BloodhoundBlog

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Category: Technology (page 15 of 60)

May 6, 2009

Twitter? I barely even know ‘er.

by

Database Marketing Expert

Author website

More speculation this week surrounds Twitter – word has it Apple’s dangling $700 million in front of them.  Well roll me up in saxony carpet and toss me on down the stairs – but I don’t get it.

If I’m understanding this correctly, the object of Twitter is to get as many complete strangers as possible to “follow” you.  In return, you’ll be a swell guy and follow them back.  The next step is to “Tweet” mindless nonsense so your “followers” can ignore you in 160 characters or less.

Now that’s not to say that everyone’s Tweets are nonsense and ignored.  Only about 99.5% of them.  The other .5% are gems worthy of “Re-Tweeting”.  Huh?  I guess blogging’s become oh-so-2006, which is a bummer because I’m just starting to get the hang of it.

As Twitter-mania spins out of control, we have CNN battling Ashton Kutcher in a race to 1 million followers (which got me thinking, what’s Ted Turner’s commission rate on the $700 million?).  An NBA player is reprimanded by his coach for “Tweeting” during halftime of a game.  Oh the humanity!

I have a lot of questions, and I know that the Bloodhound Nation is the right place to turn for answers:  Is Twitter the new SPAM?  What happens when each of us follows 2,500 people and 2,500 people follow us?  Do we then just hire an assistant to sort through our daily tweets?

If you’re pro-Twitter, I’d love to hear how you’re putting it to work for you.  Are you seeing tangible results?  If so, are they scalable – ie:  will they diminish w/ clutter or do you foresee future success as Twitter grows?  Where does Twitter rank in your Social Media hierarchy?

More importantly, is Twitter a fad?  Apparently Apple doesn’t think so.  Where do you guys see Twitter a couple years down the road?

May 4, 2009

A video postcard from Unchained in Phoenix

by

Realtor, Urban Jedi

Author website

Paybacks a mutha, so be careful what you ask for.  I opened up the MacBook and asked the gang to do a video postcard for Teri Lussier because she could not make it.  Much to my surprise, some bloodhounds don’t forget.   Beyond that we get a look at the scenius in action and another sneak peak at some more video footage to come from Unchained in Phoenix. Enjoy, and don’t get too many ideas. I made a promise that this factotum/guest speaker/Omega will be performing Blake from Glenngary Glenn Ross next time we meet up.

Featuring Eric Blackwell with the Omegas working on SEO and Ryan Hartman exploring Gonzo Marketing with the Alphas.

May 1, 2009

BloodhoundBlog Unchained in Phoenix 2009: A quick wrap-up…

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I don’t know how I’m still awake — and from moment to moment I’m not. But we wrapped up Unchained in Phoenix tonight, and I wanted to take a quick minute to salute everyone who was part of an amazing experience. Two fingers of Bushmills — more would be a waste. To all the dogs and to everyone who learned to howl like a Bloodhound this week, we are in your debt. This was by far the best Unchained event so far, and we are but begun. Per ardua, ad astra!

April 30, 2009

Marketing the Geek Marketing content to incipient geeks

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

As promised to the Unchainees, here are links to the stuff I talked about in my presentations:

First, Here’s the main Geek Marketing presentation page. If you want to follow along from home, feel free to pursue the links.

Second, Here is Cheryl Johnson’s engenu help page.

Third, for the people who came to BloodhoundBlog Unchained in Phoenix, you can make your own demo engenu pages by clicking on your own name from this link.

April 25, 2009

Greg Swann’s BloodhoundBlog Unchained homework

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Okay, here’s are homework assignments for BloodhoundBlog Unchained in Phoenix.

First, until this week I had no idea how deprived folks in the Windows world are. Just about everything I do is built around the idea of truly robust FTP software, and it turns out that this does not even exist for Windows users. Y’all are stuck behind the Iron Curtain and you don’t even know it.

The vast suckage that is Windows FTP drastically affects my plans, but I’ll work it out.

Meanwhile:

If you don’t have one, download and install a decent FTP client. Core FTP LE isn’t awful, and it’s free.

You’ll also need a decent text editor. Komodo edit is actually quite good, and it’s also free.

I’m going to be helping Mark Green talk about CRM and automated database solutions. If you want to play along with some of those ideas, sign up for the free demo of Heap CRM.

Heap is not all the way there as a real estate CRM, but it is adequate for the ideas we’ll be discussing, and a 31-day demo is free. Note that the link above goes to my Heap affiliate account, the vast proceeds from which my wife spends on food for stray animals.

But wait. There’s more.

I upgraded engenu today with the mapping software I talked about here.

You will need to download and install engenu on your file server.

If you have previously installed engenu, you won’t need to install a new copy of engenuPageDex.bin (your password file). (Likewise, if you have a customized “skin,” don’t install engenuComponents.) Even if you don’t want the mapping software, you should install the new version of engenu. First, there have been dozens of small bug fixes since the last official release. And second, I want you to get comfortable with your FTP client.

Do you need some remedial help with engenu? Cheryl Johnson is the world’s most unlikely super-hero, but you can see her heroic efforts at making engenu more understandable here.

And: We’re ready to rock. Class schedules are up.

Students are split into two groups, Alpha and Omega, and you can discern whether you are the aboriginal specimen or the Read more

April 23, 2009

What a Completely Virtual Real Estate Solution Looks Like

by

Realtor, Rabble-Rouser

Author website

Per my earlier post regarding the evolution of technology driven real estate solutions, I believe the next generation of buyers and sellers will be more empowered to search, purchase and sell real estate themselves, without the services of a real estate professional.

At the highest level, the success of an entirely virtual solution rests in its ability to clearly and confidently shepherd a potential buyer or seller through the process of buying and or selling.  Very few sites provide a path to success.  The irony for me was what I found while reviewing do-it-yourself real estate sites/services.  In my opinion, www.helpusell.com provides decent content regarding the “how’s and what’s” of buying and selling.   I am not holding Help-U-Sell as a beacon of light, but merely a site which provides far more content regarding the “how” of buying than the “what” to buy.

The focus of technology solutions has been too highly skewed towards the data and not the content nor the process.

Clients are not looking for listings – they are looking for homes.  Do not underestimate the connotation or meaning of home.  Data is not the answer – it is part of the solution.  The solution is achieved by execution.  Execution requires clearly defined, repeating steps – a process.

There is a lot of chatter regarding how to keep potential prospects “stuck” on your site.  Many believe that IDX property search is critical.  Important?  Maybe – but if you are relying on search capability as your differentiator, you’re wrong.  I argue spending a majority of your time and effort building content around the process – mapping out the steps – one by one – specifically what needs to be done to get from beginning to close will get them stuck – FIRMLY – on your site.  Everything else is secondary to the process.

So what does a completely virtual solution look like?

First and foremost, it assumes that there is no real estate professional involved with managing the process – or providing “services”.  If you’re recoiling from that last statement, I merely ask, have you mapped out the process step-by-step and defined what you do at Read more

April 22, 2009

Go ahead, Google me and see what happens

by

Realtor, Urban Jedi

Author website

Really.  Google “me” in your search bar or Google home page and see what happens.

I was going to post about this yesterday and I’m glad I didn’t, because as of today, searchers who enter only the word “me” in the search box will be given an opportunity to set up or edit their Google Profile.

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The personal profiles are not new.  I did share some of my thoughts on this in Unchained in Seattle.  They’ve been around for a while now, it just seems that every time I take a look at them they add more features.  First with a curious name verification process, then just last week with custom URLs.  They now support a pretty good amount of info on someone depending on your settings.  Numerous links to sites, an ‘about me’, contacts, and a Flickr or Picassa feed for photos.

None of this might be relevant except for the fact that Googling you is what people do.   Even my wife (against my personal preference) told someone to just look me up on Google the other day.  That person found me in a heart beat.

Profiles are already showing up at the bottom of page 1 search results and for those with common names there G will sport 4 profiles per page.  I suppose the more you share on you profile the better your results.   So far, there’s only one of “me“.

While the big G says they are not having a run at Facebook’s social network action,  google profiles still would be a good place to stake your claim.  Especially if you like using any of their other services, such as Maps or anywhere else your profile will be linked to…

brad

Now if all that’s for nothing, then consider this.  I reviewed my first message via my profile that simply read “Loved looking through your material. When I decide to move back to SF, I’ll give you a call.”

Create your profile

Update:  For promotion, Google is giving away 10,000 sets of 25 business cards to go with your new profile page.  Get em’ while they last.

7506-23285621f74bdbcc_1-1185661780-jpeg-image-338x194-pixels

April 20, 2009

Technology’s Challenge: Understanding How Cats Part with Skins

by

Realtor, Rabble-Rouser

Author website

Several recent posts have had me thinking about just how technology isn’t addressing the needs of cats.  Needless to say, there are many different types of cats – cats that roam alleys picking through the remnants of fish bones versus the ones that eat Fancy Feast and sit on the laps of chauffeur driven owners who may, on occasion, stop at a traffic light seeking Grey Poupon.  It could happen.

I suspect the cat population is quite diverse – many having different likes and dislikes, perhaps differing motivations as well.  Given that some cats roam alleys versus sit in the lap of luxury, perhaps the roamers may be more self reliant- the “fat” cat perhaps in need of greater doting, relying on others to take care of their needs.  Needless to say, there’s a larger, even more diverse range of cats beyond the alley cat and the fat cat.

I reckon there’s a parallel between cats and consumers.

When it comes to measuring the success of  a broker and/or agent, furry walls are often designated as a sign of success.  Jeff recently commented that his hirsute success is based on results.   I have absolutely no doubt that his superior service would make him the Rockefeller of fur trading.  He knows his cats – but more importantly, his cats know him.  Perhaps not all his cats are “fat”, but they have a taste for Grey Poupon.

On the flip side, Greg’s recent post highlighted the self reliant cat’s approach to selling a home.   From Greg’s picture, it may be a good thing that cats have nine lives, because this cat is dead.

How are current technology solutions really addressing the differing needs of cats … er… consumers?

I found Glenn Kelman’s recent survey results enlightening.

Well last March we surveyed 1,058 people who were using our site about what they wanted in a real estate agent. Some of the answers were gratifying for us to see — transparency was tops on the list — but one that stood out was the answer as to why people who had already chosen a traditional agent had decided against using Redfin: 47% Read more

April 18, 2009

Finally: A Heap of Daylite at the end of the tunnel (Finding a CRM that doesn’t blow)

by

Instigator, anthill kicker.

Author website

Let me be honest.  I’ve been using Google Docs as my CRM for a while.  It’s been fast–I’ve got it mapped to a hotkey, and also on my Mac’s dashboard.  I can collect info on clients, contacts fast.  And I can highlight the ones I follow up with, owe something to, whatever.  It’s not perfect–I was trying so hard to love HEAP.  Heap has an utterly perfect ethos in what a CRM should be, but it’s not ready yet.  It’s tantalizingly close, but seriously, it’s not ready as a point of fact.

Your mileage may vary, but my CRM requirements are as follows:

  • Hotkey accessible.  Taking the time to interrupt your thought, mouse over, click a menu, work the mouse over the word you want is a clumbsy solution.  I want to create contacts, appointments, tasks, documents and emails with a keystroke.
  • Activity Series Oriented: If I build blogs, there are the same tasks that have to get done with each little project.  Install Theme, tweak CSS, whatever.  I  don’t want to have to remember all of ’em for the different things we do over and over again.
  • Desktop Speeds: My data.  I own it.  I need it fast.  I don’t wanna wait for a web query when I’m at my desk.
  • Email that works, auto drip marketing. I want to assign criteria based drip marketing campaigns and have it get handled.  (A second feature would  be compliant opt outs, but I don’t care that much)
  • Documents of some type/mail merges: I don’t wanna work around the software.
  • Custom fields and custom views: I wanna put what I want in the damn thing, and I wanna see it how I wanna see it.
  • Custom Lookups: I want to look up by WHATEVER i want to look it up by.  Nothing in the twitter field?  Whatever.

Heap does much of this, but the interface is aggressively bad.   User/Contact/People/Leads.  All that stuff makes no sense, and the tagging feature is stupid and bolted on, and it’s not good enough to be a ‘daily driver.’

The best CRM I’ve ever used was ACT! 6.0.  Alas, ACT! was bought from Symantec by BEST software, and Read more

April 6, 2009

Don’t vook now, but Brad Inman has invented The Undead Pool

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The New York Times:

Plenty of authors dream of writing the great American novel.

Bradley Inman wants to create great fiction, dramatic online video and compelling Twitter stream — and then roll them all into a multimedia hybrid that is tailored to the rapidly growing number of digital reading devices.

Mr. Inman, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, calls this digital amalgam a “Vook,” (vook.tv) and the fledgling company he has created with that name just might represent a possible future for the beleaguered book industry.

There is so much wrong with this idea — and I realize that the Times never gets anything right — that I can only think of two words in response:

Market research.

Print is dead. The book as a transmission medium, with or without print, is dead. Marrying books to video makes great sense — for comic books: DC, Marvel and the entire graphic novel business have never had things better. Adding video to actual books is just dumb. And blending “social media” into the batter is just twitter-brained echo-chamber cargo-cultism.

Here’s the real deal, and the talisman that reveals that Brad Inman is anything but a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur:

The chokepoint is dead.

Every dinosaur in the land is thrashing about, looking for a way to create a mass-media product that can be locked behind a paywall, thus to force the punters to cough up the dough like they always have in the past.

Welcome to our world, Brad, which you quite clearly have never understood.

I do want to give Inman credit for a new invention, though. The “vook” (yikes!) is not dead on arrival. It’s dead before arrival. It stalks the night, a zombie of the mind, with its only reality, perhaps, being an unfinished web site and a gushing article in the notoriously useless New York Times. But this is not for naught. The “vook” will never live, but Brad Inman has inadvertently created a new category of hi-tech start-ups: The Undead Pool.

April 2, 2009

I need software advice for BloodhoundBlog Unchained

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We’re getting ready to start handing out homework assignments for the folks coming to BloodhoundBlog Unchained in Phoenix.

As has been noted, my piece of the program will entail doing hard-headed stuff at the server level.

To do that work, students will need a web browser, which everyone has, but they’ll also need an FTP client and a text editor — ideally a true programmer’s editor.

I live in the Macintosh world. I’ve been using Fetch for FTP and various editions of BBEdit for text editing since the mid-1980s.

But, obviously, most of the folks coming to Unchained will be running Windows — as will I, for that matter, since I don’t have a Mac laptop.

So: I need advice.

What’s a Windows FTP client worth having? I don’t need security, but the ability to open multiple sessions in multiple windows would be great. Right now I use FileZilla and mostly hate it.

And what’s a worthwhile programmer’s editor? I haven’t looked at eMacs in years, but I remember not loving it much back when DOS was still the boss.

Price range? I’d love free, but cheap is not the end of the world. Flexibility and ease of use matter, too.

So guide me. What should I be looking at?

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Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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