Social Media & Tech

NY Times #fail

The NY Times does not know how to get out of it’s own way.

They are doing some deal with the iPad, which I think is not going to be the end-all-be-all that some people think it will be, but now they are putting blogs behind the paywall.  Let me get this straight, you are going to put what I can get for free about anywhere else behind the counter.  Oh, and I am pretty sure they are still going to put ads in the window as well.

Newspapers are going through some dramatic change right now and they are scrambling to find change under the cushions of the sofa in the smoking lounge.  They are charging you more as the reader, the advertiser for the privilege of less readers and the news is as stale as the donuts in the case at a gas station. 

Now, I really don’t have a plan for the NY Times, but they really need to get over themselves.  Devorak from the Leo Laporte show gave me a clue just how senseless they are.  They are a news service that sell their stories much like the AP.  So, if you see a story you want to read from them; just copy and paste the headline and you find it in about 2 dozen other online sites for free.  So, that is a great way around the “paywal”.

But, it really goes to show the shortsightedness of the Times, and I really think just how out of touch they are with middle America.

NY Times #fail

Dave

Give em something…

to Talk about…

to Learn…

to Think about…

to Want more…

to Want to use you…

Your blog in this day, where everyone is online, is an extension of you. It is your personal brand, whether it be Dave Woodson, Social Media Consultant or Dave Woodson, The Mad Mortgage Machine. It can be a blog about Diabetes, or a Pro-biotic, or even an affiliate site about Data Encryption. The information that you give reflects back on you. So, if you presenting yourself as the local expert, you darn well better know the area that you are talking about.

So, often I read blogs from around the country looking for a good idea, to learn more about real estate or mortgages, and I see how many are doing it wrong. You do little to make yourself the expert, or even less to drive traffic to your site or sites. I can only imagine that the old adage applies, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while”.

So, my challenge to you for the rest of 2010 and beyond in your career. Is when you write a blog or when you express yourself on any Socail Media platform…

Give them something to talk about…

Dave Woodson, Social Media Marketing Consultant

The Indiana FHA Expert

Message to Market…Message to Market

Who are you are marketing to? Do you know where to look for your market?

Do you know what your message is? Do you know how to craft your message?

Know your scripts, always know who are talking and make sure the message is as close to the target as possible.

D

Why the Yellow Pages are Yellow

They are yellow cause they are dying.

I love the calls that I still get every years from the couple different “yellow” page sales people in my area.  I tell them “no thank you, not interested” and they always seem to come back with some search engine attack that I already have them beat on.  Do the Yellow Pages still have a place a place in your home.  I doubt it, but if you have one comment below.

And, if you are using the Yellow Pages with out a blog that has at least some SEO, then you are dying too.

Twitter in Person, TweetUP, the Northwest Indiana Way

TweetUp! The NWI TweetUp

As Social Media grows it also grows around Northwest Indiana and the the need to be…Well, social grows as well!

It is not merely enough to just sit in your office, your home or the bunker and expect business and new friends to just roll in. There are so many opportunities out there for networking with local chambers, BNI, other lead groups across Northwest Indiana, but the one that I am really enjoying that meets on a monthly basis is the local TweetUp. You can do a search for it #nwitweetup on Twitter. We meet the 4th Thursday of every month. And, they are popping up around the world with ones being held in Chicago, LA and even just 20 minutes down the road.

This month however, I decided to bring my camera and let everyone that wanted and make the ones that did not want to introduce themselves. I think next month, I will narrow it down and try another angle. Here are some of Northwest Indiana’s local Tweets.

#nwitweetup from Dave Woodson on Vimeo.

NWITweetup – Where the social part is for the Social Web

For more information on our local TweetUp just follow me on Twitter and I will make sure you that you all the information that you need. If you are a local business that would like to host a NWITweetUp, just let me know and we can help you set it up.

Dave Woodson

Integrity Hurts, Sometimes

Remember that song “love hurts”.  Well, integrity hurts, but I would not have it any other way.  Does anyone get recognized for having it any more?  Do you sit in your office and say that guy has a lot integrity or is it the opposite.  I know the common saying in my office has been, “I would not trust that guy as far as I can throw him”.  I am glad that no one says or could say that about me.  I think mostly it has been, “Dave is brutally honest”.

Here is a story off of Tahoo! about a golfer who was disqualified for using a ball that was wrong.  No one caught him, he turned himself in and was then disqualified.  I had heard on Paul Harvey some years ago in England a foursome was playing a round, and one of them lost his ball.  So, when everyone else was looking he pulled a ball out of his pocket and chipped it onto the green.  Well, what he did not realize is that he had hit a hole-in-one.

So, now he had to fess up that he hit an illegal second shot.  Well, he lost his hole-on-one and his job.  How did he lose his job.  Well, he was the Head Rules Keeper for his club in England (lack of a better term been years since I heard this yarn) and he blatantly broke the rules.

Do you follow the rules that you are asked to keep as a prt of your profession?  Do you keep the people around you honest when it comes to violations?   Just some fruit for thought!

Remember as we come to the holiday season.  That homes are still being bought and sold every day are you helping out.  If you would like some hints and helps give me a call at (219)872-8000 or email me at Dave@MadMortgageMachine.com.

Dave Woodson

The Indiana FHA Expert

Oh, I thought I would toss in a music video. Just switch the world love for integrity