jonwashburn: August 2007

Business ethics: when to choose profit over whats right

 So I don't know all of the issues surrounding the Falcons decision to keep Michael Vick on their team, and maybe I am naive, but this quote really shocked me.

Today the Atlanta Falcons announced in a statement "We cannot tell you today that Michael is cut from the team. Cutting him may feel better emotionally for us and for many of our fans, but it's not in the long-term best interests of our franchise".

I feel it is pretty safe to replace the words "Cutting him may feel better emotionally" with "It is the ethical thing to do".

It sickens me when leadership compromises on their beliefs for extra profit.    

5 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 27 2007 11:42PM

ActiveRain member - TV Star - at least for a day...

Check out this CBS interview of ActiveRain's Project Blogger Superstar Apprentice, Kevin Tomlinson.  

Kevin Tomlinson

7 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 27 2007 10:59PM

And the Winners Are....

Although ActiveRain is a terrific place to strengthen your blogging muscles, a blogger's workout is not complete without incorporating regular blog readings of outside, non-Rainer blogs. (I myself follow quite a few outside blogs through my google feed reader.)
Colleen Kulikowski spearheaded a challenge to the members to showcase just the sort of excellent outside blogs available for supplemental reading. Competition winners (judged by panel) receive bonus points and an AR feature for their blog post winning entry.
The Winners of the ActiveRain Contest / Laurie Manny Challenge are:

1st Place - Diane Aurit  1st Place - 1,500 bonus points and featured on AR
Diane, your post was delightful, and most of all really communicated why each of your chosen outside bloggers are worth the time to read. Very engaging and persuasive. Nice selection and variety.

2nd Place - Chris Legguist  2nd Place 1,000 points and featured on AR

Chris, similar to Diane's, your post was also gentle on the eye and beautifully designed. I like your intro and the theme of sharing small personal antidotes as to why each blog you chose is relevant today. 

3rd Place - Ann Cummings   3rd place 750 points and featured on AR. 

Ann, thanks for taking us on the journey of your journey---good lure! Excellent commentary on the three blogs you chose, and kudos to venturing into the unknown. 

Honorable Mentions -  3 will be given out with 500 points awarded each
Angie, Lola, and Fran, you ladies did such a wonderful job, we had to give you some AR love too!
But for those of you who didn't "win", ActiveRain is feeling rather generous today and not leaving you out--
  • all those that entered and did not win bonus points --- you will be each getting 200 points!!!
  • And we cannot forget our judges and the inspiration for this contest -- Laurie Manny  - 500 points for their effort!

 

Thank you to the Contest Judges  were:

28 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 20 2007 04:47PM

Best Blog Posts of the Day: 8/17/2007

Can’t Sell My Phoenix Real Estate? I’ll Just Rent It!

from Phoenix Real Estate and Homes for Sale - Dalton's Arizona Homes Blog by Jonathan Dalton

 

The opposite

from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin

 

The Galapagos Post Office

from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin

Comparing Regional Real Estate Markets

from Zillow Blog by Tommy Unger

The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now

from The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss by Tim Ferriss

Local Search Will Affect Your Business - How You Can Win

from Future of Real Estate Marketing by Joel Burslem

Agents Seeing Success with Online Video

from Future of Real Estate Marketing by Joel Burslem

How to Pay Off Your Subprime Mortgage

from Future of Real Estate Marketing by Joel Burslem

Story of an entrepreneur: Doug Lebda

from Inman News Blog by Inman News

 

3 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 17 2007 11:55AM

The opposite of Redfin...

Brio's mission is to become the opposite of Redfin.

As far as I can tell after talking with Glenn, Redfin's CEO, Redfin wants to be known for providing a minimal level of service to "rich geeks" for a cheap price. 

Brio will be known for providing the highest level of service, to those who care about that kind of service and expertise, and offer it at a fair price.

I believe Redfin's intentions are pure.  They are looking out for the consumers best interest by attempting to make the home buying and selling process more effecient. The way they propose doing that will likely work well for some percentage of their target niche; rich, cheap, geeks, that are knowledgable of their local real estate market. (Glenn used the phrase "rich geeks" in an interview with ActiveRain.  I think both Glenn and I are comfortable using that word because we both easily qualify as geeks.)  

I hope they succeed because having a Redfin, gives Brio an anchor to play against. 

Redfin is on one end of the service spectrum and Brio is on the other.  We are both breaking convention in the quest to make the real estate process better.  We are just going about it in different ways.  Redfin and Brio occupy opposite ends of the same spectrum.  Both ends are remarkable, it is the center, where everyone else plays that is the slow death.

Update: This post was inspired by this post authored by Seth Godin.  

10 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 17 2007 01:44AM

Best Blog Posts of the Day: 8/16/2007

A Realtor's Guide To Surviving the Countrywide Crisis

from America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker by World Wide Credit Corporation

The housing boom legacy

from Inman News Blog by Brad Inman

2 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 16 2007 12:52PM

Best Blog Posts of the Day: 8/14/2007

The housing boom legacy

from Inman News Blog by Brad Inman

One Blog Post on "Emptiness" Sure Did Fill Up the Blogosphere!

from Property Merchandising & Home Staging Blog by Craig Schiller (Real Estaging) (REAL ESTAGING)

Solution for the Real Estate Market ? Take Your House Public ?

from Blog Maverick by Mark Cuban

 

0 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 14 2007 11:45AM

Best Blog Posts of the Day: 8/13/2007

Explaining the Global Credit Crunch

from TRANSPARENT REAL ESTATE (www.TransparentRE.com) by Pat Kitano

 

US tech company behind massive new human-tracking system in China

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

 

US Spy Agencies See Bloggers as Journalists

from Slashdot by Zonk

 

Best Books for an MBA

from Entrepreneur Blogs by Sam

 

Foreclosure tale: Five Refis in Corona

from L.A. Land by Peter Viles

 

Flat Ben's Online CMA and Proposal

from SEATTLE Area Real Estate - Active Rain by ARDELL DellaLoggia (SOUND REALTY)

 

I Used to Get 5,372 Hits a Day Until My Mom Learned to Stop Hitting Refresh

from Phoenix Real Estate and Homes for Sale - Dalton's Arizona Homes Blog by Jonathan Dalton

 

 

 

2 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 13 2007 12:45PM

Best Blog Posts of the Day: 8/10/2007

Findability - It’s Important!

from GeekEstate Blog by Drew Meyers

 

Whitehat SEO tips for bloggers

from Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO by Matt Cutts

 

Will Top Producers Blog?

from Beth Butler and the Real Estate Genome by Beth Butler - EWM Realtor

 

GDrive is Here

from Mashable! by Pete Cashmore

 

How To Embed TruliaStats Widgets In ActiveRain Posts

from Turner's Perspective by Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows)

 

What to do when you're wrong

from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin

 

Subprime The Movie

from Condo Blog by Anthony Longo

 

Mobile Photo Blogging With Your iPhone

from Turner's Perspective by Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows)

2 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 10 2007 01:30PM

Cool links for the Day 8/9/2007


How Much Does It Cost to Overprice Your Home?

from r e n o . r e a l t y . b l o g by Guy Johnson 

 

Ever get that sudden sinking feeling?

from blog.pmarca.com by Marc Andreessen 

 

Google News Announces Limited Comments. Everyone Needs To Calm Down.

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington 

 

flying back to london

from gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" by hugh macleod 

 

The Seven Sins of Solutions

from How to Change the World by GuyKawasaki 

 

How to Stop Wasting Time on the Internet.

from Entrepreneur Blogs by Bret

7 commentsJonathan Washburn • August 09 2007 03:11PM