We made a ton of video clips at BloodhoundBlog Unchained. BrokerIPTV.com made a bunch more, and theirs feature strange and esoteric production elements like good lighting and audible sound. The difference is, ours were on YouTube right away, and theirs took a while to gestate. One that I’ve been waiting for finally hatched today, yours truly on the subject of being Unchained:
If you watch that clip, this should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: I don’t tell people what to do. There are no rules for BloodhoundBlog contributors. I don’t like rules, but I also don’t like working with people who need to be told what to do — and I really don’t like working with people who try to tell other people what to do.
That paragraph is predicate to this one: Since there is no Official BloodhoundBlog Policy on anything, it should be obvious that there is no Official BloodhoundBlog Policy on Inman Connect. Bloodhounds have been invited to speak at the last couple of events, and I, personally, have no feelings about this one way or another.
But, oddly enough, for this summer’s event, only one Bloodhound has been invited to speak, Estately.com’s Galen Ward. That’s not completely true. Just after Unchained, Brian Brady was approached, perhaps as a ham-handed divide-and-conquer strategy. But Cheryl Johnson was not invited to teach PhotoShop, Eric Blackwell and Eric Bramlett weren’t invited to teach SEO, Geno Petro wasn’t invited to teach the art of mesmerizing an audience. Mike Farmer, Sean Purcell and Jeff Brown are, each in his own way, reinventing the real estate brokerage, but this is not a topic of interest at Inman Connect.
In other words, there does seem to be an Official BloodhoundBlog Policy on Inman Connect, but it doesn’t originate here.
So be it. We care a lot. As is discussed in the clip, BloodhoundBlog Unchained set a new standard for training events in the wired world of real estate in our first swing at the ball. We dropped the ball completely on the drinking and partying and killing time in the hallways categories, but I know we traded a ton of first-class information, and I can tell from my mail that a lot of people are implementing the ideas they learned at BloodhoundBlog Unchained.
And we’re just getting started. When we come to Orlando on November 7th, we’re going to set the bar even higher. We’re constantly working on new ideas, and we’re constantly working to share them with as many people as we can.
If you’re going to Inman Connect, more power to you. I won’t be there, nor will most of the the Bloodhounds, but I hope you learn as much as there is to be learned.
But if you’ve been wishing you had gone to Unchained, you might want to buy the DVDs instead, and then save your money for Orlando or for next year in Phoenix. I can’t promise that we’ll get any better at drinking, partying or killing time in the hallways, but we’ll keep adding new ideas every chance we get.
Some time next week, I have to decide how many sets of DVDs to press. There’s eleven-plus hours of material, so we’ll be on four DVD-9s — with a year’s worth of homework. If you want to latch on to the best of BloodhoundBlog Unchained, Phoenix 2008, click on the button conveniently situated immediately below.
Technorati Tags: blogging, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing, technology
Dan Green says:
I tend to blend in a bit in a crowd which is probably why nobody remembered I was there, on stage, in San Francisco in 2007 and also in New York this past January.
It’s okay, though. It didn’t take me long in this business to get used to being ignored by real estate agents… 🙂
In addition to me, Kris Berg was out there while she was writing here and Brian was, too. That’s pretty good representation, right?
Either way, I was invited to speak at the Inman conference for a THIRD time this summer but the timing is a little off against my personal schedule. I had to decline and was pretty bummed about it.
June 4, 2008 — 5:06 pm
Brian Brady says:
Readers should spend 3-4 minutes and watch this video before they comment. It’s Greg Swann doing Tom Petty and it’s an oft-ignored (and highly suggested) mantra.
June 4, 2008 — 5:21 pm
Greg Swann says:
There were six or seven Bloodhounds speaking at Inman in January in New York. I don’t know if there’s an Official Inman Connect BloodhoundBlog Policy now, nor do I care. We are inarguably at the forefront of Social Media Marketing for real estate professionals — now more than ever — so running without Bloodhounds is a stunning omission, but it’s hardly surprising.
FWIW, everything I hear about Inman Connect convinces me that I would regard it as a complete waste of my time. Different people like different things. That’s why BloodhoundBlog Unchained exists, so we can have our world our way.
June 4, 2008 — 5:21 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
One of the things that I truly appreciate about Greg and in writing here on BHB is the absolute freedom (yes, it does come with responsibility as always). I never asked Greg for a tutorial, nor did he give me a roadmap or talking points.
Thank you,sir.
It’s one of the things that makes me enjoy this place so much. That kind of freedom generates loyalty. It is also makes me VERY excited about what is up next…that is where I choose to spend my time, and not at Inman. Eric and Eric have been working on some fun stuff! (grin).
June 4, 2008 — 5:56 pm
Richard Riccelli says:
Screw ’em, Greg. I don’t care how many times they ask, or how much money they offer, I ain’t speaking at Inman Connect.
So there.
June 4, 2008 — 6:20 pm
Greg Swann says:
> how much money they offer
Brian and I have arrived at a number. I can share it with you privately if you want to hew to a hard line.
June 4, 2008 — 6:44 pm
Richard Riccelli says:
Wow. I’m hewing.
June 4, 2008 — 6:47 pm
Tom Vanderwell says:
Greg,
That’s just one of the things I like about this “place.” There isn’t a set “agenda” but the bar for excellence is set so high that everyone lives up to it. You’ve set an example of the type of excellence we all should strive for whether we’re mortgage lenders or Realtors. This place has already changed how I do my business.
Thanks!
Tom
June 4, 2008 — 7:06 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Wow. I’m hewing.
Snot. Come to Orlando and teach Realtors how to write copy that sells. I’ll bet you could make coaching deals all day long.
June 4, 2008 — 7:09 pm
Richard Riccelli says:
OK. But the only way I work for Bloodhound is pro bono.
June 4, 2008 — 7:24 pm
Teri Lussier says:
Dan-
>It didn’t take me long in this business to get used to being ignored by real estate agents…
I hope you get to come to Unchained and discuss database marketing as I was hoping you would be part of the show at Phx.
And Greg, let’s get the party started. My vote for Orlando Unchained theme song:
June 4, 2008 — 8:27 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Teri: How did you know that Odysseus got the Mac gig?
Here’s my evergreen theme song for this place:
June 4, 2008 — 8:47 pm
Russell Shaw says:
I am also not speaking at Inman this year. I eventually hope to have a website showing all of the various dates and locations where I am not speaking.
June 5, 2008 — 12:01 am
Teri Lussier says:
>How did you know that Odysseus got the Mac gig?
A happy side effect of my Bravo TV reality show addiction.
>I eventually hope to have a website showing all of the various dates and locations where I am not speaking.
The SEO possibilities for that are mind boggling. 😀
June 5, 2008 — 6:07 am
Greg Swann says:
> I am also not speaking at Inman this year.
If you will hold time available on Friday, November 7th in Orlando, we’ll put you in front of a room full of Realtors who need to hear from you.
June 5, 2008 — 6:55 am
Steve Simon says:
The video clips are well done.
There is nothing worse than lousy video, and nothing better than clever video with good audio…
June 5, 2008 — 6:59 am
Jim Rake says:
Fairly new at this business, but appreciate that BHB was one of my initial finds. And, Greg, appreciate the attitude.
“But our objective is always the same, to be the best we can be at everything we do. If that’s your goal, too, come and run with us. No rules. No Official Policies. No chains.”
Sounds like a good place for grown ups. I might have to make Orlando!
June 5, 2008 — 7:07 am
Jeanne Breault says:
I enjoyed your explanation of “Unchained” – it does resonate with me! (But I couldn’t help thinking what the ages 4-18 or so were like for your mom!)
I’m especially glad you chose unchained over unleashed after I saw this today. Maybe you’ll be glad, too!
Hopefully I’ll see be in Orlando in November!
June 5, 2008 — 3:38 pm
Greg Swann says:
> But I couldn’t help thinking what the ages 4-18 or so were like for your mom!
Piece of cake. I made up my mind at four that I wasn’t going to submit to anyone. I stopped talking about what I was doing with other people — not to disclose my activities, but especially not to lead anyone to believe that had anything to say about it. I just did what I wanted to, and almost never had any trouble. I made money very young, and I was making serious money by the time I was twelve. When I got to the point where I had real jobs, I did the same thing — I just did what I thought was the right thing to do and didn’t consult, take guidance or take orders. Mostly people stayed out of my way, because I can always deliver the goods. The few times I ended up working for morons who thought being in charge was more important than getting the job done, I just moved on. If you watch the way I work now, it’s the same thing. I have no interest in making revolutions, I just want to do my work my way. In any case, my two sisters gave my mom two different flavors of heartache. Had she known what I was up to, she might have had a cow. But she didn’t, so we’ve been fine with each other all along.
> Hopefully I’ll see be in Orlando in November!
Looking forward to it!
June 5, 2008 — 3:58 pm
Teri Lussier says:
>OK. But the only way I work for Bloodhound is pro bono.
Still groaning over that. 😀
June 6, 2008 — 7:30 am