Have you ever watched a movie and seen the bright and likeable scientist’s hard work get sucked in by the Evil Overlord? Next thing you know, their invention is turned from an object of good into the personification of evil.
Well that may be the battle of 2008 in the real estate blogosphere. First go read this post by Brian Brady at The Bloodhound Blog (if you are lazy here is an excerpt)…
Have you thought about the consequences of an “Internet Compliance Memorandum” from the NAR? The argument will be that they established a free blogging platform, hosted by Move.com. They will mandate that all REALTORs confine their activities to that platform and assess an “Internet Compliance Fee” to the users. Platforms like Active Rain will disappear, Real Web 2.0 communication through cutting-edge technologies like Zillow.com and Trulia.com will dry up- REALTORs will be scared to comment.
Who will benefit from this internet land grab? Why, the non-REALTORs, of course. Glenn Kelman and Ardell Della Loggia will be laughing all the way to the blog- and they should. They had the courage to stand up the the tyranny before it got oppressive. via BloodhoundBlog
Now lets think about this. If Realtors get pushed into a closed environment, created by the noble good guy of real estate blogging Dustin Luther, there is going to be a mess out there. First, Dustin will go running and screaming away from the project as he is a good person and this goes against his ethos. Then the typical corporate weenie will take over and create a miserable environment where the lawyers will rule the day.
The dynamic blogging by Realtors will be over except for the few that will take up the battle like a cross. For the average Realtor the discussion will see blogging as a fad and be glad they did not get sucked it.
But the real rub is that non Realtors like myself will be in a position to dominate. I am not complaining but I also see this as madness. What drew me into real estate blogging is the diversity of voices. If the only ones blogging will be the mortgage guys and gadflies like myself, we will all be poorer.
Now this scenario is out there and probably will not occur. But the reality is that when you combine corporate fear and corporate greed into the blogging equation with a licensing body that has a financial interest you have the opportunity for out there to become a reality.
And that would truly be a horror story for all of us.
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I think there’s more than a little paranoia at play here, or at the very least some sensationalism. Having said that, NAR could be just that stupid.
Oh, the drama of it all… Never going to happen folks! They would have to take the websites as well. We can communicate just as easily through the custom pages.
My blog would have a static page tossed onto the front of it immediately, the comment section would be removed (who the heck needs comments, just give me the browser hits baby) and BAM! It looks just like a web site.
Bite me NAR!
There’s nothing that gets people talking like making up a threat, and there’s nothing that gets them ignoring you like a walk for hunger.
Attention Ex Loan Officers and Realtors
You’ve probably seen the writing on the wall for about a year now and a lot of you have left the business already. For those of you who haven’t yet, good luck to you. I wish you the best. If you have left and are thinking of leaving, I have something to share with you. It’s called the Internet and it is not going away. Like in the hay day of the real estate boom where fortunes were made, the internet is booming and fortunes are being made everyday. The record for most income in a day is over 1 million dollars. I kid you not. The heavy hitters on the net have been sharing their secrets for the past year or so and I sure have taken advantage of it and life has never been better.
Like anything though, there is the 80/20 rule. You know what I’m talking about. 20% of the people do 80% of the work or volume. Why is that? It is so sad that good people out there just can’t get past the hump that makes them great. In my years of coaching, I have found that most people are willing to do 90-% of what it takes to be a superstar and they forget or they don’t know that that last 10% carries 90% of the weight. Meaning that most people will do 90%, when they 90% isn’t enough to make something work, they quit. The superstars know that it is that last 10% that they are willing to do to go the extra mile that 90% of the people out there aren’t willing do is the difference between someone breaking through the barriers and making $250,000 a year and those who stay at 20k to 30k a year. It really boils down to that. It’s not magic.
For example, there was a training class this morning on the internet at 5 am pacific, 8 am eastern. There were only 38 people in this class this morning and only 3 people from the West Coast. Any Tuesday or Thursday night, I will see 250 people in my class. Why? Because it is more convenient for people to make the class that fits their schedule. But do you know what the difference is between the 38 and the 250 is? The 38 are willing to do whatever it takes, whenever it is necessary, for them to succeed. That’s it in a nutshell. It is nothing different! It is nothing more than that.
Listen, my friends, life is tough. It will knock you down, it will kick your butt and when you finally get up, it will knock you down again and kick your butt even harder. This constant butt kicking shatters most people dreams. Like the military says, the few, the proud, The Marines! Get back up! Get off your rear, stand up and tell life…. “Come on…Is that all you got? I’m still here…I’m still standing…..Give it to me!!!!! And when you can take life’s best shots and you still survive….what didn’t kill you, only made you stronger! Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, get out there fight back! You’ve taken it long enough and it is your turn.
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