Well I'm going to try an experiment. In REAL TIME.
I'm here at the Bloggers Connect 2 in San Francisco, in the meeting room at the Palace Hotel, checking some email and getting ready for some good times. I thought I would try to blog LIVE, with some periodic updates during the meeting HERE.
Got through badge pickup (no registration line for me, after last year) without delay, took some photos, and just downloaded the video I took walking over here from my hotel near Union Square.
BREAK
Cool!! I just met CARNAC (LINDA DAVIS) who I have gotten to know on-line. Linda actually referred a client to me in Carlsbad so we chatted about that, and her long trip out here from the East Coast. It was so cool to meet her after seeing her smiling face on AR for so long. Time for a break...more later.
9:00
Just met the Bolen Brothers from Lake Tahoe, GARY and RICHARD. How cool - we are all fans of each other on-line and it was fun to catch up. Time for the event to begin. More later.
Neat - just met KIM WOOD from the East Coast (one of finalists in the Makeover/Takeover contest), and MARA HAWKS.
9:15
The panel has started and is talking about creating your audience, or finding it. There are different perspectives, depending on your niche, and your focus. Folks vary in who they are trying to reach depending on if they are agents or have a different group of people they are trying to reach. Don't be salesy or preachy, and don't editorialize. Folks don't care. Be conversational.
Now the question - can you be TOO conversational, or too familiar? Do people really want to hear about your CAT? Depends.
9:20
Should you use the word I or not. Folks vary some on their opinions on this. Probably not good to use it too much but readers do want to know about you and what you think.
Need to consider our branding too. You are not really branding yourself but what you sell.
It's important to talk to your audience - what did I do right, what did I do wrong. THis will get you your next article.
Does it matter how well you write, where you put the comma? Do you need to be a literary genius? "Thank god for spellcheck." Opinions vary a bit on this. "Your voice is crucial." It relays a message. I don't want to be perfect, but I don't want to be a slob.
Clean copy is something to aspire to.
9:30
Keep in mind the long-tail. And the fact that you are communicating.
Everyone has a time when the content is not quite what you want.
Cool just saw Laurie Manny - who I have met a bunch of times in the last year or so. She's up next on a panel with Linda Davis, Teresa Boardman (sitting two rows in front of me, and Mary Pope-Handy.
Just saw ROBERTA MURPHY!! The first session just ended. Good stuff. Oh neat, there's GENA RIEDE. Hey wait up...
NEXT SESSION: 9:45
Linda Davis, Teresa B,, Mary Pope Handy and Laurie Manny, with Jay Thompson moderating.
Linda just commented on a client who came to her because she wrote about her cat!! Teresa wrote about satellite dishes on some of the buildings in her area and someone has been reading for over a year. Laurie started writing about the luxury market because she was finding most of her business was coming in at the low end, which was who she was writing to.
How do you use your blog to complement your business? Laurie uses her blog As her website - why would you use a website when the blog is performing so well? Blogging can feed your entire business.
Linda - I don't pay much attention to SEO. I use my blog as a resource. If you have a crappy business a blog isn't going to help!
Mary - I have only been blogging only the last 5 months and I am still in business. It really has carried me.
Teresa - my blog IS my business, they are so intertwined.
A few more comments – be yourself. Show your personality. Find something interesting to write about that you enjoy!
Just spent a few minutes chatting with LYNNE POPE!! How cool. We have the same technology equipment with us, including our trusty Kodak cameras.
10:45 NEXT SESSION: Rudy B., Pat Kitano,David Gibbons,Jay Thompson (in place of Mary McKnight)
This is about leaving your digital footprint. Why. Well folks will find you in the Internet - happens all the time. But sometimes hard to find out WHERE.
Before you leave the trail you need to have an identity. How do you create this? Participating in social media is important. You potentially will get recognized by the mass media by doing so. Participate in an many networks as possible. Leave comments, as these can become links. Be proactive. Be as many places as you can. Content is king but content without links is meaningless.
Be on Zillow, MeetUp.com, Yelp.
Don’t respond when emotional, don’t get into arguments. OK to engage in controversial topics, however. The Internet DOESN’T forget!
How do you defend your reputation? Commenting is an art. Inform the commenter of the reality. Thank them for their input. Try to address the general audience when responding, not focusing on just the one person. If you wouldn’t say it F2F don’t say in on-line. Your critics are often misinformed – just correct as appropriate. But consider they may have valid points. Sometimes a personal phone call or email is better. You can’t read body language on the Internet. Avoid really negative words.
How to monitor your reputation? Use Google alerts!!
Can use Twitter to create and maintain conversations, and direct folks to your article on your blog as the reference.
11:30 - NEXT SESSION - How not to get Sued.
Good talk about avoiding violations of copyright law and trademarks. Whenever you cut and paste you risk violating copyright. "Fair use" is not a right. Don't be caustic or derogatory toward someone's copyright or trademark.
Check out the trademark use manual for REALTOR on Realtor.org.
When you take someone's photos it is wise to assume they may be copyrighted. Exceptions are those that can be used commercially on FLickr.
HAD TO TAKE A PHONE call on a problem with escrow - all is well, TG.
While in the hall I got a big hug from MISSY CAULK and KRISTAL KRAFT. How cool. They are just how I expected they would be. So neat to meet these stellar bloggers and real estate professionals in the flesh.
LUNCH BREAK
I made a few phone calls as we work through an escrow. Had a nice chat with TOM PLANT at lunch - he's here with his fiancee. On the way back to the session ran into MATT HEATON, JON WASHBURN, BRAD ANDERSOHN and BOB STEWART in the hall. Fun to see these guys again (met Bob for the first time). There is some exciting news today at 2 PM. Stay tuned.
NEXT SESSION (moderated by Jeff Turner) - What is the Next Level? (having some wireless issues here).
1:15 PM Great topic here on taking it to the next level. You have to know what your objectives are, and be able to define your goals so you know what the levels really are.
The next level is being more involved in the community, not just the on-line but also the off-line community - reach out to influential people, the schools, get clients to know each other, talk to real people, have others get involved with your blog.
Make your blog more of a community blog - promote others. Couldn't you reach out to the school community and provide information on what in going on with the school community? Updates and concerns from the principal? The thoughts of the possibilities are racing.
"Life does not happen inside your computer." I love this quote.
Isn't the next level also making more money? And converting more business from your traffic? How do you do this. Not sure they really addressed this - I have some thoughts, though.
WINNERS OF MAKEOVER/TAKEOVER
Desiree and Brian!! Congrats!
Missy and Kim were second
Midori and Jeannette were third.
Here's the actual winning announcement.
What an outstanding group of bloggers, and an inspiration to us all. BTW I have a couple of videos from the announcement - the lead in, featuring Rich and two of the 3 finalists, and the actual winning announcement. Will try to upload before I head for the airport but it may not happen. No fear - they will be posted. It was a blast to be here for the news.
******************
I'm sad to not be able to hit the AR Party tonight - I am at a restaurant having dinner before heading off to the airport. Since the last note (wireless issues, and AR was down) I also met RICH JACOBSON. A big hug from the Community guy as if we had known each other for years...well, it has been almost 2. I have a feeling we will meet again before too long.
I also ran into Brad during the meeting at some point, several times actually - taking photos as you would expect. A big hug from him too!
Hope you enjoy this pseudo-live reporting from Bloggers Connect. Couldn't get it together to Twitter and do other things as well. I'm sure others have. Stay tuned for more thoughts and photos on a sensational event. And the VIDEOS!
Cheers!!
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