Friday night, I met up with Pat Kitano of TransparenRE, Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing, and Theresa (Caro Consulting) and Dave Caro at MoMo's in San Francisco. Pictured here are Theresa, Dave and Toby.

Theresa and Toby were in town to talk about social networking to the Fancy Food Show folks. Pat and I hooked up with the ladies to talk about blogging. Pat and I see the tremendous affect blogging is having on the real estate business, but we wanted to get some insight from these marketing professionals on how blogging is affecting their business and their take in general on the impact of blogging in business.

We all seem to agree on the overwhelming positive effects blogging has on business whether it is a small business or a large corporation. Another big plus of blogging is connecting with bloggers. Pat recently returned from the NYC Connect, a gathering of bloggers connected with real estate.

Pat and I will be teaching our first blogging class on Monday over in Marin at Keller Williams in San Rafael. We still have about 5 seats available. On Thursday we will be at Keller Williams in Danville for our second class. Email me for details.

We will be organizing several new blogging classes for the Bay Area in February. 

I met up with Dean Guadagni and Patrick Kitano of TransparentRE at the TriValley Marketing Association meeting in Pleasanton, California on Friday. Afterwards we headed over to a Starbucks to talk about Pat’s recent trip to the NYC Connect, our upcoming blog classes in Marin and Danville, and how technology and blogging are changing the real estate industry.

Today, I read Pat’s post Elvis = Zillow and I just have to accept that challenge as Elvis figures prominently in the explosion blogging. There are many sightings of Elvis in the blogoshpere and real estate blogs in particular continue to be heavily influenced by him.

Here is a partial list of Elvis' involvement and influence in blogging:

• Many real estate agents are feeling All Shook Up by technology and blogging.
• Most postings by Realtors are Almost Always True
• Many bloggers feel that their blogging will pay off Any Day Now
• Are You Lonesome Tonight? – post some comments
• After a Blue Christmas many real estate agents are in better spirits due to blogging
• It’s often reported that bloggers develop a Burning Love for blogging
• When writing a post or leaving a comment – Don’t Be Cruel
• Fools Rush In to blogging
• Be careful who you link to. Don’t wind up In the Ghetto
• With the market transitioning, many agents feel It’s Now or Never
• Mortgage fraud is introducing some to Jailhouse Rock
• Don’t post pictures of your Little Sister on your blog
• Many a blogger’s partner is pleading – Please Don’t Stop Loving Me
• Bloggers keep hoping for a Return to Sender feature for comments
• Some traditional agents look on blogging with Suspicion
• And of course, some brokers have Suspicious Minds

In summary, many real estate pundits feel that there is A Whole lot of Shakin’ going on in the industry

Learn How Blogging Can Benefit Your Real Estate Business

What you will learn:

• Why blogging is touted as the next great Internet wave

• What is blogging and how is it used in real estate

• How to create a blog (hands on experience building your 1st blog)

• What it takes to run a successful blog

• How does blogging help with search engine (Google) rankings

Where:

Keller Williams Realty,750 Lindaro Street, Suite 200, San Rafael, CA

When:

January 22, 2007 – 2pm to 4pm

Who’s Invited:

Open to All Professionals Associated with the Real Estate Industr

Your Instructors:

Pat Kitano is the author of Transparent Real Estate, a blog that has become a go-to source for the latest news and analysis of the technology enabled real estate industry. He achieved this successful standing after only five months and has become a leading blog evangelist helping real estate professionals develop a powerful online presence… free of charge.  Mr. Kitano brings more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience building businesses within four dynamic industries: real estate, technology, investment banking and films.

John Harper is an active real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in Danville, CA. He is a key member of The Harper Team and oversees online marketing, web development, Internet promotions and electronic publishing activities.  Mr. Harper has been conducting Internet based market research, web design and online marketing since 1985. He owned and operated an Internet Marketing and Promotion company from 1995 through 2001.

Blogging was a nonexistent concept in our industry two years ago, and now there are thousands upon thousands of real estate agents that use blogging to improve their rankings on Google, Yahoo! and MSN and to better communicate and interface with their customers.- Stefan Swanepoel – Swanepoel Trends Report 2007

Blogs give you an increased presence on major search engines. The technology is a magnet for search engines like Yahoo! And Google. A well-written, routinely updated, keyword-oriented blog can enhance your chances of garnering high rankings on search engine return pages. - Richard Nacht – Realty Blogging…

Seating is Limited – RSVP Required - john@TheHarperTeam.com