Here’s the first thing you ought to know about me … I don’t believe my own press clippings. Well, assuming I had any press clippings in which to believe. I am as aware as anyone of my place in the wider world of the real estate blogosphere (in which I have a decent foothold) and the greater real estate world in general (in which I’m scrapping like everyone else, but keeping busy through a large degree of hard work).
So it was with considerable surprise that I found myself being asked repeatedly if I was going to be at Bloodhound Unchained. Those who read me here or on my home blog ought to know the answer and the primary reason for it. But beyond that, here’s the thing …
The agenda just didn’t excite me.
Now … I have the utmost respect for Brian in attempting to put an event like this together and I have great respect for nearly all of the speakers asked to provide the content. But at the end of the day, the content wasn’t worth the financial outlay.
Transparency Moots the Presentation
When I switched domain names last week, I lost all of the backlinks to my blog. I started talking to my one-time web designer about a possible fix and we scheduled time the next day to diagnose. Then I went home, looked up the information on .htaccess redirects on Google, and fixed it myself.
All of the information I needed already was on the web.
If I have questions about investing, I can call Jeff Brown whenever I like (unless he makes the choice to not answer my thrilling calls.) I also have a mountain of posts he’s written that also can provide me the information I need.
Andy Kaufman and Brad Coy gave what I heard to be a great presentation about Twitter today, the basics and the possibilities. Except I can go through the archives here and in a number of other places on the web and read similar information. It may not be the same quality of what Andy and Brad presented, but at a savings of a couple of Benjamins, I’ll take the free option.
Blogging for Business? I don’t believe it’s taking anything away from Laurie and Teri if I say I’m already doing this every single day. And Laurie’s blogging playbook as it were has been reviewed and dissected as much as anyone else’s.
From the outside, there appears to be little being offered that can’t be found somewhere in the real estate blogosphere free of charge. And with that gone, what’s left is a discussion of the ancient Greeks and their relationship to the modern-day agent. (Still chewing that one based on the snippets I saw.)
Oh, and for the record. I keep my phone in my pocket. But that’s a different story.
A Decent First Attempt …
I’m not the target demographic for BHBU, or so I’ve been told a few times. That leaves me wondering what the demographic might be since most agents trying to get their arms around much of Social Media Marketing can’t overcoming their fears/concerns/worries long enough to start a blog much less open a Twitter account.
And I tend to wonder where those less-connected agents who want to become more connected would have heard about the conference in the first place. (Since the word on the street is that the conference was filled to about one-third capacity – word I’m still trying to verify with a third source, it seems many didn’t hear of it.)
When I started writing my blog in earnest two years ago, Ardell DellaLoggia asked me what I knew about the Bloodhound Blog. The answer? Not a thing. It was the blog for just one of the several boutique real estate firms here in the Valley.
Hell, your average agent doesn’t know about Inman Real Estate Connect either … this was learned when I mentioned I was speaking at the conference (not Bloggers’ Connect, for those who dismiss RE Connect as only a blogging conference, but at the main conference on Thursday) and I was met with blank stares.
Those are the reasons I don’t believe my meager press clippings on success here in the real estate blogging world. Success here doesn’t necessarily translate to being an 800-lb. gorilla in the real world of real estate.
Word is there are going to be more of these conferences and if that’s the case then I think there needs to be more unique content, not much of what can be found elsewhere. All of the information on Zestifarming and the like has been written in depth online. At least to me, there needs to be something more – something new, something unique.
Something that will cause people looking for ways to build their business to take the dollars dedicated toward marketing their own business and their clients’ properties and instead invest it in yet another sure-fire training session.
And perhaps that’s another reason I skipped the Bloodhound Unchained. After sitting through enough training sessions promoting the one best listing presentation or the key to attracting buyers, or even the classic Tommy Hopkins “I’ll just note that here on the paperwork” and alternative of choice, I’ve become hardened to the conference concept.
If I weren’t speaking at Inman I wouldn’t attend because there’s not a sufficient ROI. It’s nothing personal, no indictment of the conference, but a financial choice I make.
Every dollar you spend either is going to help you make more dollars or not. And all that you do either has the potential to generate income or it doesn’t.
For some, BHBU may result in more dollars in and the twin eight-hour days may turn into tangible income. Not so much here.
It’s not that I know all that’s being taught. Clearly, I don’t. But I know enough that the potential incremental increase in business didn’t justify the expenditure of either the time or the dollars. I need a higher return if you want my money – not to be told what I already know, that my success or failure is in my own hands and no one cares which way my career happens to fall. And certainly not to hear about the Greeks.
