Joe Natividad, our contributing author, has been missing in action the last couple of months - understandable with this being his first semester at UCSD.

Joe tells me that things are beginning to settle down and he hopes to begin contributing again to our site soon. 

His post today over on his site is very timely - Register Your Cell Phone on the Do Not Call List 

It seems all cell phone numbers go public today.

Thanks for the heads up! 

Here is a link for those that don’t know what a blog meme is. 

And here is a link if you don’t know about Pay it Forward.

I was thinking that the concept of Paying it Forward would be a great action to initiate during the holidays, so I am going at it from two different angles. On this post, from the perspective of recognizing people that I have met this past year that inspire me. Over on AgentGenius, I am coming at Pay it Forward more traditionally.

As I was reflecting on 2007, my thoughts turned to a few individuals that I had met this year that really inspired me. I wanted to take the time to acknowledge them, let the world know about them and why they inspire me, and encourage everyone to do the same.

Pay it Fourward 2007 – Tell the world about four people you met in 2007 that inspire you.

Jeff Turner – Jeff is a real gift of a person that just keeps on giving. He turns up in my thoughts in the most astounding ways and at the most surprising times. I’ve been wondering why. It seems to revolve around two words – inspiration and integrity.

I don’t have a clue what it is about Jeff that infuses me with inspiration, but I feel like Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets when I talk to or think about Jeff – “I want to be a better person.”

I met Jeff at Inman’s Blogger Connect in San Francisco in July. Since then, I have had the opportunity to brainstorm a few things with him and in all of the interactions there is an aura of integrity and authenticity that pervades the interaction.

Jeff Turner is a great guy to know. I recommend you do.

Joseph Natividad – Joe is one the year’s best surprises. Here is the story of how I met Joe and here is his interview over on Inman News (subscription required).

Joe is an inspiration to me because he is curious, kind, has an interesting mind, is a typical atypical young adult, and is rather shy and modest. Joe is the kind of guy that gives me hope for tomorrow.

In this age of subpar intelligence and mediocre aspirations, Joe is a breath of fresh air. Follow his writings for a few months just for grins.

Dean Guadagni – I may have actually had the handshake and formal introduction to Dean in late 2006, but I can safely say I didn’t really know Dean until he started writing on his blog – DeansGuide.

Dean boggles my mind. He inspires me to attempt the impossible – to write with as much flair and sensitivity as he does. I’m thinking that maybe a week in a sweatlodge with Dean might result in some form of mystical osmosis vis-a-vis my writing skills.

Dennis Viers – Early in 2007, Dennis and Kris Viers approached me with the idea of forming a strategic partnership with The Harper Team. It’s been one inspiring revelation after another ever since.

Dennis lives about 3 blocks from Craig and Tracey (we had no idea). He’s the chariperson for the San Ramon Planning Commission (community activist). He plays a mean bass guitar!

The inspiration I experience around Dennis seems to revolve around aging gracefully, having fun and all of us being good representatives of our generation. Dennis is just plain fun and good company. Dennis’ picture is in the dictionary under – great guy to hang out with. Be yourself, enjoy yourself, others and life is the message Dennis communicates.

These are the four people who come clearly into my mind when I reflect on inspiring people I have met in 2007.

Pay it Fourward – leave a comment with a link to four inspiring people you have met this year. I’ll drop by to read about them and learn more about you along the way.

The Contra Costa Times ran a story last year on a blog site they created and host for East Bay high school students to contribute to. The Life in Perspective blog was an immediate hit with me.

I was impressed with the writing and the issues the young authors were contributing and taking on. I noticed pretty quickly that there were about half a dozen active authors and only two that I would call prolific.

One of these authors, Joseph Natividad, is a guest author on our blog as a result of his efforts on LIP.

Here’s how I think the CC Times dropped the ball. They had a two page spread in their paper introducing the LIP blog and the authors to their readership. As far as I can tell that is the end of the story.

So far this school year, I think I have seen only one post. This is a shame. Is the CC Times not interested in investing any real time in our students journalistic efforts.

I sent to editors at the CC times the following PR release on Joseph thinking it would make a great follow up article and it’s also a local interest story. Neither editor bothered to reply or forward it on.

Contra Costa Times Teen Blogger is a Success Story

Joseph Natividad one of the first bloggers for the Contra Costa Times LIP (Life In Perspective) Blog has entered the world of business blogging as a result of his participation on the CC Times LIP Blog.

Joseph was contacted by John Harper of The Harper Team, a local residential real estate team in San Ramon, CA. Mr. Harper had been following the LIP Blog since its launch and was impressed with the quality and diversity of writing by the teen contributors. “I noticed that Joseph was one of the most prolific bloggers and when I read his post on looking for a summer job, I offered him a paid position as a guest author on The Harper Team Blog,” said Mr. Harper.

Joseph attended the recent Inman News Bloggers Connect in San Francisco where he met with top real estate industry bloggers from across the nation. He is now a paid guest author on three real estate blogs including Caribbean Islands Realty.

A result of all of this is that Joseph has started his own blog  which he hopes to use to build his blogging business to support his way through college. Joseph is a graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley and will attend UC San Diego in the fall where he plans to major in economics.

“I have a strong interest in journalism and hope to build my blog into a business resource for myself as I work my way through college,” says Joseph. “Meeting The Harper Team has been amazing. They are helping me to see the potential that blogging has for my future and I am actually getting paid for what I love to do!”

Patrick Kitano, consultant to the real estate industry and author of the Transparent Real Estate blog, says, “The Harper Team is providing an innovative, practical service to college students like Joseph by mentoring them on the real estate business and having them research and write blog articles about it. In return, the real estate community benefits from new local voices who explain the intricacies of how to buy and sell real estate. In effect, it is vocational training that prepares college students for a career… every industry should be looking at blogging as an intern and recruitment strategy.”

"I first met Joseph in the hallways at Inman's Real Estate Connect. I was taken by surprise. I'm not sure what I expected, but what Joseph presented was a young man clearly on a mission. He was polite, respectful, engaging, eyes bright and yet, did not seem the least bit intimidated by the surroundings of the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference. I've since added Joseph to my friends list at Facebook and have enjoyed our communications since that meeting. I'm looking forward to following him as he progresses through college and into his chosen profession. Needless to say, I'm already impressed, but I have a feeling I have only an inkling of the impact he'll have on his world."   -  Jeff Turner, President – RealEstateShows

“Helping Joseph into the blogoshere is not only important for the practical experience, the writing practice, and the research involved-it helps him craft an on-line presence/internet resume for colleges and employers to tap into throughout his career.” – Dean Guadagni – Dean’s Guide

Joseph was recently interviewed by Inman news which caused traffic to his site to spike as well as increasing interest in his story. As he heads off to college, he is wrestling with how to keep his lucrative blogging business going as he faces the demands of college life in an increasingly wired world.

Joseph is at UC San Diego studying journalism and economics. He is still contributing to four real estate blogs, though not as frequently.

There are a lot of smart, motivated students that could really profit from what blogging has to offer. It can be one of the greatest business tools they can use. It could help pay for their college education and it would probably put them in the position of having multiple job offers before their senior year of college begins.

I am more than happy to address any high school group or individual to share what we know about blogging and how it can be used effectively in varous business and personal scenarios.

Joseph Natividad, our guest author, is starting to gather national attention for his prolific real estate blogging. As far as we know, he is the youngest (18) real estate blogger in the blogosphere.

Joe has been writing for us for a couple of months now. His interest in journalism really shows up in his writing and research. His blog is building traffic about twice as fast as ours did when we launched it 10 months ago.

Inman News will be interviewing Joe tomorrow. Joe was the youngest attendee at the Inman News Bloggers Connect held recently in San Francisco. Here is a pic of Joe at the connect courtesy of REMBEX: Blog Fiesta. Here's what Joe thought of Bloggers Connect:

“The Bloggers Connect was one of the most memorable experiences from my summer break. There was no need to wonder if I was the youngest person in attendance that day because I didn’t see anyone else that looked as if they had just graduated from high school.

I couldn’t leave Bloggers Connect without brushing shoulders and meeting some of the most prolific bloggers in the real estate industry. I was able to take a lot from that day (along with a bulging stack of business cards in my pocket).”

Joe is getting set to head south to UC San Diego for his freshman year. First, he has to attend a scholarship function. The main speaker will be Phil Bronstein, executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

It would be great if Joe and Phil Bronstein could hook up. With Joe’s interests in economics (his major), journalism, and blogging – I’m sure the two of them could find a lot to talk about. Joe is already on LinkedIn, a business networking site – maybe Mr. Bronstein could add Joe to his list of contacts and allow Joe to add him to his!

The Harper Team is biased toward Joe. We were reading his posts on the CC Times LIP Blog since it launched and were the first to ask if he was interested in writing for Realtors. You don’t have to take our word though, here is what Jim Walberg, owner of the Caribbean Islands Realty Blog says about Joe:

"Joe’s work on our site has been absolutley fantastic. By providing two articles each week for us that highlight cultural and important events happening in the Virgin Island region of the Caribbean our site has been enhanced beyond my expectations.  Because of the combination of Joe’s articles and the others we post,  our site is now on the first page of Google after only two months of concentrated blogging efforts!  We have already begun to receive requests for more information about buying and selling real estate in the Caribbean.  

Joe’s writing and research skills are just what we were looking for to compliment the blogging that I am doing regarding what it is like to live and experience the Caribbean as a local and as a Realtor. I would be glad to speak with anyone else who is considering his services in order to be a “raving fan” of his."

Today at a retreat I am attending at Asilomar in Monterey, CA., I met Catherine Seo. Catherine teaches Business and Management at Cambridge College.

It turns out that Catherine is nuts about technology and in particular blogging. We spent a lot of time today talking blogging and technology, sharing links, talking about friends we have in common and I made a shameless pitch to come and be a guest speaker for her course this fall. She is calling my bluff!

Catherine and  I are going to be great friends and most likely need to talk Gmail into increasing the size of our inboxes.

One thing I need to do – get Catherine to get her blogs current and be a shinining example to all of those international students – 17 different countries.

Catherine was impressed by the story of our resident hero blogger  – Joseph Natividad, who is blazing new ground in the real estate blogosphere.

Talk about a great last name for a tech person – imagine how many people who do search engine optimization would love to have the name SEO!!!