Well...

Mohave Real Talk in the news...

My podcast partner at Mohave Real Talk, Evan Fuchs, is featured on the front page of the Mohave Daily News this morning. He was interviewed about using social networking and podcasting for business and other means.

Full article here...

BULLHEAD CITY - Ten years ago, if a company wanted to get more exposure, it would print flyers, make some phone calls and maybe even have a sign spinner on the sidewalk.

Today, the nature of marketing has changed. What once was a tangible medium now is an Internet-based model that relies on the use of social media. The utilization of Web-based social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook has opened doors between businesses and clients, allowing for a greater flow of information.

For local business people like Evan Fuchs and Nikki Reagan, business means communication and transactions in real time, online.

The spread of information, says Evan Fuchs of Bullhead/Laughlin Realty, in an integral part of the real estate business. With national reports daily about the dire state of the mortgage scene and rising foreclosures, Fuchs found himself in a different position.

“There's so much bad information out there,” mainly because, he said, real estate markets differ quite a bit regionally. National averages are not always indicative of the reality in specific locations. “Locally, our market is very different.”

Fuchs says Bullhead City is on the rebound, with the numbers indicating a possible balancing of supply and demand for homes in the city. And he decided to do something about it.

“I kind of look at it as my job to get what I know out there without spin,” said Fuchs. “Sometimes it's better, sometimes it's worse but it's the truth and I think that's what people want to see.

“I've got a little bit of techie going through me,” he said, noting that his fascination with technology helps him more easily spread information via the Internet.

First came the Web site. Then the blog. Then the podcast.

“Social media opens a lot of doors,” said Fuchs.

From its inception 10 years ago, Bullhead/Laughlin Realty's Web site has seen considerable monthly traffic and brings in “a ton” of business. “I've definitely found business through my blog,” he said.

Through the development and integration of the regional multiple listing service (MLS) - a database of home listings in the area - Fuchs met fellow Tri-state Realtor Todd Tarson of Kingman. After a few months of comparing notes via their individual blogs, Fuchs and Tarson realized the next step was podcasting.

“We talk about real estate and we do market updates, that sort of thing, but we also just kind of chat,” said Fuchs, of their now weekly Internet broadcast. “It's real casual.”

The co-hosts of Mohave Real Talk connect via Skype, an online phone system, record the show and post it for free download on the Web site.

Fuchs says he favors Social media because it simply gives his audience what they're looking for without pressure or hassles, which helps build trust.

“Our thing really - and this is what the Web site, podcast, blogging are all about - is to be a source of information for people,” he said. “I don't like things getting crammed down my throat, so I try not to cram things down people's throats. ... We just put information out there and just hope that people find it useful.”

My hat's off to Evan for making the podcast become a reality. So far I've had plenty of fun being a part of the show. We hope the podcast helps some become more familiar with the local market(s) and promise to give some insight into Realtor membership and other industry issues as well.

Thanks again, Evan -- and that sure was a very nice article.

Talking about recovery

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Latest podcast is up

The latest podcast on local real estate related issues (and much more) is up at Mohave Real Talk (click on that link for more). Will be recording the next installment later tonight. Give it a listen.

Mohave Real Talk....

Some time ago I promised myself that I would start doing some other forms of communications besides simply typing away here on this blog. Luckily I found another person that had agreed to help out and together we put together a podcast.

Click on this link to listen to the first ever podcast I've been a part of at Mohave Real Talk.

Evan and Todd introduce the podcast, how they got started blogging, and then do a quick update on the Bullhead City and Kingman markets.

It was only the first one and there are some bugs to work out as we move along, but I want to thank Evan Fuchs from the Bullhead City Blog for all the hard work. And I do mean all the hard work.

We hope to have more podcasts to share (and I believe we have scheduled some time today to make that happen and I will post when it is available).

Kingman's Tea Party

The Tea Party event held in Kingman on April 15th looked like a nice event and the comments I have received in my email say that the number of people that showed up was in the 200 to 300 range for the time period the event lasted. Not bad considering is was fairly cold and windy (I saw snow flurries that afternoon).

I wish to thank Paul Frankfurter for allowing me to post the photos he and his wife took at the event.

You can also find more photos here at links here and here.

Another email report from neighboring city, Lake Havasu, had a couple of thousand folks show up at their event. Wow!! Congrats to them. Here is a link to an article about that.

Oh... and one last thing... for the editor of the Miner... didn't see any white sheets worn by the attendees and no crosses were torched. Guess you got that one wrong too. Apology from you... ASAP.

The government or you??

I hope to see more vid's like this... and I'll post them here if I do.

Updated 2/13/09

Because all economies have issues...

Ouch...

Have you heard...

Hat tip to the Phoenix Real Estate Guy for this.

See it for yourself...

I wrote about the Saturday night Mayor's forum on Sunday. Yesterday we all read the article in the paper.

Now we can all see it for ourselves. Here is the video of Mayoral Candidate Bill Nugent. The video only includes Bill talking so you won't see the other candidates speak.

I'm sharing this here but I am not making endorsements, implied, expressed, or otherwise. The whole town seems to be buzzing about some of the comments from Saturday night so here is a chance for anyone who couldn't make it to the forum to see and hear what was said.

I found the video at youtube.com... enjoy.



To be fair, if the other Mayoral candidates have video that included their presentations I will post those videos here as well. Send me a link.

Interesting look at construction at Hoover Dam

I just saw this video at YouTube on the Hoover Dam Bypass project and wanted to share (hat tip to Justin Chambers for finding this).

Trying my hand at video

I certainly will not be confused with some big name film maker, Hollywood type. In fact this is nothing but a short silent film (at least it is in color).

I've been meaning to mess around with presenting a video of my listings and thought now was a fine time. I spent zero dollars to produce this. Actually I did buy the Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 along with the photo program that I use for my personal photo's at home, but I bought it so long ago I don't consider it an expense for this project.

I used my new Kodak EasyShare V570 for the video recording. Remember I bought this camera for wide angle views for my listings. If I end up liking the video stuff I will certainly buy a more proper video recording device.

Well here is the vid...



Now I post this here simply because I'm looking for some input. I also have this posted on my other blog that I have started for the purpose of featuring my listings. I do try to keep my intention of not using this here blog for marketing efforts. But please check out the video.

My problems for now are that the camera records in MOV files. Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 can handle the editing of the MOV files... but dang it is slow and a burden on my office PC. I like the Elements program other than that. I'm better with Windows Movie Maker, the program that came with my version of Windows, however it does not edit MOV files. I know there are programs that convert MOV to AVI or WMV but I wonder if I lose video quality when converted.

This project took up most of my afternoon yesterday. It probably took an hour to shoot the video, another two hours to edit, and easily another couple of hours to render the video (to me that seems really slow). I uploaded to YouTube last night and now have posted it to both of my blogs.

The weather didn't do me any favors yesterday either. It was cloudy and windy (where did my blue sky's go??). Again, this is mainly just a test run. I think I can do better. I would love to add audio (but the camera is a bit limited with audio... especially when it is windy).

I would love to offer this kind of service to my clients, as long as it looks legit and will make a marketing difference.