Brass in Pocket

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

I think I forgot to put the cat out. But, I’m still curious – Who did set fire to her? My personal thermostat is broken. I now spend my days alternating between down jackets and ice packs. If there is a way to simultaneous run the furnace and the air conditioner, I am determined to find it. My total 20 minutes of sleep last night involved dreams of dorm rooms, escrows and Russell Shaw. (Don’t get excited, Mr. Shaw. It was the “You are a Failure of Epic Proportions” post that slipped into my subconscious. I have since determined that I am destined for moderate success, since the last thing I wanted to do yesterday was read a 2,000 word blog post on how much I suck. I skimmed).

It is so much fun getting old. Happy birthday to me.

Years ago, the children in my daughter’s second grade class each had to give a presentation on an exotic animal. The question and answer periods were more fun than my third time watching Weekend at Bernie’s. This is where classmates would toss out random questions about the featured animal, thus allowing the presenter to demonstrate their command of the subject. One girl mentioned that the okapi was threatened by the jackal. “What’s a jackal?” one child asked. “Oh, (pause) a rabbit.” Everyone was quite satisfied.

You see, if your audience is clueless, you can say just about anything and get away with it. If you only think in these terms, if you forget that your readers might know a thing or two, or if you forget along the way that people actually may be reading what you write, then you may only think you can get away with it.

On the heels of Inman’s Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers award, I am reminded that there are many (at least 25) writers who blog with passion and with credibility – with something to say. I am also reminded of how competitive is this business, and how competitive this business of blogging is becoming.

Blogging takes two forms. The blogger either has information or has opinions to share. Philosophical opinions, opinions of “what if”, can be debated, but they can never be wrong. Whether I believe in a Supreme Being (because, who else could have conceived of the White Chocolate Mocha?), or I think Redfin will soon be acquired by Warren Buffet (because I think he likes their future upside potential), my opinion is valid because it is mine. You may not like it and you may not agree, but for the time being, at least, you can’t prove me wrong. The “greats” debate with respect, and may ultimately agree to disagree. Too many others just hollar to be heard.

Professing authority on facts, on the other hand, can prove embarrassing if you are a Pretender. The “greats” have something of value to offer, and have the credentials of age and experience to justify their platform. They do not blog for ego, blog for acceptance, or blog just to blog. So many others seem to have fallen into the “say anything” trap just to get noticed.  “A jackal is a rabbit. Call me for all of your real estate needs!”

So, on this, my two-score-and-eight-years birthday, I am going to come clean. I am a working real estate agent. I am not a lending expert, I do not fully understand micro- or macro-economics, I can not write two lines of code without my “Dummies” book, I have not read Machiavelli, and in my eleven years in the trenches I have not learned everything there is to know about my business of real estate. I do have opinions, however, which I enjoy sharing and I learn volumes every day by swapping opinions with others.

And I know a jackal isn’t a rabbit. All jokes aside, I will never be among the most influential. I am not one of the “greats”. I do not possess that higher level of expertise that warrants the recognition, and it is not important to me, to my clients or to my business that I pull out all the stops to be heard above the din at any cost. Age brings some wisdom. I know only what I know, and this is what I write about. Everything else I will leave to everyone else.