Charlotte - Online Real Estate Empire

I was driving around town today and saw this sign at the bottom of an exit of I-77 and Morehead. I thought this was interesting. Is House.com going to copy the RealEstate.com business model and start trying to convert some of their own leads into sales? A friend of mine, who's in the industry as well, tipped me off recently that House.com had moved their operations from NY to Charlotte. So, seeing the sign on the side of the road wasn't too surprising. But, it did make me wonder about House's business model, and about Charlotte in general. Charlotte is quietly becoming the mecca for online real estate. Now, there's no way that it can compete with the prowess of Emeryville, Seattle, or the Valley. But, just take a look at which companies call Charlotte home.

• RealEstate.com
• House.com
• Realty.com
• iHomes.com
• LendingTree
• Bank of America
• Wachovia
• Lowes

In addition to LendingTree and RealEstate.com, I also believe that IAC has parts of GetSmart.com, Domania, and iNest here. If not in total, some representation of these three can be found in Charlotte. I also was informed recently that the new CEO of NewHomes.com was pulled from Charlotte to their Florida home office.

I was curious about what House.com was up to. So, I shot an email out to Dan Parisi - no reply. (He rarely does). Then, I figured I would call the 800 # listed on the sign. After asking a few questions to the customer service rep I was informed that their plans for opening a brokerage are on hold, and they are focusing on obtaining more agent relationships for their lead network. That's cool. Sticking to your core biz strategy is never a wrong move.

But, with all of us in the same town, we should all get together for a drink and chat. It would make for a fun game of trying to find-more-about-your-competitor-than-they-can-find-out-about-you.

So, Dan, Eric, Gary, Michael, Doug... when's the first pow-wow?

Music for Wednesday...

OK. I think I finally learned how to embed music within a post - rather than having to link out to a separate page. (Here's my first shot.) Those of you who were harrassed by me during our fantasy football draft, I apologize. But, I can't resist. Here's my new favorite sports song.

Gift season

It's approaching Gift Season for the Denton household. Scratch that. The gift season never stops. (When will it end!?!?) My family seems to put emphasis on giving/receiving gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and such. I'm trying to ween off the gifts, because it can be so expensive come Christmas. For me, just the thought that you remembered me on my day is enough. But, this is a heavy time of year for gifts. September holds my birthday, my father's my neice, and my mother's is shortly behind on the first week of October. Noah's b-day is in December, then we have Christmas. Then after that, there's pretty much a holiday/event at least once a month. February - parents anniversary. May - Wesley's bday and mom's day. June - Father's day and Matt's bday. July - the 4th, Rays bday. August - Greg's bday. September - Andy, Dad, and Grace bday. And then over and over again. This doesn't include all the weddings and secondary family events. I'm approaching 32 now. After your 30th birthday, you tend not to want to have any big celebrations for future b-days. But, there's always that moment when you know your family is going to get you a gift. And, if they are going to get you something, you might as well have them get you something you want. So, selfishly here it is... I am ok with just a card. A hand written card. Not an e-card, not an email. A real Hallmark card that you have to use an ink pen with to write a personal note and possibly slip in a recent family photo. If you can't stop there, I'm always game for gift certificates. These are fast and easy. Amazon always works. I always could use something from Lowes. Those are both good options. I'm also a SteinMart fan. They actually have clothes there which fit me well. ;-) And that about does it. I eventually would like to have a nice tux or a classic black suit to have in my closet. But, that's something I'll probably visit my uncle Butch for.

More music

I've been told that I need to start posting more tunes to my blog. Apparently that was a big hit with a friend of mine. So, here ya go. I've been listening to a lot of Keane lately. If you like it, stumble over to an online music store, or go out to a brick-and-mortar store and buy the CD. Try Again Crystal Ball

The great things are never easy...

Everybody wishes for life to be easier. Everyone is searching for the "good life". People think, "if I had more money, things would be easier because..." Or, "if I didn't have this weight problem, my life would be better because..." Or, "if we were just married, things would be easier..." Life always looks better through a different lense. If only we could change our circumstances, then things would be a lot different, and a lot better for ourselves. But, we know deep down life doesn't work this way. As the Notorious B.I.G. put it - "More money, more problems." The solution to your problems are in the now. The solution to your circumstance resides within you - not within someone else. If you want to change your circumstances, you have to change them. It has to be you to make the choice. If you want more wealth, then work for it. Plan for it, work the plan, and achieve your dreams. If you want to lose weight, work at it. Get off the couch, devise a plan and do it. If you want perfection in your relationships, don't rely on your partner to craft a solution on their own. You must take part. It is your choice to have a better life now. Life is what you make of it. It's easy to look at things on TV or in magazines and wish what life would be like if you were "like them" or "had that". But, life is not in the wishing. Life is in the doing. Everyone is searching for the quick fix. We need to reside ourselves that there is no quick fix. That joys in life are in the journey. Not in the destination. Life is not having the shiny car, big house, and big smile. Life is about how you got that big car, big house, and who you share it with, who fills up that house, and who you give the glory to for all that you have. This video is a great one. Given by John Kennedy, speaking of America's decision to go to the moon.

"Why do you want to climb it? Because it is there!... We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other thing. Not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

You've heard the phrase, "that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well." The good things in life generally take work. If a great life is what we all want, we should welcome the challenge. We should say "to hell with the circumstances. To hell with the difficult challenges. I choose to have a richer life. I know that it might take work." To obtain joy in life, choose to be brave. Work hard. Work honest. And, relish in the victory.

Pinger.com - Party Line & Business Tool

Some of you have already been harassed by me and my new Pinger account. I think it's a pretty cool idea. It's basically a voice mail tool. But, think of it as text messaging for Vmail. Here is what Pinger does in a nutshell. 1. Pinger gives you a local number to store in your cell phone. 2. You dial, it picks up and says "who do you want to send a message to?" 3. You simply speak the name, and it uses voice recognition to search through all your contacts. You can speak as many names as you like. 4. You then here a beep, you speak your message. 5. You can either hang up, or keep sending messages to other people. 6. The person you are sending the message to receives an email that has you voice embedded in it. The recipient can either then reply back via email, or whatever. 7. If the recipient registers their cell phone too, they will recieve a voice-embedded text message. Keep in mind, you've only hit 1 button to do all of this. So imagine the scenarios... Say you hit the lottery and didn't want to take the time to call all your friends. But, you still wanted to get the good news out. With Pinger, you can create separate groups. So you call Pinger, tell it you want to send a message to your friends list, you speak your message, and VIOLA! You message has been sent to all of your buddies instantly. Want to arrange a quick pick-up game of volleyball? Use Pinger to send out invites. Then sit back and wait for interested parties to call you back. Or, do you want to send a message from the road, but don't necessarily want to actually speak to the person? Use Pinger. You'll get your message across without the hassle of a long conversation. The service is free for now. And it's currently in beta, so their are some querks. I haven't got it to upload all my Outlook contacts yet. But, I sent an email to their customer report and I received a reply that they are currently working on this issue. But, I'm told the Hotmail/Gmail imports work fine. It's rumored that Pinger, once out of Beta, will charge users who use the service more than 10 times per month. This is too bad. I say they should keep it free by selling ads on the thousands of emails they will generate. Keep it free Pinger, keep it free!!!

Scanr rocks!

I posted about Scanr before, but honestly, I have never used the service - until now. Let me just say, Scanr rocks! I have no idea how they are monetizing their service, because it's all free. But, such a great idea, in a cool, James Bond kind of way. Basically, Scanr takes your pictures (via camera or camera phone) of whiteboards, documents, or business cards and converts them to a clear PDF file. Whiteboards become readable PDFs. Documents become searchable PDFs. And business cards are converted into Outlook friendly vCards. How cool! So, I needed to whipe my whiteboard clean today, but didn't want to lose the data. So, I grabbed my camera and tested Scanr out for myself. It went from this... To this... Stand and take a bow Scanr! Job well done.

Nikki's Wedding

I went to my cousin Nikki's wedding this weekend. It was a blast. Nikki, Tim, and their friends and family are a great bunch of people to be around. So chill. So laid back. And very inviting, friendly, and just all around good people. I can't remember the last time I saw my other cousin, Trey (Nikki's brother). Trey is a cool guy, very personable. It was great to connect with them all. The wedding was on Lake Tahoe, which is located directly on the Nevada and California border - an absolutely perfect location for a wedding. The wedding was strictly "California" style. All the groomsmen wore Chuck Taylor sneakers with their tuxes - AWESOME! I wore my white Chuck's to Tahoe earlier that day, but didn't get the memo so I was stuck wearing my black dress shoes. :( Here's all the photos... I've got a ton of video from the wedding as well, including "the kiss", Trey's classic wedding speech, "the vow's", and more. I haven't uploaded them yet, but keep checking my YouTube account here. I should have the videos up shortly.

Dodge cars kill animals?

Most of you know that around Christmas last year I purchased a barely used 2005 Dodge Magnum. I love this car. It's such a smooth ride, has tons of room inside, and looks very gangster. The only changes I want to do to the car are maybe add a bit more tint to the front windows and possibly change out to a better radio receiver. But, in the 8 months that I've owned the car, I've noticed one very important trait about my new vehicle. It is an animal killer! Literally. Not counting small insects, I am positive that I've mamed, wounded, and killed more animals driving this car moreso than anyone other car I've driven. I'm not sure why this is. Is it that this car is sneaky? Is the engine quieter than other cars? Does the engine hum in a frequency that attracts animals - kinda like a dog whistle? There has to be something to this. The numbers don't lie.

Any Given Sunday

My brother, Matt, used to play this clip a lot. I think he just had the audio, not the video snippet below. But, still a great motivational speech from Pacino in Any Given Sunday. So, with football season approaching, and with all of our friends and family at war - without further adieu I give you the clip. (Please excuse some of the language used.)

"Either we heal, now, as a team. Or we will die as individuals."

Here's the original...

The dash

My grandfather sent me this link. Get busy living.

What a trip!

John Mayer has a song called 3X5's. It's a good song. The song sings of a person who travels and has left loved ones behind. As the traveler writes home, he slips photos into his letters of all the places he's seen. The traveler comes to a point where he realizes he's only sharing these memories with the lense of his camera, and not with the loved ones he cherishes. The chorus sings

"You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes it brought me back to life You'll be with me next time I go outside just no more 3x5's"

I always liked this song. But, this weekend, I decided to jump in the car and venture off to capture some memories of my own. Not a care in the world. No laptops. No cell phones. Just the car, a camera, and the road. I can't tell you how relaxing this getaway was. I originally had planned to stop thru Greenville, SC to check out some possible investment properties...which I did. But, as the weekend grew rainier and rainier, I decided to take the backroads up through the mountains, near Asheville then back home to Charlotte. I went to a gas station, bought a NC state map, located some small, lesser known landmarks, highlighted some backroads, and plotted out my adventure. While in Greenville, I stopped at Reedy Falls Park. It's smack in the middle of the newly revitilized downtown area. So beautiful. Tons of river rocks, a gentle rain, green grass, well maintained gardens, and kids playing in the river. What else can you ask for? After grabbing a hot dog for lunch (this area of the country must love hot dogs, because I passed over 10 hot dog joints in the Greenville area alone), I headed just north to Landrum, SC. Landrum (just outside of Tigerville) has the only covered bridge in South Carolina - Campbell's Bridge. It's a state landmark. Campbell's Bridge. Although I never saw the movie, this had to be like one of those bridges in Madison County. It was nestled over a quite little brooke. Nothing around for miles. Along side the bridge was the ruins of a grist mill. It was pretty cool. Kudzu had overgrown the entire ruins. But, you could still see the well, much of the foundation, and a small mill roof. After this, I heard of another bridge close by, Poinsett Bridge. Poinsette Bridge is the oldest standing bridge in South Carolina. This place was absolutely amazing. Purely covered with trees, the bridge looks as if it were untouched and unharmed since the day it was built. One of the prettiest babbling brooks and bridges you'll ever see. I just hope my photos do it justice. After these two great finds, I jumped in the car looking for more adventure. I was very close to the NC border, so I ventured on up to Hendersonville, NC to visit one of the regionally famous Mast General Stores. Apparently they are a must-stop for any backroads North Carolina trip. I stopped, and picked up a few goodies. Upon checkout I asked the guy behind the counter "what's there to do in Hendersonville?" He quickly replied with Jump Off Rock. Apparently, from downtown Hendersonville you just take 5th street west for 7 miles, and you arrive at a dead end which is the highest point in the area. It's a cool birds eye view of the entire town. Pretty cool stuff. I swear that from atop these peaks I heard eagles scream repetitively. By this time it was 6:00pm and the local band was just tuning their instruments in the visitor Center parking lot. After sitting there for a while, I realized I was dead tired. So, I was off to find a hotel for the evening. I eventually found one in Asheville. That night I contemplated what I wanted to do the next day. On the list was whitewater rafting, tubing, caveing, venturing off to Boone, or just staying there in Asheville. My body decided for me. For some reason, I was physically drained. So, I decided to just tool around downtown Asheville on Saturday. Asheville was cool. It was a very cool day (in the 60's all day). The cool weather, the cloudy skies, and the hilly terrain made me realize why people liken this town to San Francisco. Very cool. So, I was tired. I looked at my watch and realized I could make it home in time for the Carolina Panther preseason game. So, I jumped in the car and headed home (back roads of course). Through the mountains toward Lake Lure, through Chimney Rock (which looked ominous darting through the thick clouds), and then racing through the foothills toward Gastonia. Finally, on Saturday evening I made it home. Once I home I realized I took over 200 photos. Wow! And I didn't take many photos of Hendersonville, and none in Asheville and the drive home. Imagine the damage I could have done. I'll have to plan another trip soon. Who's up for canoeing on the Nantahala or French Broad? Here's my favorite photo of all the photos I took on the trip. Click any of the photos on this post to see the rest of the photos I took. (All 200+ of them!)

This is the "Why Guy".

The TED Conference is an amazing conference attended by some of the brightest minds in the world. It's invitation only. Only the best are extended an invitation. And only the very best entreprenuers/minds/business men/scientist/designers/philosophers in the world are invited to speak at these conferences. TED stands for Technology, Engineering, and Design. Chris Anderson, who is the brains behind this conference, once said of TED (and I'm paraphrasing), that if Heaven is being in the presence of the all-knowledgeable, all-knowing God. Then TED, with all the world's brightest all in one room learning and sharing with one another, is Heavan on Earth. Speakers (who are unfortunately, very liberal) are given 20 minutes to speak. That's it. Here's an interesting clip of Tony Robbins cramming 50 hours of content into 20 minutes. Pretty cool. The good news is that Rick Warren was invited to speak this year. I guess the conference organizers figured they needed at least one right winged speaker. God love Rick for going it alone! Here's Rick's TED presentation.

Connecting The Dots

I've been meaning to post this for a while. I found this video while looking for inspirational videos on YouTube. This is a great video of Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple, founder of Pixar, creator of the iPod and iTunes) giving a commencement speech to Stanford graduates in 2005. It's a great, short lecture - full of tidbits on living a productive life. Unfortunately, Steve specifically misses out on the benefits of living a life of faith (a point where he and I certainly disagree). His views on "dogma" is one not shared by this blogger. But, nonetheless, still a great talk which should give us all some perspective. Enjoy. 1. Connecting the Dots a) You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. b) You have to trust that the dots will connect in the future. c) You have to trust in something. b) Believing that that dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference. 2. Love and Loss a) The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again...It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. b) Sometimes life is going to hit you in the face with a brick. Don't lose faith. c) You've got to find what you love. d) Your work is going to fill a great part of your life. And the only way to be satisfied is to do great work. e) The only way to do great work is to love what you do. 3. Death a) If you live each day like it was your last, most certainly eventually someday you will be right. b) Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool i've ever encountered to help me make the most important choices in life. c) Remembering that you are going to die is the best way i know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. 4. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.