I need to recover from the past several days of intense showing and inventory analysis, so this week will be a bit light.
Browsing Category Blogging
Insight into blog readers’ minds
But if that Realtor has a qualified buyer, what good would come from shooting yourself in the foot?- real estate sales in charlottesville va+july 2007 – or, go straight to the Market Statistics category on RealCentralVA- realtor ethics questions and illegal incentives – duh. This is the problem with cooperative compensation – where the seller “pays” the buyer’s agent – particularly builder incentives.- charlottesville va foreclosures – why is one of the condo communities in Charlottesville advertising for this search term? I can understand the big companies and the odd Realtor but what are they saying?- advertizing real estate & relocation realitors – only for the misspellings. It’s Realtor.- dual agent horror story – surprisingly there are only slightly fewer results in Google for “dual agent success story” – but the results for the horror story search are much, much more pertinent.- jim duncan – there are 2.3 million results for this search, and I’m number one and two.
Charlynar Homes update
Regarding my story last week about Charlynar Homes and blogs’ changing accountability for companies – it took less than two days for Google to find out about Charlynar Homes. Those of you with no current web presence, be aware – one unsatisfied customer, armed with a wee bit of technological skill, a few minutes of spare time and a desire to impact your business in a negative way can impact your reputation in an extraordinary fashion.Coincidentally, after I wrote the story last week, I spoke with an old friend who is a project manager with a large national builder who was experiencing this exact situation – an unsatisfied homebuyer had started a blog detailing – timeline, contact information, pictures – his complaint, and in doing so had flummoxed the large company. (when Googling the development, the blog comes up #1)My advice was simple – start a company blog, detail the situation, embrace transparency … and fix the problem for the customer and the others who have the same issue, even though the builder is not at fault.Update: I just read this story about how Google is indexing blogs in near real-time.
If you’re not offending someone, you’re doing something wrong
One of the finest compliments I have received this year was given to me by a buyer who came to me because of this blog. When we were discussing the market and my writings, he said, “you know, you probably offend some people.” And I’m OK with that.
Where is your traffic coming from?
Last year I ran a poll that affirmed these goals -56% of all voters are either “Curious Consumer†or “Active Buyer or Seller.â€39% of all voters are either “Real estate Professional†or “Related Real estate fieldâ€Always curious to learn more about my readers, I periodically delve into our overlord’s analysis of my traffic.One of the finest compliments I have received this year was given to me by a buyer who came to me because of this blog. When we were discussing the market and my writings, he said, “you know, you probably offend some people.”Copyblogger has an outstanding post the other day:You need the courage to alienate the wrong people in order to resonate with the right people. You need to stick to your convictions when people tell you you’re wrong simply because your knowledge doesn’t mesh with their opinions.Blogging by consensus is a recipe for failure…. Think about it… if your audience is more qualified to write your blog than you are, why should they read what you say?…The fact is, if no one hates you, you’re doing something wrong.
Perhaps the nicest thing ever written about me
It takes up a quarter-page in one of the two prominent weekly newspapers in Charlottesville.2…. It’s genuine.It’s also refreshing that Duncan doesn’t take the typical Realtor’s approach of basically shilling the properties that he lists. The way Duncan writes about real estate and the articles he links to make it clear that he is not just in the business to make a living; the man seems genuinely interested in real estate as a topic of intelligent discussion, in sharing what he knows and in learning more. Quite candidly, this review is one of the nicest things I think has ever been written about me, and I hope to live up to the clearly high expectations I have set. I’m humbled and grateful.
The web is changing accountability – for everybody
The defendant’s personal gain aside, what he is doing highlights how the rules have changed.At the heart of the fight is a Web site started by Mike Morgan, the real-estate broker, to collect complaints and dispense advice about what he considers shoddy workmanship on homes built by Miami-based Lennar Corp….Previously, companies might have felt free to ignore campaigns like these…. He wouldn’t.The house was in a newer development with buyers coming through frequently to see the sales center, model home, etc. So the new homeowners erected signs in their yard, factually displaying the problems with their house and the builder’s negligence for all to see…. Two things of note:1) It shouldn’t have taken relatively extraordinary steps to get the builder to remedy the problems.2) Today, the bar for educating others on builders’ faults and accomplishments is much, much lower…. AideRSS may be one way to monitor one’s reputation.As any good researcher would do, I searched Wikipedia for Slander and Libel laws and came to the legal determination that so long as the information is factually accurate, you’ll be just fine (you may want to consider consulting with an attorney yourself with more legal training than a blogger and Wikipedia).In speaking with a political lobbyist yesterday about some politicians’ trepidations about blogs, one of the points he made was that some were reluctant to accept blogs because they couldn’t control the message.