Led in part by a dedicated track for the Real Estate industry called REBlogWorld; the track of sessions marks a series of new media events making their way into the Real Estate industry domain.

Just recently we’ve seen the first ever Real Estate Barcamp (rebarcamp.com) in San Francisco, led by Andy Kaufman.

I began my career working with Real Estate agents and became very familiar with the industry. I saw the multiple listing service get packaged in the form of IDX, and watched while service providers got rich by brokering MLS data back to agents that provided it. As much as Realtors were taken aback by the web revolution, I think the current change in media is going to shape the future of the industry as much as it did 10 years ago with templatized websites and MLS data.

What’s more, the current change is slightly more confusing. It was fairly easy to justify to agents that people would look for homes online, however it is noticeably more difficult to explain to an Realtor why they need to build relationships of Facebook and Twitter. The innovative Realtors that really understand how to invest their time wisely in the proper use of social media, will have a decided advantage.

I predict that those who make the investment in social media today, will be rich in social capital tomorrow. The leadership positions in the future of your communities are being formed right now. Agents like Ginger Wilcox and Heather Elias provide great examples for what it means to be a community ambassador online and how that translates to success as an agent.

What are you doing to ensure you have a leadership position in your community? If you aren’t sure, you might want to talk to folks at RealEstateTomato.com, they provide social tools and training for real estate and mortgage professionals.

Facebook and Twitter are not services you can ignore, unless of course you don’t plan to be in the industry for more than 3 years.

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Taco Bell spotted the emerging trend in urban vinyl toys, spawned by KidRobot, and decided to do something similar for their kids meals. The result was a creation called ‘Bellhedz’.

Bellhedz’ bare a strong resemblance to the Dunny that KidRobot popularized, largely led by Tristan Eaton. Eaton now leads an impassioned community of ‘art collectors’ that run rampant at shows like Comicon.

Lesson #1

When there is real community behind something like the Dunny, don’t ever rip them off, especially if you are corporate America

At the same time Taco Bell was launching their copycat toys, the urban vinyl enthusiast flooded the same location with a flash mob of their own. Their rally, aptly named Death to false vinyl rally, drew thousands of people and tons of free press.

If you search for Bell Hedz, 90% of the posts in Google are about Taco Bell ripping off the design community.

Lesson #2

When you’ve made a mistake, acknowledge it quickly, and involve the community in your resolution.

This is not the kind of press Taco Bell wants or needs. If they would have pulled their toys quicker, apologized publicly, and tried to involve the community in the resolution, they could have salvaged the situation.

Instead Taco Bell did the opposite. They called their lawyers, they pressed on with Bell Hedz anyway, and it culminated into a marketing disaster. One that will live with them for a while.

If you are a marketer in 2009, you need to be hyper aware of the marketplace conversations happening around your brand. You need to start marketplace conversations that advance your initiatives, address customer concerns, and build trust in you as a source of information for your industry.

Community matters. It’s an investment. But one that pays off in the most important circumstances.

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A moment comes in ones life where we need to stop and reflect. Asking questions like, “where we’ve been, where we’re going, and what needs to change” are all good things to ponder. The last twelve months my life has had it share of ups and downs, leaving me with the feeling of not knowing what is right side up.

Here is a recap of top 6 events that has affected my professional career over the last year.

(1) Baby on the way, due next month, 9/14
(2) Attempted to remake our company brand, Integral Impressions, but later ‘we’ decided against it.
(3) Started SDBloggers meetup, and watched it grow to over 150 members
(4) Seriously pondered moving to San Francisco, but decided to stay in San Diego
(5) Founded another startup, helped secure funding, and resigned 8 weeks later
(6) Parted ways from long time business partner Chris Abad

With all these recent events leaving me somewhat discombobulated, I thought I would seek therapy the best way I know how, by blogging.

Here goes… oh, and excuse the lack of organization and jumbled sentence structure. (If you’ve read any of my previous work, you’re probably used to it by now).

Given these recent changes, I feel more confident than ever in the direction my career and company are headed. None of this would be possible without support from all of you. I must thank my family, friends, and colleagues for continuing to be the foundation I build my ideals upon.

These last 12 months have taught me more than any other year in business. I’ve learned key lessons that I am convinced, can’t be taught, but rather experienced. Here are just a few I’d like to share:

* Community matters
If you are building a website, product, application, or just playing with Lego’s, you need to build a community around your creation. If you don’t know why, you should add the following bloggers to your reader: Community Guy, Jennifer Van Grove, or Chris Brogan.

* The difference between venture funded startups and self funded companies is focus.
VC funded companies are focused on adoption and growing the user base, while trying to figure out a way to make a profit. Self funded startups are focused on cash flow and profits while trying to figure out a way to grow adoption.
I like the politics of the later, even though it means self funding often leads to slower growth rates, and limits the pool of ideas you can pick from. A blog that I really like that touches on this dichotomy is TonyWright.com

* How becoming a new father affects your perception of business
If you’re a Dad, you know what I am talking about. If not, I won’t bother explaining it to you. Here is a hint though: sleep, stress, love, and leadership.

* The importance of a leader
You can’t have management by committee. All organizations need one leader to exercise their best judgement and make strong decisions. Too many cooks in the kitchen means that no one eats! Not even the cooks.

* The power of bloggers and blogging
I find it odd that I have gotten more out of blogging than ever before, at the same time the influencers talking about how blogging is dying. For me blogging has been my ‘foot-in-the-door’ for just about every door I’ve wanted to pry open. Ideas form, get vetted, and implemented, via my blog- and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

* Social media is really about sharing experiences
I’ve been seeing a divide between the early adopters that use the latest social networks, and, lets says, the people that use MySpace. All of us share a common bond of wanting to share our experiences with others. At times, some of us even ‘over-share’. Either way, I’d like to see the classic ‘Ford vs. Chevy’ pissing contest die, as it relates to social media/networks. Don’t be elitist because you use Facebook or Twitter and others don’t or won’t. The world has much bigger issues to address. Like how to shut up Loren Feldman. Thinking about social media as shared media has been a big eye opener for me.

Thanks for reading this and allowing me to share my thoughts with you. As my knowledge and network continues to grow everyday, and my experience along with it, I am fueling my drive to chase the next plateau of my career. If you have a similar story you’d like to share over coffee, I am always interested in listening and meeting new people. Just hit me up: matt@integralimpressions.com or post a comment on my blog.

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