I am proud to say that I attended the very first REbarcamp, which was a real estate industry specific technology “unconference”.  Basically, the idea behind barcamp is that the conferees get together and create an agenda and then host the sessions.  It is an amazing peer-to-peer discussion.

Ken Cook, of Social Media Edge on BlogTalkRadio, had the vision to build a barcamp experience optimized for small business owners.  Many small businesses have found that ‘New Media’ has presented a very cool opportunity to promote… without spending loads of money.  In fact, many smaller businesses have found that they can not just compete, but defeat larger rivals by effectively leveraging ‘New Media’ like FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube.

Friday, September 17th, The first Small Biz BarCamp Atlanta will take flight.  There are limited tickets available for only $10, and the event is being held at the Five Star World Conference Center – Towers at Wildwood in Marietta, near Windy Hill and Power’s Ferry.  Follow the link for tickets…

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• Small Business BarCamp Atlanta (lanebailey.com)
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Right now there is a small core group looking at the feasibility of a real estate bar camp in the Atlanta area.  If we can put it together, the event will be held this fall… September or October is the likely time frame.

Here are a couple of posts on Active Rain with more info about #rebcATL (that is the ‘official’ Twitter hashtag for the event).

• Should Atlanta have a reBarCamp?

• A little more about an Atlanta rebarcamp

On the second link there is a webform asking about what you might want for a rebc.  We’d love to get your feedback in order to make a better experience for everyone.  It also give you the opportunity to volunteer…  There will be lots of opportunities for volunteers from now until the event concludes… and then I’m sure planning will need to begin for the 2011 #rebcATL.

We are also putting together a FaceBook Official Page for #rebcATL.

I am a FireFox user.  I prefer it over Internet Explorer for a lot of reasons.  It has WAY more flexibility.  And one of our MLSs is even going to be supporting it soon.

I had installed one particular plug-in a long time ago, and was left wondering why.  In fact, when I set up the new computer, I didn’t install that particular plug-in.  But while at REtechSouth (#retso), I attended a session of FireFox, and it was mentioned as a ‘must-have’ add-on.

It is back.  And it is back with a companion.

GreaseMonkey is an add-on that allows little ‘scripts’ to be run.  They modify the experience of sites from Amazon to YouTube.  They can be major (literally moving components around) or minor (blocking Farmville notices in FaceBook).

GreaseFire is the companion.  This little add-on finds things that can be modified by a GreaseMonkey script. I’m finding it a bit buggy… and that doesn’t seem to be very different from some other users… but the concept is great, and I would expect that to be fixed in a release in the near future (FireFox just did a major upgrade).

The other way to find scripts is to look on Userscripts.org.  There are thousands of different scripts…

Have Fun.

But I’m not happy with the site conversion.  Or maybe it is that I’m not happy with the conversion tracking.  I’m not happy with the engagement.  Or maybe it is that I’m not happy with the engagement I can see.  I know that I’m not happy with the visuals… and some of the widgets/plug-ins/features…

Mostly, what it comes down to is that I’m not happy with my overall strategy. There isn’t one.  At no point did I sit down and make a plan.  It has been patchwork… and it doesn’t seem to match.  That needs to change…

Over the last few months I have managed to build a lot of great pieces.  WordPress, Joomla, Posterous, Tumblr, Flickr, FaceBook, Twitter and other services/sites and networks are all great… individually.  I’m not saying that I like all of the pieces I’ve made… just that the pieces have a lot of performance capability.  In a couple of cases, I may tap some experts on particular platforms.

I’m interested to see where everything will go…  I haven’t made the plan yet.

And that is where the next step comes in…

MindMapping.

En Vogue | Free Your Mind

I’ll be using an open source program called FreeMind to lay out my ideas for website strategy.  I have used it to put together some presentations about various subjects.  It let’s me brainstorm ideas, and then organize them into something more cohesive.  In effect, it is a ‘radial outline’.  We all remember outlining things in school.  Outlining was a great tool for organizing content, but it was very linear.

The MindMap allows that outline to become a hub and spoke.  And then the ideas on the spokes can become new hubs.  This means that it becomes very easy to see which ideas have the most connection to others…  Unlike a linear outline, the MindMap allows ideas to connect to other ideas, rather than just be a subset of one thought.

But there is another step…

Implementation.

3run – Free Your Mind

And it always involves faith.  The faith that it can be done… that I can do it (or find the right source to do it).  The faith that it will work (or that it can be tweaked to work).  Of course, the faith will be subject to measurement (analytics) and modification…  But I will be ready to step into it… into the void of the unknown.

I am in the process of MindMapping my website strategy.  I am also analyzing tools and techniques.  As the strategy emerges, I know that there will be some pain and a learning curve… sometimes it may get pretty steep.

But this is where my business comes from.

from Lane’s Active Rain blog

REtechSouth

After every conference and seminar, there comes the real challenge… implementing all of the VERY cool things I’ve learned, while living in the real world. Setting up client searches, responding to inquiries, dealing with the family, making sure everything that should be on track is on track… they all get in the way of rolling out 3782 changes to my websites and social networks.

I have found that I need to take a little time… and then I need to dive in. Diving in comes next. I have pages of notes, some vendor material and a list of websites and ideas. I have mind-mapping software on my computer… and it needs to get used.

For the last few weeks, I have been unhappy with much of my web presence. I have a great IDX, but I am not getting the most out of it. I have good Page Rank, but I don’t have the level of conversion I feel I should have. My traffic is decent.

And I focused on the sessions at REtechSouth that I thought would help me fix that…

Plenty of sessions to focus on, too…

If you weren’t at REtechSouth, you should have been.

In addition to the incredible information that was presented, the connections that were made and the fun on the exhibit hall floor… there was also the opportunity to hang out with my friends. There are a lot of folks I have been lucky enough to meet from all over the country. And there were some that I was able to meet (in person) for the first time.

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• Where do we go from here? (lanebailey.info)

• Video is something that is very popular on the web.
• Home buyers want to know what the area around their home is like.
• Buyers might also like FREE stuff.
• Local businesses would love to have new local customers…

So, I am having a thought of creating “Welcome Videos” from local businesses for “the new home owner”…  Perhaps they might invite the new buyer to have a free meal or free massage… or whatever.

Nothing long, just a “quick hit” introducing themselves and their business and welcoming the new resident.  I think the only charge would be the “freebie” for the buyer.  The video could be recycled to different property blogs…

If you have a local business and you are interested in taking part, let me know.

I got another Toshiba, the last one was mostly trouble free for the last 5years, I can’t really complain.  I did consider a few other machines…

• 

  Image via Wikipedia

  HP TouchSmart TM2.  This is a convertible Tablet PC, like my old one, except smaller.  While it was my first choice, it was also around $1000… and so I opted for being able to return home…

• Toshiba Satellite T135D-S1325RD.  This borders on the Ultra-Portable range.  It is small, with a 13.3″ screen.  It was a hard one for me NOT to get.  It runs about $600, but Office Depot had it on sale for $530.  I might have been able to come home, but it wouldn’t have been fun…
• Toshiba Satellite T115S-S1120.  I actually bought this one… but then found out that the processor was just a single core, unlike the previously mentioned machines.  IT was on sale for $470 at Office Depot…
• Toshiba Satellite L505D-LS5007.  We almost had a winner, but I really wanted a smaller machine with more battery life.  The price was certainly right, $550… on sale for $400 at Office Depot.  The size was the only issue… and if I was dedicated to using it as my only machine, I might have gone for it…
• Apple iPad…  Sorry, but it really wasn’t seriously in the game.  Aside from not being available yesterday, the performance is sub-par for a real computer.  The price wasn’t bad for an Apple… but I need WAY more flexibility.
• Toshiba Satellite® L515-S4010…  We have a winner.  A little more battery life than the big machines and a little smaller.  It also has a little bigger screen and built in optical drive compared to the little ones.  The price was marked down from $570 to $500.

So, that is what I looked at and what I ended up with.  I’m still getting used to Windows 7 (Home Premium).  I like it, but it is a big change from where I was.  I have MS Office 2010, FireFox, Thunderbird, Open Office and most of the rest of the stuff I need loaded up…

The “old” Tablet PC isn’t going to go away.  I loved having the ability to write on my screen and a lot of the functionality of the Tablet.  We aren’t sure what the problem is, but we are going to play with it and hot rod it some.  It doesn’t HAVE to start up on Monday morning to go to work anymore, so there are some things we can try…

Anyone have a license for Windows Vista or Windows 7 laying around that they aren’t using anymore? I’ve heard that it can be ‘mostly’ upgraded to run those…  I’ve already upgraded to a 320GB Hard Drive and 4GB of RAM.  The problem might be an intermittent issue with Windows (we have just completed a fresh install to test) or it could be a motherboard issue…

In with the new…  ;^ )

For those that do, you are a a geek.  I am too.

For those that don’t, it is generally an EXTREMELY dry video where a reviewer opens the box of a groovy new product and introduces the viewer to all of the cool stuff inside.  Usually there is a monotone voice over that makes Golf announcers seem exciting. The reviewer pulls out each and every piece and describes it’s function…

“This is the AC wall adapter.  It charges the battery and can run the laptop from AC power.” Really?  Whoda thunkit?

Patrick Boivin slapped that model to the ground and kicked it in the teeth… Ninja style.  This has got to be the coolest unboxing I have seen.

NINJA’S UNBOXING

I wonder if unboxing videos are going to undergo big changes as a result…  Probably not.

from GwinnettGarageGuy.com

If you haven’t been in Gmail lately, you might not have noticed Google‘s new toy tool.  It is called Google Buzz.  In a nutshell, Google is integrating a social media component into Gmail.

In Buzz, users can strike up public or private conversations with integrated video, photos and links.  Kind of like the Status Updates on FaceBook.  In that regard, it is a step above Twitter… the king of the micro-blog/status update world.  Twitter doesn’t allow inline photos and videos, so when users share them, viewers have to leave Twitter to view the associated content.

I haven’t had a lot of time to play in it, but it seems kind of like “Google Wave Lite” to me…  Google Wave has many of the same types of features… of course it adds a LOT more integration with a wider variety of tools… and isn’t tuned to automatically pull in content as sites like Twitter, Flickr and YouTube are updated.

OK, they are very different, but I see the same type of collaboration available with Buzz as there is with Wave.

But there is a big picture here…

The big picture is that you NEED a Gmail account.  Google Buzz, Google Wave, Google Analytics, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Voice…  Are you getting the big picture?  There is WAY more than that, but those are a good start.

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If you are going to have an effective business blog, the thing you hear over and over is that…

You HAVE to blog consistently.

That seems to come up every time someone talks about business blogging.  But that is the first problem that many beginning bloggers face… kicking out regular posts.  Occasionally, someone defines blogging regularly as posting up a couple of times a week or more.  Face it, if you post up once a month or once a year, even if you do it like clockwork, you won’t build a reader base.  But if you put up a good post three times a week, and the audience knows when to expect new posts, you CAN build a reader base.

Enter the Calendar…

Actually, a VERY specific type of calendar… an Editorial Calendar.  Basically, this is an outline of WHEN you are going to write, and possibly even WHAT you are going to write about.

Whether you are utilizing a theme, writing a series or just want to have posts appear at a consistent interval for your readers, a calendar can do the trick.  It can keep those deadlines in front of you.  I’m using Outlook 2010.  It allows me to have recurring tasks, which make my writing MUCH simpler.  In effect, I can see what types of posts I have coming up, and schedule material to appear.

I tend to write in bursts.  I might knock out three or four posts at one time, and then not write for a couple of days.  With my calendar, I can write a few posts and then fit them into my patterns.  As I write this on Sunday night, my LaneBailey.com post for Monday is already scheduled.  In fact, it has been ready to go since Thursday.

So…

Find a good task/calendar program.  Keep it open.  Use it to schedule posts and keep an eye on when posts are going to be needed.

And don’t forget to be flexible.  If breaking news happens, don’t wait two weeks to write about it because it will mess up your schedule…

from LaneBailey.info