Blogger’s Connect
For those who weren’t able to join us at Inman last week (or those who have short-circuited and forgotten everything already), I’d like to share with you the takeaway moments from every panelist on every panel at Inman Blogger’s Connect:
Creating Content That Hooks Readers
The conference was kicked off by an exciting panel discussing blog content creation. The moderator was Kris Berg and the panelists included Benn Rosales, Ben Martin, Jeff Corbett, Mike Simonsen and Sarah Hromack.
“If you have like buyers in front of you, ask them why they chose you, how they found you,
and that creates the content for your blog. Repeat success!” -Benn Rosales
image courtesy of The Real Estate Zebra
“Inject your personality into your writing voice.” -Ben Martin
image courtesy of TBoard
“Content starts one sentence, one paragraph at a time.” -Jeff Corbett
“People do business with people they like.” -Mike Simonsen
image courtesy of The Real Estate Zebra
“I don’t want to hear about your cat.” -Sarah Hromack
How Four Bloggers are Closing Sales
Jay Thompson moderated Teresa Boardman, Mary Pope-Handy, Laurie Manny and Linda Davis as they shared their case studies and success stories with a large audience.
“My blog IS my business.” -Teresa Boardman
image courtesy of TBoard
“Make your blog a joy to do and it will sustain you.” -Mary Pope-Handy
image courtesy of Ginger Wilcox
“Stop blogging and sell real estate.” -Laurie Manny
image courtesy of Kim Wood
“If you have a crappy business, a blog isn’t going to help.” -Linda Davis
image courtesy of Heather Elias
Leaving a Digital Footprint
This lively discussion was lead by Joel Burslem and the panel included David Gibbons, Jay Thompson, Pat Kitano and Rudy Bachraty, all with different theories of leaving a digital footprint.
image courtesy of Kristal Kraft
“Criticism is one of the greatest marketing opportunities you have. It’s a chance to correct any misperceptions.” -David Gibbons
“It’s really easy to get overwhelmed. You don’t have to facebook every day, you don’t have to anything every day.” -Jay Thompson 
image courtesy of Kristal Kraft
“Twitter is supplanting blogs.” -Pat Kitano
image courtesy of Dru Bloomfield
“Be proactive. Engage the consumers.” -Rudy Bachraty
image courtesy of Dustin luther
How NOT to Get Sued
The title alone is scary, but moderator Joe Ferrara did a great job of guiding the conversation between Ardell DellaLoggia, Melanie Wyne, Russ Cofano and Todd Carpenter.
“You have to own and be accountable.” -Ardell DellaLoggia
image courtesy of Desiree Daniels
“Don’t be a jerk… it helps you not get sued.” -Melanie Wyne
“If you’re going to use a trademark, make fun of it. Parody is a great defense.” -Russ Cofano
image courtesy of Desiree Daniels
“I just delete them.” -Todd Carpenter
image courtesy of Missy Caulk
Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Everyone was all ears as moderator Jeff Turner and the panel debated not only what the next level of a blog is but how to get there. Daniel Rothamel, Dustin Luther, Jim Cronin and Nicole Nicolay all weighed in.
“Life does NOT happen inside your computer. We operate in the real world with real people.” -Daniel Rothamel
image courtesy of Jeff Corbett
“The biggest missed opportunity for social media marketing in real estate is existing social networks.” -Dustin Luther
image courtesy of Daniel Rothamel
“Stop patting each other on the back and bring in the consumer.” -Jim Cronin
“Have conversations with people IN your niche.” -Nicole Nicolay
image courtesy of nik_nik
The Wrap Up
After the conference ended, we all ended up at various restaurants and happy hour discussing the panels and the consensus was that the Blogger’s Connect was extremely successful- the audience crammed a *lot* of learning into one day. Can’t wait until ICSF09!
Ben Martin, Va Assn of REALTORS
August 1, 2008 at 10:24 am
If yer gonna photoshop me, at least give me some big muscles. Sheesh!
Irina Netchaev
August 1, 2008 at 10:27 am
Lani, a unique way of capturing the important points! I feel like I was at Inman’s now. Thank you!!!
Jim Cronin
August 1, 2008 at 10:29 am
Very, very creative. However, you’re not helping my brand any by posting that far tomato face!
Mike Mueller
August 1, 2008 at 10:35 am
Being one of those “visual” people – WOW!
This is just plain fabulous!
Who says you don’t have photochoping skills? You ROCK!
Ginger Wilcox
August 1, 2008 at 10:35 am
Pictures say a thousand words. You captured the essence of inman in those pictures, and some of my favorite quotes from the week.
Dustin
August 1, 2008 at 10:37 am
Awesome to know that at least someone was paying attention to the chatter at Connect! 😉
Great summary.
Jay Thompson
August 1, 2008 at 10:37 am
Ben wants muscles. I’d like more hair please.
*Very* well done, UR a master!
Steve Belt
August 1, 2008 at 11:01 am
Lani
This is the very best post I’ve ever read in the re.net. It’s absolutely perfect. Seriously. This is an example of taking it to the next level if there ever was one. Beautiful.
Jason Farris
August 1, 2008 at 11:01 am
nice approach to delivery content.. I love it!
Derek Overbey
August 1, 2008 at 11:11 am
Lani,
Awesome is the only word that comes to mind. Kim Wood and I were talking about Linda Davis’s “Crappy Business” reference earlier and seeing it again, I still laugh. Keep up the great work!
Mariana
August 1, 2008 at 11:12 am
wow … Lani, THIS was the BEST Inman recap I have EVER read. You are brilliant. (Sorry Jim, I HAD to do a little back-patting here…)
teresa boardman
August 1, 2008 at 11:12 am
why am I in a winter coat in the middle of summer. LOL. It really is all about contect. 🙂 and you did a great job with your content on this one.
Joel Burslem
August 1, 2008 at 11:23 am
Fantastic summary Lani. You’ve outdone yourself again. Thanks for the recap.
jf.sellsius
August 1, 2008 at 11:33 am
Great visual presentation.
Christopher Zabka
August 1, 2008 at 11:49 am
This is really nice. It’s a great recap for those who weren’t there as well as those who were. You have good computer software skills.
ines
August 1, 2008 at 11:59 am
I knew you were good Lani – but this just blew my mind!
(talk about capturing the essence of Bloggers’ Connect **my favorite is still Linda’s quote**)
Vicki Moore
August 1, 2008 at 12:02 pm
You are a creative genius. I can’t even imagine how much work it was to put this post together – fantastic job. The visuals take me right back to the presentation. Thanks for the reminder to get back to my to-do list created that day.
Ken Brand
August 1, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Honest to God.
So simple.
So freaking sticky.
So juicy.
So compelling.
I think Steve Jobs said something like “You know a design is good when you want to lick it.”
There’s slobber all over my screen.
kb
Paula Henry
August 1, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Love this Lani – beautiful…………I am sorry I missed all these wonderful people in SF.
Drew Meyers
August 1, 2008 at 12:35 pm
WOW – this is absolutely awesome!!!
How long did it take you to put this together?
Dan Green
August 1, 2008 at 12:42 pm
@ Drew — I think Lani started this in May. The hard part for her was getting everyone to make the exact quotes she had already added to the pictures.
Ben Martin, Va Assn of REALTORS
August 1, 2008 at 1:20 pm
@retomato Your quote should be “There’s a lot of Realtor on Realtor action in the blogosphere.” I think that was THE quote of bloggers connect.
Jim Cronin
August 1, 2008 at 1:36 pm
By the way, that quote was a result of me refraining from referring to it as a “Realtor circle jerk”.
(AG- I apologize for the lewd language in the comments)
Brad Nix
August 1, 2008 at 1:48 pm
This is the best recap I have seen/heard/read from Inman. Lani , you have an excellent talent at capturing the essence of the conversation in a concise manner. But my favorite part is the graphical presentation. There are some great quotes, both entertaining and valuable to my blogging/business. My favorite line…
“If you have a crappy business, a blog isn’t going to help.” -Linda Davis
Rudy from Trulia.com
August 1, 2008 at 2:06 pm
sweet!
Matthew Rathbun
August 1, 2008 at 2:43 pm
“If you have “like” buyers in front of you” LOL
I am sorry that I missed it, but between AG, Inman videos and twitter I feel very edumacated.
I love the picture education theme!
Justin Smith | Searching Solutions
August 1, 2008 at 3:07 pm
holy smokes! Talk about real estate linkbait. This was beautiful Lani! Thank you so much.
Pretty much sums up the Twitter stream from Blogger’s Connect Nicely.
Dru Bloomfield
August 1, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Love the photos and very cool fonts. Are these the crib notes, and will there be a test? What a great review of the day!
Lani Anglin-Rosales
August 1, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ps: matthew, the context of the word “like” was to mean “similar.” Benn spoke in depth about finding out WHERE your buyers and sellers are coming from and HOW to create content that hooks more buyers that are similar to your current buyers.
You guys, I really appreciate the accolades- I enjoy doing picture posts for you! Inman rocked and not just in the hallways but inside the conference rooms as well- the speakers did a FANTASTIC JOB!
pss: Dan, you get a gold star for your comment. 🙂
Matthew Rathbun
August 1, 2008 at 3:38 pm
yep, I know the context, I was reading it in my “Bill and Ted’s” voice that resides in my head 🙂
Brian Block
August 1, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Wow! What a great visual wrapup of Bloggers Connect. Of course there was much much more, but this covers the key elements in a great way. Anyone reading this can certainly get a gist of the whole session.
Linda Davis
August 1, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Wow! What a way to tell a story. I was just reading a book called Presentation Zen – Sim[ple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. The author, Garr Reynolds would approve.
Thanks for including me.
Carson Coots
August 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I loved this! I wish I was there.
Brian Requarth
August 1, 2008 at 5:18 pm
What an awesome visual snapshot of this session! Major kudos!
Andy Kaufman
August 1, 2008 at 6:41 pm
A+ poster. Would read again!
Seriously Lani, this rocks!
Todd Carpenter
August 1, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Their’s nothing like being there, but this is pretty close. Very cool.
NikNik
August 1, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Lani, of course we know you’re brilliantly creative….but you are also a stimulator of the visusal senses.
Keep feeding me! I love it!
Bob Carney
August 1, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Lani… That was pretty sweet!!! Thanks for wrapping it up for simple minds!
Glenn fm Naples
August 2, 2008 at 6:07 am
Really liked how you used the graphics to highlight the key points – excellent presentation and does make a positive impact.
Jennifer in Louisville
August 2, 2008 at 6:23 am
Nifty visuals. Always good to get a gentle reminder on some of the “rules” of the road so to speak.
Missy Caulk
August 2, 2008 at 6:29 am
Hi Lani, great visual with the essence of the conference summed up perfectly. I got this on my google alerts because you used my photo of Todd. Thanks it was great to meet you and Benn and the others.
Heather Elias
August 2, 2008 at 8:11 am
(Oooh, the first photo credit of my life! Thanks Lani!) Were you looking at my notes? Great wrapup and fanastic way to highlight some of the best soundbites of the conference. And if I haven’t said it enough, it was wonderful to meet and spend time with you and Benn!
Sylvia Barry
August 2, 2008 at 10:02 am
I am not a big conference goer, so looks like I missed a great meeting and the chance to meet all – right in my hometown, no less.
Great visual and fit the quotes – bring the essence out.
All great advise, but there is one I have been thinking about recently and really like the quote from Laurie Manny – “Stop Blogging & Sell Real Estate”.
This is the root of why we started blogging in the first place – To Help Consumers and To Sell Real Estate.
Maureen Francis
August 2, 2008 at 10:34 am
Best bloggers connect postmortem.
Bill Lublin
August 2, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Lani;
It amazes me how consistently you can use graphics to make points so cogently.
I am partial to Melanie’s comment though “Don’t be a jerk… it helps you not get sued.”
And you did miss the one great line from Todd carpenter who came to the mike to ask a question after me and said “My name is Todd carpenter, I’m a big deal – Google me” that was pretty slick too 😉
ARDELL
August 3, 2008 at 1:32 am
What is everyone looking up at in the Zebra shot?
Lani Anglin-Rosales
August 3, 2008 at 1:34 am
Ardell, that’s been driving me crazy too!!! They’re on their way to the “Altos After After After Party” (aka the “I don’t wanna go to sleep yet, let’s all go sit around in Mike’s hotel room”). LOL.
ines
August 3, 2008 at 8:58 am
The very exclusive “Altos After After After Party” will remain a big secret for years to come – just ask Ginger, X or Jeff Turner……our lips are sealed!
Laurie Manny
August 3, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Wow, that is incredible, great job!
If you would be so kind, please change the link from AR to my actual blog site at http://www.longbeachrealestatehome.com Thanks a bunch.
Mariana
August 3, 2008 at 3:10 pm
ines – I am SOOOOOOO jealous that I couldn’t make it to the Altos after hours party. No. I mean it. srsly.