So, I scored a new website design client I can get excited about.  Great, eh?

I met with a gentleman who knows a lot of things about a lot of things, but little about  website in's and out's.  Lucky for him and me, I love to work with the uninitiated - it's fun to break heavy-duty lingo down into digestible chunks.  Plus, helping to advance someone's technical knowledge on the Information Sewerhighway is a fun process.

Now, I'm off to do a little research, and follow up on some stuff.  Yeeha, baby.

In case you're wondering, I haven't forgotten to post here, there just hasn't been much to brag about, or even complain about.  No sales, no big sales pushes, either.  Web design is pumping blood through my financial veins, and so that's where I spend my time.

Thanks for checking, though.  Who knows, something big could be right around the corner!

Another swank palace Virtual Tour.

What's great about shooting these beautiful, top-dollar homes is that while I make them look good, they make me look good, by exhibiting just how nicely a Virtual Tour can accentuate a Real Estate Listing.  From the 360-degree Virtual Tour of the foyer and the "common area" (a euphemism for the private park available to residents in the area), to the sprawling back deck that runs eight out to the water for a spectacular view, this place was made for a Virtual Tour.

The Realtor, Pat Piccardo, made the smart move of going for the Gold Package, maximizing the amount of Virtual Tour data offered by Liberated Pachyderm Productions.  The place is so nice, I went him one better.  Actually, several better.  I added two Virtual Tours and a boatload of images, adding value to the listing.  This gives the listing the most exposure possible, leaving none of its beauty and spaciousness to chance.

This has to be the largest and highest-dollar home Liberated Pachyderm Productions has profiled with its Virtual Tours.  Although I am waiting on a few final details from the client before I announce it complete, I think it does it quite a bit of justice!

Final note: this is the second referral in a month from Greg Adams, a stalwart Realtor in lodi, CA.  Viva Greg A., and viva BNI!

Two downers this week:

One: I made a follow up phone call to a prospective client a few days ago, and she advised me that she didn't want my services, because she wasn't impressed with the sample on my web page.  Further, the house I used for the sample on the site "looked kinda dumpy."

While I advised her that I have since updated the samples available on myVirtual Tour site, and while I valued her honest criticism (I wish that everyone I talked to were this honest, if not this disapproving) criticism did sting, and for more than one reason:
    * First, she was right.  Although I have this mental block bordering on mental retardation when it comes to separating the snazzy from the trashy, I almost unconsciously sensed that the sample wasn't really cutting it.  Technically, it worked fine, but it didn't exactly exude quality.
    * Second, the dumpy house was mine!  I knew I was rushed in getting a sample QuickTime movie up, and careless in allowing my unkempt quarters  to be featured in the live version of the site.  This was the lesser of two evils. The alternative was to wait until the entire place was cleaned up like a resort, wait for the lighting to be better, blah blah blah, and all that waiting quickly turns to procrastination in my world, so yeah, I said fuck it, and moved on to snapping photos and getting some-damn-thing onto the website.
    * Third, it makes me further admit that the Bickle compound is not the neat-as-a-pin palacial garden that it should be.   I don't expect it to be, but I wish it was, and it embarasses me that it isn't.

Second bummer of the week is that the Virtual Tour appointment I've had for over a week, set for tomorrow afternoon, fell through.  And Daddy needs the frickin money!  The client says the tenant won't acquiesce to us tromping through and snapping photos.  The hope is that it will be rescheduled for next week.  I did not let on to my client how disappointed I am.

So, crap.  Anybody wanna get drunk with me tomorrow?  Apparently, I've nothing better to do...

Yesterday morning I went out a callin'. I started by visiting a nearby BNI chapter, a brand-new one called Gold Country Founders.  They've got a lot of good folks there, and they're off to a good, healthy start.

I then went on to drive around Amador and Calaveras counties, winding my way back home as I dropped off fliers and business cards at every Real Estate office I could find, and giving my 20-second infomercials as I went.  Unlike last week, I didn't have any high-inducing successes, and didn't schedule any Virtual Tours, but who knows what may come from it?

Friday was great for morale.

I finally made first steps to exploiting more fully my membership in BNI, a business networking group to which I belong.  This step involved visiting other chapters in my area, and spreading the gospel of high-quality, low-cost Virtual Tours for Realtors and homesellers in the San Joaquin Valley and Calaveras county.

So, I put on my suit, and headed out to Lodi.  After the meeting, since BNI meeting always put me in a sales mood (not an easy mood for me to assume), I hoofed it through Lodi and back up the hill stopping at every Real Estate joint I could find.  I even got thrown out of the Century 21 megabuilding on Kettleman Lane!  Good for me!!  Note to self:  consider not beginning the sales introduction with a smile and saying "Hi, I'm a solicitor."

At the end of the day, I had pocketed one confirmed Virtual Tour for next week as a direct result of a follow-up call to an existing client, and garnered one call-back from an Agent to whom I'd dropped of a flier.  We discussed my very competitive rates and I blabbed about what makes me better than her other choices in this field.

All in all, not a bad day!  Twenty more like that this month, and I'll really have something!

Valley Inn = Outt

One of my little business dreams is to create and possibly host a night of  open mike stand-up comedy, and make enough money at it to justify the effort.

Scoping out the local venues, pickings are slim in a small town.  On the other hand, it's an opportunity, because there's not much else going on locally, near as I can tell.  This would make any effort "pop" in contrast, due to decreased competition.  So, allow me to muse out loud regarding my options:

#1:  The Valley Inn Bar & Grill. 

#2 Vet's Hall:

As you may imagine, these ideas are enough to send me over to CNN to browse the news and forget all this bullshit, and I haven't even considered hiring any talent yet!!

But for now, this is where my idle thoughts and musings have taken me.  As I plod further along, I'll keep this space updated.  Wouldn't it be cool if it culminated in a show?

I've got two Virtual Tour gigs one Saturday.  One is firm, and in Lodi; the other, tenative, and in Modesto.  The Lodi gig is directly due to a BNI referral, the other, a friend of family.

Each new client is another cobblestone on the road to something good.  Each one is a thrill, and I take them seriously.  When I told him my price, my latest client even said: "Oooh!" thrilled at my reasonable rate.

Earlier this week I fax-marketed a number of Real Estate Agents in Stockton.  I called ahead to get their permission, so hold any accusations of scurrilous fax-spamming.  Today, I would like to do the same in another nearby town.  It looks like a busy, blustery day, so who knows what will get done, and what must wait?

I got my first Virtual Tour site posted.  The client is happy, and I am happy.  All that's left to do is update the thing with the logo and photo he sends me, and pick up the check!

What a shot in the arm this is. Here's to twenty more just like it this month!