Reuters.compublished this deansguide article May 12, 2008
A monster 7.8 earthquake rocked central China killing an estimated 9,000 people, leaving 900 students trapped inside a school, and wreaking havoc. The quake centered in the hilly Sichuan region of China, was felt as far away as Thailand . In Beijing, according to Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen, “80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Sichuan province’s Beichuan county after the quake.”
In addition, reports from state media out of China, report that a chemical plant in Shifang city had “cratered, burying hundreds of people and spilling more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia from the site.”
Further reports are forth coming with the news a grim reminder of the realities faced in earthquake countries every day.
FoxBusiness.compublished this deansguide article May 11, 2008
Even a famous newsman like Anderson Cooper, with an equally famous mom Gloria Vanderbilt, needs ideas on what to get his mom for Mother’s Day. Vanderbilt, made famous by her embroidered designer jeans worn on more fannies than any other designer jean at one time in history, gives solid advice to her son on what to buy mom for Mother’s Day.
So if you are stuck or a last minuted shopper, this interview may help you decide on just the right gift. What am I going to get my mom? It will be tied to her British-Canadian-American heritage.
As for me? My gift is arriving Monday from the windy city for a long visit. I love you mom and you too dad. Best wishes and we are excited to have you home for your visit.
Peace and Love to all moms on this important day. Especially Elsie, Susan, Megan, and my other California mother Jan “Mac” too!
This just in courtesy of the “mystery caller”: Ed Okun’s attempt to secure bail and his freedom was denied today at his bond hearing in Richmond, Virginia. The hearing, which ran from 2pm to 5pm EST, was previously postponed so that Okun could build a case for gaining bail. Okun charged with multiple counts in relationship to his “ponzi” like scheme which bilked investors out of $160 million, was denied bail as:
His court appointed attorney was present; and according to the “mystery caller” original Miami attorney Michael Rosen was also in attendance.
Analysis
There is a very sad and ironic problem with keeping Ed Okun incarcerated. There is no way to force Okun to pay restitution if he is incarcerated. Not that Okun would have the ability, means, or method to legitimately pay back Train Wreck Victims.
But with Okun incarcerated, there is no hope at all in recovering anything that he may have hidden, if he hid anything at all, or forcing him to “work” for his victims.
Now it seems the only hope that victims of Ed Okun’s collapsed 1031 scheme have in recovering their monies is to go after the insurance companies involved in the transactions.
“Nothing endures but change” Heraclitus Greek philosopher
Social networking siteslike linkedin, myspace, facebook, and plaxo utilize viral loop or viral networking in order to grow traffic to your site. The problem for Realtors and affiliates is that these sites are either targeted to the wrong audience, myspace.com, or they are flat with limited features bloggers enjoy on their blogs.
Ning.comis changing the social networking landscape. Ning allows users, for free, to set up their own “social network.” The treasure trove ofNing features and benefits:
Social Networking
1. Create a full Social Network, for free, that you customize and brand as your own
2. Invite members, meet new people, network within or outside your business niche
3. Full message centerwith address book importing from Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Hotmail.
4. Customizable profile pages.
5. Photo slideshows, video players, music players, and network badges, that can be embeded anywhere on the Internet, seamlessly funneling new people to your network.
6. RSS feeds of your network’s features, such as members, discussions, photos, videos, music/podcasts, and blog posts.
7. Members can set different privacy settingsfor every photo, video, group, or blog post they contribute.
Full Customization
1. Add your own logo, branding, and visual design to make your network unique
2. Choose from a variety of themes and customize them to make them your own
3. Make your network public or private
4. Customize the appearance of your branded photo slideshow, video player, music/podcast player widgets and network badges
5. Customize the profile questions your network asks when members join. Make questions private, so that the answers are only viewable by you and your Network Administrators
6. Enable “one-click” Facebook Promotion so your members can add photo slideshows, video players, and music/podcasts from your network seamlessly into Facebook
7. Choose to moderate photos and videos before they are posted
8. Choose from a set of supported languages (English, Chinese, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish) or translate your social network into any unsupported language by changing one file in the code
Discussion Forum
1. Start and tag a discussion
2. Add discussion posts and reply to those posts
3. Organizediscussions by categories
4. Click through the personal profile pages of other members engaged in the discussion
5. View all discussions across your social network
Groups
1. Enable members of your network to create groups
2. Enable members of your network to make groups public or private
3. Add group descriptions, images, discussions, and members
Disgraced and fired Former San Francisco Talk Show host, liberal left wing proponent, Bernie Ward, charged in December 2007 with distributing and receiving child pornography via the internet, plans to change his innocent plea Thursday according to federal court records.
In breaking news tonight via San Francisco Chronicle writer Henry Lee, Ward a former Catholic priest is withdrawing his innocent plea one month prior to his trial. Ward’s attorney Doron Weinberg was unavailable for comment.
The suspicious “no comment” coming from a hired “mouthpiece” is telling. The government or prosecutors must have mined more evidence of wrong doing leaving Ward in a precarious position.
The Warm Up
Ward’s basis for his innocent plea was his assertion that he was conducting research for an upcoming book. The activity according to Ward, “consisted only of role playing as part of a book he was researching on hypocrisy.”
The “role playing” in question began “when he engaged in sex chats with an online dominatrix and allegedly sent her pictures of children engaged in sexual activity, according to a police report.
The Spin
Attorney Weinberg and Ward, according to the Chronicle story, “sought a ruling from the judge that would allow him to present a defense that he received and distributed “the charged contraband” for legitimate First Amendment purposes, namely to research and comment upon “social mores.”
The Gavel
That is *&%$#@) laughable and federal prosecutors agreed. In court papers prosecutors opposed any such ruling stating:
“. . .First Amendment defenses “would invite every defendant charged with child pornography crimes to suddenly become a legitimate researcher educating the masses via their Web log.”
I don’t know about you but my blog aka weblog has NOTHING to do with Bernie Ward’s weblog and I trust your’s doesn’t either!
Trent Reznor is a hard core rock n roll singer who looks the part and acts the part. He is the centerpiece of a very successful band: Nine Inch Nails. What can Realtors learn from a screaming rock God?
Marketing direct to the consumer is all about giving away what your target audience values, continuously giving value to your audience, and giving away value without asking or demanding anything in return.
Reznor’s Plan A Purple Cow?
Seth Godin author of “The Purple Cow” and marketing guru for the ages suggests many of the concepts Reznor has adopted in his approach to marketing his music.
Value Prop #1: Giving Away “The Slip” As An Introduction
In a great article by Eliot Van Buskirk of Wired.com NIN’s latest album “The Slip” is being offered online for free to any fans who wish to download the music to MP3, lossless (FLAC or Apple) or 24-bit, 96-kHz WAV files. The album-CD goes on sale in July so this is a free introduction to fans
Realtors: What can you provide your audience for free that is of value and makes you a valued expert in the eyes of your audience? Blogs written with expert advice, sources, tools, and tips would fill this order
Value Prop #2: Selling Tickets Direct To Fans
In an effort to remove the inflated ticket prices that come with widespread “scalping”, Reznor now sells concert tickets directly, through their website, to fans. Each ticket is printed with the fan’s name on it; the supply is controlled giving the perception of exclusivity while keeping the average fan coming out due to ticket affordability
Realtors: How can you help a consumer save money, avoid dishonest deals, or help them understand the changing real estate landscape? Educate your audience on deceptive lending practices, on proper home inspection, or provide them information on avoiding PMI
Value Prop #3: Staying In Direct Contact With Your Audience
nin.com provides their audience with Official NIN news, discography, tour dates, video clips, and answers to submitted questions. Fans can subscribe to the site feed and everything is free. In addition Reznor and the band communicates directly with their audience by posting articles and answering fan questions
Realtors: If you believe that staying in touch with today’s buyer or seller entails placing a listing print ad in a local rag, commenting to a real estate columnist in a local rag, sending out email announcements aka Spam, or writing a 1x per month newsletters you are mired in Web Zero and in need of a Web 2.0 makeover.
The best source for Realtors to find free “calculator” tools and research, to help people decide the best cities in the US to live, are provided by the Economic Research Institute. The best page to find these valuable tools is the ERI“Career and Cost of Living Comparison” page. In addition a number of valuable reports are available for purchase.
Understanding Your Niche and Choices
As a Realtor or broker, you can elevate your perception with consumers as well as become more knowledgeable, if you are willing to research. Some of the best research available on cost of living, relocation, and economic conditions can be found at the Economic Research Institute. The information is global in scale and very detailed nature.
2 Career Cost of Living Comparison Tools
1. Salary Potential 2023: This tool “reports the estimated annual mean salary potential for 5,634 positions in the Year 2023.”
2. Cost of Living: This tool is a fantastic point of reference. It calculates cost of living for cities around the world and in some cases neighborhoods within the cities.
In my example I found the following information about San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood: “Student Cost of Living for Consumables as a percentage of the U.S. National Norm:125%”
There are many more detailed reports comparing cities globally and nationally, cost of living conversion rates and economic condition calculators. Although these reports are not free, the descriptions of the reports can give you a starting point to becoming an expert.
FoxBusiness.compublished this deansguide article May 3, 2008
Are you a Realtor, broker, or affiliate who is interested in learning what Web 2.0 means, how it effects the real estate industry, and how to harness the power of this ongoing revolution? Even if you just want to look informed and with it, the best spot to begin is Miloblog. Miloblog’s tagline “Your guide to real estate marketing and technology trends” says it all.
MiloBlog’s categories contain articles for beginner-advanced lessons on Web 2.0
1. Blog Tips: Blogging the most powerful marketing tool to Realtors today
2. Finance 2.0: With the meltdown, this becomes a very important area to master
3. Listing Tips: Days of the local newspaper are fast approaching zero
4. Search Optimization: aka SEO aka How people find you and your business
5. Web 2.0 Marketing: Global reach, 24/7, online all the time
6. Web site tools: Tools that make your website effective
Substance Factor
The list of experts featured on Miloblog is a who’s who of major players in the blogosphere
Reuters.compublished this deansguide article on May 9, 2008
A recent study completed by the American Lung Association has a newking of soot: Pittsburgh, PA . For the first time ever, Los Angeles is no longer considered the “sootiest” city in America. “Soot”, aka short-term particle pollution, is one of the categories that make up the overall clean air score given a city by the ALA in their “State of the Air” report.
Los Angeles still took the all-around pollution title: We’re #1 was never so well deserved. The shocking developments were two Utah cities making the top 10, Detroit sinking to #9, and in a obvious trend California dominating the top 10 with four locations.
Consumer confidence often hinges on perception. The perception of competence, expertise, and professionalism are vital to a Realtor. If your consumer targets do not believe you have any of the above you will lose every opportunity to remain in business.
The Real Estate industry, primarily agents, faces an uphill battle everyday to prove that they are technology savvy, progressive, and willing to provide the most up to date information to their clients. The perception remains, even though their are more tech savvy Realtors, that this industry is far behind.
An interview with 2007 NAR President Pat Combs, as featured on therealestatebloggers, does nothing to dispel this perception. Unfortunately it perpetuates it. The trouble begins at the 2:05 mark of the following video when a fax, copy machine, scanner, and typewriter are featured tools and uttered in the same breath as the word technology:
