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Tagged: Point2 RSS

Dustin 3:54 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply
Tags: ActiveRain (31), blogging (121), cms (5), Frontdoor.com (6), Google (39), HouseValues (7), InternetCrusade (7), Microsoft (8), MLS (25), Point2, Realtor.com (29), RealTown (7), Redfin (20), Trulia (54), wp.com (5), Yahoo (17), Zillow (61)

RE.net Acronyms

Jim got me thinking about some of the acronyms that I use on 4realz and other common terms I’ve seen others use:

AG: AgentGenius.com
AR: ActiveRain
BR: BlueRoof
BHB: Bloodhound Blog
CB: Coldwell Banker
CH: Cyberhomes
CL: Craigslist
CMS: Content Management System
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
FBS: FBS Blog
FOREM: Future of Real Estate Marketing
FORET: Future of Real Estate Technology
FD: FrontDoor
G: Google
GDH: Garage with a Detached Home
HV: HouseValues
HG: HomeGain
IC: InternetCrusade
KW: Keller Williams
M: Microsoft
MBL: MyBlogLog
MLB: MLBroadcast
MLS: Multiple-Listing Service (this means different things to different people!)
MLW: MyLevenworth
NAR: National Association of Realtors
P2A or P2: Point2Agent
RCG: Rain City Guide
RCV: RealCentralVA
RDC, R or R.com: Realtor.com
RE.net: The real estate blogosphere
REB: The Real Estate Bloggers
RES: Real Estate Shows
RET: Real Estate Tomato
REW: Real Estate Webmasters
REZ: Real Estate Zebra
RF: Redfin
RT: RealTown
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SEM: Search Engine Marketing
TP: Top Producer
TPG: The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
T: Trulia
WM: WellcomeMat
WP: WordPress.org
WP.com: Wordpress.com
Y!: Yahoo!
Z: Zillow

UPDATE: Based on suggestions in the comments I added a few more names to the above list and decided to alphabetize them. (I also went back and added links to the various sites, which I should have done from the start!)

Jim Duncan 4:29 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

BHB: Bloodhound Blog
RCV: (as coined by a Charlottesville blog) referring to RealCentralVA.
Tom 4:30 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Heh… Isn’t MLS the biggest of them all?
Dustin 4:45 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Beautiful!

I’ve seen the BHB before, but somehow missed it’s utility. The past few times I went to write about the bloodhound blog, I’ve been looking for an acronym and forgot the perfectly good one that is available!

I’m adding all three of the suggestions!
Dustin 5:06 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

In editing things, I also realize that I forgot to add the acronym from the title of the post: RE.net!
loren nason 5:12 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

FORET
Jay Thompson 5:35 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

G: Google
Y!: Yahoo. Well…. maybe not

But they aren’t really RE.net terms.

And of course, TPREG – pronounced “Tee Preg”. Originally coined by Maureen Francis I believe. But I think we’re the only two that use it. Hey, I thought about going with Phoenix Real Estate Guy Online and being “Prego”…

Haven’t you ever used DLITGoREB?

Dustin Luther is the Godfather of Real Estate Blogging.

I think I use that in daily conversation!
Lani Anglin-Rosales 5:37 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

AG = AgentGenius.com

R.com = Realtor dot com

(PS: I couldn’t come up with something clever about me, so insert hilarity [here]).
Geordie Romer 5:44 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Someday I hope to have a TLA associated with my business or my blog. (That’s a Three Letter Acronym for those who didn’t spend time as a public servant in the past.)

But if you want to refer to my blog MLW that’s cool too. (Sounds like a Sports League … Major League Winters?!)
Jessie B 5:54 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

How about everyones favorite

RF = redfin

more…

HV = housevalues
HG = homegain

Possibles…

CH = cyberhomes
FD = frontdoor
Dustin 5:55 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

I’m simply loving some of the suggestions!

Nonetheless, if you’re going to choose one for your own blog (which I don’t mind at all!), give me an example of another blogger using it!
Dustin 6:01 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

It took me about too minutes to (and Jessie’s comment) to get to me to realize my last comment was dumb!!! Go ahead and coin your own acronym! No examples of it being in use are needed!
Lani Anglin-Rosales 6:02 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Examples supporting “AG”: FL Mortg, Blog Fiesta, RErevealed, and hundreds of private emails

YAY, I did it! Man, that was like running around the track 4 times (meaning I’m wheezin’!).

What fancy acronyms do you have for yourself Dustin?
Chad Hallberg 6:03 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

How could you ever forget YUN 4 NAR PREZ 2008?????
Lani Anglin-Rosales 6:05 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Chad, is that Y4NP8?
Jessie B 6:10 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

one more very important one…

CL = craigslist
Dustin 6:12 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Lani: You’re too darn cool! The AG definitely deserves to be on the list!
Jay Thompson 6:45 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

P2 or P2A: Point2 Agent.

Hey, TPREG is on the Inman Wiki! Oh, wait. I put it there. Back to G and Y!….
Jay Thompson 6:53 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

RT = Real Town

And now I’m done with this!

TGIF!
Dustin 9:16 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Jay,

What if we settled for TPG (The Phoenix Guy)? Similarly, the “official” name of RCG is Seattle’s Rain City Real Estate Guide, but SRCREG just wouldn’t have the same ring!
Lane Bailey 9:34 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

And here I was looking for GDH (Garage with a Detached Home). Alas, I don’t think anyone else refers to me yet.

Anyway, I will add Real Estate Radio RER…
Dustin 9:55 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Lane: Are you thinking of a specific real estate radio show… or just the concept. RealEstateRadio.net is what shows up when I google the term.
Jay Thompson 12:44 am on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Dustin, I love it. That is why you are the GoREB.

Here’s one that some in real estate use:

NAR (which like MLS, can mean very different things to different people).

For some weird reason, I’ve been thinking in acronyms all night.
Dustin 1:54 am on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Totally forgot about NAR! Great call!
wellcomemat 10:11 am on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Dustin… WMNS?
Phil Thomas Di Giulio 10:23 am on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

And WMNS is not a reference to WellcomeMat, that’s easy (WM). No WMNS stands for, ‘What’s my name, Skip?”

We know the answer
Dustin 11:26 am on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Phil: I’m thinking “no show”… but that has been fixed!
Mike Price 6:48 pm on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

how about MLB ?
Dustin 9:43 pm on February 2, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Major league baseball? I just added MLBroadcast.

(and you just reminded me to add MyBlogLog)
Michael Wurzer 10:53 am on March 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

How about FBS for the FBS Blog?

I also think the FBS Blog would make a fine addition to your RE.net Company category.
Dustin 11:10 am on March 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Complete oversight on both accounts! It’s gonna be fixed immediately.
Bucking the Real Estate Trend 3:31 am on March 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply

Wow. My ADD is out of control this morning. Great list.

Dustin 4:02 pm on January 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
Tags: CRM (5), FlexMLS (2), InternetCrusade (7), Marketing (77), Point2, real estate (168), RealTown (7), Top Producer (6)

Michael thinks IC should do a better job of…

…acknowledging their business connections when advocating for a Point2 solution… and I agree. But I also wonder how long competing products (like Top Producer) will continue to sponsor RealTown products if IC continues to advocate for Point2 solutions.
Dustin 5:58 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
Tags: ActiveRain (31), Altos Research (11), auction (6), blogging (121), brand (10), bubble (15), connectNYC08 (8), consumers (15), design (8), event (28), finance (4), Google (39), Inman News (13), InternetCrusade (7), interview (20), leads (8), Legal (15), listing (66), mapping (18), Marketing (77), MLS (25), mortgage (18), move.com (20), NAR (28), neighborhood (18), photography (6), Point2, PR (11), predictions (4), real estate (168), Realtor.com (29), RealTown (7), Redfin (20), rent (4), search (51), SEO (26), social network (57), stock (5), tools (21), traffic (16), Trulia (54), twitter (28), UI (3), Vast.com (2), video (35), web2.0 (22), website (42), Yahoo (17), Zillow (61)
45 Things I Learned at RE Connect

(some names left anonymous to protect the innocent)
1. There’s a hell of a lot of VC money floating around this industry. I was surprised at how many people there were with lots of VC funding. Joel seemed to notice the same thing: “a whole new crop of real estate search sites that are going to be hitting the market”
2. Reporter from the REALTOR Magazine was in the audience of our presentation. (thanks to Ines for pointing out the story: NAR is opening their eyes to blogging.)
3. Zillow dropped their beta tag.
4. Zillow’s big press release (picked up by many others) was a case of “make-news”. I’d be worried for their business if they weren’t making the improvements they announced (adding more listings, improving the quality of Zestimates, dropping beta, etc.). Joel doesn’t write much about of the improvements, while Greg quotes it extensively and seems to gush about their RETS announcement, which even the Zillow team pulls back from in the comments.
5. Trulia was profitable for at least one month last year expects to be profitable at some point this year.
6. According to comScore, Trulia had more traffic than Zillow in December! (Congrats Mike on the awesome prediction)
7. comScrore and Hitwise are measuring traffic on two different internets. (Hitwise shows Trulia with 1.45% of category traffic and Zillow with 2.28%).
8. Also interesting from the Hitwise report is that Move.com moved from #2 to #5, while RE/Max moved from #2 to #5. That’s big enough news where I would have expected to see a Press Release. Realtor.com at #1 and Move.com at #2 is huge for Move, Inc., even if it is only for December. (Oddly, I’m getting all the Hitwise numbers for December from an Inman Blog article on my feedreader. The actually article was removed from their site for some reason, so maybe the numbers are butchered!)
9. Vast.com acquired Adaptive Real Estate Services (ARES). (That answers one question, although it does not give me any confidence that Vast.com has thought out their listing content acquisition strategy)
10. Lots of neighborhood projects coming out. Here’s my (unsolicited) advice to anyone looking to build a successful social network in this space. If you really want consumer adoption, you’ve got to have a clear answer to this question: “What’s the consumer benefit?” So, so, so many of the “social networks” I saw this week were focused around real estate professionals. ActiveRain was an anomaly. Be able to explain your consumer proposition clearly, or don’t expect success.
11. With that said, VillageMaker from RealProSystems will likely be a success… in that agents will the product, not in the sense that consumers will use it. This is the ultimate social network with the real estate professional at the center of the transaction in that a real estate agents must invite consumers to this platform. Sounds great, except it won’t work for all but a few agents.
12. I am now the owner of “all the marbles”.
13. Google staff really don’t like it when you take pictures inside their offices. (Jay noticed this too!)
14. Saul Kline is still the same great guy even after becoming CEO of Point2. (Frances has photos). His stated approach for moving Point2 forward is sound, although I’ll let him explain that approach when he’s ready.
15. Lots of start-ups are twisting and turning to think how they an make their products more REALTOR friendly in the hopes of catching some Second Century funding! Mark Lesswing is a popular man at these conferences.
16. I was surprised how many tech start ups get funding with only the roughest plans to get listings. Teresa gets that this is a mistake!
17. Trulia launched their Publisher Platform. Robbie loves this! I can’t tell what Joel thinks… and Greg pans the service. I don’t follow Greg’s logic that it weakens overall traffic to Trulia… Mainly because nobody in the online real estate space has enough market penetration to think there are a finite number of users for their services. Trulia needs more listings. If this helps convince more brokers that they need to send their feeds to Trulia, then it is a good move. (Joel has an example of what the branded service looks like on FOREM)
18. I really liked one startup and can’t wait until they launch in a little bit because I want to see how they market themselves. The product is an (solid) incremental improvement on search, but I don’t think it is enough of an improvement to go viral on its own.
19. The beer for bloggers event is a great way to start off a conference. (photos on the Zillowblog and Sellsius).
20. Teresa has some great photos from the week, including this action shot of me. Dito for Jeff.
21. The WellcomeMat boys are quite the fun crowd. I really want to see them succeed because the technology is top-notch. Next step for them is figuring out a way so that their users don’t have to do their own marketing. If uploaded listing videos were getting hundreds (or even dozens), I think they’d be well on-their-way to being a a must-have product for most agents.
22. I’m more bullish after RE Connect on Altos Research.
23. Drew found a way to work at RE Connect. I’m not sure how he pulled it off.
24. Professor Nouriel Roubini didn’t show up to RE Connect with the idea of making a lot of friends. He was consistently vocal in his belief that the downside to this market is going to be HUGE. He made Noah look like a moderate! (Here’s the video!)
25. While I didn’t plan to go to many of the sessions, I surprised myself by going to only one session (see previous comment).
26. I LOVE NYC.
27. While I enjoy writing the occasional update, I’m simply not a good twitterer. On the other hand, Daniel is the twitter man.
28. Apparently, there is a $15B dollar opportunity in the online real estate space since I heard multiple people throw that number around.
29. Rumor has it that Cyberhomes is going to spend a LOT of money on advertising this year in order to reach out to consumers. This is a change from my take on their original approach in that they were going to focus on reaching out to agents by offering them a “white-label Zillow”. I like Marty Frame a lot, but I don’t think ads will do the trick. I hope they have one-more thing up their sleeve.
30. Kris Berg is always lovely. Offline or online, she is one of my favorite people in the RE.net.
31. Jay Thompson is another one that I found to be just as great in person. Networking with people like him is the reason to travel to NYC.
32. The business mind of Damen Pace doesn’t stop moving.
33. Rudy has some mad video editing skills.
34. Daniel is the video man! It’s obvious he loves this stuff.
35. As one would expect, Lockhart is quickly growing his team at Curbed and it was a lot of fun to meet them at the NYT party. From what I saw, Lockhart tried to dampen expansion rumors. He would only talk about Chicago at this point.
36. BofA bought Countrywide. Lots of commentary on Jillayne’s post on RCG and Brian Brady’s post on Bloodhound.
37. Redfin’s PR about returning $10M to consumers didn’t do much for me. I’ll be more interested to find out when they start making business model changes in order to get profitable.
38. People have begun calling Rain City Guide “Ardell’s Blog” behind my back! LOL!
39. Inman will soon be launching a new website with new features and a new design.
40. Up Yours! Video TV war! Intothebox.tv rips on BrokerIPtv.com (around second 40). Not to take sides, but I was interviewed by the BrokeIPtv team at RE connect, and will be interested to see what comes out of that. On the other side, Rachel of Intothebox is oddly interesting… In watching, I just keep waiting for something to fall or break.
41. I could never repeat linkation too many times. I keep repeating myself and people continue to act like it is new information. Please tell me if and when I need to stop with the linkation bit.
42. ActiveRain introduced a few new people from their team. Rumor was that they have some funding that they will announce soon.
43. Brendan King and other ex-Point2 folks were passing out business cards with the company name VendAsta. My guess is that the name is only temporary.
44. Greg Tracy has branched out the BlueRoof brand to start doing consulting and website building for other real estate professionals. He “gets it”, so I can only imagine further success ahead.
45. I really do enjoy just about everyone in the RE.net and real estate tech communities. 2008 is going to be fun!
Phew! Now I think I’m caught up so that I can get back to regular updates!
Inman Connect NYC, 2008 « BlueRoof- Real Estate Blog- Salt Lake City Real Estate, ARDELL, John Schroeder and 26 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Daltonsbriefs 6:07 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks a ton for the list, a bunch of great links
- sara b 6:11 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Wow, someone was really paying attention last week. Great recap, a lot of stuff happened last week! It was great meeting you and getting to know you better at the google party.
- Andy Kaufman 6:15 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks for the great recap Dustin!
  
  You #41′d us
- Dustin 6:18 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks Steve, Sara and Andy!
  
  Sara: It was definitely a lot of fun meeting you as well! You were a rock-star taking the chance on bringing so many of us to the Googleplex!
- Drew Meyers 6:21 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Frankly, I don’t know how I managed to work at RE Connect either — I’m guessing the lack of sleep had something to do with it.
- kristalk 6:25 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  With a summary like this, who needs to attend! Thanks for taking notes.
- Paula Henry 6:26 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin – Thanks for the recap for those of us who could not attend. I am still waiting for Altos Research to head to the Midwest with their data.
- Jim Duncan 6:35 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Wow. Fantastic recap.
- Pete Flint from Trulia.com 6:45 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  GREAT list, was fun catching up in NYC with everyone.
  
  Two points of clarification.
  1) Trulia expects to be profitable at some point in 2008, see last few paragraphs here http://www.truliablog.com/?p=261
  
  2) comScore measures unique users and Hitwise measures individual visits which are two very different numbers, that’s part of the difference between the numbers.
  
  See you all at Inman this summer.
  
  Pete
- rudy 7:19 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  hi dustin!
  
  fantastic list. hanging with you is always a good time….4realz!
  
  do you remember if we beat jon and sara at foosball at the google party? i had a little too much “google juice” if you know what i mean
  
  best,
  
  - rudy
  
  p.s. glad you enjoyed the video
- rerevealed 7:31 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  SWEET- Cliffnotes for Inman
  
  KK’s right… who needs to go? We’ll just send you, a laptop, and a video crew next year and save on airfare and hotels
- loren nason 8:14 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  #11 – I agree that villagemaker might be a success but only in the fact that they will sell a lot of accounts. But of those that use it the success will be few and far between. See my post about social networks
  
  #40 – when i saw that video i shot soda out my nose from laughing so hard
  
  #42 – Loren is going to SF Connect
- loren nason 8:15 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  oops
  
  i meant
  
  #46 – Loren is going to SF Connect
- Dustin 8:30 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Pete: So sorry for getting the profitability facts wrong. It’s not a good excuse by any means, but I’m going to blame it on the fact that I heard this on a night that started with a lot of free pink drinks thanks to the wellcomemat boys, so I must have been mixing things up. Lesson learned.
- Brad Nix 8:57 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Good stuff Dustin, as usual. I wish I had been there myself. You know Christian at WellcomeMat is from my neck of the woods here in Marietta, GA? We partied here over the weekend, just because.
- Dustin 9:06 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Interesting Brad… I had more a few drinks with Christian (and others from WellcomeMat) and walked away very impressed with that crew.
- Jay Thompson 9:21 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Great summary Dustin. Thanks for the props. Meeting you was one of the highlights of the trip!
  
  Wellcomemat, pink vodka, my head still hurts…
- Jay Thompson 9:26 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Oh and as for #41 don’t ever stop. Many still don’t seem to get it. As for #35, I bent Lockhart’s ear about Phoenix. He wouldn’t budge off of Chicago…
- Brian Brady 10:08 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  My only problem with this list is that #41 should always be #1- don’t ever stop the e-link-alization
- Jessie B 11:11 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Great post. Looking forward to seeing what #18 is about.
- Damon Pace 11:38 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin. Yes I’m always thinking. I can’t stop myself. Great summary…but something tells me you’re leaving some stuff out.
- Dustin 11:41 pm on January 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  LOL! Damon. You think so???
- Noah 6:56 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks for plug Dustin! Sorry I missed you but I was really sick, and ended up in bed the next 2 days. At least I was able to make the panel and meetup with alot of bloggers I havent seen since SF. Hopefully next time we can catch up again!
- Ines 7:38 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  I agree with KK – thanks for doing this. Loved Jeff’s and Teresa’s photos, although I don’t recognize 1/2 the people (time to update those profile shots people!)
- Michael Price 9:56 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  It was great to be able to hang out Dustin. See you in SF.
  
  MP
- Dustin 11:45 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Noah. You did a great job up on stage. You were on quite the lively and opinionated panel. Great stuff!
- Dustin 11:46 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Ines: Looking back over the photos and video were one of the key ways I wrote this post. Looking over the “evidence” I remembered a ton of interesting conversations!
- Dustin 11:47 am on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Mike: It was great hanging out with you as well! SF should be a lot of fun and I know of at least one person/team that’s planning to add something special to the mix!
- Christian Sterner 12:51 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  This is my favorite quote from your post dude:
  “comScrore and Hitwise are measuring traffic on two different internets.”
  
  Two different internets? Love that.
  
  I came here looking for your contact info Dustin. After all the BS(ing) we did, we didn’t exchange cards. As for you comments about what WellcomeMat needs to do, you can bet that we are spending every waking hour of every day solving the exact issue that you point out. I got more than $5 placed on team WellcomeMat. We aren’t losing….period.
- Christian Sterner 1:25 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  And btw…the issue of people having to market their videos for themselves is less about inefficiencies of WellcomeMat, and more about the fact that real estate search portals are lagging hard on their acceptance of video content. We don’t feel like distributing video content to generalist video portals (like YouTube) is at all worthwhile. Very few, if not zero, people search for real estate within generalist video sites and the SEO advantages are short term (not to mention that posting real estate videos within these sites is against most of their terms of service agreements). So, it’s all about context, and we have been t-ing up real estate portals to accept our content for a long time. We’re making headway.
- Brendan King 1:44 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks for the mention Dustin. You are right on about the name. As you indicated we have indeed started a new company http://www.vendasta.com this is our “consulting company” and we already have quite a bit of business. We are also starting a real estate related venture (we have a new name) that will help real estate professionals utilize all social networks to connect to their social graph and get better insight and peripheral vision into consumer behaviour much earlier in the sales/buying cycle and to track and manage their online reputations.
  
  I will be sure to keep you up to speed on our developments. We are currently raising some initial capital to aggressively pursue this software development. We feel a need for speed to market rather then bootstrapping it ourselves.
  
  Best,
  
  Brendan
- Bob Stewart 5:05 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin,
  
  You get all the rumors don’t you? I’m interested to hear more about #42, haha
  
  Thanks for the recap…..you jarred my memory on a few things that otherwise may have faded into the google party abyss
- Dustin 5:13 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Christian: Who needs business cards?
  
  I just sent you an email!
  
  -Dustin
- Chad Huck 10:21 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Unable to attend in NYC, so thanks for the recap. Makes me wish it was July for the Connect08 in San Fran!
- Jeff Brown 11:32 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin — I have to believe you didn’t miss anything worth passing on. This list is valuable on so many levels — thanks.
  
  The common thread I keep hearing from those for whom I hold much respect, is the networking that went on in NY.
  
  Would it be your contention also, the networking was the most valuable benefit taken away from the ‘Connect’?
  
  Thanks again — the list is awesome.
- Dustin 11:39 pm on January 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jeff: I’d have to agree that networking is the reason to go to a RE Connect conference. I’m positive there is LOTS and LOTS of great information being presented all day long, but I’m usually too busy meeting up with people to attend many of them.
- Dan Green 12:41 pm on January 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  #46: The REAL reason Dustin left Seattle.
  
  Good seeing you and getting the chance to catch-up…
- John Schroeder 9:33 am on January 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin-
  
  Didn’t get a chance to go…but after reading your post I have just gotten a big rush of adrenaline. Online Real Estate is just beginning…I better get back to work!
- ARDELL 9:13 pm on January 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  I still haven gotten #41, so don’t stop. I still feel dirty when I add tags
Dustin 6:52 pm on January 6, 2008 Permalink | Reply
Tags: consumers (15), Inman News (13), InternetCrusade (7), Point2, PR (11), real estate (168), RealTown (7), RISMedia, social network (57)

InternetCrusade and RISMedia partner to?

The way I read the press release, RISMedia has adopted InternetCrusade’s RealTown blog platform as their social networking interface. I think this is something akin to an official endorsement, but there could also be an understanding that RISMedia will integrate the RealTown’s community content on their site. However, I didn’t see any details suggesting what this partnership will look like.

I first heard about it from Maureen, but it is Jonathan who has the first bit of analysis. His take is that the announcement is really no big deal and I tend to agree. Nonetheless, I can see how this would make sense to both companies and really plays to both companies strengths, which is in their connection to the industry. I think the idea behind the partnership is that they can use their connections to encourage real estate professionals to engage more deeply on their sites.

But as with another recent InternetCrusade-related announcement, I’m a bit skeptical that the two companies really understand the types of innovation that will be necessary to attract consumers. I believe that focusing on the benefits to the real estate professionals first is going about it backwards. I strongly believe that the next round of social networks that will be adopted by real estate professionals are the ones that get massive consumer adoption. Without consumers, the benefit to participation is simply too low for more agents.

It seems relevant to reiternate a comment I made a few weeks ago (thanks to Jim for reminding me of it!): “I really don’t care if its a new CMS, new listing tool, new social network, new blogging tool, new MLS backend, or new analysis reports… If you can get enough consumer eyeballs, the real estate agents will follow.”

laudu, and Maureen M. are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Maureen M. 12:28 pm on January 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks for the mention. Jonathan did a good job of analyzing as did you. I was just saying “Huh?” as I so often do, it’s my style of blogging.
  
  I think I heard a muffled scream via Twitter yesterday about it being more than the blog platform when you wrote “RealTown blog platform as their social networking interface.” Or maybe the Twitter was about someone else blogging about the merger and not getting the facts right.
  
  I took the Twitter to mean it is the blogs and the communities (RealTalk, BlogTalk, ePROTalk, etc.) and the articles… and the education and whatever else makes up the whole ball of wax… at RealTown rather than just the RT blog platform that RISMedia will be using as their social networking interface…. but what do I know?
- laudu 4:30 pm on January 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  I’d agree that it is all about the search. One of the concerns with social networking platforms is that even site users often can’t find what they’re looking for. You can imagine the barrier this places for consumers trying to access a specific type of information.
  
  It clearly takes a lot of work to “break through” the algorithmic maze of google and other search engines, but that’s the primary power of blogging and on line marketing.
Dustin 8:10 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
Tags: Point2, tools (21)
Just chatted with Brendan King and…

…I believe him on two accounts:
- He resigned (was not fired).
- He is working on something interesting.
I won’t say (even if I knew) what he is up to but would be fascinated to hear some speculation on what the Point2 team members who left should build. Is there any empty space left to build a niche in online real estate? Would you start with consumers? As an agents, is there a tool that you wish you had?
Focusing on the wrong tools | Real Central VA, JWT, Jessie B and 5 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Anon 8:21 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  It makes me wonder if they had non-compete’s signed.
- Jay Thompson 8:57 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Anon – They don’t need to compete with Point2 to be in the real estate tech field. (not that I know if they’ll even be in that field).
  
  Great questions Dustin, I’m going to have to ponder that…
- loren nason 9:24 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I can’t think of anything off hand.
  
  But this just popped in my head.
  
  Create a niche video site just for real estate agents. Make it an easy browser based tool that hook to your web cam, takes a video and then encodes it. This has been done already (can’t think of whom) but make it a site specificaly tailored to REALTORS and then it can auto post to their blog similar to how utterz can autopost
  
  Make it dirt cheap – like 5 bucks a year or something like tat
  
  hmmmm, nevermind i think youtube already can do that
- Dustin 10:12 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Loren: I love the response!
- Michael Price 9:24 am on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I didn’t really have a comment on this post, I just wanted to let you know that the weather on this blog is horrible. It’s wicked cold and it the snow is relentless!
- JWT 1:13 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin, this may sound a bit jaded, but I don’t think it matters what technology niche is left unfilled or if they intend to fill one. As Brian correctly pointed out, technology is not a solution, it’s a tool. People (the vast, vast majority) aren’t effectively using the tools that are already available… what makes any of us think a new tool is going to come along to change that?
  
  The unfilled niche is a behavioral, not a technological. It’s focus would be on helping brokers execute on strategies to move their populations toward consistent and appropriate application of existing tools, and prepare them for whatever technology happens to come along to add value.
- Dustin 1:41 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jeff: I think that is a bit simplistic… My take is that the reason that agents/brokers aren’t using the vast majority of tools is that they aren’t getting a good return on their time/investment. I happen to think that there is still at least an undeveloped tool or two in the real estate space that will happily engage consumers along the lines of Zillow.
  
  Call it the “Dustin Theory” (and people definitely got tired of hearing it around Move), but I’m convinced the reason the vast majority of online tools fail in the real estate space is that companies think they can appeal directly to agents and still find success online. Those tools that attract LOTS of consumers (think: Zillow, Trulia, even Realtor.com) have a much easier time getting adopted by real estate professionals. Online sites that primarily appeal to real estate professionals are almost inevitably missing the magic ingredient of consumers.
  
  I really don’t care if its a new CMS, new listing tool, new social network, new blogging tool, new MLS backend, or new analysis reports… If you can get enough consumer eyeballs, the real estate agents will follow.
- Jessie B 3:57 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin, I think you right on in your comments. The simple answer is to start with the consumer first.
  
  All really successful websites start at solving a particular problem for consumers in the simplest and most elegant way possible. If you build a real consumer grade application – i.e. easy to use, fast, simple, attractive, then traditional S curve adoption should happen. Once consumers are there, agents will follow.
  
  I think in real estate the opportunity is in search.
  
  Search – this is the most popular as it satisfies curiosity, encourages dreaming big, helps set life goals, Etc. The problem I see is that 99% of sites don’t actually provide access to ALL available inventory in the local area.
  
  I think consumers want to see every available property in their area – regardless if it is one of the 70% or so of agent represented listings or the 30% of FSBO listings. As an example, some of the large broker sites only display their own listings… not very pro-consumer.
  
  An example of this… if you are buying in Madison WI and you only search REALTOR.com the largest RE site, you are still missing over 20% of the total available listing inventory which is on fsbomadison.com.
  
  The consumer wants inventory. Think about “full access” in the real world. The movie theater with the most screens, the supermarket with the most products, the wine shop with the selection, itunes, amazon.com, google, the online investment broker with access to most investment products all tend to be the most successful.
  
  The new consumer wants access to it all; they want to narrow the properties they are most interested in first. They don’t want the agent as the filter / gatekeeper to which properties they will see.
  
  Obliviously all the RE sites are trying to solve this issue but many will have a hard time due to limitations of MLS rules, real estate agent interests and the current game of keeping up with each others features.
- Dustin 4:07 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jessie: Your observations are very interesting… So is the fact that retrove appears to be building something that will provide just such a universal search of listings.
- Jessie B 4:41 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Maybe…
- Jeff Turner 3:16 pm on January 4, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin… I don’t think looking at the behavioral issues is simplistic at all. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Certainly all logic speaks to real estate agents going where the consumer is. We’ve talked about that here for years. But even in places where the consumer obvioulsy is, like Realtor.com, the behavior of the vast majority of real estate agents does not line up with what can be delivered if the technology already in existence were used to it’s fullest. That speaks to different issues than technology, or an unfilled niche.
  
  You are correct in stating that the majority are not seeing the return, but that’s only part of the problem. Those who use it correctly do see a return. So, it’s not that the returns aren’t there.
  
  We may be addressing two different questions.
Dustin 4:27 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
Tags: InternetCrusade (7), Point2, RealTown (7)

Clearly I got to Frances with…

…my post about Saul.

Frances is not exactly unbiased (she’s a ~~“community manager”~~ Managing Editor at RealTown), but I’ll play along…

She (accurately) quotes me as saying that:

“In the three years that I’ve been watching InternetCrusade, I’m yet to see them do something that tells me they want to be on the leading edge.

and then somehow claims my “facts” are wrong by dipping into stuff Saul did 10 years ago: (i.e. first customizable website for agents, largest online community of real estate professionals, first blog platform, etc.).

I completely stand by my original statement. In the three years that I’ve been watching InternetCrusade, I’m yet to see them do something that tells me they want to be on the leading edge.

Then Frances challenged me to play on the RealTownBlog platfrom. Problem is… I already have and I was not impressed. Multiple agents have given me access to their backend over the past two years in order to help them out with issues they were having. Frustratingly, the issues I was trying to solve were almost always basic problems that were solved long ago with WordPress, like personalizing the theme or using a hosted domains.

Nonetheless, it’s not all necessarily a negative thing in my book that Poin2 picked up Saul. I also standby my other statement which said there are some agents, like Frances, who are extremely devoted “to the InternetCrusade guys because of the great work that they’ve done over the years introducing (softly) Realtors all over the country to internet technologies, which will make it all the more interesting to see what Saul does at Point2.”

Chad Huck, Dustin, Jonathan Washburn and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Frances Flynn Thorsen 4:59 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin,
  
  You are adorable! …but so much for fact checking!!! I am Managing Editor of RealTown.com, not a community manager. I work with editorial content that is delivered to a host of communities. There is a distinct difference.
  
  Agents have been personalizing themes at RealTown Blogs since Day One. Agents who were having problems would have been better advised speaking with someone familiar with the platform than asking someone who knew nothing about it.
  
  The invitation stands.
- Dustin 5:39 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Title was fixed.
- Jay Thompson 5:57 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  So, uhm, the incorrect job title and customizing RT blogs is the response?
  
  What about the far more important point — what’s the leading edge stuff of the last 3 years? Credit granted for the decade old things, but what’s been done recently?
- Andy Kaufman 6:13 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  While I agree with you that RealTown has never really been on the cutting edge (at least recently), I have to count myself as one of those who is a supporter because of their past efforts in getting REALTORS acquainted with proven technologies.
  
  When I was a newbie REALTOR in 2003, reading Kevin Kelly’s “New Rules for the New Economy” as part of the e-PRO coursework really opened my eyes to new possibilities and helped contribute to the path I’m on today.
  
  I think that most of the criticism of the move is valid, but I’m an optimist and hope that by assuming this new role, Saul will be able to do things that might not necessarily have resonated with Internet Crusade’s existing product set.
  
  I guess we’ll have to wait and see, eh?
- Dustin 1:08 am on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Frances: I’m inclined to agree with Jay… You made a pretty strong accusation that I had my facts wrong, but never followed up to explain exactly what facts I missed. I’d appreciate a follow up from you.
- Maureen Francis 7:36 am on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I respect Saul immensely and admire his accomplishments. I have learned a lot from Saul, especially from reading realtalk and epro talk over the years.
  
  But I have to agree with Dustin. IC has been playing catch up with ‘cutting edge technology’ since I took my epro course. Even the interface for the course was dated when I took it about 5 years ago. I give E-pro credit for realtalk, which helped me to find other agents who really had a better grasp on tech ideas.
  
  Saul and IC have also been endorsing P2 for years. I believe they had some kind of affiliate arrangement, but I don’t know the facts on that one.
- CJ in NELA, CA 8:17 am on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I was around during the debates over R.I.N. (Realtors Information Network) on R.E.X. (Real Estate Exchange, a old compuserve forum). Packrat that I am, I bet I could dig up old realtor magazine articles on RIN, and old forum postings on REX ….. maybe I’ll do that and share them at some point …. Dustin, you’d probably get a chuckle out of them!
- Marian Bennett 10:40 am on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  My re blogging story in a nutshell…I’m a boomer Realtor(r), got E-Pro in Aug ‘07, opened my eyes to blogging, saw that IC didn’t have the state-of-the-art tools needed to get me going. Had been subscribing to Transparentre.com, had the chance to meet Pat, met Kevin (3oceansrealestate.com) at the same time, joined blogging group, we created the site Homescopes in Sept. ‘07, having a blast, getting leads, learning to blog. My story is just beginning. Currently, IC is a good first step for many agents who simply aren’t comfortable with internet marketing yet (and there are many), but it is not there for those of us who want to be truly competitive or cutting edge – I hope they will get there. I have a lot of admiration for Saul and what he has created over the years, but I’m learning to blog – and much more – from Domus.
- ARDELL 10:59 am on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Have to get my head into that head count of REALTORS who would be no where today without Internet Crusade and John Reilly, Saul Klein and Mike Barnett, to name just a few of the Internet Crusade people who have helped me along the way.
  
  Not only would I not be blogging without their instigation of same, I may not even be emailing Coming up on ten years of being driven into new directions by their influence.
  
  You may be correct that there are many and maybe even better fish in the sea today with regard to WEB 2.0. But gratitude and loyalty must have their place…no?
  
  Often I ask myself, do I owe it all to Dustin or Internet Crusade? Luckily I can give equal credit at this point, and don’t have to choose. It would be like choosing between Mommy and Daddy in a divorce.
- Dustin 12:17 pm on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  No need to choose Ardell… I still think that John and Saul have done a really great thing over at InternetCrusade.
- CJ in NELA 3:15 pm on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I PDF’d a couple early RIN items …. http://www.bob-taylor.biz/rin.pdf
  
  I think it is fascinating to compare where we are now, with where we thought we’d be.
- Dustin 10:44 pm on December 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Cheryl: Great stuff.
  
  On a side note… One of the old-timers at Move (he’s young by most standards, but because he’s been around since the beginning of the company, he’s an old-timer by internet standards) has been throwing into boxes print outs from news items, corporate emails, press releases, etc since almost the very beginning of the company. He has this incredible stash of company (and essentially, internet) history that fills up multiple boxes. At one point, the company scanned the whole stash into PDFs, which made it really easy to scan through. While not always pleasant, Move has a fascinating history.
- Teresa Boardman 4:42 am on December 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  If IC is cutting edge then why is it that I started a blog before they offered blog platforms? I also have a lot of respect for what IC has accomplished in the past but do not see them as being ahead of the curve.
- Jonathan Dalton 10:04 am on December 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I started blogging at RealTown almost two years ago. At least that’s when I established the blog even though I didn’t do much with it for seven months until I asked for help and got some from Ardell. That’s where I received the real support for my blogging efforts.
  
  Once upon a time on Alexa mine was one of the top three blogs driving traffic to RealTown so it’s not as if I was slaving in obscurity. But the traffic driven had less to do with RealTown than busting my own hump to get the traffic.
  
  Even as I was working on the RealTown platform it was clear I was missing something – trackbacks, pingbacks were foreign concepts to me because they weren’t supported.
  
  There has been value in what IC has done over the years but I don’t see anything cutting edge in the material. The RealTown platform was far from it, actually. After six months I’d outgrown it, plain and simple, and moved to WordPress.
  
  I’ve got no prediction as to how Saul will do. All I am saying is that at the time it was designed, ePro likely was revolutionary. Not so much at this stage of the game, at least for anyone who is at least slightly connected to the Internet.
- ARDELL 10:21 am on December 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jonathan,
  
  IC was not the original provider of ePro, and so they were not involved in the revolution of it’s design. They were appointed by NAR to take over the ePro course after it was already a course and the original provider failed in some way. Don’t remember the whole story, but some have the older ePro designation and some have the IC one.
- ARDELL 10:32 am on December 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  To both Teresa and Jonathan,
  
  I don’t think the value of Internet Crusade is in the “cutting edge” issue. Their value is in not being TOO geeky for REALTORS. When all is said and done, we prefer to be experts at real estate vs. technology. Often the cutting edge providers are over our heads and consequently of little value to the majority of agents.
  
  IC clearly was the best Real Estate Forum via Real Talk since the mid 90s. May still be so, but with blogging I haven’t kept up with it. Perhaps a good time to revisit them.
  
  Internet Crusade provides the means for many to participate, the social network to reach the many, and user friendly platforms to assist in training. Yes, Jonathan is correct that some may outgrow what they provide, but many do not outgrow what they provide. And something is better than nothing.
  
  Thomas Edison did not “invent” the lightbulb. He helped turn the original version into a cheaper commercial version that could be mass marketed. That analogy is more indicative of what Internet Crusade is. Not cutting edge necessarily, but the people with the practical solution for the masses.
- Jonathan Dalton 11:47 am on December 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Ardell,
  
  Excellent points all.
  
  For me I’m not a big fan of hyperbole on either side. You’re absolutely right in that what IC provides works for a vast group of real estate agents.
  
  But it’s also not the end all, be all of real estate technology.
  
  I’ve always been somewhat amazed at those who choose to defend RealTown, Active Rain, etc. … not for simply choosing to defend the platform, which is fine, but with the zealousness they bring to the discussion.
  
  Even-headedness such as what you bring is much appreciated.
- Frances Flynn Thorsen 2:35 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin, I commend you for seeding such wonderful dialog! This is what blogging is really all about. Good job!
  
  I have some thoughts that came together in an article I just published … I certainly think it would be prudent to take a closer look at the RealTown platform and consider the important role that Saul has played in turning the tide of opinion among realty pros that sees them embrace new models rather than reject them.
  
  http://tinyurl.com/2n7jhp
  
  And stay tuned in the next couple of weeks
  
  And have a joyful and glorious holiday with your beautiful wife and family.
- Frances Flynn Thorsen 2:37 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  BTW … does your new blog platform give you an option to let authors of comments edit their posts (to fix typos like the misspelling I just created)? Arghhhhh
- Dustin 2:51 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Frances: Thanks for the wishes. I definitely with you a wonderful holiday season as well and looking forward to an exciting 2008.
  
  In terms of the typos, I fixed a few, but I don’t think there is a way for you to do that.
- Dustin 3:14 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  After all the niceties… Frances wrote a comment on a different post where she said she accuse me of doing anything wrong. Personally, I think accusing me not checking my facts is a pretty strong accusation. Figuring that some people reading this post might be interested, here is how I responded on that thread:
  
  Let’s start with the title: “Check Your Facts Or Lose Valuable Credibility Among Your Peers”.
  
  You accuse me of not checking my facts and spread that lie on the RealTown email list, but NEVER even attempt to defend your accusation when it was made clear to you I didn’t get ONE fact wrong in my original post.
  
  The fact that you can’t defend your accusations in any meaningful way (or correct your post to apologize for being so wrong) means that your credibility is gone in my eyes.
- Jay Thompson 4:31 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Absolutely saying someone isn’t checking their facts is and accusation! My comment on France’s latest comment:
  
  Dustin Luther has lost zero credibility in my eyes for his supposed lack of fact checking.
  
  I find it ironic Fran that you accuse Dustin of not fact checking, then you “share some thoughts” from a RealTown comment that remarked (quite incorrectly) that Dustin is still at Move.com.
  
  You implore Dustin to “check his facts” then put that comment here?
  
  I don’t get it.
  
  As for saying someone did not check their facts,and then following that with saying you didn’t accuse but “simply reference a slipshod, haphazard, and sloppy presentation” IS an accusation, plain and simple. Tap dance around that all you’d like — that makes YOU lose valuable credibility among your peers.
  
  By the way Becky, Dustin isn’t just “extremely well respected in the Seattle area for his knowledge and blogging abilities”, he’s extremely well respected across the country. And his job doesn’t “entail Managing the Realtor.com Blog”. Perhaps YOU should check your own facts before publicly calling someone else irresponsible.
- Jay Thompson 4:40 pm on December 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  “That analogy is more indicative of what Internet Crusade is. Not cutting edge necessarily, but the people with the practical solution for the masses.”
  
  IC is not cutting edge. That’s kinda what started this whole discussion — Saul Klein is about to head up Point2. IC is not cutting edge, Point2 is (or claims to be. Or at least they used to claim that and at least be moving toward that).
  
  I don’t want my web solution provider to create a product that is “a practical solution for the masses”. I want, no I need them to be on the cutting edge. And to stay there.
  
  If Saul or anyone else turns Point2 into a easy solution for the masses, I’ll be finding a new web provider.
- Scott Pierce 9:07 am on December 24, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Without having read every single entry (I hate being late to the party) I would like to ask Dustin compared to what? I have seen the Worldpress, Active Rain sites, and while they look very cool at first, I am not impressed by them either. Or I would have switched.
  
  Nothing is perfect in technology, you have to figure out how to get it to do what you want it to do to meet the goals you have for it.
  
  I think I have done some very cool stuff with my blog/site and I am very thankful that they provide the service that they do here.
  
  In the next two weeks or so you are going to see stuff on my site/blog that is going to blow the socks off of anything anyone is doing right now or that I’ve done previously!!!
  
  We’ll see what you think about the IC platform after that.
- Scott Pierce 9:22 am on December 24, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I think Ardell’s post #16 is the best on this topic. We are Realtors, not technology people (though I was technology in my past). It is great reading everyone’s posts…but please try to edit them before you hit Submit Comment!!
- Dustin 10:36 am on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Scott,
  
  Your SF Condo Blog run by RealTown makes way too easy of a target, so I almost feel bad talking about it.
  
  But let’s start with URLs… Notice that when you click around your website (sfcondomap.com) that the URL in the address bar doesn’t change. That’s just HORRIBLE hosting because it means that your URL has been cloaked.
  
  I’ll give you an example where this may have hurt your business already. Let’s say a consumer comes to your home page (sfcondomap.com) and then wants to share your “Top 10 Dream Condos” with someone else. Well, when they click on the link to this page, the URL doesn’t change. For most users this is extremely confusing and means that you’ll probably loose out on getting that user to send you free traffic and links to your site.
  
  Assuming that IC recommended this solution (they’ve recommended it to other bloggers), then it means your hosting provider (in this case IC) is playing off of your inexperience to give you an easy solution that is clearly not adequate. I can tell you from experience that neither WordPress nor ActiveRain would recommend creating such a bad consumer experience for their users.
  
  I realize that often these solutions where IC bloggers are masking the URL of their websites are not IC fault at all because anyone could cloak any site. However, IC is well aware that their ULR solution is inadequate because their users have been cloaking their websites/blogs for over two years and, as best I can tell, they’ve never provided an adequate solution to this problem.
  
  Anyway, Scott, I could go into a few other glaring problems with the RealTown Blog blog platform, but I’ll save those for another day.
- Frances Flynn Thorsen 12:58 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  “Assuming that IC recommended this solution” is another statement evidencing glaring misjudgment … you are doing a serious disservice to your readers!
  
  IC has never recommended uncloaked or unmasked URLs and we have repeatedly urged bloggers to uncloak and unmask URLs in e-mails, teleconferences, and Webinars.
  
  Certainly, when bloggers set up their blogs there are things that they forget to do … like unmasking their URLs … and we have a unique ability to reach out across communities with e-mail and other venues … in fact, I just sent a friendly reminder.
  
  Guess you could say we turned another lemon into lemonade. Thanks for the citrus treat
- Dustin 1:21 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Frances:
  
  You’re going to continue to ignore the obvious… aren’t you? You continue to pick at insignificant details without even trying to address the big issues.
  
  Your blog post accusing me of getting my facts WRONG was so wrong, I’m just about ready to send you to the bathroom so that you don’t stink up the rest of 4realz anymore. Until you are willing to (1) articulate the facts that I got wrong in my original post, or (2) admit I didn’t get any facts wrong, please do not continue to leave comments on 4realz.
  
  With that said, IC still does not have a good solution for people to host their blogs under their own domains, so of course, agents are going to look for ways around the system. If IC has stopped recommending that agents cloak their domains that is a great start, but clearly doesn’t explain why RealTown hasn’t created a better solution.
- ARDELL 9:30 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Frances,
  
  I expect I am one of the most notorious for using a pointer that cloaks or masks the “real” domain name, and leads to the obvious shortcomings as a result.
  
  But I want my blog to be http://www.SearchingSeattleBlog.com and not a “realtown” url. I separately ping the pointer domain, and my domain does fairly well in the search engines as a result. Though I believe my stats are divied up between the two domains.
  
  I think that is what Dustin is trying to say. The solution isn’t for the url to turn back into realtown’s url when people get there using SearchingSeattleBlog. The solution is for me to be able to use SearchingSeattleblog as the domain without needing to simply use it as a pointer.
  
  Is that correct Dustin?
  
  I think Active Rain is working on an “outside blog” platform where members can use their own domain names. They may already have it. But that blog would be in addition to the regular AR blog, and not in place of it.
  
  Frances, I think the real meaning of blogging is to create an honest exchange where sometimes you are right and sometimes you are wrong. While that may be counter to your job description, if you can’t sometimes admit the shortcomings, you lose credibility. I say that in an effort to assist, and not as a criticism.
  
  To be part of Web 2.0, one must by definition accept being less than perfect almost all of the time. As Jonathan Dalton said in comment #17, to always be loyal without admitting shortcomings, defies the basic premise of blogging in the first place. Blogging must be truth vs. loyalty.
  
  I am exceptionally loyal to RealTown, but not at the expense of truth.
- Dustin 10:24 pm on December 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Ardell: Yes. The fact that IC hasn’t figured out how to give you a blog that works under your own domain baffles me. Depending on how they build the IC backend, it really shouldn’t be that hard from a technology point of view. To give an example, I’m using WordPress.com to host 4realz and getting it set up under my own domain took all of $18/year and a few minutes to configure.
  
  BTW, the breakdown of the $18 is $10/year to the WordPress.com folks to do the domain redirect and $8/year to another host to continue to register the domain name for me. I’m pretty sure that Ardell (and many others) would be happy to pay $10/year (and probably 5X that amount!) to have a blog that worked properly under their own URLs.
- Jay Thompson 12:43 am on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  “Guess you could say we turned another lemon into lemonade. Thanks for the citrus treat”
  
  Oh good grief.
  
  Having to mask a URL so that your domain isn’t “realtown.com” is crazy.
  
  “you are doing a serious disservice to your readers!”
  
  No, he’s not Frances.
  
  Loyalty is admirable. But even the most loyal of followers needs to be able to see, understand and articulate the shortcomings — they are ALWAYS there. Denying them is just plain silly.
- Jonathan Washburn 12:30 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin,
  
  The point that strikes me as most important in this thread is necessity for us all to honestly address our strengths and weaknesses. Once we are able to address our weaknesses without fear are we able to move forward to correct them.
  
  Blogging makes it interesting in that we are expected to address our weaknesses in public, which is a whole new way of conducting business.
- Dustin 12:34 pm on December 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jon: Thanks for stopping by. No doubt that knowing our weaknesses are open to easy public debate can make for tricky conversations!
- Chad Huck 1:16 pm on January 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  We should have had an event at Connect08NYC with these two squaring off. I would have paid more to see that.
Dustin 2:39 pm on December 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply
Tags: InternetCrusade (7), listing (66), Point2, RealTown (7), website (42)

Saul Klein as CEO of Point2… really?

Saul is a top-notch guy in the industry and very well respected, but still… for Point2 to bring him on as the new CEO definitely has me scratching my head.

I’ve talked with Saul a few times at conferences and I really like him. What Saul brings to the table is some of the best contacts in the industry, which should definitely not be underestimated. However what I liked most about Point2 was that they were ahead of the technology curve on industry issues like listing syndication and understanding how to use listing content to generate great SEO. In the three years that I’ve been watching InternetCrusade, I’m yet to see them do something that tells me they want to be on the leading edge.

From the comments on Jay’s post and the fact that he plans to retain his role as head of InternetCrusade, is all the more indicative that Point2 will likely try to use industry connections to get the edge as oppose to cutting-edge technology. Kind of like how InternetCrusades has used the management of NAR’s ePro designation to prop-up and build their RealTown blog platform which (at least in my opinion) would otherwise lack the features needed to attract real estate professionals or consumers.

With that said, I’ve heard some realtors that have an incredible devotion to the InternetCrusade guys because of the great work that they’ve done over the years introducing (softly) Realtors all over the country to internet technologies, which will make it all the more interesting to see what Saul does at Point2.

Nonethless, if you had any doubts, Point2 Agent will be a different company going forward.

And again, huge props go to Jay for his top-notch reporting on the changes at Point2.

Point2 Technologies Names Saul Klein CEO | The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Frances Flynn Thorsen, and Jay Thompson are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Jay Thompson 4:48 pm on December 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Indeed it is a bit of a head scratcher….
  
  Given the recent exodus of top level management, I think it’s a good move to bring in a well respected industry icon such as Saul. It does alleviate a lot of concerns that Point2 was self-destructing and adds some much needed stability at this point.
  
  And I *might* be able to make an argument that the CEO doesn’t directly drive all of the innovation. The previous CEO didn’t really do that (but most of the ones who recently departed did).
  
  What’s interesting to me is Saul will really be the first P2 exec with direct real estate experience. That may be a good thing.
  
  Or maybe not. Only time will tell. But I do suspect P2 will be a different company moving forward. Different could be good, bad or just different.
  
  Thanks for the props…
- Frances Flynn Thorsen 4:14 pm on December 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dustin, Your perspective is very short sighted and I am amazed at your disconnect regarding Saul and innovation on the Internet. Saul was probably the FIRST real estate visionary who saw what was coming with the Internet.
  
  You need to come over to RealTown Blogs and take one for a spin!
  
  http://www.realtown.com/realtownreport/blog/news/saulkleinceopoint2
  
  Don’t know about HTML here .. http://tinyurl.com/38cs2o
Dustin 2:24 am on December 9, 2007 Permalink | Reply
Tags: Point2

Jay definitely uncovered some…

…interesting news about happenings at Point2. I’ve always found Brendan to be one of the top-notch guys in the RE Tech world and he seemed to take great pride in Point2 Agent. That’s gotta hurt the Point2 team.

Dustin, and Jay Thompson are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Jay Thompson 9:11 am on December 9, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Brendan is indeed top-notch and was passionate about P2. So was Jeff Tomlin, their VP of Business Development — who also resigned. Those are the only two P2 has publicly announced, but according to employee comments left on my blog there are several more high level managers that left last week.
  
  And the natives appear restless (understandably, IMHO)
- Jay Thompson 9:47 pm on December 9, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Additional P2 executive resignations confirmed….
  
  http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/point2-part-2/602
- Dustin 12:12 am on December 10, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jay: Your updates are great… Keep up the great work!
- Jay Thompson 12:55 pm on December 11, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks Dustin. I strongly suspect that there are some at Point2 that don’t think they are so great….
  
  “News” was officially released today. Inman wrote about it and shortly thereafter came the official Point2 press release.
- Dustin 8:17 pm on December 11, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jay: You “owned” the story. Great reporting!

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Dustin 3:54 pm on February 1, 2008 Permalink | Reply Tags: ActiveRain (31), blogging (121), cms (5), Frontdoor.com (6), Google (39), HouseValues (7), InternetCrusade (7), Microsoft (8), MLS (25), Point2, Realtor.com (29), RealTown (7), Redfin (20), Trulia (54), wp.com (5), Yahoo (17), Zillow (61)

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