Lance Armstrong – Thank You!

You’ve heard me talk about Clint Miller and his recent fight with cancer. The recent news coming from his wife (and him) has been nothing short of amazing and we’ve all been thankful to see his progress. None of us ever doubted for a moment that Clint would stay strong and we’ve kept the thoughts, prayers, and love heading his way. The other day, I spotted a tweet from Mike Mueller about Clint’s desire to meet Lance Armstrong – like many others, I spread the message as far and wide as I could.

By the end of the day, I found myself seeing status updates regarding Lance Armstrong and his video message to Clint. Huh? I immediately scrolled through the stream and found the video. Twenty four seconds of Lance’s day that wound up meaning the world to Clint and his friends. I could go on and on about how this made me feel about Lance and his LiveStrong organization, but I’ll let the video speak for itself.

photo courtesy of internets_dairy

Is there anybody out there?

There are times when social media seems like a very quiet place. As business owners we send out our messages, talk about our services, write our blog posts, and upload our videos. With all that activity, someone must be out there who will call us, tell us they need our services, and hire us to do the job. It doesn’t allows work that way and the silence can be discouraging. If no one calls or connects, does it mean we’re just spinning our wheels?

After a conversation with local San Antonio businesswoman Michelle Poteet (check out The Productivity Boost) about on and offline relationships, something she said had really stuck in my head. Social media is an excellent tool for reaching out to people you may not have met normally, but if they don’t connect back, you would never know they’re out there (other then some traffic numbers). Those connections are reassurance that you’re doing something right. What if they’re listening, but they’re not ready to connect yet – because they don’t need your services at this exact moment in time?

photo courtesy of Charles Williams

Clint Miller, my friend.

Clint Miller, know to many as @TheRealClint, might not be the most familiar name to some of you (although I’ve written about him before), but within the real estate industry, he is a giant among men. People know his name, people have stories to tell about him, and people respect him. Clint works in one of the segments of our industry that often gets little respect (internet lead generation and referrals), yet no one ever has a bad word to say about him. Everyone loves him. Clint is currently battling cancer and it came as a shock to most of us when we heard. What follows is part “get well soon” video and part “I’m amazed by social media” – which is something near and dear to Clint’s heart.

Clint is definitely my friend in the truest sense of the word and I look forward to hearing his delight and amazement as he recovers and sees the effect of the news on our industry and the people he knows. He’ll be humble and simply thank everyone, but the fact is he lives and breathes social media and although cancer is not the reason you want to see the impact you have on people’s lives, I know he would be thrilled to see how social media has proven to be a true connector of people.

Fight this my friend. We believe in you and will continue to support you and your family in every way we can.

Please visit the Clint Miller Benefit website for updates on Clint or if you wish to donate to the family (all donations go directly to Clint’s wife Angela).

Cancer is stupid.

Facebook Group – Clint Miller (@TheRealClint) Prayer Board

Twitter Hashtag – #weloveclint

There are many great blog posts being written with Clint in mind and Jay Thompson, Phoenix Real Estate Guy, is keeping track of them all on his post When Bad Things Happen to Great People. Clint Miller needs help.

Please support Clint and his family in any way you can.

Seesmic is no longer.

I used Seesmic to record quite a few videos (and even some comments here on the site) starting back in 2009. Since then, Seesmic shut down their video services and have focused on their desktop client instead. I emailed them (as they requested) so that they could process an archive of my videos for me, but so far, I haven’t received it (and I didn’t copy the videos to the RErockstar Channel on YouTube). For now, my Seesmic videos are gone. Hopefully, Seesmic will get me the archive and I can repost for posterity.

I have been trying to edit any old posts which contained Seesmic based videos so that you won’t see the big gray box and I apologize if I miss any (it’s hard to scan back through all these posts and find time to update them, all while conducting business and trying to keep new material heading your way). If you see the photo in this post in another post, you’ll know that I removed an old link to a Seesmic video.

photo courtesy of RealEstateZebra and LilZebra

Texas Pride.

I’ve been living in San Antonio, Texas since 2006 and have an obvious love for the state and the city. Not only do I enjoy it personally, but from a business perspective, you just can’t go wrong with Texas. Look at any “top ten” list these days and you’re probably going to see a mention of Texas; whether it’s San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Austin, or even some of the smaller cities, Texas truly is a force to be reckoned with. The future of Texas’ jobs, economy, growth, and real estate are always being touted as indicators of the state’s strength and value to residents and businesses. This video, put together by Platinum Top 50 highlights some of the great facts and statistics about Texas and more specifically, San Antonio. If you have any questions in your mind about the future of San Antonio and Texas as a whole, watch “Texas Rocks.”

Long time readers of this blog will already know that San Antonio Rocks.

photo courtesy of vxla

Realtors®, Realtors®, Everywhere.

In yesterday’s post about where to start when buying a home, I spoke about some of the bigger real estate search sites. Today’s post is about finding and choosing the Realtor® that’s right for you. Since you’ve found your way to this site, you know that it’s easy enough to find a Realtor®, as I say in the video – we’re everywhere. The key is finding the best agent that works best with you.

Related post: How to choose the Realtor® that’s right for you.

Review sites: Incredible Agents and Yelp.

Review me at: Incredible Agents (Matt Stigliano) and Yelp (Matt Stigliano).

photo courtesy of mikeporcenaluk

Real estate videos and more.

The RErockstar Channel on YouTube has been around since December 2008. A collection of videos from RErockstar.com as well as videos I’ve found interesting, thought I should share, and even a few that I just plain enjoy laughing along with, the RErockstar Channel is currently home to over one hundred and twenty videos covering everything from homes for sale to VA Loans to local San Antonio favorites to some incredibly funny videos by my friend Parry Gripp. If you haven’t visited it yet, stop by and subscribe. I’ll be doing a lot more video in the coming year as I continue to make this site “Your all access pass to San Antonio real estate.”

photo courtesy of dailyinvention

Gorgeous views are just the beginning…

Learn more at 19311terrabrook.com.

I’ve always enjoyed self-deprecating humor and in this parody of what real estate is really like, Brent Chapman provides for more than a few chuckles. I certainly hope your Realtor® isn’t like this and I guarantee you won’t catch me in your shower or drinking from your milk carton when I list your home for sale.

Plastic Tap Water Dance

I’ll be the first to admit that I prefer bottled water over San Antonio’s tap water. In fact, other than some of the far flung mountain areas I’ve been able to visit in my travels, I’m not really a fan of tap water at all. Strangely enough, when I lived in Los Angeles, I found the tap water there to be alright, but overall, I’m like everyone else…give me a bottle of water and I’m a thirst quenching machine.

This year’s Blog Action Day topic is water. Blog Action Day encourages bloggers around the world to post about the same issue on October 15th. This year’s topic is obviously something we think about a lot in San Antonio – just look at the nightly news for the latest reading on the Edwards Aquifer to see just how crucial water is in our city. We talk about water more than anywhere I’ve ever lived and although I’ve become much more water-conscious since moving here, I spend a lot of time thinking about bottled water.

I’ve made efforts to curb my bottled water usage and try to use my own tap water, filtered in my own kitchen as my drinking water of choice. Even though you’re not supposed to refill the plastic bottles you buy at the store (and I’ll probably die of some strange illness because of it), most of the bottles of water you’ll see me sipping from are really filled with filtered tap water. As I read through the information on water (and watched the video I’ve included below), I stopped and thought that maybe I should try to eliminate all bottled water usage in my life. Is it really necessary for me to spend $2 (and sometimes more) on a bottle of water? I don’t think so. If you see me drinking bottled water, do me a favor and remind me…we could all do better.

photo courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt