Author: Kris Berg (page 1 of 5)

Realtor, Associate Broker

January 29, 2008

In a classic Bawld Guy moment, Jeff Brown reminded us recently that hard work, not a magic formula nor even an ability to predict five out of six Power Ball numbers, is what makes a successful real estate career. All of the motivational seminars in the free world can not replace the experience of one real-life transaction. The fanciest widgets and the sexiest web site flash intros will never replace feet on the ground. Technological applications augment a solid business plan built on fundamentals; they do not replace it. We work in real estate, and there is a reason it is called “work.”

Jeff mentioned that he started his career converting For Sale By Owners (FSBOs). I always suspected we were twins. Just for fun, I thought I would share the story of my first transaction. We all remember our first – with a lot of fondness and more than a little humility. This is just a little walk down memory lane self-indulgence on my part but, if a few more people follow suit and share their “firsts,” we might start to connect the dots for the newer agents. I suspect we will see a common thread of tenacity and drive, stuff that can’t really be taught or learned.

Make no mistake. For the new agent wanting to jump-start a real estate career, this is a difficult market. But then, they all are. The first thing that will strike you is that your new career laughs in the face of the supply and demand laws of nature. There are more real estate agents than there are left-over casseroles needing a shave in my refrigerator right now, and certainly more agents than there are potential customers. This is survival of the fittest, and in the virtual Plinko game that is your office, within seconds of your arrival, every single one of your fellow agents will be plotting to throw you under a bus.

What distinguishes the working agent from the non-working agent is “work.” A fundamental ingredient of this work is a “client” who wishes to buy or sell a home. Ideally, this “client” is not themselves a licensed real estate Read more

December 17, 2007

Science versus Religion

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

My Big Bang Theory is about science colliding with religion, and a lot of noise.

My strike has been temporarily suspended. I got the same advance notice that so many others did of the BIG NEWS this week, but press releases are rarely conveniently timed around my real estate business schedule, so I will chime in late and with benefit of time to contemplate.

Redfin’s latest BIG NEWS was of course about the Second Coming, the first having occurred on 60 Minutes long, long ago. From their blog:

We only worry that the name we’ve given this initiative, “The Real Estate Scientist,” will open us to being mocked. And too, we hesitated to give consumers simple answers due to the complexity of the underlying data… We strove for conclusive answers because we have houses to sell every week, and customers who need straightforward guidance.

I am not in the business of mocking, as you have a pretty solid corner on that market. And that is precisely my objection, my only objection, to your business model – that it is predicated and dependent on convincing a public that your “different” approach is enlightened and studied where mine is one of fly by the seat of my pants, tell the consumer what they want to hear, and hit the streets with nothing but an opinion and a smile.

It is indeed troubling to give simple answers when the data is so complex, but it is much more convenient I suppose. Delivering and interpreting data to support your ongoing argument that every other real estate agent since the beginning of time is too uninformed, addle minded, lazy, or greedy to achieve your level of enlightenment would be so exhausting. That darn science can be just so confusing. Better to just suggest as much, over and over again. Preach long and loud enough, and the congregation will surely take it on faith.

Consumers who have read early drafts of the report overwhelmingly found our recommendations useful and effective. The industry reaction will likely be different. Some will argue that the report substantiates already well-understood tactics, while others will take the exact opposite position, refuting our points Read more

December 13, 2007

My Esteemed Social Network

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Dear Internal Revenue Service:

I am responding to your challenge of my business expense write-off of $160 to Dick’s Last Resort on December 12, 2007. While I recognize that you necessarily take a hard line where entertainment expenses are concerned, we really did talk about real estate!

You see, we bloggers have this thing called a Social Network. It is important that, when presented with the opportunity, we connect with this network to improve our business skills and cultivate future referral business. This is what professionals do!

Granted, you alluded to Steve’s Smoking Gun, which you say suggests that the atmosphere lacked professionalism.

Let me just say for the record that Steve was in fact present, sitting opposite Brian Brady in this photo and, while he may deny this or even suggest he was eclipsed by Jonathan Dalton in the foreground, I will tell you that he was hiding under the table.

As for the others in attendance, Jeff “Bawld Guy” Brown is a highly regarded investment advisor. This much should be all too evident.

Brian Brady, of course, is a Mortgage Specialist Extraordinaire. Again, I state the obvious.

As for me, I discovered two things that will help my business in the coming year: I am not a “hat person”, and I really shouldn’t wear my hair pulled back in a clip, as it is simply not a good look for me.

Regarding the bill, I readily admit that my esteemed Social Network did toss random currency on the table at the conclusion of our Business Meeting. But, you know men. They have no concept of what anything actually costs. Trust me when I say that your assertion that I did not pay the entire bill is splitting hairs.

Might I suggest you look into the expense records on Jonathan Dalton’s tax return, as he was in town to attend a convention, or at least that is the story. And, if you see him taking any deductions for dinner at Dick’s Last Resort, you might want to question him on it.

Sincerely,

Kris Berg

P.S. Josh, Son of Bawld Guy, didn’t do anything wrong. Go easy on him.

December 7, 2007

Niche Marketing – What a concept!

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Do you have a “macro-niche within a niche“?

Do I need one?

It’s something to think about. No, not becoming a nudist Realtor® (thank goodness – that could get ugly), but finding your distinct value proposition. How about the music business? By combining your non-real estate expertise with your real estate knowledge, you can become the defacto specialist within a very small but lucrative sphere.

My non-real estate expertise… hum. Well, there is the really good Chicken Divan I made last night. “The Agent for People Who Like Do-Ahead Casseroles”. Nah, that doesn’t really speak to me. How about my prowess with a glue gun? “Your Crafty Realtor®!” On second thought, that probably wouldn’t work. Double-entandres can backfire.

Okay, then. I have given this proposition a lot of thought (a lot of thought = one cup of coffee) and have come up with an untapped yet potentially lucrative niche on which I will focus my efforts in 2008.

I am going to marry the concepts of making a living in representing people in the purchases and sales of homes and earning a living doing same. Earn a living? Crazy talk, you say. Isn’t it enough that I like floppy hats and the letter “E” (uppercase only), and you do too? This is a business of relationships!

Shticks are for those who seek unearned income. Gimmicks are for those don’t place much value in their actual services and are surprised when the consumers don’t value their services as a result. Stupid agent tricks are for stoopid agents who don’t respect their client base enough to know that the vast majority want the best person for the job at the best value. Attila the Hun would have market share today if he could demonstrate superior skills and a history of superior results. Although, I suppose the Huns could be considered a macro-niche within a pillaging, nomadic niche.

I think, I know, I am pretty good at what I do. I also know that after eleven years in the business, I don’t know everything, I haven’t seen everything, and I likely never will. I suspect even Russell Shaw would admit to Read more

November 8, 2007

Chasing My Long Tail – My Truth About SEO

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

I found myself this morning checking out our blog traffic stats. I don’t know why I do this exactly – It’s idle curiosity, I suppose. I’ll know when my blog hits the big time. That will be the day when I am so busy meeting with clients and closing escrows that I won’t have time to visit our site’s back end.

We blog for sport, we blog for exposure, but mostly we blog for business. There – I said it. Anyone who says otherwise is not being honest. Oh, sure, it has become an addiction, and I sincerely believe that if I retired from my day job today, I would still be blogging tomorrow. It can have that kind of hold on you.

In the meantime, blogging needs to either be a hobby or a component of my business plan. As of press time, it is a little of both. Speaking to the business side of things, my Google-ability is generally of very little concern to me. “Blasphemy!” you say. Let me explain.

Unless the person stumbling on to my site through a search bar is looking to buy or sell a home in San Diego, they are of no value to me from a business perspective. Further, I am most interested in the person who is looking to buy or sell a home in San Diego and who actually lives in San Diego. Sure, there is the potential to attract the eyes and business of people relocating from Duluth, but relocation business is time intensive, needle-in-the-haystack work. We welcome the work, but it is a lower percentage play, much more difficult to cultivate and convert. So if you agree that the local audience is the audience for which you perform, why give a fig about SEO?

Everyone give a warm welcome to Panama!

Jay Thompson through one of his posts turned me on to Who’s Amung Us. They have a nifty little map widget that allows you to display current and past visitors to your site and their location. Here is what my visitor map for the San Diego Home Blog looks like:

(Note: The previously posted real-time map has Read more

November 4, 2007

I may see you on the way down

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

At our office meeting this past week, our manager shared this video with the troops. Our meeting, you see, happened to coincide with Halloween, and the intended nexus was a scary market and overcoming fears.

So, watch the video of the Crazy Man with a Death Wish (I dare you to take your eyes off of it), and we will have a short review and Q & A following the show.

Review

We all have fears, and to a real estate agent who enjoys the finer things in life, such as food, shelter, and the occasional trip to the Haircut Store, our current market can be quite frightening. These fears can be overcome, as demonstrated by Crazy Man with a Death Wish.

Simply think of your career as one big-ass challenge, one where you have been dropped at the top of a ginormous mountain with a snowboard. Think of your career as teetering on the head of a very tall pin. Executed with absolute precision and focus, you will reach your goals. Flawlessly navigate the moguls of misfortune, and you will quickly reach base camp from the pinnacle of self-doubt. Screw up, and every limb will be ripped from your fragile body in a single, excruciating moment of self-destruction, or worse. You might not get the Top Producer plaque at the year-end awards ceremony.

Q & A

Q. This is supposed to be metaphorical of my real estate career? Isn’t Crazy
Guy going downhill very, very fast?

A. Yes, and your point is?

Q. Wouldn’t a better metaphor be one where I am at the foot of the ginormous mountain of opportunity, and I must work very hard to scale same?

A. Just trying to keep it real here, but good point. Do you have a link to that video?

Q. Okay, so what if I am schlepping my pathetic unprepared self up that vertical slope toward solvency and see the oncoming avalanche of no-fear agents on their way down?

A. Make a snow cave.

Q. Can I fly the helicopter?

A. No.

Tomorrow we will watch a spooky video involving an agent who, while dropping notepads at random doorsteps, survives an attack by a pack of rabid Lhasa Apsos who had escaped their model-perfect, highly upgraded Read more

November 1, 2007

You, ma’am, are no Genoa Petrol!

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Dear Mr Shaw,

I am writing to inquiry about a position as Blogging Assistant. I am a fan of your work on the Bloodhound Blog; your piece on the bananas was pure genius. I believe I would add value to your blogging enterprise, and it would be an honor to work under your tutelage.

By way of background, I too used to contribute to the Bloodhound Blog. My tenure was cut short when some “Geno Petro” guy showed up. My spell checker says his name is really Genoa Petrol, but I don’t think that’s right. Anway, he knows books, he knows pop culture, and he can certainly turn a phrase. He even uses colons!

While I have no real writing training (I have admittedly never enjoyed formal instruction in the liberal arts beyond the requisite How to Write in Nearly Complete Sentences college course where, I am proud to say, I received a passing grade), I did take an English and American Literature class in high school. (Yes, my school combined the two; this allowed time in the schedule for Home Economics and Making Fire 101.) It was there that I was required to ~~suffer through~~ read Jane Eyre and the Grapes of Wrath. I finished both, although I found the latter unsettling and eerily biographical. Oh, and the Latin I know comes entirely from the back of a dollar bill.

So, I am seeking a position with the potential for upward mobility, as I find I have none at my current position. I believe that I can turn my “negatives” in to “positives”; unshackled as I am by the encumbrances of any real credentials or talent, I can quickly embrace new approaches. Since a truly original idea has never come within two quarks of my brain, I am adaptable. Finally, I have good problem solving skills.

I do not come to you without references. As a blogger, I have received much praise on my own blog which boasts a current readership of three:

“Since it doesn’t take much to be a Realtor, your pool is full of monkeys.” – – Eric Estrada

“Most Realtors are lazy and uneducated. They will go away like other brokers Read more

October 31, 2007

Telling Secrets

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Censorship has been on my mind. Not the definitive, prescribed and documented “heavy hand of authority” variety, and not the “thou shalt not be mean to NAR” Memorandum of Paranoia allegedly being unveiled in November, but the worst and most pervasive kind.

What I find more concerning and most stifling is the triple-secret censorship. Unless you are a Broker Owner, with no one to answer to but your own inner voice of reason, you are being judged by what you write. Every word I click onto the page is subject to scrutiny, and I must choose each oh-so carefully while perched atop my podium of egg shells. Sometimes I fail and trash the whole dozen. Independent contractor? Not entirely independent, I’m afraid.

Many topics are safe. Statistics and trend analyses are the poster children of the benign blog entry. Pictures of pretty buildings, diatribes on transactional intricacies, and advice on “how to pick an agent” are all fair game. It’s black or it’s white, and no one can make a compelling argument to the contrary. Fielding questions on contracts leads us closer to the mine field, but if we preface each thought that hits the page with “I am not an attorney,” we mitigate the risk of having to rephrase our post for His Honor.

We can talk about technology. It either is or it isn’t, and my broker is probably not going to hunt me down like a dog for taking a bold stand challenging the site design of Terabitz, nor will he give much thought to my in-depth expose on the accuracy of the Zestimate. While I am cautiously treading water with my choice of topics, however, I am risking either offending the reader with the triviality of my content or boring him senseless.

This blog scares me, because I think it scares my broker. The tone is sometimes caustic, mostly serious, and always challenging of the status quo. I enjoy satire, and I like to laugh. Many things make me laugh, and so many of those are related to common, every day life, the life unrelated to the job. I weave those stories into my writing, too often I suppose, Read more

October 29, 2007

My Hybrid is a Gas Guzzler

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

The business of real estate sales is a business unlike any other. The Real Estate Hybrid is neither energy nor cost efficient. Ours does not fit neatly under the Service Provider heading nor do we have a product to sell in the traditional sense. What we do have, however, is the goal universal to all commercial business ventures – profitability.

Why, then, is it so fashionable these days to portray the real estate agent as overpaid, and the profession in the broadest terms as engorged with greed? Several factors contribute: The consumer’s lack of understanding or their misconceptions of our business model, our inability to effectively communicate and demonstrate our value, and our tendency to carry on a public charade suggesting that our job is one big public service announcement. The latter, of course, is compensation for the former, with the real answer lying somewhere in the middle.

When did profit become a dirty word?

Just Take a Little Off the Top

A business consulting firm, Virtual Advisor Interactive, wrote this about the pure consulting or service-oriented business:

You may tend to think that pricing is not as complicated as product pricing, since what you are offering is less tangible, but appearances can be deceiving… Say you are a hair stylist, for example. Your raw costs will probably include the following: rent and utilities, equipment (including chairs, hair dryers, combs and brushes, sinks, mirrors, towels, washers and dryers, etc.), products (assorted shampoos, conditioners, hair spray and hair color), insurance, and staff salaries and benefits. Also, what about insurance, should a customer slip and fall? So while your service may be hair styling, you must carefully examine everything you will need… to perform that service. You must carefully and continuously list every expense. Once you have determined your raw costs, you can then set up an effective pricing model and figure how much you will need to charge for your service or time in order to break even and/or make a profit.

So, we aren’t hair stylists, but a very large component of our business is delivering service. I won’t offend the reader by listing the costs associated with fueling our business; if you are Read more

October 17, 2007

Face Time or Facebook?

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

You hear it here, you hear it there (there being here), and you know it in your heart. Real estate is so darn personal.

Ah, the personal touch! That is why I blog, and why I am very responsive to my emails and voicemail. That is why I love, and my clients love, the ability to electronically sign contracts and to view all contracts online from any Wi-Fi hotspot in the Delta Quadrant. Heck, what’s more personal than that daily auto-generated online update of home sales activity in your neighborhood… with MY PICTURE at bottom and YOUR NAME at the top?

I know what you are thinking – All that stuff is impersonal, but we are in a “people” business. Well, it depends on which “people” we are talking about. It’s a matter of communication, which we all know requires a sender and a receiver. When wearing the sender hat, I need to know in what form my client prefers to receive, which means I need to listen carefully to what my clients are telling me.

Times, they are a-changin’. That doesn’t mean that our business is becoming, can become, fully automated and physically detached. It simply means that our world is different now, and we are redefining “personal”. The ways in which we interact today are dramatically different than yesterday’s methods (smoke signals and dot-dot-dash). My children phone me from their bedrooms asking for the ETA of dinner, and they IM me from 100 feet removed to tell me that the Jonas Brothers are coming to town (to marry THEM!). I suspect they visit my home blog periodically to take a peak at the Trulia side bar widget of our active listings just to gauge the likelihood that I will be available to drive carpool to the movies on Friday.

As agents, we work with a wide cross-section of people and personalities. The key is to understand their definition of “personal”. My grandmother does not have a Meebo account, and you won’t find her on Facebook; she is the type of person who would prefer a phone call, a personal visit, and contracts in triplicate. My typical Qualcomm client, Read more

October 6, 2007

Brass in Pocket

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

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 Read more

October 1, 2007

Zero

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

I suppose I should care more than I do about the failed ~~ransacking~~ acquisition of Active Rain by Move.com. What’s less than zero? (Big-shot math geniuses should desist from an argument involving negative numbers).

From my overly-simplistic corner, this seems not so much like big news, but like more of the same. It is human nature. Carpetbagging capitalism is enjoying a feeding frenzy in the online real estate world right now. Meanwhile, forward thinking agents and their (reluctant) brokers are eagering jumping at every new opportunity to demonstrate their technical prowess in an attempt to stay relevant. We can’t give our stuff away fast enough. For zero.

Unless an Internet venture wants to do the real work, and this applies equally to the brave new start-up and to an established, money-making web giant like Move.com who has their taser set on world domination, they have three choices: Do nothing but charge less and characterize it as something; offer something for nothing which you can someday sell to someone for a fortune so that they can monetize it silly; or, wait for someone else to do the work and then swallow their platform and their intellectual property whole.

For the entrepreneurial, real estate-minded, all angles would have been killer had the Internet explosion not coincided with what is shaping up to be the worst real estate market in a more than a decade. Just how hard our landing will be in historical terms is yet to be seen. The fact remains; the timing sucks. Yet, those with strength and staying power will ultimately prevail.

Had one well-know rebate company made their big push seven years ago, their ranking on the Success-O-Meter might have been more impressive: More impressive than zero. Russell Shaw spoke to this brilliantly. Their target was (is) the consumer, and it seems that it is the consumer who is ultimately being courted by all of the online portals. Sure, the pay-to-play vendors geared toward the agent population, offering business tools, marketing platforms, lead generation and a paralyzing abundance of other opportunities to achieve untold riches (we are told), are out in force. But, their long-term success is dependent on generating consumer eyes, Read more

September 18, 2007

Chicken Soup to Social Responsibility – Damn, I’m a Paradox

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

I don’t pretend to understand the half of what Greg is trying to convey. This much, however, I will confess. Government is necessary, coalitions have value, and social responsibility is incumbent on all of us.

Slam zoning laws if you must, but if, as a homeowner, you suddenly find yourself sharing responsibility for maintenance of your side yard fence with the owners of the strip club next door, you will undoubtedly see some benefit in government intervention. I did time in Houston; I know of what I speak. If you loathe the union that professes to defend your profession and your livelihood, consider that you have choices. These choices may include speaking from a pulpit of change and reform while all the while paying your member dues or, alternatively, resigning and declaring free agent status. And if you detest government intervention in any form, consider that it is necessary for an orderly, progressive, sustainable society.

Who is not to blame for the mortgage mess? Take one step back. As lenders, money was flowing from the spigot like there was no tomorrow. As mortgage brokers, there was money to be made by cranking the faucet, and it was a foot race to see who could get to the sink first. As agents, we sang the “Houses are expensive, but money is cheap” refrain until we were blue in the face. And, as for the consumer, it really doesn’t matter in the final analysis whether they were motivated by necessity, opportunity or unadulterated greed. We all helped make this bed in which we now must lie.

Kudos to the Feds for being reactive if not proactive. Without a decisive response to our current situation, water under the bridge be damned, many innocent and not so innocent citizens would continue to suffer. Libertarianism is just ducky, ducky, that is, until the basic fundamentals are violated. The human condition all but guarantees that our unchecked actions will affect those around us.

Government regulation does not, did not, result in loan fraud or financial overcommitment. Government regulation can not be fingered for the shortcomings of the lending or real estate professions. Government intervention is neither the cause Read more

September 18, 2007

Chicken Soup for Your Business

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

April Groves shared her thoughts on how mundane tasks often tend to produce seemingly unrelated benefits. I love this post – Whether, as April suggests, it is the ordinary act of house cleaning (okay, not so ordinary in my house) which inspires healthy eating or the simple ritual of applying make-up which increases productivity, random tasks can work to produce surprising results. (I can’t leave this last “make-up thing” without warning April that when her odometer nears a significant roll-over milestone as mine is, the task of “putting on one’s face” becomes about as simple as engineering a space station).

April is right, though – We needn’t surrender our lives and our work to a constant state of entropy. And yes, you naysayers, there is a real estate connection in all of this. I think it is safe to say that we all from time to time find ourselves either on a low boil or losing steam. We all periodically risk burn-out. Let’s call it Business Block, and sometimes the answer isn’t to do more of what got you into this place, but to recognize your motivating triggers. I have my own mechanisms for harnessing the energy to refocus. I make chicken soup – Using the Suzuki method. No defined recipe, but just a lot of seemingly unrelated stuff from the pantry which sounds good and I intuitively know will make me hungry again.

Dress for Success

I remember my elementary school dress code. Skirts or dresses for the girls were required. The argument was that we would be more inclined to learn if we dressed the part; sloppy appearances would translate to sloppy attitudes and shorter attention spans. Today, many light years later, this is just silly. Blue jeans don’t symbolize a day off – Ask any Microsoft employee. For me, they symbolize “no appointments” and therefore a “back office day”. My most productive back office days come courtesy of Abercrombie and Fitch. Unfortunately, Steve’s “back office day” uniform involves a pair of hideous day-glo orange shorts which, ironically, work the same magic for me. They send me running for the office.

Blogging

Some days there is just no wind in Read more

September 12, 2007

Dogs Playing Poker – What do you do with great property photos?

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Greg had asked me to follow up on some particulars of the twilight photos we recently commissioned for one of our seller’s homes and, specifically, how these shots translated into our brochures. Here goes.

As a foreword, I just love this whole conversation because it debunks the argument that all agents hold the tools in their marketing box as safely guarded secrets lest “the competition” figure it out. This is transparency at its best. The reality is, and my position has always been, that nothing I do is secret. If other agents don’t know what Steve and I are doing for our clients today, then they will tomorrow. None of us has a copyright on good ideas; we only own them to the extent that others are unwilling to invest the time and money to see our efforts and raise us one.

Many agents, of course, and many of them in my market will “borrow” my ideas over time, which will inspire me to do better yet, keeping our little poker game going. In the end, everyone wins.

First, it took me awhile to admit that, while my better-than-most camera with wide-angle capability is pretty nifty, and while I consider myself having a keen eye for the shot, having produced about 4 gazillion flyers and brochures over the years, the professionals can do it better. Perhaps the biggest benefit to me, and Mr. Shaw will appreciate my newfound appreciation for delegation, is the time savings that I am realizing, which more than offsets any cost of privatizing the photography.

While I still have to be physically present during the shoot (and, in the case of twilight photography, this is a two to three hour event), the photos are delivered to me within 24 hours. I receive two zipped files, one containing the full-resolution photos and the other the photos resized for the web. Now I do not have to spend an afternoon throwing out the bad and adjusting the lighting on the good, nor do I have to resize the ones I will be using on the Internet. And, the photos are mine to do with as I please Read more

Author: Kris Berg (page 1 of 5)

Joe and Marge

by Kris Berg

Science versus Religion

by Kris Berg

My Esteemed Social Network

by Kris Berg

Niche Marketing – What a concept!

by Kris Berg

Chasing My Long Tail – My Truth About SEO

by Kris Berg

I may see you on the way down

by Kris Berg

You, ma’am, are no Genoa Petrol!

by Kris Berg

Telling Secrets

by Kris Berg

My Hybrid is a Gas Guzzler

by Kris Berg

Face Time or Facebook?

by Kris Berg

Brass in Pocket

by Kris Berg

Zero

by Kris Berg

Chicken Soup to Social Responsibility – Damn, I’m a Paradox

by Kris Berg

Chicken Soup for Your Business

by Kris Berg

Dogs Playing Poker – What do you do with great property photos?

by Kris Berg

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