2nd Real Estate Bloggers Network Meeting: Shailesh Speaks

Arizona Real Estate Bloggers Network Meeting - May 2008 from phoenixrealestatelive on Vimeo.

May 29th - AZRE Blogging Network Meeting

Come Join Us Thursday, May 29th at for lunch and a ‘hands on’ blogging event! AZ Real Estate Blogging Network will be meeting monthly to pull together all real estate professionals to learn, share and implement blogging techinques for beginners and pros alike!

Thursday, May 29th: 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 lunch will be served.  Break out for classes at 12:00 to 1:30 pm at 3100 E. Ray Rd., Chandler, AZ (NW corner of 101/Ray Rd)..

If you are interested in learning, starting or sharing your talent be sure to join us Thursday for  two      classes given by the AZREBN Team members. 

Shailesh Ghimire and Jay Thompson (starting in June) will be teaching how to get your Wordpress Blog up and running.  Mike in Tucson will be teaching those that need to start from scratch with an Active Rain Blog.

If you are interested in getting started be sure to RSVP to join@AZRealEstateBlogs.com and be sure to share this invite with a friend!

 

Re-Cap of Unchained

Today was the first day of the “Unchained” social media marketing conference in Phoenix. I met / saw a couple of people from the Active Rain community and talked with some really nice people from several other states as well.

One of the speakers was Mary McKnight from RSS Pieces. Mary often gives tips on PageRank, SEO, BackLinks and a ton of other “geek” stuff. I have enclosed a short video I took of her presentation. There was much more covered today. Laurie Manny did an awesome job explaining her blogging and sharing what makes her tick. She is a pretty smart cookie and I’m glad I’m not competing for her search terms..  Russell Shaw gave a very interseting presentation and shared some thoughts about the current market, the importance of pricing and shared many of his “secrets of success.” I’m glad I was there today to get some ideas and first hand knowledge to see how other bloggers are taking advantage of things that are available to all of us.

Jan O’Brien also did a nice re-cap of todays events. There is a ton of other info available already on the web and on Twitter and there promises to be a ton more over the next couple of days..

Oh yeah.. Don’t forget to check out what Brian Brady had to say..

Blog Info Galore @ AZREBN

For many of us, blogging is pretty new. You might not realize how much information is out there for people that want to learn. If that’s the case, you are in the right spot. Soon, Candace will be sending out details on our next AZREBN meeting. You really don’t want to miss it.

This past week, I attended a class at SEVRAR and another class at the Mesquite Library. There are out of town conferences coming up in  San Francisco, Las Vegas and all over. I’m pretty sure we will be able to give you some tips on learning from many different sources.

If you want to be really smart or even a genius, you can follow along with our contributor, Jay Thompson, author of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy blog to see how it’s done. :-) No matter how you choose to learn about how blogging can help your business, we hope you will join us at our (free) monthly meetings!

Finding Time to Blog - ‘Don’t Tell Me You Don’t Have Time’

So often I have hear the thought or comment.  “How will I ever find the time to Blog?” I am sure many of us real estate professionals have asked ourselves that exact question.  Since I started Blogging and the bug got to me, I have struggled with setting up a schedule to blog consistently.  It’s not that I don’t want to blog, don’t have the time to blog. It’s working a routine in my day to make it happen.

I know this, not blogging is not an option. I know I have to make time in my day to fit it in! The benefits are too great not to blog. I have to work blogging in my schedule weekly, the benefits are too great!  This then leads me to ask, When? …

Everyone has their own thoughts as to when is the best time to blog and you will need to determine that for yourself. I prefer blogging in the early hours and late hours and post when I complete it.  It doesn’t always happen that way, but for me, I am not one to block out an hour here or there to make it happen.

I think Teresa Boardman, the real estate blogging Goddess from St. Paul says its best,

“It is part of my daily routine and part of my weekly schedule.  I don’t use time blocking, I find that too restrictive… but I do plan which tasks I will complete each day and writing is always on the list.”

Theresa shares that marketing and prospecting have always taken time and that it’s a good practice for real estate professionals spend about two hours a day prospecting.  I can’t agree with Theresa more. If we shift our minds and understand the power and benefits of professional blogs, we would all make time and prioritize our days accordingly.  Consider it a form of farming, newsletters and direct mailing.

Put your personal touch on your own blog, send that out to your SOI and friends and family. You would be surprised that your blog will be the ‘hot topic’ at the next BBQ or office meeting.  Show it off, share it and find the time.  You can’t afford not to.

I love Theresa’s thoughts about finding the time to blog and her statement,

“We all have time to show houses, get listing contracts signed and attend closings.  Writing a blog is just as important. I can’t imagine not having time to show houses.  Most of us figure some way to work that into our schedules.  Why doesn’t writing a blog post get the same kind of priority?  It is just as likely to generate revenue as showing homes.  From a big picture point of view showing homes can lead to one sale in the near future but writing a blog post every day, can lead to home sales for years.”

Don’t dare say you don’t have time to build your business through a blog, do your research, ask around! There are many professionals here in AZ Real Estate Blogging Network that can testify of their successes and closings due to their blogging efforts!  So what are you waiting for, get your blog started!

To read a fabulous article written by Theresa Boardman, contributor at The Real Estate Tomato Blog, click here.

Come join our group AZ Real Estate Blogging Network monthly and learn the basics and setting up a blog wtih Mike Jones, AZREBN member.  Learn how to set up a Wordpress blog and how to host it yourself with our Team of Instructors.  For more information, email me at Join@AZRealEstateBlogs.com

Agents have a thirst for Blogging

Yesterday, I attended a blogging class at SEVRAR taught by Rob Gibbs. Rob did a great job answering a ton of questions and by providing a nice lay out of relevant information. The class was very well attended and gave a nice over view blogging. Some of the items of discussion were.

Blogging - What is it?

Blogging Platforms - Word Press, Blogger, TypePad, Active Rain and others.

Customization - Explaining a few of the endless ways to customize your blog.

Widgets - resources to find and add to your blog.

Content - Yep, content is king. Who are you speaking to?

Social Networking - Briefly touched on a couple of these.

How to use a blog in your business. The class was asked to think of and discuss ways to use blogs.

I really enjoyed Rob’s style of teaching. He is a nice guy with a real passion for blogging. On a break, I mentioned this blog and invited him to check out OUR group. :-)

I believe most of the people in the class were new to blogging and I could tell the amount of interest was sky high. Blogging is still something very “new” to many of us. Classes like this and groups like ours will certainly help many agents get a grasp on this effective way to reach an audience.

AZREBN First Meeting HUGE SUCCESS! - April 24th, 2008

The AZ Real Estate Blogging Network kicked off April 24th, 2008 with a big bang! The attendance was fantastic! We met at 9:00 am, Thursday at the SanTan Village Mall in Gilbert, Arizona. We mingled and enjoyed our lattes, morning coffees and sodas while settling in at 9:30 a.m. to a fabulous line-up of speakers, Teri Ellis, The Lady in Red, Paul Slaybaugh, our ActiveRain celebrity, Shailesh Ghirmire, AZ Mortgage Guru, Mike Jones, Mike in Tucson and clean up was with our local blogging celebrity, Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy!

I personally want to thank the speakers for a marvelous job they did and for their expertise and willingness to make this kick-off meeting a huge success! Without you this would not have been the event it was! There was much to share and much to learn and it was great to see the passion and participation among the attendees. I really believe that this is going to be the monthly meeting to be at and to have such great resources available to each and everyone in attendance for free! You can’t beat that! Enjoy the photos below in my slideshow and as time allows I will upload the Video footage of the speakers for those that missed it or for those that want to recap of the event.

A special ‘thank you’ to this month’s Sponsors:

• Shelli Bates - LandAmerica Lawyers Title - 480-688-9387
• Mary Ellen Kohut - The Mortgage Advantage - 602-329-3437
• Ron Kohatsu - World Inspection Network WIN - 480-844-2882
• Jim Crandell - Homestead Appraisals - 480-390-8530 

 

If you are interested in more information on the monthly meetings, email me direct at Join@AZRealEstateBlogs.com and I will get you the upcoming event. May’s meeting will be held May 29th, 2008 in the Tempe area. If you are interested in being included be sure to email me so that I can send out an invitation.  

 

 

Why Are We Here?

Just some first thoughts of what will be an exciting network of people sharing ideas about a common interest.. “Blogging.” I’m sure others will give us examples of what is to come very soon.

Here, you will find information about creating a blog, marketing with a blog and having fun with a blog. We will discuss learning about trackbacks, key words, tags, pings, feed readers, categories, page rank, blog formats, blog platforms, success stories, failures etc etc.. You will also find opinions on the benefits of a blog, what to blog, when to blog and how to blog. Get it? Yep, we are all about blogging.. Hopefully, I haven’t just blown it for you because we do want you back!

We share a common field, the real estate industry, but our group may be beneficial to people with an interest in any other business, hobby or occupation. Blogging can be a lot like the real estate business in that, just as no two agents are exactly alike, the range and topics of blogs all have different styles and appeal to different people in different ways. If you are new to blogging and want the basics, I’m pretty sure we can help you. If you are a “blogging fool,” looking for some great information, stick around because we have some very talented people that are here to help. I’m not necessarily one of the talented ones, but I have some good friends that are going to be sharing a ton of really good stuff. So, sit back, relax, subscribe to our feed and enjoy the ride!

Greetings!

Welcome to the blog for the Arizona Real Estate Blogging Network!

Things are still very rough around here. But over the next couple of days, the site will slowly turn into something — I’m just not sure exactly what yet. ;)

Stay Tuned!