I’m having an exceptional week.
On top of money work, I got the Universal Contact Form to the point where I can deploy new variations in seconds.
I’ve been playing Gooder games for fun — except the fun keeps turning into profit.
I worked out an algorithm for round-tripping data out of and back into Heap, making it possible to use rigorously self-populating forms to get existing databased prospects to scrub their own records. I did a small piece of this before Seattle, but I fleshed out the whole strategy this week.
That algorithm is general enough that it can be used to generate any kind of intelligent email: Any CSV file can become an email that uses a coded URL to self-populate a form that in turn produces other intelligent results: New database records, new CSV files, etc.
I hit upon — but have not yet implemented — a completely new way of organizing my sidebar at our Phoenix real estate weblog to make each WordPress Page its own quarterback in still more Gooder games — all of which, of course, are also Heap games.
I’ve been bugging Michael Wurzer at FBS Systems about making the FlexMLS IDX system responsive to coded URLs. If they will do this, I can build forms that can punch data into Flex just as I’m doing with Heap.
And today I worked out a way to take back the fattest third of the long tail from HomeZillTruGain at a cost in money and labor approaching zero dollars and zero cents. To the contrary, what I’m doing should actually pay us in added incremental SEO juice.
And the funny part is, I have two other long tail strategies that, so far, I’ve only implemented in pilot projects because those two do require a modicum of labor and I just don’t have the time to throw at them.
My thinking is that, by the time I’m done, I can plant three sloppy Bloodhound kisses on the first page of the SERPs for maybe 2,000 long tail keywords — maybe more.
And that’s just the stuff that I’m thinking about right now. The first quarter of 2009 has been pretty good for Scenius.net, and we’re approaching 500 free blogs on BloodhoundBlog.net. And it could be I’m finally starting to put a dent in the universe with engenu.
But even then, I’m ignoring huge bodies of ideas: The Zillow stuff, the listing stuff, the direct marketing stuff — I could go on for something like three years…
And all that turns out to be just so much chopped liver. Comes today in my email a flyer from my own local MLS system:
Without intending to be acrimonious, Dustin Luther is a famous future has-been. He lives on the Social Media moon of the Web 2.0 universe, a very crowded and relatively unimportant piece of the Wired Real Estate marketing puzzle. Adapting viral weblogging ideas to real estate marketing was a genuine innovation, but his first new idea was his last. There is nothing else there, and it is no accident that the market for his lectures consists of clueless Realtor organizations and clueless big-name brokers. He is very far from being alone in mining those varicose veins.
Take note, however: Jay Thompson, who lives here and is an actual ARMLS subscriber, is a much bigger deal in Social Media than is Luther — more popular as a weblogger and better known among actual working Realtors.
John L. Wake, who lives here and is an actual ARMLS subscriber, is echoed on Seeking Alpha for heaven’s sake.
Nick Bastian, who lives here and is an actual ARMLS subscriber, has done remarkable work turning a niche real estate weblog into a minor religion.
Any one of them could do everything that Dustin Luther can do, as well as connecting much more intimately with actual ARMLS subscribers.
As for the other goofball, Jason Edwards, I don’t even know who the hell he is.
Meanwhile: What am I, chopped liver?
Without intending to be self-aggrandizing, there is no one who has more to teach to actual ARMLS subscribers about the Web 2.0 world than me. Instead of paying these two dilberts to come to Phoenix and regurgitate the obvious, everyone — including me — would learn more if ARMLS paid Cheryl Johnson, Brad Coy and Scott Cowan to come to town and ask me questions.
I’m not being vain. I’m being objective — which for some sick reason pisses people off. I throw off way more ideas that I ever have time to implement, but the people who follow up on my ideas are building businesses on them. I’m about a year away from having this pig half-way hog-tied, but engenu alone puts me in a different orbit from everyone else in our world.
I get left out of these local tech events all the time, and I have no idea if I’m being snubbed or if the organizers truly don’t know who is whom in the RE.net. I don’t care, except to note the irony of it all. The good news is, if I’m not speaking, I don’t have to go.
But six days later, starting April 28th, the floor is mine. For the most part, I’ll be teaching things nobody knew a year ago, and it could happen that I’ll be teaching ideas I just worked out today.
The contrast is funny to me, but I’m reluctant to write about it at all. People are much too quick to conclude that I must be gnawing on sour grapes. This is not the case. I love sharing what I know with people who are serious about ideas, but I’m happy enough to let the rest go to hell in their own way. It’s a shame that ARMLS’ management does not know how much of the Wired World of Real Estate calls Phoenix its home, but ARMLS is not taking anything away from me by settling for third-best, and there is nothing of mine that cannot be had in exchange for the proper functioning of an active, eager mind.
My being obscure in my own home town, whether this is accidental or intentional, doesn’t even rise to the level of ambivalence for me. I want for smart Realtors to learn what I know, but I don’t hate it that the Realtors we compete against directly are so slow to catch a clue. Let ’em have their Dustin Luther and their Jason Edwards. I’ll be in my office, working out newer and better ways to market our real estate practice — at a cost in money and labor coming as close as I can get it to zero dollars and zero cents.
Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, blogging, real estate, real estate marketing, technology
Tony Sena says:
“As for the other goofball, Jason Edwards, I don’t even know who the hell he is.”
Too funny!
Hopefully I can work something out with my wife so I can make it to Unchained….Really looking forward to attending this event!
March 5, 2009 — 11:12 pm
Don Reedy says:
From an article by Andy Lax…..
“And then it happened.
Taking another, I bit down into a steaming knish. The crust was hot and buttery but the filling was something altogether different. It was dense and rich. Its flavor was exciting but its texture was comfortable. At the same time exotic and familiar, it was truly and undeniably delicious. I had tasted my first chopped liver. While my initial reaction was revulsion, I quickly came to understand what everybody had been clamoring about.
The components of chopped liver are mundane at best but the union of liver (chicken is traditional but my aunt uses calves’), sautéed onions and hard-boiled eggs transcends the ordinary nature of the raw materials. The flavor stays true to its humble ingredients yet when they are ground together they become haunting and rich. It is reminiscent of the flavors of the farm but with a depth that reaches far beyond. Chopped liver may be peasant food but even peasants deserve to indulge.”
I’ve checked out your Yellow Page ad, and think I’ll be dining at Unchained on the 28th. And by the way, since I’m awfully hungry for a taste of the extraordinary, I’ll take an order of your chopped liver to go.
March 6, 2009 — 12:02 am
John Kalinowski says:
Greg- Don’t take this the wrong way, as I mean it to be helpful, not critical. I think as long as you continue to call people “dilbert” and total strangers who you’ve never met “goofball”, people probably won’t be too excited about inviting you to these events. Telling them to “go to hell” probably doesn’t help either.
Maybe Jason Edwards is a good guy, just doing the best he can in his world, but to call him a goofball when you don’t know anything about him? Not “good on ya”.
March 6, 2009 — 5:20 am
John Kalinowski says:
Greg- You don’t want to thought of as a Nick Burns!
🙂
March 6, 2009 — 5:47 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
First thought that crossed my mind: “30 Technology Vendors” … I wonder who they are.
So I googled “ARMLS Technopalooza” and all I found were a couple Active Rain postings, and a tweet by the same person. Evidently this event does not have its own web site?
The good news is: You don’t have to waste any precious time on it.
March 6, 2009 — 6:13 am
John Kalinowski says:
Ooops.. sorry about the Nick Burns overload.
March 6, 2009 — 7:04 am
Greg Swann says:
> I think as long as you continue to call people “dilbert” and total strangers who you’ve never met “goofball”, people probably won’t be too excited about inviting you to these events. Telling them to “go to hell” probably doesn’t help either.
Dang…
Seriously, John, I am well aware that emotionally insecure people indulge themselves in stupid self-sabotage. Why should I care? I’m busy, and I’m not in the baby-sitting business.
March 6, 2009 — 7:16 am
Greg Swann says:
> Ooops.. sorry about the Nick Burns overload.
WP interprets angle brackets as a URL, and two or more URL’s get moderated.
Saturday Night Live is almost never funny, but the part of that bit that resonates here is his fixing problems just by sitting down at the machine. Happens all the time here, and it drive Cathleen crazy. I have a friend who can break anything just by touching it. Makes me believe that luck has a distribution curve.
March 6, 2009 — 7:20 am
Greg Swann says:
> The good news is: You don’t have to waste any precious time on it.
But, of course, I could do a scintillating 90 minutes on the salutary technological benefits of getting rid of the co-broke. As with abolishing any other impediment to commerce, the world would break open like the Prague Spring, and that would be just the ticket for an MLS event, don’t you think?
March 6, 2009 — 7:27 am
Greg Swann says:
> Hopefully I can work something out with my wife so I can make it to Unchained….Really looking forward to attending this event!
Good on ya. Looking forward to meeting. I was thinking that the next time we go to Las Vegas, we’re going to have to do something informally to meet all the real estate people in town.
March 6, 2009 — 7:31 am
Greg Swann says:
> Taking another, I bit down into a steaming knish.
Mmmm… Knishes…
I grew up in a minor Rust Belt town surrounded by the Corn Belt. When I was 14, I went to Boston to visit my father. That was 1974, and children weren’t the prisoners they are today. I got to take the MBTA commuter rail into town every day, all by myself. It was dime-time on the T that summer — ten cents a ride in the off-peak hours. I owned that city, From Charleston to Brookline to Cambridge, from Scolley Square to the Back Bay, especially. I was a teenage photo geek, and I traded two Minolta SRT-202s plus some cash for my first Canon F-1 on Atlantic Ave. Then I promptly took that camera into the Franklin Park Zoo, right in the heart of Roxbury, a very dangerous slum. But the absolute highlight of that trip was discovering knishes — at the Kenmore Deli in Kenmore Square, around the corner from Fenway Park. Nothing I’ve ever eaten has delighted me like that, and I ended up going back there every day, sometimes twice a day.
Thanks for bringing that back to me.
March 6, 2009 — 7:46 am
Greg Swann says:
Back on topic:
> “As for the other goofball, Jason Edwards, I don’t even know who the hell he is.”
Let’s see if he has the wits to show up and speak to his qualities.
March 6, 2009 — 7:49 am
Jay Thompson says:
Thanks for the nice words Greg.
I like and respect Dustin, and know Jason only from some small exposure via “social media”, never heard him speak though I’ve heard others say he’s good.
But I had some of the same questions you raise. Primarily why pay for speakers (with our dues) when as Brian Brady himself once said, Phoenix is the epi-center of real estate blogging. I know there are a handful of locations that could debate that, but clearly Phoenix is in the top five by any standard.
” … I have no idea if I’m being snubbed or if the organizers truly don’t know who is whom in the RE.net.”
I’ve heard, from a reliable source, that some newer members of the ARMLS staff were not aware that there are any prominent RE bloggers/techies/social media users in Phoenix. Give that it takes all of 3 seconds to type “Phoenix real estate blog” into Google, that’s difficult to imagine, though sadly I suspect it’s true.
I think the “technopalooza” might open the eyes of some to what is out there because let’s face it, so many in this industry are oblivious to what is happening all around them when it comes to “Web 2.0”. If my experience is any indicator though, many will walk away all fired up to try something new, and few — if any — will actually do anything with whatever insight they might gain.
And of course checkbooks will be whipped out as some will sign up for what they perceive to be the latest and greatest magic pill that will cure all that ails their business.
My recommendation would be for the less “savvy” agent to attend, and take a very critical eye to the products shown. We can only hope.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to venture out. There must be some place relatively close that serves a decent Knish. . .
March 6, 2009 — 9:38 am
Greg Swann says:
I have never tried to buy a knish in Phoenix. Now I’m going to have to make a run to Chompie’s to see how they do.
> Primarily why pay for speakers (with our dues) when as Brian Brady himself once said, Phoenix is the epi-center of real estate blogging.
I had email last night intimating that ARMLS, at least, is not paying for either speaker.
March 6, 2009 — 9:51 am
Jay Thompson says:
Let me know what you think of Chompie’s..
And yes, I probably fired off too quickly from the hip in mentioning dues paying for speakers. But I assume these guys are not flying in own their own dime. So I suppose the vendors/sponsors are actually paying for them. Still, that’s money that might be better spent elsewhere.
It’s akin to the NAR saying “no member dues were used” to pay for the (patently absurd) Rose Parade float. Ultimately it was still money flowing out of the NAR coffers, regardless of how they elect to do the accounting.
March 6, 2009 — 10:13 am
Greg Swann says:
> I probably fired off too quickly from the hip in mentioning dues paying for speakers.
I was issuing a correction in my own behalf, as well. I had said the same thing in the original post.
March 6, 2009 — 10:30 am
James Boyer says:
I don’t really care about the Dilber or the Golfball aspect of this post, but I really really want to know much more about
“And today I worked out a way to take back the fattest third of the long tail from HomeZillTruGain at a cost in money and labor approaching zero dollars and zero cents. To the contrary, what I’m doing should actually pay us in added incremental SEO juice.
and “the Universal Contact Form
Teach me Greg, I want to learn!!!!!
March 6, 2009 — 10:15 am
Nick Bastian says:
Greg, thanks for the very kind(very unexpected)words. I agree with Jay in that I like and respect Dustin. (his current and past work)
It would be nice if ARMLS had a better grasp of the local “Web 2.0” world here in Arizona. I had an opportunity to discuss this conference with ARMLS recently and feel they are interested in learning more about people involved. Without a doubt, your name will surface.
Some of the things you have done are remarkable, some of your ideas are outstanding. I appreciate the effort and knowledge you so freely share with others and hope to see you around at other events. Maybe we could meet at Technopalooza to watch Dustin and Jason. The opportunity to introduce ideas to people at ARMLS might be one to consider.
Chopped liver? I don’t think so. 🙂
March 6, 2009 — 10:30 am
Nick Bostic says:
Maybe it’s an issue of you knowing too much. There are plenty of realtors who are happy with active rain (or advanced access) and don’t fully understand social networking. I think those people may actually be the majority. They either have great “spheres of influence” or a big local name, which will work for a while still. MLS-sponsored events tend to cater to the people who have not moved into more modern tools. People like yourself (and I like to think myself) rarely learn much (if anything) from some of these events, but I would say be very happy that you have Unchained to get the leaders in these new methods together to discuss the real future. Have one within driving distance, and I’ll be there for sure.
March 6, 2009 — 10:56 am
James Boyer says:
I think Nick Bostic is 100% correct on those points. I have been to those sorts of events and for anyone who has been reading Bloodhoundblog and a few other choice sources, there is nothing to be learned at those events. The other thing I have noticed is that probably more 99% of the people who attend those events will implement nothing that they “learn” at them.
In my area there are plenty of Realtors who get by on their name, some of the biggest have their Number 1 Expert, or Advanced Access or even Homes.com websites, but they do nothing with them, and they just drift. At least in my area home sellers still do not use the internet at all to select a good Realtor to sell their home. I am amazed at the disconnect in that respect, and wonder what your thoughts are as to the best way to engage the potential home seller online, Greg?
March 6, 2009 — 12:28 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
@ Tony Sena – would LOVE to have you at Unchained. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you in person, but would be fun to hang out and compare notes. Goes for you too, Jay.
@ The rest of this…no offense intended whatsoever to the current speakers. BUT AZ is a pretty talent laden state when it comes to the real estate web. Why pay (if that is the case) to import more?
I think that there is likely a field of 15 or so people within 50 miles of Phoenix that I would pay to come and learn from / compare notes with…and I live in Louisville KY. Something to keep in mind ARMLS…something to keep in mind.
March 6, 2009 — 6:42 pm