I have a friend named Michael that is much younger than I, which is to say he has all of his hair and no silver in his beard.  Michael called me one day and said “Bart, they promoted me out of the field, and I need help understanding the basics of business management.”

Let’s put this phone call in perspective.  Mike works for a national service company that installs a specialized piping system in commercial buildings.  I asked him a few questions to get a feel for his attitude about the new position, his perspective on management and whether he felt this was the right move for him.  He told me he can do the job, he just needed help learning some of the basics business stuff, like how to read his departments budgets and forecasts.  He had some ideas he wanted to implement to bridge the disconnect between field and office. 

I asked Michael what his boss was offering by way of support.  His answer was not so encouraging- there would be no official training in skills that managers need such as reading financials, etc.  Why would they?  I mean Michael was great at his field job, so he should be great at his office job, right? 

Maybe not.  Mike could have become a victim of the Peter Principle – that employees are promoted until they reach a position at which they are incompetent, and then they are either moved sideways or moved out.  Michael was smart enough to recognize he needed help, and that none would be forthcoming from his own company.  I often wonder why that is? 

I was privy to a scenario much like that years ago, when our manager slid every salesperson and assistant manager a large printout of their departments financials and sales projections.  The good part of this was that they were finally sharing numbers, projections and the requirements for meeting their margins.  Without preamble the manager then went on to admonish us all about our duty to study our numbers, be familiar with them, etc.  The bad thing was when a salesperson who was previously promoted from the field, asked how to calculate the margins, the manager would not tell him.  After a while I spoke up and ended up writing the formula on the whiteboard.  And watched as the manager wrote it down in his own notes.

I tell that story to say this – there are very competent people out there that are promoted from the field into the office.  And they are not given any form of help.  It is sink or swim.  Added to the fact that political silos are now in their face, and you have a recipe for ‘In, then Out!’

Whether promoting from within or recruiting to fill a position, think about the requirements that the position has and whether your candidate meets them.  I don’t mean just skills, I mean behavior, motivation, ability to learn.  Know what you will have to teach them.  Get them help.  Bringing a person in from the field is a risk, and but can be very rewarding as that person has a good isea of how things are done, and the issues that the field person faces.

A person that comes from elsewhere has to learn your business as well as all of the issues.  Maybe a good thing from a fresh perspective, maybe not.

Be careful, and be ready to teach and help.  When promoting from within, there are other issues, like the relationships and bonds that have been formed.  How your candidate has formed them, how closely they have formed bonds and how they deal with that are issues you should observe and talk about before hand.

I would like to have people seriously comment on this issue.  Thank you.  Bart

Although this article may pertain to real estate, it is really applicable to all business blogging. For more information on the best practical blogger’s guide on the internet, click to RSS Pieces.

Introducing REBlogGirl, most notable for her fine work explaining detailed technical aspects of blogging and Web 2.0 tools in a very comprehensible manner at RSSPieces. Her initial post is her primer on the benefits of blogging addressed to the growing number of new RE bloggers we’re educating on Transparent. We look forward to her future articles on more esoteric topics, such as Windows Vista and its RSS capabilities, that only she interprets so well.

– P Kitano
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The growth of the blogosphere: everybody’s doing it
According to Dave Sirfry’s April 2006 report on the blogosphere, Technorati currently tracks 35.3 million weblogs. The report shows that the blogosphere as a whole has grown 60 times what it was just three years ago and continues to double about every six months. With 75,000 new weblogs springing up every day, 3.9 million bloggers updating their blogs at least weekly and the blog post volume reaching an all time high of over 1.2 million posts per day, blogging shows no sign of slowing anytime soon.

The breakdown:
• Technorati now tracks over 35.3 Million blogs
• The blogosphere is doubling in size every 6 months
• It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
• On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
• 19.4 million bloggers (55%) are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
• Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day, about 50,000 per hour

The history of the blog: from online diaries to real estate resources
A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a website where regular entries are made (such as in a journal or diary) and presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs often offer commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, news or local news. Corporate blogs can are often used to answer customer questions in an FAQ format, provide additional product information, aid in customer service and, in the case of service or consulting firms, provide a forum for industry specific information written by experts in article format.

In 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Since then, corporations have taken to blogging to connect with customers, employees and the media. Corporate blogs serve as platforms for companies to connect on a more personal level to their customers, employees and the media. Blogs allow companies to easily disseminate pertinent information on their products, services and industry news.

By 2005, a few tech savvy real estate professionals were blogging with some success on every topic from how to stage a home for an open house to the sale of Billy Joel’s estate in the Hamptons. As these blogs took off, the community took note and formed some of the more popular real estate blogging networks like ActiveRain and RealEstateVoices. Today, it seems that just about every Realtor either has a blog or is looking to blog.

Why should real estate agents blog?
1. Blogs are better indexed than websites by search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Why? Search engines are voracious readers, they like frequently updated, new and relevant content. Blogs provide just that. They allow you as a Realtor to login to their back-ends and enter new articles daily without knowing a lick of HTML.
BENEFIT: Increased search engine results rankings on Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Basically, a blog helps you get found in searches on popular search engines better and improves traffic to your site, which ultimately results in more leads and listings.

2. RSS feeds syndicate your blogs content across the net. All blogs have a built-in marketing tool called RSS. RSS allows individual subscribers to sign up for your feed and have your new content delivered directly to their feed reader, email or website in real time.
BENEFIT: Increased web presence and brand awareness. When another website chooses to syndicate your content, you benefit by an increased web presence, branding and more traffic to your site. Built-in marketing mechanisms like ping services and RSS help drive more traffic to a blog than a regular website.

3. Agents that write blogs perform more research to keep up with their local markets than Realtors who don’t blog. This greater knowledge base becomes a significant competitive advantage over non-blogging Realtors…
BENEFIT: Blogs build a Realtors’ knowledge base and credibility as an expert in their field. Because the blog platform gives the realtor a channel to market their knowledge, visitors tend to think of the Realtor as an expert.

4. By frequently providing quality local content on hot button issues, a Realtor builds credibility within their community. They connect with their audience (read “potential clients”) on a personal level that makes them feel as though they already have a relationship.
BENEFIT: Blogging agents generate more leads than non blogging agents. People like to do business with people they “know” and respect as an expert, therefore blogging agents generate more leads than non blogging competitors.

5. Any blog that is driving reasonable traffic can be monetized. Once a blog has at least 100 pages of content and proven traffic, an Amazon affiliate shop and Google AdSense helps defray marketing costs.
BENEFIT: Blogs can be monetized to provide an alternative income source. Because blogs drive substantially more traffic than websites, monetizing them can boost a Realtor’s bottom line during good times and carry him/her through lulls in the market.

6. Blogs are better indexed by search engines, syndicated through RSS feeds and many offer free social networking ping services. Through these mechanisms, your blog content is constantly marketed across the web and consistently driving traffic back to you.
BENEFIT: Blogs drive more traffic than websites. Blogs have many more automated web marketing tools than websites and are better indexed by search engines. Your customers can find you more easily, driving far more quality traffic to you than a website that tends to be static.

Technorati tags real estate voices activerain blogging business blogging blogging benefits blogosphere

At least to start with.

Developing relationships through communications is vital in all aspects of life.  For clarity and simplicity, todays post is short and to the point – Communications are affected by the following:

Words – 7%

Body Language – 55%

Tone of Voice – 38%

Is there any wonder that emails and memos can be misconstrued and misinterpreted?

As sellers become tired of waiting for the buyers to show up and the number of foreclosures rise, real estate auctions have been getting press. Bigger Pockets reports on the return of real estate auctions in Colorado, Real Estate Bloggers explains residential real estate auctions is the fastest growing segment of the auction industry, MSNBC reports on EBay as an auctioneer of real estate, and yesterday, Larry at Real Estate Undressed critiques EBay as a horrible way to auction off houses.

I got a chance to speak with Stacy, the author of the new blog PaxBayArea (PAX = Pacific Auction Exchange) focusing on real estate auctions. She explains PAX’s business model is to ally with Realtors, not compete over properties with them. She discloses some of the financial logistics associated with the real estate auction process and how auctions benefit the Realtor…

How do houses go to auction and how does it benefit the listing agent?

The story behind PAX’s latest auction arises from a couple who moved from their Central Valley home and wanted to sell their house as quickly as possible. Their Realtor claimed that selling their house by auction would be the quickest method because preparing the house for sale plus time on market could take as long as 90 days +. The Realtor referred the couple to PAX. PAX is now auctioning their house this week and the referring Realtor still receives a 2% fee. In this market where listing agents have a tough time with a sale and are faced with losing a client as their listing agreement draws towards term, the auction referral may save the agent commission (at least 2% of it) and help recoup their marketing costs.

Here’s how buyer’s agents benefit from the purchase

Buyer’s agents benefit from commissions that range between 1.5% and 2%. The formula PAX uses in rewarding the agent is based on the spread between their opening bid and their final purchase bid. In other words, the more reasonable the opening bid is to meeting the final purchase price, the higher the commission rate. That encourages buyer’s agents to bid realistically, and not submit ridiculous, undervalued bids like $999.

PAX’s auctions generally start with minimum bids, but here’s their upcoming land auction of assorted parcels across California that is labeled an “Absolute Auction”, meaning each property will go to the highest bidder no matter what the price, even if it’s $1. And all of the parcels will go at the end of the day no matter what…

Technorati tags real estate auctions auctions home selling foreclosures

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I learned about Stumbleupon from a fellow blogger. The user downloads the Stumbleupon toolbar and during idle moments, clicks away and is presented various websites pertaining to his/her interests. Web 2.0 tools are well represented – here are only a few I found useful or delightful >

The Unofficial Web Applications List – compilation of Web 2.0 apps
Free Fax Page – upload your fax and send it anywhere free!
BugMeNot – gives user a password in order to bypass registering at all those newspaper (like NY Times) websites just to see one article
Call the Future – call your phone in the future with a message you type in. The possibilities!
Jazz Standards.com – History and musical analysis of standards and why jazz musicians like to play them

The one app that has direct applications to real estate – YourGMap is a personal google mapping application. Here’s a quick application I built for my friends listing my favorite (mostly damn cheap and good Chinese) Asian restaurants in San Francisco’s Richmond.
Technorati tags stumbleupon web 2.0 tools mapping tools
blogtools

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