6 Tips On How To Find the Lucky Charms and Ditch the Social Grifters on the Worldwide Web

I started blogging nearly 2 1/2 years ago for a real estate internet advertising company after having worked online since 2000-2001 helping real estate agents market themselves.  Although blogging was a bit intimidating to me, the more I read and commented on other blogs the more comfortable I became with my own writing voice.  After months of writing, researching and topic hunting I turned onto a path on my journey where my mind was filled with visions of blog posts dancing in my head. 

I became a student of my own blog voice that yearned to get out of my head and unto a blog publishing platform.  My listening skills sharpened and the world seemed like one great road map of posts.  Everyone from my butcher to my sister had a story to tell and I was listening.

 

It was evident to me very early on which blogs I resonated with and which ones I didn't.  There were some posts I would read and my gut reaction was disgust, dismay, or a bitter taste.  Shock rarely awes me, not much is awesomely shocking.  If you've lived a little life you know what I am saying. 

I guess I just can't stand blatant self promoters UNLESS you can VERY transparently see a golden egg behind the quacking goose.  I often couldn't find a crack in the puffery so I decided early in my web 2.0 travels to ditch the blogs that tried to suck breath from kindred souls.  I knew they would resonate with others but for me it was just a no go.

 

They are the social grifters of the worldwide web and I just don't have the time or the patience to give an audience to restless thoughtless provoking souls.

 

 

The GOOD NEWS that I would like to share on this St. Patty's Day is that also early on in my travels I came across some very caring individuals.  These were the lucky charms whom I could gather inspiration, friendship, a laugh or great, useful information. 

These folks aren't pushovers and they speak their mind but they don't take themselves so seriously.  They are proud and they are strong, but they don't make a living bent on uselessness and they are willing to extend a hand or an arm.  Far from boring their blogs have spirits and they got soul.  These bloggers wouldn't back away from a challenge but they wouldn't challenge just to toot their own horn.

Here's how you find the lucky charms and ditch the social grifters on the worldwide web,

1. Look for bloggers who don't mind sharing a part of their story even if doing so might show a little vulnerability.
2. Comment on blog posts where the blogger has taken the time and effort to give information freely.
3. Extend your reading repertoire beyond the feature dashboard and into groups.  You'll find kindred spirits who have wonderful messages to share with you.  Then take it one step further and be willing to extend your reading in and out of the community of ActiveRain.
4. Be willing to laugh and be humbled with life every now and then.  A quirky post thrown in the midst of business and real estate can teach the best business or life lesson.  These stories can put a smile on the face of despair.
5. Grow your community offline by picking up the phone with a blogger you connect with online.  A good friendship can come from remarkable spaces and there are many online.
6. Controversy is fine when it teaches or strives to bring transparency to an inefficient, corrupt, or bankrupt system of life.  Systems that are widely adapted and accepted should be reviewed openly and often.

 

5 Lucky Charms. These bloggers who do just as much for their readers online as they do for themselves, if not more.

Katerina Gassett- While she blogs about SEO, short sales, and real estate scam artists she takes the time to connect with professionals personally by email, twitter and phone.  My first email from a blogger came from Katerina Gassett encouraging my blogging effort and helping me out with the point system on ActiveRain.

Anne Marie Malfi- It's no secret I am a fan of this virtual assistant blogging lady.  While Anne Marie is my friend, I also hire her to work on projects with me and she does a fantastic job.  Her step by step blogs are selfless gifts and true knockouts.

Jeff Belonger- I am really impressed with his grassroots campaigns to help homeowners and home buyers.  I bookmark many of his posts and appreciate the information he shares on mortgages, especially his specialty, FHA.

Gary Vaynerchuk- I've blogged about Gary before because his passion reverberates in every vlog.  Gary's advice hits a home run with me. He will be the first person to tell his subscribers to follow their own drummer and march to their own song.

Greg Swann- There is logic in this man's controversy.  Many of his posts are incredible words of actionary items for real estate professionals and there is no doubt in my mind that he loves and wants change, sensible change, in this industry he serves.  Trouble is, when you challenge the status quo you become a target for controversy.  Greg actually wears it quite well.

Happy St. Patty's Day.  Have fun finding the lucky charms on the worldwide web.

 

 

The Makings of A Good Listener= Note to Self

 

This past Sunday I watched a story on 60 Minutes about a man, Robert Cotton, who was accused of rape and was in prison for some 12 odd years for a crime he didn't commit.  He looked very similar to the actual rapist and was in the line-up which is where the rape victim, Jennifer Thompson, identified him from.

What was amazing to me was that often if the perpetrator isn't in the line up the witnesses will "tend to pick someone from the line-up who looks most like the perpetrator."  As Lesly Stouts recanted after speaking with some experts on the subject of memory, "Memory is "mailable, full of holes... easily suggestible."

The line up system has two problems, Stouts explains,

1.  It's often unreliable

2.  It's highly persuasive to Jurors.

Gary Wells, the expert interviewed during the 60 minutes segment, discussed memory with Stouts and explained that recognition memory is quite quick.  It normally takes about 10-15 seconds for recognition memory.  In other words, if it takes longer than 10-15 minutes for someone to remember something then that person is most likely using something other than recognition memory.

Another problem with memory is that a reinforcement strongly alters memory, "dramatically".  Take a minute to watch this video,

Fight or flight also causes flaws in memory.  Stress has a deep effect on memory.  A person won't forget the event happened but the details are unreliable when the person is faced with a stressful situation,

 

 

Now think about this when it comes to real estate and business.  Think about REO's, foreclosures, divorced sellers, first time home buyers, short sales sellers and your communication with them.  Do they take notes when you are educating them on the real estate process? If they aren't I would encourage them to do so. 

In your client's anxiety and excitement how can their memory possibly digest and remember in sum total and with absolute certainty all of the advice and information you will be giving them?

Do you always take notes when you are interviewing clients or meeting with them either on the phone or in person? In your excitement to assist your clients and in your expertise having dealt with similar situations before (the ho hum syndrome) how can you be sure you will remember all the details exactly as they told them to you?  How can you be sure that during your busy workdays you didn't overlook a detail a client told you or hear something differently than what a client said?

How can you be sure you can remember it all?

I take notes on every client call and on conversations with business associates.  I highlight and scribble notes in the margins of books and periodicals I read.  If I have a thought about something I read online, I will take a moment to scribble it down, even if I make a note on a document in my computer.

At a conference I attended last year the speaker teased those of us who chose to write our notes instead of type or solely use a hashtag and tweet them.  She said it was cute.  Oh I had my Smartphone with me and my laptop to boot.  I knew though, that if I wrote my notes with a pen on "old fashioned paper" I would not only remember what the speaker said but I would remember where on my piece of paper I wrote the words.

Learning is fundamental, but listening and remembering can be tricky.  I take my business seriously.  I will now start asking my clients to please make sure to take notes for their own best records, regardless of my handouts, because I take their business seriously.

I will continue to hone my listening skills. My cute listening and memory basics have taken me to the bank many times over my competitors because my prospects were blown away that I remembered and was able to touch on the things they said to me.  My clients can't believe how much I really listen.

I will always take pen to paper and write notes to myself.

 

 

I have been getting some emails from some "newbies" much like myself. They all have the same question, how are you doing so well with your blogging so quickly?

Wait, What? Who said I was doing so well??

I decided to take a look at some of these blogs from my fellow newbies. Guess what I found? Boring hyper local content, statistics, stories about their cats, no associations, no subscriptions, very few comments and the list goes on.

Let's start with the basics that I have found to work for me. (Keep in mind I am a newbie, and I am not an expert by any means.)

The best thing I came up with is: BALANCE

Don't write only about your local area, don't write statistics every other day, don't talk about how your cat fluffy caught a mouse yesterday (we all love fluffy but he is not front page news), and stop copying what everyone else is writing!

If you were to pick up the newspaper and read a story about how "grandma's" cat fluffy had a bad hair ball problem, would you pay the $0.50 to read the full article? Or would you pick it up, look at the headline, "Fluffy puked up another fur ball" and puke yourself?

You need some balance in your blogging. For every statistical, hyperlocal, me me me blog post, write something fun, new, exciting, controversial, funny, ANYTHING. You get what you put in. If you copy and paste local stats from your MLS, and wonder why no one wants to comment on your blog, reach up, open the lid, and stick your head OUT-SIDE THE BOX!

My first ten posts or so were about my listings, and my life, and me me me. You know what this produced? A big fat ZERO!

So I started reading about other bloggers, I started subscribing to top bloggers on Active Rain, I started subscribing to other top blogs in other industries. (If you need help with finding these blogs, type Good-Cool-Awesome: blogs in Google, you will find a plethora of ideas.)

Comment on the top blogs, ask for tips, ask what they think of your blog, do something else for a change. SEO is awesome, don't get me wrong, but if all of your blogs are for SEO purposes to drive yourself to the frontpage of Google, what is going to happen when you get there and your content is boring? People are going to come, look, puke, and look for something else!

Be innovative, be opinionated, be yourself, but don't be all about yourself! Get off your blog,  go find someone else's blog, and start interacting.

Now get out there you newbies and become the best blogger you can be!

Lisa Udy

Youngblood Real Estate

www.LisaUdy.com

Lisa@LisaUdy.com

 

I have had 5 transactions this month that had BIG TROUBLE because the listing agent didn't ask their seller some hard questions. The files blew up a few days before closing because the title reports revealed tax liens, encroachments and judgements against the SELLER.

We are seeing more and more of this because of the rash of short sales and foreclosures, not to mention the incredibly lacks lending guidlines between 2004 and 2007. Basically anyone could get approved for a loan and any property was eligible.

BUYERS, REALTORS, LENDERS...Don't let this happen to you. As a Listing Agent you can have a frank conversation with your seller and you could even order a Pre-liminary Title Search to be sure of clear title BEFORE spending your time and money marketing a property that may not even be eligible to be sold. BE INQUISITIVE...ASK QUESTIONS. Of course...a ba-zillionair could pay cash for the home, cross their fingers and hope for the best. Ya, that's a good investment strategy.

LISTING AGENTS -SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR SELLERS:

1. IS ANYONE SUING YOU RIGHT NOW?
2. HAVE YOU ADDED ON ANY ROOMS THAT MAY ENCROACH ON A UTILITY EASEMENT? NO ONE WANTS THEIR EXTRA BEDROOM BULL DOZED BECAUSE THE WATER COMPANY NEEDS ACCESS TO A PIPE.
3. DO YOU HAVE 2, 3 OR 4 MORTGAGE ON THIS HOME CURRENTLY?
4. HAVE YOU KEPT CURRENT ON YOUR REGIME FEES/ HOME OWNER DUES?

SELLING AGENTS- SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK THE LISTING AGENTS BEFORE SUBMITTING AN OFFER

1. CAN WE REVIEW TITLE BEFORE MAKING A COMMITMENT?
2. HAVE YOU ASKED YOUR SELLER THOSE 4 QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE?

LENDERS - SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK LISTING AGENTS WHEN YOU GET A CONTRACT AND BEFORE YOU LOCK IN A RATE!

1. ALL OF THE ABOVE

To sum all this up...order title early and review it carefully.

 

I'll be the first to admit, I didn't really like the previous ReBlog graphic/icon as I felt it was too big.  It moved my text around making my posts look funny, and it was completely useless for me as the author of my Blog.  The value seemed to only be for the ReBlogger.  I know there are still mixed opinions about "ReBlogging" and the value of it, so like "open houses" I'll let that controversy continue onward and upward, but not here.

You'll notice this morning that the ReBlog icon has in fact changed, and in my opinion, for the better.  I can finally see who has been ReBlogging my posts.  The best part is that now you can also Link to the ReBloggers post to see what they might have said about it, or others that may have commented.  Think of all the comments you've been missing about your post that was ReBlogged! :-O

This is a great new feature and I really like the look of the "NEW" and "Improved" graphic.
(The AR Tech Team redeems themselves)

You can also ReBlog members posts to appear on your Outside ActiveBlogs.  No other Network offers a tool like this, ActiveRain continues to be on the cutting edge of social networking and technology.

HOW TO USE THE REBLOG OPTION:

If it's green it's clean, but if it's Grey with green dots then you've been REBLOGGED!!  To ReBlog another members post, just click on the ReBlog button.  To view a ReBlogged post and the ReBloggers comments or additions, just click on the green dots below the button.  (Just fyi...You cannot ReBlog your own posts)  To add the ReBlog option to your Blog posts, when creating the post, just put a check mark in the box that says:    then submit post.

HERE'S THE NEW REPORT YOU GET FROM YOUR REBLOGGED POSTS:

IMO - A ReBlogged Post is one of the finest compliments you can give another ActiveRain Member!

I never thought I'd say this, but now I don't mind going back to all my posts and adding the ReBlog option to every single one of them.  Especially now that I can see who has ReBlogged me, and what they had to say.  Now we can follow the chain and threads on our ReBlogged posts, and the new face-lifted graphic won't affect the layout or design of our posts.  I personally like the change and want to thank our guys for listening to the community and for making it happen.  Kudos Gents!!  :-)

If there were one single Blog post on AR that should be Reblogged by every member here, I'd say it's:

this one!

Come out this Saturday, March 14th 9am - 1pm to the James Island County Park and help raise money to support Cancer Research.

The event is a fun filled day where you and your pooch can participate in a one mile walk. After wards there will be music, food and games. There is also rumor that their will be a Paw Reader. I wonder what the future holds for my two puppies? 

Registration: $25, but show your student ID and register for $20.

When: Saturday March 14th from 9am to 1pm

Where: James Island County Park, Jame Island

For more information: visit Paws for a Cause

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We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

 

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ Agent Owned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 

Copyright © 2009 by Jim and Maria Hart (AgentOwned Realty).

Get up..get moving..get ready for ????..it's another great day in real estate..make it a great selling week!

Happy Monday!

About The Author:Midori Miller is a licensed real estate associate with CENTURY 21 Sundance Realty, Real Estate Trainer and Manager . CENTURY 21 Sundance Realty is located in Volusia County with 2 office locations to better serve the public. Daytona Beach andOrmond by the Sea. midorimiller@yahoo.com (386) 453-3236

In today's economy you can't beat free and FedEx is doing their part to help out. Tomorrow, March 10th 2009, you can visit any one of FedEx's 1600 plus stores and print up to 25 black and white copies of your resume.

With the unemployment rate inching higher and higher each day, it is great to see that someone is paying attention and doing what they can. Make sure to spread the word, especially to anyone who is currently hunting for a job.

To find the nearest FedEx Office Print and Ship Center, visit www.fedex.com or call 1-800-Go-FedEx (1-800-463-3339). 

*****************************************

We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

 

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ Agent Owned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 

Copyright © 2009 by Jim and Maria Hart (AgentOwned Realty).

This is something that everyone should watch and share with others. We all know that breast cancer can be a devastating and sometimes fatal disease if it goes undetected. Did you know that there is a form of breast cancer that is not detected through regular doctor visits, mammograms, or self breast exams? It is called inflammatory breast cancer.

I have been procrastinating about starting my fund raising for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer because I was concerned that too many people are struggling in today's economy. I received this video in my email today and the decision was made for me.

I warn you that this video is graphic and it can be very upsetting, but it is also a HUGE wake up call. This disease does not discriminate, it can happen to anyone including men.

Nothing is more important than my daughter, my mother, my sister, my cousin, my best friend (including myself and the men in my life). In other words, everyone I know and love, including those of you that I have yet to meet.

We have all heard the expression that every vote counts. That one vote can make a difference. If one vote can make a difference, then one dollar might make the difference in finding the cure for breast cancer.

I also believe that if we find a cure for breast cancer, then there is a greater likelihood that we will find a cure for other types of cancers. I know times are tough for many financially. I know that you may have been saving for something special. I know that you deserve that vacation, or new outfit. I also know that if you want to make a difference, you can. No amount is too small, a dollar does count, especially when they are added up among many.

Please visit my site and make a donation to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  Click on the Pink Ribbon below to visit my donation page.

Most importantly, I ask that you pass this on to your friends and family.  If anything, it may save the life of someone you know and love, or someone that you have yet to meet.

Thank you for bringing further awareness to the importance of finding a cure for breast cancer.