• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Chris Brogan Media: Digital Presence

A Great Digital Presence is No Longer Optional

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Stories
  • Newsletter
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home › Stories › Archives for Conferences

Conferences

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

chrisbrogan · January 9, 2019 ·

The world of real estate has become a lot more software driven in recent years. Sure, ultimately, a buyer interacts with a person, but with the number of real estate apps out there, a lot of up front work happens before a real estate professional is contacted. That’s not necessarily bad, but for a lot of Realtors (and other professionals in other industries for that matter), a personable connection with a buyer matters immensely as well.

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

For years, I’ve had the pleasure of keynoting various real estate events and speaking at industry conferences. In every interaction, I found a warm, smart, driven person looking for new tools to reach and serve their buyer. My book with Julien Smith, Trust Agents, seemed to resonate with the primary challenge of “how do you build business remotely on the web?” Since that book (over 9 years have passed), I can say that the use of digital tools to evaluate real estate has only grown.

If I were selling real estate today, I’d embrace these apps and I would have a website/blog where I could add some content that my buyers might want. What would I put on that site? Oh, I’m glad you asked.

A Real Estate Professional’s Content Marketing Checklist

  1. Sure, you want to post pictures and videos about the properties. That’s a given.
  2. Take the camera on your phone and shoot a “neighborhood walk through” video.
  3. Record an audio file where you talk people through how to evaluate a home. Tell them to keep this playing in the car when they’re out hunting around.
  4. Record another video where you list out what people need to bring to closing.
  5. Find community points of interest and interview people to show off the neighbors.
  6. Shoot an autobiographical video talking about your passions for serving people and your career so far.
  7. If you have other skills/talents, like interior design, give people a video of tips for how to spruce up their place. OR, make a video to show homeowners how to prep their house for sale.

Naturally, there are plenty more pieces of content I could recommend. This is a great starter set that will keep you busy for a few weeks.

How to Go About Making All This Content

I’m sure you might have seized up a little upon seeing that list of seven ideas. The thing is, you already have the tools to make this. You have a smart phone. This comes with a video recorder and a voice recorder built in. If you feel like you have to edit the videos a little, you can record lots of little clips and dump them all into either Windows Media Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac) and trim off the edges a bit. I promise that none of it is rocket surgery. If you know how to cut/paste words in a document, it’s almost the same thing.

Practice. That’s what I most want to share with you. Just practice.

As for scheduling, pick a weekly schedule of creating and posting that will let you take a little time to make your content, edit it, and post it. It’s that simple (but not easy).

Get my Newsletter!

If you like what I covered here, I invite you to grab my newsletter. It’s not the same as this blog post. It’s completely unique content that comes out on Sundays. I promise you that it’s the best of what I do every week.

Try me!





You Need to Start Learning The Basics of Blockchain

chrisbrogan · October 17, 2017 ·

In the early 90s, you started hearing about the Internet but brushed it off. Blockchain is that same experience coming to you again. Only this time, you can get ahead and learn a bit more before you feel like you’re ten or more years behind everyone else.

I went looking for ways that people are describing and explaining even the basics of Blockchain technology and I put it together here for you. I know that everyone learns differently and that sometimes, we need to see something many times before it sinks in.
Here’s my effort to help you find more information on the basics of blockchain technology so you can start looking for ways it might change your world. There are opportunities here just like the Internet brought us many opportunities. Ignore this at your peril.

The Basics of Blockchain

I love this brief video from Wired where Bettina Warburg explains blockchain to a little kid, and then works it up from there.
Blockchain Explained
Here’s investor and venture perspectives on blockchain.
This is a technical guide from the NIST, (kinda dry but useful)
I like how basic this article by The Fool is.
IBM’s explanation (they’re a big player here already).
This is a fun guide that has a bunch of ways of explaining it.
Here’s a Udemy course that might help. Plus, it’s very inexpensive.
I really like this description of blockchain and they went to a lot of effort to make it for you.
Listed near the bottom of this post are some real world applications of blockchain.
This one is a bit of a deeper dive told through massive slideshare decks.
For those of you who prefer books, get this one by Donald Tapscott.

Audio Learners – Look Here

Great miniseries about blockchain by Fidelity people. It’s really helpful. I like this one a lot.

Prefer a video?

Want it fast? Blockchain in 2 minutes (pretty good, actually.)
Blockchain for Dummies
Blockchain as it applies to Bitcoin
A whiteboard talk can be helpful.
A really nerdy but very visual demonstration of some of blockchain’s details. (Worth it, but you’re getting a computer guy’s take and that might spook some people.)
A conference presentation on Blockchain.

How About Live Events?

I found this guide of conferences and conventions. You might have to do a little research to validate some of the events, but hey, good place to start.

There are Plenty More But Start Here

I’m just saying “hey you, it’s time to get smarter and smarter about blockchain because it’s coming around in more and more ways and you might want to think about your place in all this.”
The goal is finding the gaps where you can use technology to drive better human interaction.

I’ll Help You Get Smarter

My weekly newsletter features ideas and thoughts and actionable concepts you can use for your own business. It’s fun and VERY different from what you normally get. Check it out here:





Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Conferences?

chrisbrogan · February 23, 2015 ·

Chris Brogan I had a wonderful time at Michael Port’s Heroic Public Speaking event. There was a lot of value offered for those who attended. As a speaker, I loved sharing what I knew with the folks who were there. But I also operated as an attendee, listening and absorbing, and also getting what I could out of meeting and talking with other attendees. I had a secret opportunity: almost a dozen people there were friends as well as attendees. So I got a LOT out of my time there. But it made me think.

Are you getting the most out of your conferences?

There are some great ways to improve your conference experience, and I want to give you them right now.

  1. Set your agenda. Once you know what is going to happen at the event, decide what YOU need to take back from this event for it to be a success.
  2. Do your homework. Figure out who’s attending. Is there an event hashtag? Go to http://search.twitter.com and see who’s talking about the event.
  3. Do your homework, part deux. Learn about the hotel, the surrounding restaurants and shops. What do you need to make your experience the best? Where can you take a few people for a quiet lunch away from the event?
  4. Connect early. If you’ve come alone or with just one other person, find others and make a small group. It’s okay if you’re shy.
  5. Bring a question and a solution. If you’re working on something, ask others about it where it makes sense. If you’ve got some skills, ask others about what they’re working on and see if you can help.
  6. A.B.C. Always Be Connecting. While talking with people, think to yourself, “Who do I know who could help this person advance?” Ask the person if an introduction to XYZ person would be useful. Then email that person you’re thinking about and ask if it’s okay to make an introduction to your new friend. Connect. Repeat.
  7. Follow-on. If the event is coming to a close, make sure to be able to reach out to the people you’d like to connect with further. Maybe find them on LinkedIn or Facebook, as well.
  8. Review your notes within the first three days after the event. We ALL think we’ll remember our notes forever. We won’t. I’ve written things like “Three pigs in a tree” as if that meant something important, only to have no clue what it meant a week later.
  9. Accept that you can’t do everything at the event and get some rest where it makes sense. Lots of people attend conferences like it’s a marathon. Rest. It’s okay. Just don’t miss the BEST opportunities to connect, if you can. The best stuff happens at the weird events.

I’m sure there’s more going on. Maybe share some ideas on Twitter. I’m @chrisbrogan there. We could all search for the hashtag “#getmore” . Sound good? Ready? Go!

Which Conference Should You Attend? Your Own

chrisbrogan · January 22, 2015 ·

TED Talk I’m working through a few ideas, but I’m a little bit stuck. And as I haven’t been invited to speak at a conference this week or next (where I get a lot of thoughts and ideas), I decided to put on a conference in my living room. The content doesn’t quite matter, because it’s my conference.
People ask me all the time which conferences are the ones to attend? My answer: your own.

Which Conference Should You Attend?

Sure, there’s all kinds of great events out there. I had a blast last year at several, and most of them were surprising to me. For instance, speaking with the folks at HR Florida was a real blast. But if you’re not a human resources professional in Florida, it might not be your event. See what I mean?
I loved Pioneer Nation in Portland, for the entrepreneurial types. I am thrilled to be part of Authority Rainmaker this year, as well as Social Media Marketing World. But in all those cases, the events were special to me because I have friends there.
This plus a conversation with a friend asking me for this same advice got me thinking.

Throw Your Own Conference

Today, I’m watching some TED Talks, mostly about developing nations and innovation because they’re more interesting than talks about here. I’m watching the Spartan Up Podcast and lots of interviews with Commander Mark Divine of SEALFit to learn more about mental toughness. I’m using Chromecast (you can do the same with the Amazon Fire TV Stick) and throwing the videos up on my TV. It’s better than being there in some regards.

But Wait! What About The Hallway Conversations?

Chatting With Scott OldfordLook, I *love* conferences. I love meeting and talking with people. And you can’t beat the serendipity. You must attend live events if you want the full effect. No two ways about it.
But if you’re home, and not really at an event, it’s okay. You can make your own hallways.
In the last few days, I’ve caught up with Tim Hayden about mobile technology and his life, and with Scott Oldford about his new book, and I’ve created podcasts with some of the conversations I ended up having. It’s been really meaningful. Heck, I started a daily practice with Claudia Altucher’s new book.

What Comes of It All?

There are three reasons to go to a conference, in our line of work:
1.) Learn new things.
2.) Make new connections and deepen existing ones.
3.) Land new business.
With my “do it yourself in your living room” conference today, I’ve been able to do 1 and 2 really well. I suspect number 3 will come along from the fruits of what I’m learning in 1 and 2. Don’t you?
So, don’t wait to be invited to an event. Don’t worry that you can’t afford one, if that’s the issue. Make your own conference, and make it the place to be! (Oh, and no one is trying to raffle off a free iPad for my business card, so there’s that!)

Do You Invest in Yourself?

chrisbrogan · April 18, 2013 ·

Screenshot_4_17_13_5_18_PM

It took a long time to realize that I should invest in myself, that I should put my own mask on first, etc. Too long. To that end, I wanted to share some thoughts with you.
When I was in my 20s, I flirted with college over and over again. My parents paid the first time around. Then, different employers would foot the bill and I’d march off to some other university or another. (There are over 20 in Boston). For any number of reasons, college didn’t do much for me. I found the learning to be too boring, too outdated, and rarely applicable to what I thought would happen next. So I didn’t bother.

I have only the smallest of regrets. I wish I had a degree in law and a degree in journalism, not because I want to practice either as a profession, but because what I’d have learned from those degrees would have been helpful to me. But that’s only a smallish regret. You know, if I had a chance to do it over, etc.

I spent the next bunch of years not really caring about much, not getting far, being an employee. It was a paycheck, and then a couch, and a TV, and whatever passed for excuses for why I wasn’t especially creative.

What Changed It All

I can tell you the exact moment I started caring. I was watching a PBS funds drive (you know, when the public television stations need your loot so they bring out all the good shows?), and Les Brown came on. He had a speech and a book called LIVE YOUR DREAMS, about how he went from being classified as “educable mentally retarded” to becoming a DJ, then a motivational speaker, and then to hold public office and then some. That was probably the first time I glimpsed the realization that I didn’t have to fit into the labels I’d let other people give me.

What followed was picking up books by Anthony Robbins ( and later meeting him), and books by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, and learning more and more. And then realizing that I could write my own story. What I learned, however, was that this meant choosing a pretty difficult path.

Put Your Own Mask On First

When you fly, the safety briefing points out that we must secure our own masks first. What they mean is simple: you can’t really help anyone else unless you get yourself squared away so that you won’t pass out in the middle of trying to be helpful. Covey would call this “sharpening the saw.” And sometimes we get this. Other times, we think of ourselves as selfish. But is an investment in ourselves really selfish?

Where Do You Invest Right Now?

Every time I say “invest” in this post, I’m talking about your time and your money and the investments I mean are in your day-to-day living, and not any abstract stock market. That’s important as a starting point. But now? Let’s get a little bit into this.

I invest in myself in the following areas:

  • Fitness and health. Have switched to a mostly plant-powered diet. Lots of vegetables, very little (almost no) grain or sugar, almost no meat. I’m working out. I do yoga.
  • Mindfulness. I’m meditating daily and practicing mindfulness and my head-setting mantras (thanks to Jacq).
  • Education. I spend money on books and courses for my own development and the betterment of my ability to serve others.
  • Time with my kids. I have chosen different paths lately so that I can have more time with my kids. This is most definitely an investment and one I’m glad to make.
  • Longer term projects. By keeping myself focused on the larger plans of my business (and for me), I have to say no to some things now, but am investing in a better “soon.”

I’m curious where you invest. And more so, I’m curious where we both have the opportunity to trim some of our expenses so that we can invest even more.

Trim Out “Expenses”

In 2009, I prided myself on flying every couple of days for conferences, for sleeping four hours or less a night, for having a hectic lifestyle. That turns out to be quite a bunch of withdrawals from various “accounts.” My kids were seeing less of me. I was getting run down. The frantic pace “felt” like business, and there was some revenue being made, but I was also burning more and more money to try and keep this all flowing.

Where are our other expenses? Television. Do you really get something back for your investment in television? Rarely. That’s an expense. Surfing needlessly? Same. We spend time as if it’s not valuable. Now, that doesn’t mean that we have to be hard at work all the time. But instead, it means we have to be mindful of where we choose to invest. Are you spending far too much of your time volunteering? Yes, volunteer. It’s VITAL for doing good. But if you’re OVER-doing it, that’s not helping everyone. That’s not putting your own mask on first.

Ask yourself this question often: “Is this the best use of my time?” I have that conversation with myself all the time. I also ask Rob about it, too. He is really getting into InfusionSoft, our email service provider. But as COO, that’s not really where I need him to focus most of his attention. Me? I go off on tangents all the time. I have the question taped to my monitor.

Whose Celebration Is This?

I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing the Sakyong Mipham, head of the Shambhala lineage of Buddhism> One of my favorite parts of his new book, The Shambhala Principle: Discovering Humanity’s Hidden Treasure (affiliate link) was this concept of being a lot more mindful of where we invest our time and energy. “Whose celebration is this?” That was the question. It essentially was meant to point out that we tend to get caught up in other people’s rituals and moments. For instance, worrying about one’s Klout score, or worrying about what the other parents at the PTA say because you stopped coming to the meetings, or trying to keep up with the Joneses, or wanting to watch every episode of every TV show so that you know what to say at parties.

We invest so much energy and time and money into those areas of our lives.

But do we invest in ourselves?

Commit to Investing

I have some very simple commitments right now that help me invest in myself:

  • In bed by 8:30pm
  • Meditate daily (thanks, Jacq!) Pray for others.
  • Eat healthy and delicious food
  • Fitness daily
  • Read and study courses daily
  • Connect great people together
  • Ask questions and learn
  • Love myself as if my life depended on it, and then love others even more.
  • Dare to explore

I want you to commit to investing in your development, in your growth, and your intentions to build a better community around you. How will you do it? Which paths will you take? And will you choose this over just snacking on whatever’s around?

Will you put your own mask on first?

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 20
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Grab my newsletter:

By getting thisnewsletter, you agree to my Privacy Policy. Got questions? Reach out.

Categories

  • Blogging (356)
  • Book Review (3)
  • Branding (73)
  • Business (1,138)
  • Chris Brogan (235)
  • Community (496)
  • Conferences (97)
  • Content Marketing (96)
  • Guest (1)
  • How To (738)
  • Internet (236)
  • Marketing (554)
  • Social Media (932)
  • Social Networking (11)
  • Speaking (173)
  • Storytelling (56)
  • Strategy (157)
  • Technology (224)
  • Trends (8)
  • Uncategorized (209)

Most Recent Posts:

  • 37 Interview Questions You Could Ask a Podcast Guest February 23, 2021
  • My 3 Words for 2021 January 1, 2021
  • How the Beast is Us – by Chloë Forbes-Kindlen October 26, 2020
  • Company Culture at a Distance July 19, 2020
  • Personal Branding is Vital Now July 5, 2020