The Real Estate Tomato

This is the fifth article in a series of interviews that we've held with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients. Our mission throughout these interviews is to learn how the efforts of our blogging clients have made significant, and positive differences in their real estate career. Today’s interview is with broker, Brad Nix of Maxsell Real Estate. Maxsell Real Estate “is the only real estate company in Metro Atlanta exclusively servicing the I-575 Real Estate Corridor of Northwest Atlanta.” Brad joined the Vine in late February of 2007. He was a great choice for today’s interview because of just how much his business and use of technology have changed in just 12 months. Here’s his story. Tomato: You know the drill… you still working with the traditional marketing strategies of print and mail? Brad Nix: Very little. We are definitely using a lot less of all of it. If...

Here we are with our fourth article in a series of interviews that we've conducted with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients. Our mission throughout these interviews is to learn how the efforts of our blogging clients have made significant, and positive differences in their real estate career. Today’s interview is with Roberta Murphy of both SanDiegoPreviews.com and LuxuryHomeDigest.com. Roberta was one of our very first clients and an early graduate of our intense blog training course. Way back in the Fall of 2006, Roberta contacted us after reading our writings on ActiveRain. She contracted us to build LuxuryHomeDigest, a blog focusing on a blend of Luxury Living and the world of Luxury Real Estate. Shortly there after, she hired us to convert her main website, SanDiegoPreviews.com into a full featured blogsite and intense community resource. Tomato: So, you know the theme, how should we jump into this? Should...

This article is the third in a series of interviews that we've conducted with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients. The theme throughout these interviews is to learn how their blogging efforts have made huge differences in their real estate career. Today, allow me to introduce Mary DeLuca. Mary’s blog is Beltway Ramblings, covering the community and real estate happenings around Arlington, Virginia, aka the Beltway in Washington, DC. Her launch date was June of 2007. Tomato- Mary, you jumped at the chance to be interviewed, what has you so fired up about blogging? Mary- Blogging has done wonders for my real estate career in so many ways. Firstly, the expose to me as an agent in the area is so much greater. It’s unbelievable how many people are telling me that they are reading my blog. But what has really made such a huge difference is the fact...

This article is the second in a series of interviews that we've conducted with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients. The theme throughout these interviews is to learn how their blogging efforts have made huge differences in their real estate career. Today we meet "Uncle Jack". Jack Levine is the author of Very Vintage Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jack originally began blogging way back in October of 2005. He may even have been the very first real estate blogger in Las Vegas. After a break from blogging in late 2006, Jack reemerged with the official launch Very Vintage Vegas in March of 2007. A few months later, Jack hired us to take his blog and blogging skills to the next level. The following is how it has changed his life. Tomato- I know that you blog quite regularly. How often do you post and what's the secret to...

This is the first in a series of interviews we’ve conducted with some of our clients that have completely made-over their marketing strategies since the launch of their real estate blog. Our goal is to illustrate just how much the Internet has become a part of their client acquisition process now that the blog has become the center of that strategy. Our first interview is with the author of Real Estate Sizzle, Jackie Colson-Miller of Tampa, Florida. She launched her site and training with us in March last year (2007). During arguably the worst year in recent real estate history, Jackie finds herself thinking outside the box, embracing new tools, philosophies and efforts. With a focus on real estate blogging, internet savvy clients, and increasing productivity, Jackie is reaping the benefits. As of Jan 2008, she has 13 concurrent Tampa area listings for the first time in her real estate...

Today, at 11AM PST, Inman News and 4 Guest Speakers From Project Blogger will be discussing “Building from the Ground Up. Real Experiences Starting a Real Estate Blog from Scratch.”. The best part, you can join in to the chat and listen in to the call. In advance of the show: Please visit www.talkshoe.com, Sign Up, and Pick a PIN (part of the Sign Up process). It will take about 30 seconds and it's free. (Note: Software download is NOT REQUIRED. Feel free to skip that step unless you want to ask questions by text-chat.) At the time of the show or up to 15 minutes early: Call 724-444-7444 and follow the audio prompts. Enter the Talkcast ID: 32606 Enter your PIN (which you chose at Sign Up -- it's likely your own phone number). So, who’s talking? Hosted and Moderated By: Jessica Swesey – Managing Editor from Inman News...

Our regular readers and seasoned real estate blogosphere readers all know Teresa Boardman. Recently she has gained some broader exposure in national publications as an example of a locally focused real estate blogger that is firstly generating business from her efforts and secondly gaining respect from her peers nationally. Along with this success has also come some misinterpretation of who she is, why she does it and how it’s done. We have enjoyed having Teresa here on the Tomato Soapbox, and felt that her articles have brought some much needed clarity to our voice, so in turn, we would like to return the favor and bring some clarity to hers. Below is an interview we held with Teresa that focus on the reasons why she blogs, why it works for her and her outlook on the phenomenon of the real estate blog itself. 1. What prompted you to start a...

I have written about Bernice Ross before, and hope to have the opportunity to do so again. Bernice is a committed coach, who finds the difference she makes in people's lives to be the most pleasurable aspect of her vocation. That's the guy (lady) you want to have in your corner. While she was grounded (Bernice spends most of the year on the road) this past week, I was able to pin her down for an interview, in order to talk about her perspective on the apparent changes in the real estate market, and what agents can do to prepare, and succeed. The insight she provides is not only clear, but appropriate. And, it seems that we are not the only ones jockeying for time with her; just last month she was interviewed for a Leslie Stahl story with 60 Minutes. The following interview was conducted in a very informal...

The real estate blogosphere is still a very intimate community. It's arguable that the same 300 or 400 visitors here today, will be mostly the same group visiting the other top blogs in the industry. So I feel it is safe to assume that you all know the great Hound, Greg Swann of Bloodhound Realty in Phoenix, AZ. Whether my assumption is true or not, it is my pleasure to shine the light on perhaps the most well spoken (written) real estate blogger among us, giving us all the opportunity to peel back the curtain on how he does it. I asked Greg for this interview not just because his writing style is pure prose, nor because I knew his responses would be most polished, but because I feel that he has a great understanding of what he is doing, with every effort. It is that understanding that I wanted...

Yesterday, Rory Siems (esteemed member of ActiveRain) and I struggled through the composition of a recorded phone interview using Skype and Audacity. Rory was interviewing me, and he and I can agree that there has to be an easier way given that it is 2006 and all. Today's article is about another topic that came up in Rory's interview with me, but before I get to it, I want to see if the audience has some suggestions on how to go about recording a phone conversation on Skype, with the intention of editing and podcasting it. Thanks for any input. In the interview, Rory asked me: "Is there something that clients want from a Realtor website that agents aren't yet providing?" Understand that I am not stealing the thunder of his podcast/article of our interview. The response to his question was left hanging a bit... and I've been thinking about...

Earlier this week, Matt Heaton of ActiveRain was kind enough to provide me with 30 minutes of his time to conduct an interview. I first came across AR (ActiveRian) the day after I started the Tomato. At the time they were in their 5th week and were growing by 18 new members everyday. They now boast nearly 3000 members and a weekly growth rate of btwn 60-75 new members a day. Click here to view a separate interview with Matt and Caleb from the Inman Connect Conference in July. Video provided by Real Estate Buzz Box Here are the highlights of our conversation. Please keep in mind that this was an informal conversation. To maintain the intention and integrity of Matt's response, I mostly used his unedited responses, word for word. RET - So what's the short bio on Matt Heaton? Matt- After graduating with a BS in computer science,...