Eric Bramlett's Blog: All Categories

Alright...I've wasted WAY too much time on this, but I think it's pretty cool.

I wrote a quiz to test your "Real Estate Investing IQ."  It's not fair since I wrote it, but I'm a "Real Estate Genius."  What did you get?

Austin Real EstateTake This Test

Okay, it's not super exciting, but puurple.com is now on the PR map.  The last update shows puurple.com at a PR2, whereas before it was grey-barred.

What does this mean for you?  It means more juice for anything you submit!  If your submission "goes puurpular" then you'll end up w/ a stronger link, and you'll get additional exposure for your work, which is the real goal of any social media campaign.

We launched Puurple.com in late February and have been passively promoting it since then.  For those of you not familiar with Puurple.com, it is a social media site that functions in much the same way as Digg - users submit stories, and then vote them up or down. 

Puurple is a niche site targetted to the real estate industry, and allows bloggers to promote their stories, and readers to find the best of the best.

There are tons of these niche sites out there, and many of them never get off the ground, or get overrun by spam.  So, I'm happy to report that Puurple is starting to get a foothold.  We currently have just under 100 active users, who have submitted 150 stories, and cast 500+ votes.  We've finished putting together our first tool, which allows…

So the contest has gotten viral.  Bloggers are blogging about it, and one blogger purist in Seattle has the #2 spot.  Without any surprise, REW blogs are proving to be a strong platform, with onsite blogs following closely behind.

BTW - what's up w/ this guy?  I'm all for blogging - it's a great way to connect with consumers, and it also helps you rank a TON.  However, this guy's promoting Ardell (GREAT blog, btw) winning just using her blogging skills, and then advocating that everyone link to her with specific anchor text so that she can win against "a bunch of SEO's."  Ummmm.....wouldn't this be an SEO tactic?

I'm super impressed w/ SEO Nick's newest entry (btw - start kissing up to him now, because he plans on giving away the prize if he wins.)  He's…

The gauntlet has been thrown down....on May 1st, we're all going to find out who the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World is....well, at least in the eyes of Google.  

There's some strong competition here.  Blackwell started off by throwing some seriously viral game.  Joe Lane (Smuck) has a page 2 head start (and will no doubt create a few more PR6 squid lenses to help this page out.)  And let's not forget the 22 hour link building sessions that Ryan Ward likes to go on regularly.  But when it's all said & done....will REW, fresh out of the penalty box, end up at the top of the hill?  After all, everyone will be linking to Morgan's post.

Regardless...we all better bring our A Games.  So...what's in an A-Game?

1) Picking the right weapon...err,…

With the growing number of soccer fans in the United States, and the growing number of international residents moving into the Austin area, many people are now searching for an Austin MLS team.  Sadly, there is no Austin MLS team to be found.

Austin native, and Realtor Ronnie Bredahl was quoted as saying, "I'm not sure why there's no Austin MLS, it doesn't really make any sense."  He went on, "We have a large population of MLS fans, and it would stand to reason that an Austin MLS team would draw quite a crowd - after all, look how well the Round Rock Express is doing."

There's really no way to tell if the lack of an MLS team in Austin has affected real estate prices dramatically.  There are too many other variables that come into play in a market as…

I've become a really big fan of the do-follow blog movement.  I have a couple of do-follow blogs, and I love the traffic & participation it helps to create.  For those not in the know, a do-follow blog is a blog that has been modified to allow comments without the no-follow attribute.  Do-Follow blogs allow participants to get some link love (sometimes from pretty powerful, on-topic sites,) in exchange for their comments.

Sounds good, right?  It is.

The problem is that many overzealous commentators, oftentimes with SEO Tunnel Vision, will leave crap, one-liner comments that add nothing to the conversation.  So my blog is now pretty well known as a do-follow blog, and I happily moderate at least 3-4 comments per day.  When I first started, I had TONS… Read Full Post

Downtown Austin is beautiful to explore on a Sunday, especially when you have dined at one of these top downtown brunch spots!  Grab a bite to eat, listen to some music, check out the capitol, do a little shopping or explore the museums!    

1) Stubb's Bar-B-Q and their Gospel Brunch is one of the most well-known Sunday rituals in Austin.  Southern favorites fill the buffet--from fried catfish and brisket to grits and migas. Top off the experience with a Bloody Mary from the make-your-own-Bloody-Mary bar. 801 Red River Street, 512.480-8341

2) Lambert's is across the street from City Hall in the hip Warehouse District; Austin would not be complete without a barbeque brunch made with local and sustainable ingredients! Help yourself to some traditional… Read Full Post