Eric Blackwell's Blog: All Categories

It has been REALLY busy around the online real estate community lately... seems like the new year has brought a ton of new things to the game. Team Eric is now doing OK in the greatest real estate agent in the world contest(for the moment). That is gratifying, but our team is ALL about respecting the other members of the community. It is important to us to give props where they are due.

So each week, I will be writing a tribute to one of our fellow competitors and acknowledging the strengths that they bring to the game. It takes courage to put your site out there and go for it with the best of the best. Ardell here is yours..

Ardell has written for the Rain City Guide for quite a while. (here's her contest entry for those who have not seen it.) I have…

The 2008 Ryder Cup is coming to Louisville Kentucky! This is the first time since I have been here that an event this large will be held. The 2008 Ryder Cup will be held at Valhalla Golf Course and will attract tens of thousands of tourists, bringing with it literally Millions of Dollars.

One of the most unique opportunities that the Ryder Cup brings with it is the chance to rent your home for a SIGNIFICANT profit. Upscale homes in the areas around the Golf Course will bring in rentals as high as $30,000 for the week. No, I am not kidding! Of course, this also means that locals wishing to rent their house for the Ryder Cup must vacation or go elsewhere for the week, but you can have a LOT of fun for that kind of money and STILL make a profit.

Several…

Those who know me online KNOW that I am all about relationships.

That’s my currency and my value to people is my word. As contests like the GREATEST REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE WORLD unfold…sometimes all you can do is correct things as they go…

Bob Wilson from San Diego and a couple of others did me a great service yesterday by clarifying something for me. He enquired about whether he would get a link back from my page AFTER the contest was over (with a bio and a picture for being one of the greatest real estate agents in the world). I indicated that he would.

In doing so, it “could” be claimed that I violated the spirit of the competition…I do NOT want to do that in any way…I am trying to not only win this competition, but build the authority that will…

So with everyone posting about the greatest real estate agent in the world this and the greatest real estate agent in the world that, (and I gotta hand it to ya Boris, the rap song was FANTASTIC-when's that due out?) it is time for me to unveil my team! See this is a 3 month long contest and you need a team to carry you!

These people ARE the Greatest Real Estate Agents in the World:

They are the people which will grace the top spot in Google when all is said and done on May 1:

Jennifer Karlen and Her Husband Jon - You met them in my last post!

Judy Orr - The amazing JudyO! from Chicagoland She has been dumping links my way to get my little EricOnSearch post fighting among the big boyz for the front page! Thanks Judy!

Ken Smith - Yeah. that makes it…

I have often said that success online involves relationships FAR more than trickery. It is the basis of how Google views the web and why they monitor linking between sites as part of their algorithm. For the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the world contest, I need to come up with some world class real estate agent friends to succeed. The tough part is that many of my real estate agent friends and greatest buddies are now my competitors...what to do?

ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW GREATEST REAL ESTATE AGENT TEAM MEMBERS

JENNIFER KARLEN (and Husband Jon). - They work with me at our office. Jon (aka Malok on REW) is an amazingly focused link builder. (Better than I am actually). They Sell Kentucky Horse Farms. With the current incentives for new breeding / foaling…

Well, i don't see much value in a contest without some daily updates as to what I am doing...

Most people think that SEO is all about secrets. The truth (at least mine anyway) is that it is about hard work! I am going to post DAILY to this blog showing readers what I am doing to BUILD AUTHORITY for my Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World entry on my blog.

First steps:

My first step was to offer people incentive to join me. Building authority means getting other people involved. See the link above to my post. I offer others CREDIT and ACCOLADES for success if they help me...SEO truly often boils down to relationships!

My second step was to start promoting. i posted about the contest on the Bloodhound Blog. Why? That would mean more competitors? Yes,…

Beechdale Place is a quiet, wooded new home development in Louisville Kentucky.  The REALTORS working with Beechdale Places developers have created the best of both worlds in how to market these wonderful new homes. Tergeo Builders have given The HKM Group (a team of agents at our office) the access and ability to use the latest technology to find home buyers in today's market. The HKM group in exchange is using some unique approaches to get the word out about this neat development.

Here's what they are doing:

Beechdale Place New Homes Blog - They are providing visitors with the latest happenings as homes are built. Notice that they are up to date with the latest lots that have been sold.

Louisville New Home Showcase - They have entered the development…

It was announced in several places, including here, that Yahoo is laying off "hundreds of its employees".

I have taken some time to think over why it is that Yahoo is laying off hundreds of people in an ever-growing industry (online search / online advertising). I mean think about it. This is an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds. if you can't make money in THIS environment, you must really not be good at business, right?

I mean, i get it if they were in the mortgage business, but they are not. So I went to Google and Yahoo in search of answers. All I needed to do was take a couple of screenshots of their home pages:

CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

Game. Set. Match for Google. Those who FOCUS on one thing very…