rebarcamp

My RE BarCamp DC quick take-aways…

Real Estate BarCamp D.C. (#rebcdc) took place on Tuesday and it really was an all-star cast. At one point I sat in a session with Daniel Rothamel and three other AgentGenius.com writers (darn, I should have called TMZ)… so the celebrity sizzle was there. Did you miss it?

Seriously, BarCamp was filled with a solid group of people teaching and discussing their passion for the Internet and social media tools. The group shared relevant ideas and concepts, plus engaged in fun social interaction and sometimes outright laughter. Some of my best discussions came between the intense sessions and made me look, yet again, at the work I have done so far on my blog. I personally enjoy having face to face meet-ups because they give me a chance to learn from others, share my experiences, and discuss what people are doing to make their blogs relevant to their intended community.

Real estate agents need to sharpen their focus…

Having a sharp focus is essential in attracting readership and getting recognized by search engines. It seems almost like a game to rank on the first page on Google for a particular term, but since I get calls every week from venders who ask if I want to be on page one for a specific keyword term, I understand that it is no game. The top tier is essential, but if you disappoint a reader then you might as well be on page six.

Getting there, wherever your there may be, requires you to write posts (articles) that relate to the theme or general gist of your blog. Have a purpose when you write! Keep in mind that the people at Google and Bing are fairly smart, so writing a post that says “Annapolis, Maryland luxury homes” in every sentence will send up a flag that you are on the level of a spammer. If you write, then robots will find you.

The first quick adjustment that I made after RE BarCamp DC was hiding my unruly Tag Cloud. Tag clouds were “the rage” way back in January. Between session I spoke with Bobby from Dakno Marketing and MrWilliamsburg (not wearing colonial garb) , and concluded that the tag cloud was taking up valuable real estate on my page and made little sense to “first-time”, unique visitors. Plus, I actually never look at tag clouds on other sites. Do you?

Gone.

The second action was to gain control of my Blogroll. Over the past year I have added a number of sites to the list, actually too many. Again in a between-session conversation with Ken Montville, it became obvious to me that the Blogroll did not make any sense to my target audience especially those looking at the site for the first time. For example, readers may have assumed that Bill Lublin (who I am talking with in the photo above) worked in my office, and then clicked on his name to see his blog in Philly. Bill’s okay but I want them to stick with me!

A key take-away was to look at the site through a reader’s eyes, be clear and avoid creating confusion.

In another discussion, we talked about a “call-to-action button” so readers can contact you immediately. On my site, they needed to look for that in my pages. My blog uses WordPress and I found a plug-in or widget so I could add an easy to spot button on the right side column, and I plan on refining this feature (ideas anyone?). Again, adding an easy to spot Contact Me button and giving it the headline Have a question? makes for much easier navigation. Again, less confusion.

I almost felt like this gathering was a bit under the radar since we have 25,000+ agents within a two hour drive who could have attended and there were maybe 125 (and not all real estate agents… see photos). Some of those agents are pretty Internet savvy too and would have added to the discussions on hype-local blogging, SEO, using video, short sales, understanding social capital, technology, Inman and things that have been profitable additions to your blog.

To check out the next RE Barcamp, take a look at the schedule.

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rebarcamp

Are you thinking about RE BarCamp DC in October?

Hopefully it isn’t too late for you to register to attend RE BarCamp DC being held on October 27th, 2009 at the NVAR Herndon Center near the Reston Town Center. It’s free for attendees but you need to register right now. To see who is coming, you should check here.

Let me be clear; this is not a conference with a featured speaker, there will not be a special web site “deal” for those who attend, you will not sit in your seat for any length of time, and you will be asked to participate in an open conversation about blogging, Twitter, the Internet, social media, using video, Google, WordPress, Blogger, SEO, YouTube, Viddler, hosting, web 2.0 and whatever you decide to discuss that day. I will pass along suggestions put in my comments section.

How does that sound? Like an “ad-hock” gathering… here is a link to the RE BarCamp mother site!

Maybe there is another side of the real estate business you’ve been missing?

The group is really going to be up to speed as we have a lot of “cutting-edge” people in our area who you may not know but are recognized across the country as leaders… and it is going to be really exciting to hear them share their knowledge in round-table style discussion groups.

Again, no one is a featured speaker… no one is going to recruit you… and no sales pitches!

If this event is going to be your first step into this arena, do a little homework first and you will get a lot more out of the experience called RE BarCamp.

The following suggestions are from an earlier post:

Here is my Prep-Workshop for beginners (newbies):

It seemed like the room was 46% people who had a clue, and 54% people who were hoping to buy a web site, circa 2002. If you fall into that 54% (beginners) and want to go to RE BarCamp, then you should do a little homework beforehand so you don’t feel totally out of your element. It may get your creative juices flowing!

Look at some blogs:

• Read through mine, or look at my “Blog Roll” on the right side since these are some of my favorites. Most people write about their lives and experiences, real estate and personal.
• Start writing “comments” on the posts that you enjoy and appreciate. It’s like a practice blog for you without the actual blog work, and it’s easy!
• See how people are using video… go explore YouTube or Viddler

Social Media:

• Take a look at Facebook.com (free), Twitter.com (free), LinkedIn.com (free)

Research Google:

• Get an idea how Google works (type that phrase into the Google Bar)
• Google the just mentioned social media list too. There are lots of good tips to get you started and most will take a minute or three to read.

Online News sources:

• Read and start following online mags like Inman News.com or AgentGenius.com

What is a blog anyway?:

• Look at WordPress.org or .com, or Blogger.com, or GoDaddy.com

I hope people will add to this list, and it is a good start that will help the 54% learn about blogging, Google, and social media. Plan to spend a day, two days or a week for this prep-work and you will get much more out of the experience of being around great people at your next RE BarCamp.

Maybe this will give you an idea…

rebarcamp

Doug’s RE BarCamp prep-class for newbies – 2009

Oh, to go to RE BarCamp…in Virginia Beach.

So I woke up extra early and made the three hour drive to Virginia Beach yesterday. Luckily the State Troopers had already pulled over speeders (everyone was going 70+) and the Interstates were wide-open… so it was an easy trip listening to my XM stations.

In classic RE BarCamp style, it took place at Buffalo Beach Restaurant/Bar which handled the crowd of 50+. I was impressed with the cool banner out front, table set up, name badges, people with lap tops, and a cast of people who I have been following, such as Bill Lublin from Philadelphia. As “ad-hoc” as they made sound on the official blog, it was very organized and I really appreciate the effort Tina Merritt put into making it worth the trip.

Okay, I consider myself a t-shirt collector (some people do comic books) and that’s the only spot where the cool factor got away. Wow, the logo for this event was top-shelf but the front of the shirt was hijacked by a well meaning sponsor. So putting my money where my mouth is, the next time I will volunteer to put the t-shirt together with something that the cool people will want to wear to the grocery store.

Here is my Prep-Workshop for beginners:

It seemed like the room was 46% people who had a clue, and 54% people who were hoping to buy a web site, circa 2002. If you fall into that 54% (beginners) and want to go to RE BarCamp, then you should do a little homework beforehand so you don’t feel totally out of your element. It may get your creative juices flowing!

Look at some blogs:

• Read through mine, or look at my “Blog Roll” on the right side since these are some of my favorites. Most people write about their lives and experiences, real estate and personal.
• Start writing “comments” on the posts that you enjoy and appreciate. It’s like a practice blog for you without the actual blog work, and it’s easy!

Social Media:

• Take a look at Facebook.com (free), Twitter.com (free), LinkedIn.com (free)

Research Google:

• Get an idea how Google works (type that phrase into the Google Bar)
• Google the just mentioned social media list too. There are lots of good tips to get you started and most will take a minute or three to read.

Online News sources:

• Read and start following online mags like Inman News.com or AgentGenius.com

What is a blog anyway?:

• Look at WordPress.org or .com, or Blogger.com, or GoDaddy.com

I hope people will add to this list, but it is a good start and will help the 54% learn about blogging, Google, and social media. Plan to spend a day, two or a week to this prep-work and you will get much more out of the experience of being around great people at your next RE BarCamp.

rebarcamp

Off to RE BarCamp in Virginia Beach

So I made it into the RE BarCamp in Virginia Beach next week to learn a little more about the exciting world of blogging, social media, and technology. It was pretty easy since I just had to register and suddenly was on the “Who’s Coming” list. What I find interesting is that the organizers seem to emphasize that it is an informal, “ad hoc” meeting where everyone participates in group discussions following short presentations. And the reviews that I have seen posted have been very positive so I have been waiting for one of these to show up close by… relatively speaking.

The “Camp” sounds kind of totally unstructured to be honest but, again, I have read about these meetings for a while and am curious enough to hop in the car and take a day trip to Virginia Beach.

Maybe it’s the t-shirt offer? I’m not sure, but I have found my blog to be an interesting avenue for my creative spirit and there is so much to learn.

Yes, darn it, I’m going to join in and participate on July 16th.

Doug is on-board!