I’ve been dreaming of content.
To be a guy who wants a bit more control of his web presence and to control his own destiny as far as the internet is concerned is a dangerous thing. When we last spoke about my site, www.rerockstar.com, I had worked on my profile a bit and then I went silent on the issue (other than to tell you that we’d return to the subject soon). I have been working behind the scenes and I’m now at a point, that I’m ready to talk again.
Blog or full-fledged site?
That was my first major decision. My thinking is this; why give someone two URLs when I can give them one. Why be confined to the search of my broker’s IDX choice? I want to set myself apart from the rest and using my office’s template website for searching isn’t going to bring the traffic pouring through. So I started the research. I checked a ton of sites and saw lots of cool stuff. So many choices. Then one night, while not thinking about it, I was checking out housechick’s site for inspiration on some writing I wanted to do. I was just going through some of the people I know and reading their sites for that spark I needed. I didn’t get that spark from Kelley – not that I don’t like her writing, but I was distracted by something else. Instead, I saw her IDX. I drooled over it. I wanted it. So I saw the link to are-tec.com, followed it, read it and wound up writing an email asking for more info then and there. I also tweeted Kelley about how awesome her search was. I got a response back from ARE-TEC and thought, “hey that’s funny, the guy who emailed me has the same last name as Kelley.” Little did I know that it was Chris, Kelley’s husband. So we emailed back and forth discussing the potential for using their tools. We finally organized the paperwork and Chris is bringing his awesome IDX to San Antonio (I’m the first to use it here). I think it looks great and definitely projects the tech-side of what I want to accomplish.
Road map to my success.
I want my site to be the best place in San Antonio to search for, learn about, and get information on real estate and the process of buying and selling. I drew up a little map in my head of what all I wanted to offer on my site with the vision that I would start with the basics and build from there. Its a vision for the future and a road map to my success on the internet. I’m very curious to see what everyone thinks as it is an ambitious site, but with content being king, I think it will grow to be the best site in San Antonio (I have to say that!).
The basics are there on the site now (although the content isn’t yet…I’m working on that). I also (you may notice) switched to a new layout. I’m working on some of the graphics to make it a bit more “rockstar,” but I thought the other layout wasn’t conducive to what I wanted to bring to my “complete” site.
Is there such a thing as too much information?
I know I tend to write lengthy prose every time I post, so I am forced to wonder – those of you with tons of experience – do you think there’s a limit to how much one site should cover? I’m not talking about getting outside my “area” or not concentrating on what I know best, but I want users to be able to get the big picture of San Antonio as much as the little picture. I want them to know more than just a tiny slice of it and I want to provide them a place to get their feet wet (especially since we have a large population of people who relocate here). Are the basics enough? Do I need more? Less? Something completely different?
photo courtesy of spike55151
