One of the things I never considered when I set out to create Matrix, was getting mentioned in books as well as being considered a senior member in the blogging community after about 18 months. I have been getting all kinds of promotional stuff from real estate firms, book publishers and dotcom companies to mention their products in some sort of post. I never have, but in the spirit of shameless self promotion, I need to get a few off my chest.

However, I must admit that its weird to think that I would be placed in this position for simply writing my thoughts about the real estate economy (and an occasional cool t-shirt). I imagine many of my fellow bloggers are having the same experience. The blogosphere is new public relations territory. Buzz marketing, or viral marketing like you see on You Tube. Incidentally, my kids have made me a series of wallets out of duct tape, which is pretty cool, except that the money you save from buying a wallet is used up buying new pants because the wallets wear holes in them pretty quickly.

The latest surprise was being mentioned into two books about blogging and real estate trends. Other bloggers cited in these books are people I admire for their efforts and insights. Its nice to get some recognition for my effort, even though thats not what got me into this gig to begin with.

Recently I received a complimentary copy of a book written by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney of [Realty Blogging](http://www.realtyblogging.com/) called (you guessed it) Realty Blogging and you can buy it on Amazon.com. Its actually pretty good (and not because my firm, blog and myself are mentioned about 10 times).

And then a few days ago I received a complimentary book called Swanepoel Trends Report which lists and expounds on the top 10 real estate trends for 2007. Matrix was listed as one of the top 5 real estate blogs in the country.

Admittedly, I am not big on people telling me what the trends are (I tend to avoid self-help or “Future Shock” topical books because I am either beyond help or in the words of Beavis and Butthead “I have been to the (top of the) mountain, and it is good.”) I like to figure things out myself (I never read instructions or manuals) but I thought the book was pretty informative.

While I am on this book name-drop kick, last spring, we were mentioned in the index for The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan. My firm was used for background for research in the book and it was nice to be included, although nearly everyone in the real estate market in New York was included so I can’t help but think (warning: cynicism) that was part of the marketing strategy by the publisher.

There you have it, shameless endorsements for products I don’t make a dime from by listing my blog, firm or name in the index. Be sure to look in the indexes for 2nd editions of “War & Peace (renamed Manhattan Real Estate)“, “Catch-22 (renamed Catch-23)“, and “The Power Broker (renamed The Real Estate Broker).”

9 Comments

  1. Ira Pfeifer February 16, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    Quick, set those kids up with a storefront in the LES – duct tape wallets are big business.

  2. Todd Carpenter February 17, 2007 at 4:05 am

    Makin’ the index, LOL! I have to admit that the index was the first place I looked when I got my copy. I now keep the book with the issue of Investors Business Daily where lenderama was mentioned so briefly, I had to read the story twice to find it. :p

    I started blogging to keep in touch with about a dozen clients. I had no idea it would blow up like this.

  3. Richard Nacht February 17, 2007 at 10:31 am

    It sure wasn’t hard to decide to include Matrix in the book (10 times) because your blog exemplifies so many of the effective uses of blogs – even if you’re not ‘trying’ to do so.

  4. Paul Chaney February 17, 2007 at 11:51 am

    Jonathan, you were a pleasure to interview and Richard and I appreciate the time given. Had we known at the time how popular you were going to be, we would have mentioned you even more in the book! 🙂

    We think it’s a pretty good book as well, even if we did write it. 🙂

  5. bobb0 February 18, 2007 at 2:28 pm

    Jonathan, anyone who qoutes Beavis and Butthead on a RE blog is OK in my book. I think Butthead actually went to ‘the top of the mountain’ though.

  6. Jonathan J. Miller February 18, 2007 at 3:26 pm

    Thx bobb0, I just modified it – you are quite correct. Look for new B&B episodes coming this year which should provide more clarity to all of us.

  7. daniel February 20, 2007 at 2:02 pm

    Hey a new duct tape site is being released! The site features duct tape movies, duct tape pictures, duct tape blogs, duct tape wikis…ALL THINGS DUCT TAPE!

    Come see the site at http://www.TapeAround.com!

    Daniel

  8. Dan February 27, 2007 at 12:27 pm

    The Trends Report by Swanepoel was actually pretty good and the best I have seen on trends in this confusing messy industry of ours. Not all of us are up on the mountain like you Jonathan. Some us are deep in the valley and any roadmap that provides direction for me to get it is helpful 🙂

  9. Jonathan J. Miller February 27, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    Dan – For a mountain, its got a pretty low elevation. 😉 Thanks.

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