Iowa City Real Estate Blog

It's cold in Coralville again today... 5° Fahrenheit to be precise.  (-15° Celcius). We have another winter storm warning from 6.00pm Wednesday through Thursday. I say another, because I'm already having trouble keeping up with how many winter storms we've had this winter!

Now if you think I'm unimpressed by all this cold weather, below is a photograph of a certain someone who is even less impressed than me! This is my cat Tigger and I actually think his body language says it all. He is hating this weather with a passion, (and is usually very vocal about it). He insisted on testing the deck this morning in this photo - I think he has an almost resigned look about him... (Note how he somehow manage to get snow on his face.:-)

After years of grappling with template websites and being unhappy with the results I've taken the plunge into the Wordpress world and built a better website.

Wordpress is a blogging platform, right? No, it's much more than that! The possibilities with Wordpress are endless as to what you can achieve with your website, with only your own creativity setting the boundaries...

Of course that's oversimplifying it a bit, you need to work with a great Web Developer too. That's where I got lucky when I emailed Kaspars Dambis, a member of the Wordpress Community for his help. We hit a couple of bumps in the road in the development, but that's exactly where he showed his true worth. When a particular plug-in I wanted didn't work as hoped he just designed another plug-in! He did what I do in the real estate world, he found solutions rather than focus on problems.

What made me think Wordpress was right for me? I have the AR community to thank for that. Blogging here for the last 5 months has been an enormous learning experience. There are some VERY tech-savvy Rainers and I have definitely profited from all that knowledge.

All my new found knowledge needed to be put to good use, hence the new website. If you're grappling with template websites, then I would highly recommend this solution. It went a whole lot easier than I expected and I have so much more control over the design and content. Here's a link to the website for you to check it out for yourself.

Update February 2010: Here is the "New, Improved Website..."  After some brain storming with Kaspars this is what we came up with. The plan was to make the site more user friendly with much more visible tabs. I think it works well...

Recipe For Rich Chocolate Fudge - A Classic Holiday Treat

I included this recipe in my December Newsletter and after hearing back from an appreciative reader on just how easy it is to make decided to share it here today.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14oz can SWEETENED condensed milk - (NOT evaporated)
Dash salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
Over low heat, melt chocolate, sweetened milk and salt. Remove from heat, stir in walnuts and vanilla.

Pour into an 8 or 9 inch foil-lined square pan, cool for about 2 hours. Turn onto a cutting board, peel off the foil and cut into little squares.


Holiday Tip: Maybe you're out of ideas on a gift for someone. Make them some of this fudge and put it in a pretty tin - quick, cheap and highly appreciated for sure...

I have seen 2 posts recently sharing Mike Parker's (negative) view on social media. Here's a link to an article of his on the BrokerAgentSocial network. (Note the irony of posting this article on a social networking site - Hmm??)

Let's check out whether he is qualified to state his opinions as facts on the subject of social media: First of all, Mike Parker is the Principal for Compass Internet Systems, an SEO Company that charges mega bucks to optimize agents websites and get them on the first page of Google. Part of Compasses pitch is to assure you that you will get leads from your optimized website. I'd suggest he has zero interest in you getting your leads for FREE on twitter or Facebook - Reason enough to slam the "competition" I'd say...

Okay, so now lets look at the attack itself: Does Mr Parker know what he's talking about? Probably not. As far as I can tell he has no actual proof that social media doesn't work, he's just stating an opinion. Has he tried using either Facebook or twitter for business purposes? I think not. I'd say what he's basically doing is telling us that the Chinese restaurant down the street sucks, although he's never actually been to that restaurant... A reliable source? Again, I think not!

Let me just say that SEO, (search engine optimization) and social media are BOTH important when it comes to creating a strong online presence. I believe we need to embrace the different technologies and platforms to achieve our goals.

What I think is the strength of social media is that we have an opportunity to show our authentic selves. People can "get to know us" before they call or email. You need to "get" social media to know what I'm talking about here. If you do get it you'll know that twitter and Facebook offer the perfect opportunity to "connect" with the buying and selling public in a way that was not possible before these platforms came to be.

Having said that, SEO has not become redundant through the arrival of social media. We still need to optimize our websites and our blogs. They work in tandem with one another. Anyone who can't see that is short sighted and missing out on the huge opportunities the different technologies and platforms give us.

Now in case you're wondering, I have no first hand proof that social media works yet. I have been an ActiveRain member for just over 4 months. A couple of weeks later I started a Facebook Fan Page and became active on twitter. AR is a great community where you learn A LOT. Through professionals I have come to trust on this network I know that blogging and social media is a marathon not a sprint. Just like any other form of marketing, this will take time too.

And by the way, getting back to Mr Parker at Compass. That's what they told me too. SEO is not an overnight sensation, it takes time to optimize a website, that's why they only do annual subscriptions (!) One year later I was $3500 lighter and NOT on the front page of Google... I think I'll take my chances with social media.... It's not a sinkhole, or a magic bullet - And it may be time consuming, but it is FREE.

Peggy Chirico wrote one of the posts I mention in the first paragraph. It's a members only post, which is why I haven't linked to it directly.

Yesterday I spent the day with new friends watching college football, drinking beer and eating all day long...Sounds great, right? It was. And it was just what the doctor ordered after a very topsy turvy couple of days...

Topsy turvy might be a tiny bit of an understatement when you learn I'm writing this post in a hotel room on my laptop after an attic fire in my home made it inhabitable for the time being!

Yesterday morning I was feeling low thinking about all the restoration work that needs to be done before I can return to my home. Today, after a perfectly normal Saturday I'm happy my laptop is in fine shape and probably many of my personal belongings will be able to be salvaged. (The Dyson and my PC are probably write-offs, but it's the Dyson that gets the most air play when anyone asks!)

This is definitely right up there when it comes to lousy experiences in my life. (And if you read my last post on Remembrance Day you'll know I've been around the block a few times). As it turns out though, this is another one of those times where I have an opportunity to grow. I'm sure I'll have lots to share with you in future posts about what to watch out for if you ever get hit by a personal catastrophe like this.

The biggest thing I am taking away from this up to now is that this is a time when neighbors become new friends and make what is an absolutely awful experience so much easier to bear. The two guys in the picture are meeting for the first time. My house burning impacted three families - and these two are members of the other two  families.  As you can see, love at first sight... Well, maybe not love, but there's certainly something going on...