The Saturday S.M.A.C. Award goes to…
March 31st, 2007 by Mark FlandersTony Gallegos
The Mortgage Cicerone
(S.M.A.C.) SoundBiteBlog’s Most Active Commenter Award
Maybe I’m just in love with the sound of my own writing, (How’s that for a mangled metaphor?) and maybe not. But if you have ever maintained a blog you know that blogging is often like writing in a twilight room. You can’t really tell how things are turning out until the sun rises. A blogger writes about what he or she finds interesting. A blogger has no idea for a while if anybody else is interested, or if (dare I say it?) the writing just sucks! The only way to find out if your blog is any good is to keep on plugging away, and wait for the day to arrive when visitors start leaving comments.
Comments validate the blogger’s work!
Good comments or snarly comments; I’d rather have something over nothing. At least I know someone is reading.
Let me introduce you to Tony Gallegos. Tony maintains his own blog for Loan Officers. Tony has the dubious honor of becoming SoundBiteBlog’s very first recipient of the SMAC Award. Tony has been consistently reading and leaving comments on SoundBite articles for a while now. I have no idea how he discovered SoundBiteBlog in the first place. But Tony’s feedback is greatly appreciated. With Tony around, I don’t feel like I’m blogging in the dark!
If you read Tony’s impressive resume, you might get the mistaken notion that Tony is a boring, analytical type of guy. You might think that right up until you come to his recently posted video, “Who said geeks can’t rap?”. Then you get an entirely different perspective. There is definitely a sense of humor lurking under the hood of the Mortgage Cicerone!
The variety of subjects on The Mortgage Cicerone keeps it interesting. I visit regularly now to see what Tony has found to write about. He must be a full-time reader because the number of sources he has for information is huge. You can find snippets from the Associated Press, the Baltimore Sun, the GMAC Investor Forum, BankRate.com and Savage Insights, just to name a few. I wouldn’t have found the aritcle on Savage Insights except for Tony’s blog, and it’s one of the best articles for Loan Originators I seen lately. Thanks Tony, that one was a great piece!
When he is not busy pointing out promising articles or interesting news, Tony also writes his own articles. Check out this article on Credit Reports and Newlyweds. It’s a great subject and offers solid advice to consumers.
Here’s a short collection of some other excellent posts:
- Do you ever feel like Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon? (you just gotta love the title)
- Little things make a big difference. (the first time I’ve ever seen a mortgage guy using Homer Simpson as an example)
- Maxed out.
The highest accolade one blogger can give another is link on the main page. It is a vote of confidence; a “Blog Nod”, so to speak. If you glance to the right of this article you will now find The Mortgage Cicerone in SoundBite’s very short list of read-worthy websites. It’s not there because Tony leaves lots of comments, it’s there because it belongs there. SoundBiteBlog is a consumer website. The Mortgage Cicerone is an industry website. Sometimes though, the two different types of information overlap.
If you have read this far, take a wander on over to Tony’s corner of the internet. Take a peek at a few of the articles posted there. Tony, like Sparky and I, is blogging in the dark too. So leave him a comment or two! He’ll appreciate it and his articles are worth reading. Tell him Buckwheat sent you.
Tony, Sparky and I thank you for all of your feedback and your involvement in our site!
Share on Facebook
No related posts.
Tags: soundbiteblog supporters, the mortgage cicerone, tony gallegos
Mark, that’s a lovely thing you did for Tony. I visited and will continue to do so. He’s got great stuff there. I’m almost afraid to get my blogsite off the ground. Never mind about my question in the Rain. I get it now. I may not read daily but I catch up when I visit. Ciao.
I’d love if you would forward me a link. Thanks again for all the kind words.
Tony: You’re welcome and you deserved every word! Hopefully you will see a little additional traffic to your site today. I also posted a version of this article on ActiveRain.com. If you are interested in that site, let me know. I’ll post my referral link and you can sign up. It’s a network of over 20,000 real estate people. Many of them are very active bloggers.
Stefan: Thanks for the praise. It is a labor of love I guess.
Maureen: I had to look it up too!
It’s a great title for a blog isn’t it?
Mark – I’m speechless (and that does not happen often). Thank you very much for your kind words and having the distinction of being the first S.M.A.C. winner.
Bottom line…I leave comments because you and Sparky write great content! I regularly point my clients to your articles.
Yes, I love incorporating humor into my life. My mentor and friend, Dennis Geist taught me how one can have both a sense of humor and be a professional.
Keep up the FANTASTIC work and know you are read daily!
I couldn’t find what a Cicerone was on your blog or Tony’s… maybe I missed it on his blog.. or maybe everyone knows the word but me. When I go to the Free Dictionary it says to me “been reading the Bloodhound Blog again?”
Anyway what a neat name for a blog for the lending industry.
from the Free Dictionary Online
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cicerone
” cic·e·ro·ne(ss-rn, chch-, chch-rn)
n. pl. cic·e·ro·nes or cic·e·ro·ni (-n)
A guide for sightseers. ”
I’m on my way back to read more of Tony’s blog and leave a comment. I’ll tell him Sparkwheat sent me.
Congrats to Tony on the S. M. A. C. Award. Clever Mark, very clever.
Wow, Mark, you have been a busy bee. The SoundBiteBlog is very impressive with respect to both appearance and content! Congratulations!