitudes, philosophy and action types that are rampant within several industries, and in this case, real estate. Each repeated snap-shot is a data point within an evident trend. Actually, I think statements such as these from an real estate outsider point of view supports and encourages a form of the "Implied Accusation."

That is first what prompted me to write today, second was that this obviously extends into blogging and other social media activities. Watch the language. How many of your colleagues refer to "clients" using this type of terminology - it's common practice. If you don't see anything wrong with the statements in quotations above, you are quite possibly losing an large majority of your true business outcome potential. This is the "Implied Accusation" in reverse.

My motivation and point isn't about cynicism, it's about being prepared or a lack thereof. ActiveRain blog posts are visible to everyone on this network and in many cases the entire Internet depending on settings and as such we understand will live forever out in the ether. These social media activities in this case could be hurting your business and you should ask whether you're actually ready for social media and the realities associated with it. We've all lost count of how many times here on ActiveRain, there have been blog posts about "this whole social media thing being a waste of time." An unfortunate result of all the encouragement to "just do it," and our research backs up that statement. Apparently, many feel brand erosion is fine as long as you're in with the "cool kids and using the cool toys."

Beyond the comments it generated, my impression of Amy Gooden's post is as follows. Although the spirit of the post implies heartfelt encouragement directed towards colleagues, about being brave and taking a first step, a leap of faith leading to action, and possibly even a personal plea for encouragement and support from colleagues. All of which I understand and believe to be really wonderful and inspiring, there are some deeper issues at work here. There are many key advantages to "really" understanding the social media community. culture and in this particular case blogging. Certainly, more than the "join the conversation" and "just do it" method prepares you for.

In my industry of social media, this "just do it" method leads to someone writing a blog post or two and suddenly exclaiming that they're a "Web 2.0 expert" and are ready to take your money. Is that advice you'd put hard earned money on the table for? The fact that the technology is relatively easy to engage is actually "the trap." This encourages the belief of a quick business score. Learning as you go, trial be fire, can work, if you don't mind your brand being put at a higher level of risk, potentially getting scorched and shot at along the way.

Analogy: One could jump into a race car and "just drive it." The likely-hood of crashing because of a lack of skill and understanding is high. Technically, they may be a "race car driver." I would call them a danger to themselves and others on the track. Is that a car and driver you'd like to have your brand directly associated with? Maybe someone should go to racing school first, listen to instructors who know, observe and research the fundamentals, practice on a closed circuit and the chances of a crash afterward lessens dramatically, while simultaneously increasing your chances of success.

Our research and experience since 2000 but in particular over the past five years suggests there is definitely a "right way," to blog. Individual results are certainly dependent on pre-determined desired outcomes, assuming that they have been clearly mapped out and that each action taken supports them.

However, the everyone is a "lead" or "consumer" default attitude that "some" real estate professionals have and communicate, detracts from social media success in many ways for the rest of the industry - Implied Accusation. Many of us not in the real estate business and a part of the social web see that coming a mile away. I am neither someones "lead" nor a "consumer." That approach also ensures I will not become your "listing." I am a human being who deserves respect and chooses only to do business with someone who knows AND demonstrates on and offline that fact. One tweet, one comment, one blog post is enough to seal your business fate with me as a demonstration of what you stand for and how you view the value of an interaction with me. Just as this blog post may offend some for numerous reasons. When you blog or communicate in other ways within the social web, always remember that existing and future clients, your mom, family, friends, boss, colleagues are all reading every word. Make sure it's something that shines positively on them. I stand by this post, our research and experience that drives this philosophy.

Ignoring this type of philosophical and fundamental difference in approach ultimately leads to "For Sale By Owner," at least it does for me and we all know I'm not alone. Social media amplifies this fact every time a blog post or comment refers to people like the highlighted examples in this post.

The basis for my comments extends from the fact that my team and I collectively spend time, copious amounts of time researching, studying, learning and engaging online in the social web, it's what we do. So much time in fact that it amounts to us essentially being on the Internet nearly 24/7, especially when you include our project teams in other countries and time zones around the world. As we build social media strategies for businesses large and small in many industries, we've developed a different perspective than most others have, sifting through thousands of blog posts, tweets, comments, articles, newsletters, videos, graphs and conversations daily will do that. The first question we ask is "are you actually ready?" Truth is, many corporations are not.

One final thing I'd like to say here is thank-you for reading my (lengthy) post, you're a busy person and time is precious, never to be returned. I appreciate it and hope that you found value in return for your time investment. Further, you can agree or disagree, feel free to let me know either way.

Please note, that I nor my business are perfect, we've made public social media mistakes of different kinds, in fact, that's where some of my/our experience comes from for your benefit. That may sound like a contradiction, but in this case social media is our job and clear passion, just as real estate is yours and sometimes as the industry changes one has to push limits into the unknown, so that those who entrust us with their hard won budgets and lively-hoods can proceed with confidence. My hope is that blog posts like this one may help those not directly in the social media industry avoid a mistake that costs them business. One mistake avoided could translate into sustainable revenue generated long-term and to me that's cool.

For more information on success or failures at blogging see a very strong source on the subject and (disclosure - I guy I've interviewed before) from Forrester Research. Jeremiah Owyang this is a blog post written in 2007.

Beware of the "Social Media Guru"

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:13:32 -0500

For the sake of your business and its long-term vitality, do not spend another dime on social media marketing, advertising, blogging until you understand the next few paragraphs.

BEWARE OF JOHNNY COME LATELY'S! Social Media is for most, an emerging industry, many business owners are just now trying to wrap their heads around it. The exception is for a relatively small few who have been in it in some capacity for years. Typically, early-adopters have been studying and/or participating in social media before the term existed for years. Watchout for those who are trying to cash in on the gold-rush. One sure sign of this is are statements like - "Man, social media is hot! It's awesome, it'll grow your business like crazy."

Social media is very powerful when used properly. Having said that, you can make serious mistakes - look for evidence of the self-proclaimed marketing "guru" thinking "TACTICALLY." Yesterday these folks were marketing experts and today their calling themselves "Social Media Strategists." Some are excellent, most are out for the quick buck talking about how you should "jump right in" and use facebook ads. If you think the only purpose for social media is marketing, advertising and business you're already potentially in real trouble. Social media is mostly about communication, conversation, rapport-building, transparency, honesty and openness. I call it the "Art of Marketing without Marketing."

Here's how you tell the difference when making your decision on who to trust. I want to build my business just like you AND you need to start by asking yourself one question. "Are you social media ready?" Are you ready to be brutally open and honest with your audience? Are you ready to be "patient" and build relationships? Can you for a minute have a conversation with someone and not pitch them? Are you ready for the commitment that social media takes? If you said, no to any of these questions then (in my opinion) you're not social media ready and I wouldn't agree to work with you, for your own good. There is case study after case study that suggests that these philosophical realities directly impact your marketing, business growth results. People who advocate tactics like starting a blog, facebook group, join this or that community, without having thought about the "Why?" question, the objectives behind such moves are directing you towards potential trouble.

Saying you're a strategist and having developed and delivered strategies for years for all levels and size of business are two entirely different things.

Background:

We've been studying, gathering intelligence and case studies on social media successes and failures prior to the term Web 2.0 being first used by Dale Dougherty and Tim O'Reilly in 2004. We continue to expand our database of knowledge daily. We've been delivering business growth strategies to tech companies and others since 2000. I've been working in the Internet space in a business capacity since 1998 and first began speaking about "Global Microbranding," a social media branding and marketing strategy framework since late 2006 early 2007 and we haven't looked back since. Our mantra is "social media education." Understanding online culture and strategic thinking well before the social media technologies themselves is where you need to start...build a plan that involves you learning, listening and identifying trends and opportunities. Then you can safely make "tactical" decisions more easily. Which means your budget will be better spent and the outcomes more closely determined...any other approach is putting your hard earned money at high-risk.

Social media is not the end-all-be-all silver bullet to your business marketing and growth needs and anyone who tells you different, run away from screaming at the top of your lungs...

All REALTORS - DON'T VOTE!

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:38:23 -0500

I know that may sound odd. In fact, you may completely disagree with that statement. I don't care if you're Canadian or American, the statement goes for voters in both countries. DON'T VOTE! Sure voter apathy is a problem for some and for an explanation of why I'm making this statement go to this link and watch this video...

Click here

Coordinate media for effect

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:24:54 -0500

Recently I've been fortunate enough to be asked to write several articles for different publications. Examples are presented here on the main site.

Writing for traditional media sources obviouisly allows me to reach a larger audience and get my social media message out. If writing doesn't come naturally to you, another way of getting the word out is to consider online radio. I started using Blogtalkradio back in 2007 and didn't keep up with it, that's changing today as I schedule more guests and do more segments. You can also view the cool widget they offer here - today's interview with Tannette Johnson-Elie, journalist from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The system is very easy to use, imagine you could be interviewing clients, real estate investors, other agents, mortgage specialists in your region...a nice way to educate folks and build rapport all at the same time.

Coordinating a series of publishing activities can increase your credibility, expose you to new audiences and generate conversations about what's important to you and your customers...My recommendation for when you do get the opportunity to write, think "education" and "rapport" rather than "sales pitch."

Hope you're having an awesome day filled with fun and profits...

Add your favorite blog...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:50:30 -0500

I asked a sort of "question of the day" on Linkedin which I'll repeat here. What is your favorite blog?

Please leave a comment and the link to your favorite blog on my main blog here where the list is growing, this is so we can consolidate rather than create two separate lists.

Learn from my mistake...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:13:19 -0500

Sometimes in business you miss the mark, thankfully I can say that we rarely miss once at the proposal stage. However, that was not the case here. We recently had a substantial proposal rejected.

A large firm found fusedlogic.com on the Internet via our social media efforts. A top-exec touched base with me, which led to meetings over coffee and even dinner with other top-execs from the company.

This particular company has approximately 5000 employees and is about to launch Sharepoint and they thought (and rightfully so) that they should have a social media strategy in place so that their employees would all be on the same page and so that they could maximize the intelligence of this new development. Typically in a corporation of this size, it's the communications department which handles this type of issue and so there was a request for a proposal from us. We had their project lead fill out a detailed workbook which helped identify needs and expectations. We had a meeting to go through the workbook and another to walk through the proposal, this was in person and with the decision-makers. When asked what size of budget range we needed to be in we where told "give us the Cadillac version and we'll go from there." This suggested that there may be a round of negotiations if we were off the mark.

Well not only were we off the mark but clearly my idea of a Cadillac was quite different from theirs. They were expecting more of a Lada. This was not only a perception of value but not understanding the required work and risks should they not proceed. What's more it turns out they didn't have the budget, the President (not part of the discussion to that point) took a minute and said, "umm, I think we can handle this ourselves." This is actually evidence of a lack of motivation to re-direct available resources to this project. If the priority was high enough, the budget would have been there.

fusedlogic is constantly educating our clients about what's truly involved in a successful social media strategy. We obviously failed to do that here. Typically we find that many, including this client, think that social media is about the technology and that their IT department or inexperienced communications department can handle it...Then a company goes and creates a social network of their own in an attempt to build community and "control" the message... Below is what that looks like...

Here's what happens when they don't get it.

By time they realize it's actually about people helping people, culture, the experience itself, conversation and anthropology they've lost a ton of time, money, resources and even people...I really hope that doesn't happen here but that's where they're headed at last glance.

Anyway, the moral of this story for me is, to first and foremost stick to the process that works for us. Always be upfront and communicate openly and clearly about budget and expectations. This is a reminder of what not to do and to trust one's gut. In this case, I was willing to go off track and allow them to take me off my game. We just couldn't get as much access to the decision-makers as we normally would of liked and that bothered me throughout the process. My mistake is not stopping to fix the problem. That fact cost us in the end. Thankfully, we're very busy and can absorb that loss in invested resources regarding the time and effort on the proposal and sales cycle.

Not all is lost however, there is some good news. We've been asked by another department within this organization to help with their "external" strategy and the communication is much more open this time as it's with the executive who found us in the first place.

Sending us some positive vibes still wouldn't hurt though and would certainly be appreciated, we're all connected energy afterall...

Cheers everyone have a very profitable day and I'll keep you posted...

Walter

The Prime Minister is following me...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:01:46 -0500

Prime Minister Harper is following me on Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter too if you like just for fun...What I hope will happen is that rather than just being cool, he'll learn why he and his party are on Twitter and the power behind it.

I should let everyone know in the Edmonton area know that I'm holding a seminar on Wednesday this week on social media and generating results. This will be a video conference as well so if you're near a site in Alberta, Sask, the territories tune in...

Specifics: Wednesday Sept 10th at the Business Link in Edmonton, Alberta. 1pm to 4pm and it's $35.00. We'll be do some interesting things live on the Internet as well so if you have some time come by and join us...

If you like to know more just contact me: seminar@fusedlogic.com

Absolute FREAKS!

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:24:20 -0500

When sitting in some of the boardrooms that I have, listening to executive teams talk about social media I find that my mind wanders, for me it's starting to sound like the same bad "b" movie is being remade with different actors. I can zone out and come back in to the conversation and know precisely where we're at. (Of course, this may just be me taking advantage of ADHD like symptoms.)

At some point these exec's ask for my opinion or recommendation on where the company should start regarding their social media strategy. I almost invariably say the same thing. "Unless you're completely ready to change how you view the world, you shouldn't start at all." The blank stares I get in return suggest that their internal dialogue sounds similar to - "YOU MY FRIEND, ARE A COMPLETE FREAK!" "What the hell are you thinking?"

In North America especially, corporations must drive profitable quarters consistently, this clouds their judgement enormously. And when they're not in "push" mode, they're being smothered by the legal department. So, "what I'm thinking..." is simple. I'm attempting to save these guys from themselves. The social web today is chalk full of organizations making massive mistakes as opposed to those doing things right. A large part of it is related to my previous blog post and the mentality that has been engrained in industry for so long.

"ABC - ALWAYS BE CLOSING," has to be my favorite 1980's tired and ridiculous sales sentiment. Enter the social web with that mentality and it's scorched earth in terms of the backlash. Give it a rest people, time to put your thinking caps on and be patient. Patience is something North Americans are NOT, that's why this is such a difficult issue for many. Time to better understand humans, not so we can throw another "marketing tactic" at them that you believe they won't see coming. Only loser corporations think they can still get away with something so last century.

You can always tell the real people from the fakes. Understanding human to human communication, understanding raw transparent emotions and real honesty is something that companies and people who have little to offer but lousy products at a discounted price like to stay away from - it reveals them as having nothing of real value to offer, something they already know.

Social media is fantastic for holding meaningful conversations with complete strangers next door and from around the world. Adjusting your mind, philosophy and business model to adapt to this wonderful power is something you must do to win.

If you figure this overarching concept out for yourself, you can look forward to the fact that others who haven't will start to look at you as an "absolute freak" too. Blank stares, puzzled faces, smoke coming out of ears, that sort of thing. Be at peace my friend, not to worry, it's not you, it's them...you are experiencing their moment of truth as they realize their life has been filled with repetitive empty acts of see-through "push" marketing that reduced the overall meaning of their lives.

"PUSH" Marketers Will Continue to Lose.

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:53:56 -0500

The really unfortunate thing about how most business owners are using the social web today is that they're applying "old" techniques to a new eco-system and results are suffering.

Further, many are also trying to measure and define results from social media with a worn out template.

"When will my social media efforts be profitable?" This is exactly the wrong philosophy, wrong question and all together wrong approach. Sure, I understand the need to make money and generate a return and here's a key influencing factor.

Old School Approach: "Markets" - what we do together became "Marketing" what we do TO each other.

New School Social Media Approach: Exposes those who do not know how to build rapport, relationships, trust, value, share and hold a conversation for longer than five minutes without saying "PLEASE BUY MY PRODUCT OR SERVICE."

We see this phenomena in many industries, people have lost the ability to communicate with meaning. In the Real Estate Industry, we see a tremendous amount of "push" marketing. In order to compete, agents pay the "advertising tax," this is what one does when they have little to offer in terms of real meaning. Expensive approach with little return as the audience is ignoring this "tired" approach.

Consider challenging every assumption you've ever had with respect to how you build your business and you'll be in the right head space to listen, learn and respond in a social media context.

Been busy...CRAZY in fact...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:23:12 -0500

The pace has definitely quickened. Let's see, from giving presentations to rooms filled with business people interested in building momentum with social media, to attending the Edmonton Indy as a VIP (I was very fortunate), to being asked by a major media service to write (3) articles on social media and business for the purposes of mass distribution (fortunate again). The last while has been crazy.

I've added a marketing director who is doubling as a project manager on big projects, I've also brought in a key blogger/podcasting specialist and a few other compatriots to help with the work load. fusedlogic's world is definitely changing...

I just got off the phone a few minutes ago after having interviewed my second business thought leader in less than a week about social media. You definitely know both of these guys. (If you want access to the articles when they come out just let me know and must say once again how fortunate I am to have this chance.)

Yes, things are moving at a fast pace, much in line with how fast social media itself moves I guess. Anyway, keep on having fun, I know I will.

Fusedlogic Teams Up With Yahoo! Canada

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:16:15 -0500

Yahoo! Canada

Media release – For immediate release

Sherwood Park, AB – May 14, 2008 - how can you connect and generate business leads from 84 million searches a day in Canada?

One of the easiest and most powerful online tools out there today to help businesses market themselves virtually is through Search Engine Marketing . “fusedlogic’s” Walter Schwabe, Chief Evolution Officer is extremely proud to present this rare opportunity to learn strategies related to online marketing and Search Engines in particular from Martin Byrne, Head of Yahoo! Search Marketing Canada.

“We get more than 4 million searches a day from Canadians, it’s a high volume business and very interesting.” said Martin Byrne, Head of Yahoo! Search Marketing, Canada. “It’s really important for businesses to leverage Search Engines within their country and yet still be able to advertise to the entire world from their office.”

Consider that there are over 84 million searches performed each day in Canada alone. How does your business benefit from that? Fusedlogic and Yahoo! Search Marketing have teamed up to bring businesses owners from the Greater Edmonton Region this exciting opportunity to learn more about this issue over lunch.

The presentation will focus on how you can use Yahoo! and search engine marketing to increase your brand recognition, credibility and business leads. You will come away from the event with new insight on how to effectively leverage search engines

When: Wednesday May 21st, 2008

Time: 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM

Where: Golden Rice Bowl Restaurant, 5365 Gateway Blvd., Edmonton

Investment: $25.00 per attendee pre-registered, dim sum lunch included.

For more information and to pre-register, please contact:

Walter Schwabe 780-909-9787

seminar@fusedlogic.com

http://www.fusedlogic.com

About FusedLogic

Fusedlogic inc. is one of Canada’s leading Web 2.0 consulting firms, specializing in developing business growth strategies that include Web 2.0 technologies and social networking channels. The eight-year-old Alberta company is owned by Walter Schwabe and is located in Sherwood Park, Alberta.

About Martin Byrne
Martin has spent the last 15 years of his career building online business for a wide variety of Canadian and international organizations.

Initially Martin worked for several Canadian internet presence agencies building websites for TD Bank, BMW Canada, Bank of New York, Deutchbank and more. Martin eventually moved from building online businesses’ to managing them as Director of The National Post’s online news business, Director of media sales operations for Sympatico/MSN Canada and most recently taking on the role as National Director for Yahoo’s Canada’s Search Marketing operations. Martin also holds an executive MBA from the Rotman School of Business.

We will be reserving several seats for media who would like to attend this seminar.

Please contact us in advance if you would like to attend.

SHOULD I??? Ask a Realtor to write in my new book...FREE ADVERTISING.

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:02:21 -0500

For those of you who have been following my blog, I want to say a very heart felt THANK-YOU.

Thank-you for your time, your patience, your comments, your passion...thank-you for contributing. For those who are new to my blog, you've shown up on the right day. I'm almost finished my new book on Web 2.0 and how small business owners (like you guys) can better leverage this technology to your advantage. This blog has been a small taste of some of my philosophies. I encourage you to read past posts for fun. Anyway, it's been no secret that "shifting" the way Realtors do business...specifically market themselves online is a current obsession of mine. In fact, after my recent Distruptor School seminar Realtors who attended and one who couldn't make it but wanted to meet regardless have all decided to "fire it up". We're about to make them stars in their own marketplaces...it's very exciting.

Enough about that. They will act as case studies in a follow-up book.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD I OPEN UP A SIMPLE WRITING COMPETITION FOR A SPOT IN MY NEW BOOK??? HERE'S HOW I'M THINKING IT MIGHT GO...

With respect to my immediate body of work, I'd be looking for a strong writer who would like to provide me with 750 - 1000 words (2 pages) explaining how their experience with social networking, blogging, Web 2.0 technology in general. The wins the losses, the struggles and the victories...

I would be happy to provide you with FULL WRITING CREDIT for your piece of work and mention your company name...just think...you'll be a published author in a leading edge book!!!

Now I suppose I could charge you for the privilege of basically advertising and giving your career a bit of cool bump...

Instead, I would most likely just agree to give you a signed copy and you are more than welcome to buy as many books as you would like to pass out to friends, colleagues and clients should I actually do this...

How would I choose the winning author in such a hypothetical scenario? Simple the one who would get the job would be the one who understands me from my blog and who showed writing talent and the passion for the subject matter. So unfortunately, if you don't have much experience in this area, you most likely wouldn't be the big winner. That said, if you feel passionately about this there's nothing stopping you from considering throwing your hat in the ring sort of speak if you come up with a unique angle.

PLEASE KEEP YOU POSTS SHORT HERE, JUST LET ME KNOW YOU WOULD WANT TO SUBMIT AN ENTRY, AS I HAVEN'T YET DECIDED IF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, I'M JUST DOING RESEARCH HERE AT THE MOMENT...

There would need to be a disclaimer for sure...something like...By submitting your work, you agree and understand that you will NOT BE ENTITLED TO ROYALTIES of any sort from this book, just the mention and the publishing of your piece of work within it. The winning author can expect to sign an agreement, non-compete and confidentiality agreement. You will agree and understand that I may edit your work and that just by submitting your work to me via email doesn't ensure you will be chosen. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES OF ANYTHING HERE.

What do you guys think? Are you up for it???

Crowdsourcing: a way to give back to the human race.

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:33:04 -0500

Many of you may have heard the term "crowdsourcing" by now but may not know what it is. This is a process by which you literally engage an mob of people online to solve a business problem for you. This is the ultimate in cheap labor, 1000 heads are better than 1 sort of idea. Major corporations are employing this strategy for all sorts of reasons, mostly in prototype development, strategic thinking, new product testing, new product marketing, that sort of thing.

So why not think about how you as a Realtor could employ this idea yourself. Identify a problem to solve OUTSIDE of selling a house or property - "Hey I need your help to sell this great condo", to obvious and uninspired.

Focus on the relationships and come up with an inspirational problem to solve as a human being engaging other human beings. All sorts of issues unfortunately exist today in our communities, like homelessness, starvation, children going to school without so much as a jacket, breakfast and a pencil. Pick something like this to champion in your area and create an action plan online for solving the issue, encourage people online to engage in thoughtful exchanges that will open doors to creativity, new ideas and most of all action. Build a community around it at www.ning.com, you can start your very own social networking site there for free.

It seems to me that in such an industry as yours (real estate) which is so dependent on the multiplication of human relationships, one may want to develop the ability to give back to the human race. This is way more about psychology than dirt. Want to generate the trust so as to receive a personal referral and do it in bucket fulls? Rather than do what every other agent does and put the request on their website, business card and bottom of email, almost as if to (pardon me for saying) "beg" for the business (some may say "ask") This isn't 1986 anymore folks..."a tactic known is a tactic blown" - General MacArthur I think most people feel the same way. Just because one has it on their business card doesn't make me want to pass on the name of a trusted colleague to you thereby exposing a personal relationship which is very important to me to potential harm. I need WAY more than that, I suspect so do you...

The consumer has never in our history been more savvy, more informed and more ready to not listen to transparent marketing rhetoric. It's time to inspire the human race, capture hearts, move and motivate. People are much more likely to flock to you then, your new relationships will grow in numbers you'll not at first understand but will certainly appreciate the effect and impact.

This is just a philosophy in business I have. I just think that rather than putting your fishing boat out into the ocean and trolling for hours with a massive net hoping to catch a fish or two, one would much prefer to put their boat out in the ocean and have massive schools of fish swim to them on their own and jump right into the boat instead. No nets required.

Community service is not a new idea, engaging in the discussion and taking action through crowdsourcing online is...want to empower those thirty somethings to buy or sell with you, this might just be the ticket. If nothing else, you will have done a great thing and you'll just feel great about that regardless.

What I stand for...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:32:32 -0500

What I Stand For:

I stand for my wife and my daughter, my mom and dad, my brother and sister. I stand for all my family, including my two dogs.

I stand for honor, trust, respect, listening, inspiration, motivation, creativity, risk, pushing boundaries, find a way and JUST DO IT. I stand for inner-bravery.

I stand for infectious enthusiasm, lending a hand and helping others, giving back to the human race. I stand for YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND, hand-shake deals, put yourself in their shoes and walk a mile in their moccasins.

I stand for putting a dent in the universe!

I stand for life-long friends whenever, wherever they need you, I stand for amazing customer experiences, amazing quality and amazing value. I stand for going above and beyond the call of duty, I stand for over-tipping, I stand for celebrating failures, I stand for following-up, I stand for vision, I stand for life-long learning, I stand for progressive business and old school morals, I stand for technology, I stand for in your face intensity, I stand for all night thinking on a client problem, I stand for amazing love towards everyone around you.

I stand for an infinite spiritual mind, I stand for thanking that higher power for every second I’ve got on this planet with my family and for every second I’m allowed to do what I was put here to do.

I stand for compassion, I stand for fierce protection of moral standards and fierce punishment when warranted, I stand for forgiveness.

I stand for making sure our customers are not just the best in the business at what they do, but rather, that they are the only ones doing what they do.

I stand for driving your success as if my business depended on it…because it does!

Libertas Group of Companies is getting it RIGHT!

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:11:01 -0500

I'm proud to say that our Real Estate Disruptor School presentation yesterday went very well, I didn't trip over anything, spill my water glass on my laptop, choke on a cookie or spill my coffee down my shirt while being interviewed by local Edmonton press, life is good....

As many of you have been coming to understand, my company is working hard to match Web2.0 strategies and tactics with (in this case) Realtor's dreams in order to SHIFT entire markets. Help individual Realtors "shift" their particular market and blindside their competition. I'm working on shifting how everyone in the Real Estate industry thinks, works and especially behaves online to increase targeted responses and increase revenues. This is my goal and my purpose for being a part of this great Active Rain community in the first place.

So with that background I want to provide you with a couple of short stories from yesterday. First, Keenan Tameling, Partner in the Libertas Group of Companies and Active Rain member (he found out about my presentation here). Brought several of his key people to Disruptor School yesterday morning. That alone has to say something key about Keenan and his philosophy about his people, he obviously believes in the British Special Forces (SAS) motto of "Train Hard, Fight Easy". Interestingly, I had an opportunity to meet and talk with two of his team from his property management division before the presentation. These two ladies, a mom and daughter team who replied when asked about what it was like to work for Libertas and Keenan said, "Keenan and this company are AMAZING to work for!" "I'm so lucky to be able to have my daughter work for such a fantastic owner and company." WOW! That's awesome and exactly the kind of response 99.99999% of all business owners WISHED they got from their staff. Want to find out Keenan's secret? It would be best to ask him directly, but for starters, he told me he simply comes from a place of passion and emotion for people and his work. He truly is (as was part of my message yesterday) doing what he was put here on this planet to do - this is his "soul purpose" in life and his people have picked up on his infectious enthusiasm for doing it for all the right reasons. Good on ya Keenan and thanks for coming yesterday, it was a pleasure to meet you and your team. So much potential for your company it's sick, simply because of your philosophy and high level of execution.

My second story is a bit of a roller coaster ride. We had a young gentleman from Century 21 in the room yesterday (agent) and he was explaining to me afterwards that Century 21 is holding "Spring Forward" seminar events for their agents. This is all about (from what he told me) Web2.0 or social networking training. Now not having been in those seminars I cannot speak to what specific training, messages are being sent or the type of strategies being used. All of that said, if your company isn't doing the same thing at some level......well, let's just say....there's big trouble in little china...That said, pleasantly he told me he still learned new things yesterday which tells me we're on the right track and providing value which is critical.

After reading the attendee reviews, my heart was filled with satisfaction and happiness that everyone was so happy and impressed with the presentation, the relevance of the content and delivery of same. I still feel we can do better but isn't that always the way with "nice" but competitive perfectionist types...

Have a highly cool and massive day folks...

I was asked today "How serious is this social networking thing?"...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:08:37 -0500

For those folks who don't know me personally I tend to come across as "direct", that's a mild way of saying "in your face" I suppose. Sure I'm an aggressive Type A. And, my wife as well as many others consider me to be a really giving person, which I demonstrate daily. So when I continue to (what I'm sure must seem to many) as "pound away" at the subject of social networking, I'm truly doing this help people.

Sure I'm a capitalist and as such I'm looking to generate revenue but who in business isn't? That said, I prefer to do business honorably, respectfully and from a place of helping my fellow human being whenever and wherever I can...

Now before everyone gets all soggy eyed on me or starts throwing their popcorn (more likely) let me get to the point regarding the seriousness of social networking as a business tool. Not only for real estate but for all business. IF there was one skill that you mastered in the near term, it's learning how to operate within a Web 2.0 environment.

In fact, many in the Web 2.0 community (industry) would consider all of you to be too late in many ways. You see the Web 2.0 market is going through yet another evolution, many more companies are going to be absorbed in the near future. What we've seen over the past year and a bit with Google buying youtube and other acquisitions is just the beginning. They're after the audience ladies and gentlemen, it's that simple. The more people who join Active Rain the more valuable it becomes. Want to make some relatively quick and massive money? Hire some outsourced programmers and start tackling how a site like Active Rain displays it's network like the next generation social networking site will function and beat everyone to the punch. That is, the next gen will be much more like a visual representation of the "web", way more interactivity, more media cross over as well. A "web"of your connections that will also include the relevance of each person in relation to others. In other words, still more information will be available, more effective targeting, less time wasted just surfing and praying for leads in return. It's only a matter of time folks before someone figures out the technological combination or the "how to" better attract, display and sell houses...

So while many folks are struggling to figure out what I'm talking about regarding the "shift" in real estate marketing, others still are mastering today's and tomorrow's techniques...Competition in business is a fact, any edge that can be gained to get to that client first is of paramount importance. Technology today is arming more and more people with powerful capabilities that just a few short years ago was a dream and an expensive venture. Not any more. For a few thousand dollars one can now hire the right guns located all over the world to recreate you as a Global Micro-National. I should know because it's in part what we do. Want to venture beyond the 3bdrm, 2 bath bread and butter? Maybe take a shot at changing things like the $20M revamp of Century 21's next-gen real estate web portal and at less cost but with better functionality? It can be done. Of course it can be done. That said, I think Century 21's site is an entire universe ahead of the competition. Congratulations to that company for their bold vision and for embracing life as an early adopter...I guarantee the competition immediately started similar projects trying to catch up and if not fire the CEO and especially CTO. Hopefully, they won't continue to be behind as is often the case in Internet technology terms...you can't think -"me too" or "what's next". In today's day and age you've got to futurecast to what's next 10 years from now to be truly innovative.

Will people still be searching for homes the same way 10 years from now? How about 5 years from now? I guarantee they won't be. Thus I guarantee Realtors won't be operating the same way either. Or is that statement reversed? Yes it is. I know this because that case is currently being made. We are living in the greatest opportunity rich environment in human history for those who are keeping score and wanting to participate. So with that in mind I say let the games begin...and good luck to us all.

The "SHIFT" in Real Estate Marketing...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:16:13 -0500

Imagine you're a Realtor in Phoenix Arizona and you want an edge over your competition. You may want to identify targeted buyers or sellers in areas where your competition isn't necessarily operating.

There are a few ways to accomplish this. First, an online social networking strategy that allows for you to reach your target audience in a "unique" manner. A manner in which your competition has not yet become aware of. Second, that unique manner is then enhanced by working in an area that many wouldn't expect.

Think like the "tourism department" for the City of Phoenix. You want travelers from Canada or more specifically oil rich Alberta to come to your city to enjoy all of it's attributes and instead of buying a new lambo at the brand new dealership in Calgary, spend some of that money on investment properties in Arizona, renting them to other Albertans who go down south for the winter.

But how to accomplish this? Everything you're doing right now is localized.

Imagine a highly targeted campaign to identify and then motivate the precise right group of buyers to look at and invest in the Phoenix Real Estate scene, much of which is a virtual steal in the current US recession environment.

You're right! This isn't a brand new idea, however, how you are actually doing the marketing, how you are reaching the hearts, minds and pocket books of those targeted buyers IS different.

You now have an edge. Gone are the days of newspaper ad's, newspapers are DINOSAURS and they are scrambling to reposition themselves online. The largest traditional media corporations are struggling with this "shift". The writing is on the wall for how Realtors market themselves as well.

Early adopters have all the advantage should they take action, well established (potentially complacent) Realtors are going to get blindsided....some may care and some will just retire rather than learn this new way...some of your AR colleagues in Alberta will be attending a seminar next week on April 8th in Edmonton, Alberta that will show them precisely how to do this REPEATEDLY...this is just one way, one strategy we intend to share thereby furthering the "shift".....

The importance of "social linking".

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:39:48 -0500

One of the ways I make my time online more valuable is by ensuring I link effectively whenever possible. If you imagine a ball of string at a cocktail party being thrown from person to person around the room with each person holding the string once they come into contact with it and then pass it forward. When the string eventually runs out I want you to then imagine that the flow of interest, eyeballs, energy viral marketing elements all flow back to the first person who threw the ball.

Linking on the Internet can be similar to that example in a lot of ways if done properly. For example, I will continue with my shameless plugs here for my own blog www.fusedlogic.blogspot.com. Should you go there and like an article, youtube video and decide to link to it, first of all I would say a heartfelt thank-you, but secondly what happens is that you of course have a new "social object" or article, post or bit of content to leverage for your community, your blog, your website and had to spend little time doing anything. Do this often and don't forget when you're online.

In a previous post I described the different categories of web users - "spectators" lose out on the linking because they don't interact or "link" as a general rule they just read, listen or consume content. Be active.

Link like crazy and that should start to help build traffic to your blog, your listings and you in general.

Now compare that to someone who's just hanging out on social networks and you automatically gain an advantage in terms of return on your time investment.

Social Networking Time Crunch...

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:11:11 -0500

Time is always a factor for busy business people. I've been reading that many currently involved at some level of social networking are struggling with the amount of time that it takes to keep this element of their online marketing efforts going.

I believe that if these activities are part of a structured online marketing plan, each element and activity that is performed online is in a way predetermined. Sticking to that process allows me to keep from "time creep", so on really tight schedule days I'm able to generate return on my time investment and get off the computer to go do something else much more important...such as take in a music concert put on by my (3) year old daughter in the living room for example...

Many talk about not getting anything out of their efforts. The answers are there if we look for them...

Start here: Four Steps to Better Social Networking Results

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:03:56 -0500

How to do "Social Networking"

This is all about "Why" you want to do this, NOT the Web 2.0 technology itself...

Step One: Understand the different people online and their reasons for being online. Forrester Research describes us like this.

A.)Inactives - not on the Internet.

B.)Spectators - Read blogs and articles, listen to podcasts, watch videos - consume the content, contribute little or nothing.

C.)Joiners - Join social networking groups to socialize, interact with other people, no real purpose necessarily or objective other than just meeting people and holding conversations.

D.)Collectors - The editors of the Internet, they organize content, make lists for others to use.

E.)Critics - Actively commenting, providing opinions on one or more subjects and in many different areas of the Internet.

F.) Creators - Consistent content generator engines, blogging often, commenting often, building ways to generate even more content.

Step Two: Understanding who you are and where you fit in, then create a list of objectives. "Why do you want to do this social networking thing at all?" Create targeted lead generation, find friends and colleagues, research and learn by tracking conversations, marketing etc...

These objectives should include you doing one of the following things. I interpret them as follows:

A.)Listening to the market

B.)Talking with the market - two way conversation - most corporate websites currently are not set-up for this.

C.)Energizing - create interest and motivation

D.)Supporting - a way to support another community initiative

E.)Embracing - learning from customer feedback and embracing the change that is suggested

Step Three: Building a Strategy or what I call a "Disruptor Blueprint". Start with the idea of locating your key evangelist(s). These are customers for example who cannot say enough about you and are willing to take action on your behalf. The strategy should also include how you intent to deliver, distribute you single message across several different social networking mediums. Google Adsense may also be part of your plan, Craigslist, etc...map our your plans.

Step Four: Understanding the technology that you will be using is key as well...I can go into this in more detail at a later date...

more on my other blog www.fusedlogic.blogspot.com

Realtors are maximizing Facebook, LinkedIn...social networking

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:23:38 -0500

Being an active participant in social networking usually means having conversations, many conversations. Hopefully for you it also means contributing value and adding to the community, if you're active. There are however, many people I would consider spectators. They have LinkedIn accounts for example that sit dormant and they are not having conversations or using the site to it's full potential...that's a shame because there are several ways to generate new targeted business from being on that site if you're a Realtor.

This brings up the overarching question for all of us, how do we justify the time chatting away on forums, blogs and Facebook without generating in some way a measurable return for our efforts? I don't know about you but I'm not retired yet. In addition to meeting many great people around the world, which I love to do, I still in some way have to generate revenue for my business as I'm sure is the case for you and there's only so many hours in the day. The level of frustration is growing.

Luckily I'm in a unique position to be able to do both. My "soul" purpose for being a business owner is to educate and thereby accelerate other business owners and their goals, it's what my company fusedlogic inc does. I've been studying and actively participating in the Web 2.0 and social media industry for awhile now, my blog was started in 2005 as my first entry into this area, with research conducted prior to that.

Well we've done it. I say "we" because I've aligned with some experts in other areas and together we've built out an evolving program that we're delivering in many consumable forms to the business public. Seminars, video clips, I'm about to launch my new book soon, the first in a series on the subject of converting your social networking efforts into revenue. Combine this with articles and other methods of communicating these concepts and there are all sorts of ways one can take advantage of my mistakes, experiments, tests and success (as well as that of my colleagues).

We recently decided that we needed to "shift" the Real Estate marketplace by educating, influencing and ultimately changing how Realtors conducted business. (We include mortagage brokers, home stagers too) We decided to impact small "early adopter" groups via seminars. It's working! The message is getting out and people are realizing that what we're doing is working and generating results, on Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere on the Internet. For the early adopter attendees this means a distinct and large advantage within a local market.

An example of our seminar information/registration is here. http://www.disruptorschool.com

You can watch yours truly on video here. http://www.fusedlogic.blogspot.com

We've set a goal for our Disruptor School participants in the Real Estate industry. "500 targeted buyers" to your client portfolio in 2008, driven there as a result of their new social networking blueprint that we provide them right in our seminars.

Yes, these are certainly very interesting and exciting times we live in...

GOAL: 500 targeted buyers to your portfolio

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:50:57 -0500

What would an additional 500 targeted home buyers do for your income? fusedlogic is setting that goal for 60 Real Estate Agents who attend our seminar on April 8th at the Greenwood Inn in Edmonton at 9AM.

Our strategies include how to correctly leverage facebook, being on it is great and we'll show you how to access over 90,000 Albertans 35 yrs or older ready to buy real estate or will be ready to buy in a year or two...

For more information on how to attend:

http://www.disruptorschool.com

Watch videos here:

http://www.fusedlogic.blogspot.com

Just one of our strategies generated hundreds of thousands of impressions for one company brand in one day...imagine if that was targeted home buyers in Alberta and YOU were the one generating that attention.

Agents, Facebook and way more business

Walter Schwabe (fusedlogic inc.) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:42:10 -0500

I want to notify everyone of a great seminar being held in Edmonton on April 8th at 9am at the Greenwood Inn.

If you're interested in finding out about critical social networking strategies that will help to drive hundreds of "targeted" home buyers to your client portfolio then grab one of only 60 seats here.

http://www.disruptorschool.com

You can also view video content on the topic here.

http://www.fusedlogic.blogspot.com