Back in the Saddle…

As I mentioned in my last post, I had tons of ideas that had to be left on the back-burner while I dealt with more pressing matters. Now, with a couple of days back in the saddle, I can point to the release of a couple of minor updated features to the blog.

As you notice, there are a couple of new links on the side bar.  One links to the new Clark County PhotoBlog, an idea I had last fall that I could just never find time to implement. It is still in the so-underdevelopment stage, but I have a boatload of images to tag and post.  The other links to the new Clark County Neighborhoods Blog.   Also resurrected from the “idea” files from days gone past, the ‘Hood blog will be about things really, really local (the buzzword, if you’re so inclined, is “hyper-local”).

With both blogs we will really be looking for contributions from our readers.  Especially the neighborhoods blog, as news, notes and activities in and around Clark County are sometimes best presented by those close to the action.

There are about 174 175 176 other ideas I am determined that I will eventually get to.  So, if nothing else, it should be entertaining to watch the trial and error process of my endeavors here.  And just think, all without an admission charge.

As far as our main blog, it will still be about house, home and real estate in and around Clark County, plus many of my aimless meanderings into other topics.  But these new sites will allow for an additional fun and focus about what makes Clark County a special place to be.

Thanks for allowing me to take you there.

Podcasting an Update? It’s all “Lorem Ipsum” to me

Welcome to the initial episode of the Clark County Real Estate Update.

“The What?” you say… understandably, I might add.

This is the first of many (hopefully?) Podcasts, and a part of the larger launch of the Real Estate Update, which will focus on the Clark County real estate market, unique homes that are for sale, as well as other people, places and things that make Clark County special.

We will also be updating our site at http://www.homesightsrealty.com over the course of the next several weeks to include an audio player, a live chat feature and video programming. As they say, stay tuned.

For now though, its baby-steps. Please remember, this is our first episode. It’s not perfect, and as a host I have some work to do. (Note: Have you EVER listened to yourself? Ugh, for me, it is a humbling experience.)

But as we continue to bring you these new episodes, the program will evolve. I obviously welcome any input, guidance or feedback you can give on what you think will make this an even better broadcast. And look for more episodes and additional conversations in the near future. Simply (double) click on the player (which is also in the early stages, and will change over time…) to enjoy (hopefully?) this episode.

As always, thanks for dropping by.

[Sorry the embed link is no longer available (it wasn't THAT great anyway   ) but we will be adding more in the future]

A Month of Sundays…

I should have known it was coming… that question. I set myself up for it, really did.  “So, how’s that blog thing going?” he said with that “you-can’t-have-a-comeback” smirk.

He threw me a JJ Putz fastball and I stood there like I was looking for a Little League change-up. See, after my first post I was so gung-ho, I was popping off to a colleague about how much and how often I was going to blog. Big ideas. Grand plans. Primed and ready to roll. Um, then reality set in. You mean I still have to sell real estate AND find time to blog? Ooohh. That changes things. Or does it?

Now time management has never been one of my strong suits. I have to simply work harder at working smarter to keep from having to work three times harder. Throw this new blog thing in with one wife, three kids, two baseball teams, two soccer teams, a football team, a gaggle of geese and a partridge in a pear tree, plus a bunch of clients who are very important to me, and well, you have a recipe for Chaos that would make Emeril proud.

But I knew my colleague’s question was a challenge of my manhood, (or at least I’m going to look at it like that to properly channel the motivation). And it has been a month of Sunday’s since I last posted. So I am re-committing myself to this blog thing. I think my problem is not time. It’s not content. It’s that I want every post to be as enthralling and well read as the next JK Rowling novel. High expectations, indeed. I need to come to grips with the fact that not every post needs to be a 1000-word treatise worthy of worldwide adulation. Not that I’m capable of such, but nothing like putting a little pressure on yourself to really induce writer’s cramp.

So, how about simple items of interest for those that drop by? That’s not too much to ask, is it? No, it’s not. While I might not revert to the Twitter concept of slapping out six words to the world about what I’m doing every 15 seconds, a happy medium might suffice.

I can do that. And I hope you’ll continue to drop by and join in the game. At least I’ll feel like I put that fastball in play.

If You Build It…

“Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come… for reasons they can’t even fathom.  Oh… people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”  Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones) to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in “Field of Dreams”.

Like Ray Kinsella’s feeling towards his cornfield-turned-baseball diamond in “Field of Dreams”, I launched this blog with a leap of faith and a dose of apprehension.  While I didn’t plow under my crops and I only hear those pesky voices from the fields on certain days, it’s still an undertaking of uncertainty.

Will they come?  And who are they anyhow?

I’m not a big fan of doing things “half-baked”.  So as I contemplated launching a blog, I was concerned about the commitment of time and the creation of content.   Could I find time to write? Would there be anything to write about?  And even if I satisfied those concerns… would I have an audience?  Fortunately, after talking to my high-profile focus group (that would be my mother, my wife and my sister), I am guaranteed at least two readers, (my sister is still undecided).  With the comfort of that safety net, I dove head first into the project.

Then the light bulb went on.  It was then that I realized, with hundreds of transaction sides over the past ten years, there was an absolute potpourri of tales and tidbits to type about.  Something to be gleaned from every purchase.  A lesson to be learned from every sale.  Something of benefit for others from others.  Experiences, and not all good, mind you, which can – really should – be shared.  No gory details.  Nothing personal about people.  And the names will be changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike.  But experiences, nonetheless.  A chance to “learn from history, lest we be doomed to repeat it”, kind of thing.

The wheels were spinning now.  In addition to real-life experiences, there were market trends to be analyzed, evaluated and discussed.  There was news and events to be translated to help normal people (those without the warped perspective that a license and a title can give some folks) find a better grasp of the complexities and idiosyncrasies of the real estate industry.  There were simple, fun and entertaining things going on in our hectic everyday lives that might be of benefit to share.  I was really on a roll.

At least for now I was content to know I had content. As for time, we’ll just have to see how that one works out over, well, the course of time.

So thankfully, for now, Terrance Mann was right.  You came, as evidenced by the fact that you are reading this.  I hope you will come again and again.  Stop by often. Join in with a comment.  Become part of the audience, or better yet, the community.  It sure will take some of the pressure off my mother and my wife.