Meatloaf, Lebron and IDX......Random Thoughts on a Friday

When I first started upchucking random thoughts onto my computer screen I admitted that consistency has never been my strong suit. The first thing I've ever really committed to in my life was my wife (super smart decision, she's amazing).....and that took until I was 33 years old. I have no excuse. I probably need to take a 31 day blogging challenge to find some consistency with my blogging. I'm going to give myself 20,000 points if I do it.

My step dad is leaving today to Alaska for salmon season. He captains a boat up there for the summer. In the winter, he fishes dungeness crab off the coast of WA. Needless to say, there is no shortage of seafood around my Mom's house when I'm back in Seattle. On my last trip from Seattle home to Ann Arbor, I left all my clothes from my suitcase at Mom's. In it's place? A suitcase full of salmon and halibut on freezer packs. They vaccuum seal the bags and even though it's frozen, it's better than 99% of the fish you will find in this country. We're having some for dinner tonight! (Good luck this Summer Grant!!)

Are you still resisting paying $100 a month for an IDX website that effectively captures leads, uses a backend management system that allows you to understand what people are doing on your site and helps you identify who your hot leads are? WHY??? If you are interested in generating business online, there is no single tool that is more valuable. We had to build our own back in the early 2000's. It was well worth it and it cost us a LOT more than $100/month. Today there are companies that make these high powered IDX sites for you. Here is one. If you are generating traffic with your blogs, you HAVE to have an IDX that turns that traffic into clients........and closings! (The one I linked to is Market Leader. There are others. Market Leader's IDX is very strong. But they may try to convince you to buy traffic as well for the site. If you think your blog can generate enough traffic, just tell them you only want the IDX piece)

I loved watching the Miami Heat collapse last night. They were up 15 with six minutes to go and they lost. I can't tell you how happy it made me. Ever since the Sonics left Seattle, I've had no interest in the NBA. I have to give Lebron James credit, rooting against him has made watching the NBA bearable for me. Michael Jordan never would have let that collapse happen (full disclosure, I was never a fan of his either).

Did you write any posts this week about local events, subdivisions, condo complexes or neighborhoods? The last three are the kinds of posts that, if written correctly, can attract buyers who are much closer to doing something than the average internet buyer. I have a class next week on ARU where we will learn how to write posts that rank well in the search engines and we will be paying particular attention to the kinds of posts I mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph. If your blog isn't getting you business, don't miss this class on Wednesday of next week. (Clicking on the linkwill allow you to register for the free webinar)

I'm excited to share the stage again with Ben Kinney for RainCamp Seattle. If you are within flying distance, you really should come join us on June 20th and 21st. Not only will Ben share his secrets for generating leads on Craigslist (he is generating almost 1000 leads a month just on Craigslist) but Rich, Todd, Debe and Steve are also going to be on the agenda. We're very lucky to have them all in Seattle with us sharing. Each of them are going to share for an hour about different facets of blogging that have made their blogs successful for them. Ben and I will be sharing for two hours on how to generate leads for your real estate business. If you need more leads, don't miss it. There will be fundamental take-aways you can implement the next day.

Is it just me, or is the performance on the ActiveRain getting better? My hats off to Chris and the guys we have brought in to assist him. Also, way to go Nikesh on making stability the number one priority and taking the steps necessary to make it happen! I can't wait for performance issues to be a bad memory so the developers can start to focus on implementing some of the cool ideas Niki and I have been throwing around and receiving from our members.

Do you know how much you made per hour last year? Isn't that a pretty important statistic? How can you make effective decisions about your business without that stat? If you made $40/hour then does it really make sense to do tasks that you could pay someone else $15/hour to perform? Income generating activities should be your focus. But until you understand how much you made per hour, you will never be able to determine which activities would best be performed by someone else. The mega producers understand this concept. Easier said than done though, I know.

My mom makes the best meatloaf I've ever tasted........(used to be) by a mile! My sister in law, Ashlee, is getting pretty darn good at it though. This is a woman who a few years ago struggled with frozen pizza. Now she is busting out meatloaf like Emeril. (I'm hoping the compliment will give my 15 large boxes of baseball cards stored in her garage a little more time before she decides to set them out for the trash man). Hey Ash, if you're reading, tell Colton I owe him cupcakes and him and Kelan and I will bake some this month when I'm back.

I'd hate to be an Ohio State fan right now. Actually, with the family I married into, I'd hate to be an Ohio State fan any time......Go Blue! (until Michigan meets the Huskies in the Rose Bowl, then my roots will take over and my marriage will be miserable for the month leading up to the game.) But my kid? Oh, Christa has completely brainwashed him. If you say the words 'Ohio State' he immediately lets loose a pretty loud "BOOOOOO". He's kind of a beast (and likes being called that) and the kid loves football. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up running out of the tunnel at the Big House on Saturdays.

(the picture is my nephew Colton. His Dad, my brother, is a HUGE Oakland Raiders fan. Any time I can put a Seattle Seahawks hat on his kid and take a picture is a joy for me. Any time I can share that picture with the world is euphoric)

(By the way. My blog is messed up. When you submit your comment, you will probably be taken to a blank white screen. That's alright.....the comment posted. Don't go back and post it again. If you go back and hit refresh, you will see the comment.)