Yesterday afternoon, Jeff Brown and I were discussing the notion of there being no such thing as bad publicity. We seemed to agree that when it comes to blogs, particularly real estate blogs, this is untrue; bad publicity truly is bad publicity, especially given the long memories of the search engines.

Enter Carol Hian, a writer on Redfin’s San Diego Sweet Digs blog. It seems Carol can’t handle anyone questioning Redfin’s business model and recent changes that have made Redfin more mainstream than revolutionary.

But instead of offering a defense, Carol instead chose to attack Kris Berg, one of the most respected writers in the real estate blogosphere. In particular, she managed to find a way to take issue with _ get this _ a food drive the Bergs recently conducted.

Anyone can organize a canned food drive, but without can openers, a cook top and plastic ware, what good does it do?  Isn’t that pretty superficial?  Same with blogger fodder.  What is the value of feeding your readers meat of any quality if you took the goods from someone else’s fridge and then serve it up with bitter herbs?  Everyone ends up with a bad taste, longing for a barf bag and mouthwash.

Is it really possible that she’s so uninformed to not understand the food was going to be delivered to a food bank? Or was she so flustered at the gall of someone questioning a business plan that she lashed out without thought to common sense?

Justice at least has been served, from Glenn Kelman’s expression of disgust over the post to the current push to alter the top of Google’s search results for the name Carol Hian.

Since she apparently only is employed by Redfin to write for the blog (”Carol brings a unique real estate background and perspective to Redfin” - indeed!), hopefully Glenn and Co. will see the error in their hiring and send Carol Hian packing. If the job market ends up being too tight, hopefully she owns a can opener.

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Wow.

Jonathan Washburn over at Active Rain put together an inaugural Real Estate Top Blog Index, averaging different sites’ Alexa and Compete.com rankings. All of us know Alexa’s somewhat fundamentally flawed and I assume Compete is as well.

It’s only when you click on the hyperlink that you discover that it’s not really me in 12th place but Jay Thompson. He gets the link love, I get the Google Alert. (And I’m not going to try and correct it … Francy says Jay’s ego is big enough.)

That really is me and Tobey in 30th place, which is more than acceptable when nearly half of the top 30 are group blogs and here it’s just me and an illiterate but sexy beagle.

As I said before, thanks to you the readers for everything. Without you … well, I’d still be writing but it would be a far less interesting place.

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One day a couple of weeks ago I woke up and discovered this blog has become more local in nature.

This still is not necessarily the place to turn when you want details of the next NASCAR race (which Jimmy Johnson won at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday) or the next big happening (such as Debbie Friedman performing at Temple Gan Elohim last night). I try to mix in some of the local events - Glendale Glitters, Glendale’s annual Chocolate affair, spring training … but there’s a bit too much for one person to handle, especially when the core business - real estate - gets busy.

Once upon a time you’d see discussions on Redfin and other start-ups, about the latest issues troubling the greater real estate world. And then I started writing for Agent Genius and most of those posts found their way over there.

I’d like to think we haven’t become less interesting in our own backyard as a result. This seems to be the gathering place for Canadians looking to purchase real estate here in the Phoenix market. And that’s not by accident. I try to provide some flavor to the Valley but it’s impossible to capture everything that happens in such a large place on a daily basis.

Nevertheless, this has become a kinder, gentler blog … a claim that can’t be made on all such platforms in the Phoenix real estate market. My voice is different than that of Chris or Dru or Steve or Jay or Heather or Rod or Christoph or any of the other couple dozen agents who are writing for wider audiences.

It’s almost amazing that so many writers can reside in the same place and continue to provide fresh views and content. Yet somehow we do with no true coordination.

Maybe if something aggravates me sufficiently you’ll see an old-fashioned rant appear. I’m not the type that ever says never. But for now, we hope you’ve enjoyed the gentle evolution of the blog as much as I have.

Thanks for reading.

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Just for fun …

The Virginia Association of REALTORs gets it. It’s one of the few associations around that have adopted blogging as a communication vehicle. And as part of the effort to build traffic, Ben Martin has initiated the first annual Blog Brawl - a contest where you pick your favorite blog in a March Madness-style setup.

I survived the first round but now am facing the reality in the Round of 32 of facing Agent Genius, a multi-author blog founded by Benn Rosales and Lani Anglin.

There’s no way for me to speak badly of Benn and Lani, especially since I’m also one of the contributors there. I’m sure the fact no kids will go near their house on Halloween to trick or treat is mere coincidence. Or the odd lack of stray animals anywhere nearby. And I’m certain the “I (Club) Baby Harp Seals” bumper sticker on Benn’s car was placed there by some prankster.

But, should you find it in your heart to vote for a humble beagle and his owner in a battle against corporate America, we’d be very appreciative.

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Oh, what NAR unintentionally has wrought.

Once upon a time there was an Austin-based real estate blog named Realtor Genius. NAR’s trademark police came in and issues a cease and desist and the name changed to Agent Genius.

Shortly thereafter, a handful of prominent real estate bloggers were invited to join the AG ranks. After whining that I hadn’t been included in the initial draft, I was given the keys to the club.

Baby, have you ever wondered

Wondered whatever became of me

I’m writing on a blog in Austin, Texas

Austin Texas, home of the AG

I’m writing on Agent Genius in Austin, Texas

A couple of short months later and Agent Genius is 19 writers strong, including some of the best the real estate blogosphere has to offer. I mean, they really let me write on the same blog as the Queen of All Real Estate Blogging, Teresa Boardman.

Last night AG was pimped big-time, rebranded to reflect what is has become: a national real estate magazine.

Shortly into the growth phase of Agent Genius I went through a bit of malaise, trying to figure out why I was even on a group blog. It took a little while to realize anything that truly adds to the conversation fed through the blogs is a very good thing.

See you there. And here.

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