During the ProjectBlogger competition last Spring, I advised the contestants to enter a writing contest Problogger.com was hosting. Of all the apprentices, only Teri Lussier entered, with the result that she finished the competition with a huge number of Technorati links and a Page Rank of 4 — truly astounding results for almost no effort.
Say that again: “Truly astounding results for almost no effort.” That’s like a BloodhoundBlog mantra. That’s everything we’re looking for, the leveraged opportunity that produces the best benefits for the least effort at the lowest cost.
Even so, I knew when I announced the BloodhoundBlog Black Pearl Diver’s contest that few people would enter. The effort was nothing, really, just another blog post. The Grand Prize is a full scholarship to BloodhoundBlog Unchained, but every winning entrant would get a link back to their site on our side-bar. This is possibly the most powerful link in the RE.net. It’s certainly the most powerful link anyone is offering you for free. And we had — count ’em — four entries.
The good news is, they were four great entries. But before we get to them, I’d like to cite three honorable mentions:
- Mike Farmer brought us This is not for the contest — just tipping my hat, discussing his plans to create single-property weblogs for his listings.
- Teri Lussier took on the entire Social Media Marketing universe with Does the RE.net mean Real Estate or Resist Everything?
- And Todd Carpenter knocked my socks off last night with this simple Google search. For now, Todd is dominating the keyword zillow mortgages by sheer blog-power. It will be interesting to see if Zillow is able to take that keyword away from Todd, but, no matter what, he is demonstrating the search-engine leverage of weblogging.
And now… on to the winners:
Kevin Warmath weighs in with If A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, A Video Must Be Worth a Million, a discussion of his odyssey through visual marketing media for his listings.
Brian Miller offers up “…Vee have our vays. You vill sign zee papers…”, which details how he learned how to get more by demanding less.
Colleen Kulikowski shares her secret blend of on-line and off-line marketing techniques in I just want my Western New York Home SOLD!
Those are our three runners-up, and they all did a great job.
The Grand Prize Winner is Thomas Johnson with Down on the ZestiFarm. We’ve talked about this idea many times before, and I’ll be teaching a new twist on geographic farming with photos at Unchained, but Tom hits home run after home run in this post — literally a string of Black Pearls.
Congratulations to all four winners. You’ll all be in our sidebar tonight — so watch those SERPs and backlinks over the next few days. Congratulations to all of you, too, for having the moxie to go diving for Black Pearls. Many people had the opportunity. You four had the wits to seize it. I hope the links you won tonight will bring you even richer opportunities.
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing, real estate training, technology
Jim Cronin says:
Looks like a couple of ‘maters will be making your way for the Unchained event. Excellent!
March 7, 2008 — 8:07 pm
DB says:
As much as you have written on this subject, and if people continue not to participate, then maybe, they really do not want prizes that you have to offer.
Why?
That is something that I cannot answer, but as someone who has tried in earnest to help others increase their SERPs, that is a question you should ask yourself. Why aren’t people taking advantage of what you are offering?
Instead of begging people to set up and participate, ask yourself why they are not participating and try a different approach to get people involved.
You have already written tons on how to win, the contest’s benefits yet, there is still a lack of participation. What are you missing?
Maybe it is the Black Pearl’s criteria itself. Maybe people do not want to write about new approaches or real estate related technology and instead want to reach out to an entirely different audience. Again, I do not know the answer, but instead of jamming the benefits down people’s throats and begging them to step up to the plate, perhaps it would be wise to examine why after you have written so much on the topic that people still refuse to participate.
March 8, 2008 — 12:40 am
DB says:
PS: Didn’t everyone else including those who did not write specifically for the Black Pearl contest also get a link on your sidebar in the little Odysseus Medal box?
Something to consider there if you are strictly concerned about promoting the Black Pearl.
March 8, 2008 — 12:44 am
Greg Swann says:
Relax, Derek. I’m not complaining. It’s completely normal human behavior.
March 8, 2008 — 1:20 am
Kevin Warmath - Alpharetta Real Estate says:
Thanks for the recognition. You kinda hate to win anything my default, but sometimes (an unfortunately too often in real estate) just showing up is good enough ;->
On human behavior: people do things all the time that hurt themselves and don’t do (easy) things that help themselves. It’s a whole body of knowledge way beyond the bloodhound forum, but suffice it to say that somehow, someway, people attached pain to entering the contest. I don’t know how, but they did.
Anyway, thanks to the Academy…
March 8, 2008 — 6:43 am
Greg Swann says:
> You kinda hate to win anything my default
Don’t kid yourself. You delivered the goods, or you wouldn’t’ve gotten nuthin’.
March 8, 2008 — 7:30 am
Sean Purcell says:
DB’s comments notwithstanding, I am sorely disappointed that I did not act on the opportunity. I excused myself by saying I was moving offices and computers and so on, but I could have easily jumped on another computer at some point and posted my best effort.
The benefits mentioned in the original contest are tangible, but the real benefit was in having your ideas read by (and commented on) by some of the best minds in RE 2.0. I will not miss the next one.
March 8, 2008 — 9:45 am
Brian Brady says:
Let me offer the REAL value of this contest.
There are four VERY actionable plans for the new agent or originator, chronicled by this contest. Kevin offers us some real, down home “Georgia moonshine” in his approach to using video tours. Brian chronicles how he took the dating principle to a whole new level in client engagement. Colleen outlined the whole Web 2.0 strategy she used to take over a small market; she dominates the Google search in Western New York after a few short months.
Thomas Johnson’s Zestifarming article should be syndicated by David Gibbons and Drew Meyers. It should be the cornerstone of Zillow’s presentation to every single REALTOR they engage.
SERPs, SEO, links, etc.; all good prizes for taking the time to enter. The real value of “essay writing” is education. When we write, we more deeply understand. Our thinking becomes more clear, our aim more true.
These four articles are the answer to the common question from your colleagues, “What are you doing to thrive in this down market?”
This contest benefits the contributors and readers alike. So, thank you…
Kevin
Brian
Colleen
and Tom
March 8, 2008 — 9:55 am
Colleen Kulikowski says:
What a great gift to offer and I really appreciate the link love! Too often people listen to the masses and forget to think for themselves and what is best for their business. It is amazing the results you can achieve with a little hard work and accepting assistance from those that offer it.
Greg and Brian thanks for the opportunity. I am now off to do a CMA that resulted from the weekly email I sent yesterday…
March 8, 2008 — 10:03 am