This was reprinted with permission of the author Lesley Lambert- one of the best bloggers I know of.

As I did my normal perusal of Facebook today I noticed something very odd. Many of my friends had a color as their status update. Just a color…nothing else. My page was rife with: green, white: plain white, beige, black, leopard and even a champagne.
I thought it was strange, but it was a limited group at first, so I brushed it off. Fast forward a few hours and when I look at Facebook all I see is colors and I now have some Facebook messages inviting me to join. The messages said something like this: “Some fun is going on…. just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men …. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the women have a color in their status…”
WHY DIDN’T ANYONE POST PINK?
Now, the really amusing thing was that many of the color updates that I was viewing were posted by men. So much for keeping them in the dark (and good for you for being secure enough to come out with your bra wearing habits boys!).
Let me say straightaway that I am a HUGE supporter of breast cancer awareness. I had my first mammogram at age 30 because of a family history that includes both my mother and her sister. My aunt passed when she was 38 from breast cancer. I actually put my $ where my mouth is…..btw.

That being said…I am not really clear how this update business will help fuel Breast Cancer awareness. I went ahead and posted this as my Facebook status: “I am a huge supporter of breast cancer awareness, but I don’t think anyone really cares what color my bra is….or that telling you will make anyone more aware. If you are interested, just use your imagination: I am sure that will be more exciting than the reality.”

The responses came in and were plentiful. Many people were confused about what was going on and were thankful that I put it out there so they got some answers. My response to them is: Why are you too chicken to ASK? I went on Twitter and said WTF is going on with Facebook statuses being all colorful and got the answer right away.
Many people agreed with me. But one person didn’t agree, my Twitter friend Melissa Case DelGaudio (@startabuzz), and she came right out with a very valid point: “As silly as it might seem, I submit that EVERYONE is talking about this right now. So whether anyone actually cares what color anyone’s bra is, it’s got people talking about awareness, which was the whole point. :)”
My opinion on this topic isn’t swayed by her point…I still don’t see how Breast Cancer research will benefit from knowing what color my bra is (and I am still not telling you dirty lecherous beasts). I do see her point and I get that it brought this to everyone’s attention, BUT what it brought to my attention was THIS….
SOCIAL MEDIA IS FAST.
Before you get too deep into “duh Lesley”….I knew this already, you did, too, but I mean REALLY REALLY fast.
How powerful is this tool? How amazing that someone (and do we even know who started this bra nonsense anyways?) decided that today would be the day to post your bra color (tee hee hee) and suddenly WOOSH every woman (and many men-not that there is anything wrong with that!) were doing just that and within hours it was a huge topic of conversation.
What does that tell us?
Well, it tells me that my grandmother was right…clean underwear all the way. Cuz if I get in an accident I don’t want you all going viral with the fact I died in dirty underwear.
What it tells me (really this time, no REALLY I swear) is that social media is becoming the most powerful marketing tool in history.
People, fasten your seatbelts: this is the best ride ever!
oh and ps. Go donate to Breast Cancer Research.

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Posted via web from heyamaretto’s posterous

Peter is 18 now. He made this in PreK- it has lost a pasta piece but I love it!

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Posted via web from heyamaretto’s posterous

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Thinking outside the box, and in some cases there’s no box at all. The funny thing is- what is startling and innovative today will be commonplace tomorrow.

Here’s one that I think less sells the home and more sells the Realtor- which isn’t a bad thing. I fell a little in love with her when she showed up with the tie or scarf around her head:

Here is a clever one by Mike LeFebvre of Hallmark Sotheby’s International in MA:

It won two prizes, and Mike said that it was directly responsible for selling the house.

This video “showcases” what would be a fairly typical REO home in our area.

It caught my attention, and I have shown hundreds of these homes. And the little piece at the end? She is telling me what she will do for me, and it has already been underscored by the fact that I have watched the entire video and feel predisposed to her.

I think this video really works because the humor is fairly cutting, but it doesn’t feel to be mocking the house. By using a lot of common real estate jargon, she keeps it very light-hearted.

Three different videos; three different homes. What I feel they have in common is that- through humor- they absolutely humanize the agent.

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This was when it wasn't that bad

I came across this old post of mine while searching for something else today. It is funny how that happens; I had nearly forgotten about the ice storm that we had, and how everything was brought to a standstill around here. Several local high schools were commandeered as emergency shelters for people without water, heat and electricity. I still have trouble with one zone of my heating system because of the extended time without heat.

Reprinted from January 2009:

I live in Eastern Massachusetts, where we have been hit hard with an ice storm. The exquisite beauty that the storm brought us also tore down trees, and many places have been without power for days, with more of the same to come.

Still, at least as far as I am concerned, it could be worse. Here is my Top Six List. I tried to come up with ten, but apparently the caffeine hasn’t kicked in.

1. You have to appreciate the Pilgrims. Can you imagine landing here, looking around, and saying, “We are about the same latitude as England- how bad can winter get?”

2. You burn more calories when you are cold. I’m wearing my “skinny” jeans right now.

3. I have been able to leave my business card at all of the places I’ve showered. Note on back: “Your bathroom really looks wonderful with the updating! Have you ever thought about listing?”

4. You have no choice but to get at least 8 hours of sleep if you have no contact with anything that will keep you awake.

5. You give thanks for water, light, and the children’s ADHD medication.

6. On a serious note, emergencies bring out the best and the worst in people. You really see a lot of the best. Emergency crews have been out around the clock. All manner of people have been extending the hand of friendship to each other.

Just a note: If there are any people in need because of the storm, or if you have people who you need to be checked on in the area, please call us. We have a network of people who can help.

I was not happy without heat- we never left the  house for warmer digs. But like everything else that seems horrible at the time, it ended and you learn. And the kids still talk about it as if it was one big adventure- which, I guess, it was.

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I'm really not

Lately there have been a lot of discussions about Social Media Gurus, Real Estate Mavens and other assorted Influential People. I have seen lists and lists, and while there is some agreement in who should be included, it appears there is more discord when it actually comes to the choice.
I was speaking with @joespake, and we decided that the word Guru is hugely overused. We propose that these people be called Real Estate Jedi, since they are really leading the vanguard of change in a firmly established Empire.
Now- how to choose this list of Jedi? I suggested on twitter that a small fee would weed out the riff-raff and less serious, and maybe buy me a Big Mac meal as side benefit. We had a few takers:

• @andykaufman wants his money in escrow until he sees his name in print
• @tomallen1965 is willing to extend me $2 credit to his Cort stores
• @billlublin wants to be in the top 5- will pay cash. Cash is good.
• @rerockstar thought $5 would get him the Number One spot- think again. This isn’t REO.
• @mattdollinger confused the hell out of me by talking about financing the $2 over 30 years

And @jsheehan200, @propertynut, @CatherineGrison, @agent21 and @aPlaceOnTheLake weighed in on the discussion. @mayaREguru took exception to the dismissal of the word guru, and offered me $10 by DM to be left off. They win spots (except Maya- I bought pizza with the payoff) just because they engaged me and each other. Actually, “just” isn’t a good modifier. Engagement is what it is all about- in real estate, in social media and in life.
I think the big #fail of the other lists is that no one was asked if they wanted to be included. Being included means mentoring a bunch of neophytes whose stats aren’t great, who may pull you down in the rankings of some programs, and who likely will pester you with questions like, “What does RT mean?” “I need to spend HOW much time blogging?” and “Hashtag?”
So- this is what I am suggesting. I already have the first few for my list. Who else wants to be included?
Criteria:
• You have time to help new users
• You believe that various avenues of social media are actually valuable to Real Estate and business as part of a complete marketing program
• You are online and you tweet more than 20 times a week outside of DM (that’s only 4 a day, for crying out loud, with weekends off- correct me if I am wrong, @mattdollinger)
• You don’t score more than 30 on TwitBlock (www.twitblock.org) or you have a good reason for it, Britney
• You promise to not refer to yourself as a visionary, guru, illuminati, or demigod, recognizing that Jedi will do.
Add your name below and let’s see what we come up with.
This post may be reposted.

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ShadyCat

In response to Mike Mueller of areweconnected.com:

This is in regards to the post by URLesque. I have no problem with the objectification, personification or any other -ation of cats for my amusement. Cats do little enough by way of amusing anything else; why not have them contribute, at least through manipulation of their photos, to the collective happiness of the human race?

I mean…really.

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