What we can learn from the facing foreclosure site
May 22, 2007
Last night while traveling on the overnight bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An in Vietnam, I listened to the latest podcast from the iamfacingforeclosure site. I must admit that I am fascinated by Casey’s story and judging by the people calling in to the podcast, I am not the only one. I don’t want to get into whether what Casey did is right or wrong, but from the perspective of creating a blog or website that can generate a huge amount of traffic in a short amount of time it is an interesting case study.
I have been blogging here for over two years and haven’t received a fraction of the amount of attention as Casey’s blog has. I am also a real estate investor and have purchased a number of properties in Australia and New Zealand that are cash flow positive.
I also have a number of websites which I have built up over the past two years which have enabled me to quit my job in December 2006. So if I compare my blog to Casey’s why does his get so much traffic? Here are some of my thoughts, which hopefully some people will be able to use to get more traffic and generate more interest to their sites.
Entertainment value
Many people seem to read the foreclosure blog purely for entertainment value, despite Casey’s intention to create a site to help people to stop foreclosure. Perhaps people who have personal or financial problems in their own lives gain a sense of satisfaction from seeing someone in a situation worse off than their own.
Human Drama
Just as reality programs have become so popular on television, Casey’s blog is full of drama. His stories detailing his problems with creditors, agents, business partners and family have all of the elements of a reality television program. People just can’t wait to hear the next installment.
Baiting his audience
Casey has a number of so called “haters” which he occasionally baits, resulting in posts with over 300 comments. If people were so put off with what he is doing, you would think they stop reading the blog, but it tends to have the opposite affect, with people creating their own sites and blogs around Casey.
Personal details
Casey has revealed quite a few details about his finances and personal life, which many people would not be prepared to made public. Anything created on the internet, is likely to stay with you for the rest of your life. Even if Casey deleted his blog, sites like archive.org retain caches of the content. Employers and possibly lenders are increasingly heading to Google to undertake research on candidates/customers.
Admitting mistakes
I believe Casey has been pretty honest with his blog, except for a couple of baiting posts. Most people are unprepared to admit their mistakes, let alone making them public on the internet.
Real estate advice
By Casey revealing the mistakes he made with real estate, people can learn what not to do when buying property, such as buying properties without actually seeing them, dealing with building contractors and providing misleading information to lenders. Most so called gurus, usually only reveal their successes. Many people seem to think that the site offers no value to property investors, but I believe people can learn a great deal of how not to invest in property.
Newsworthiness
Casey’s story has been featured in a number of publications and television programs. Each mention in the media has brought in huge amounts of traffic to the site.
Setting challenges
Casey has currently set a challenge where he has to make $1000 a week otherwise he will have to close down his popular blog. Setting a challenge which you need to complete a difficult task within a fixed period keeps people coming back to your site to check your progress.
In summary
If you are prepared to put your life into the limelight and want to have a very popular website like the iamfacing foreclosure site, you would need to:
- Have a story that provides shock value and is newsworthy
- Reveal personal details about your story and how it is affecting your personal life
- Occasionally bait your audience
- Freely admit your mistakes
- Have a dramatic story that slowly unfolds, where people are just itching to find out what happens next
- Create personal challenges with fixed deadlines
Comments
7 Responses to “What we can learn from the facing foreclosure site”
Got something to say?
“Admitting mistakes
I believe Casey has been pretty honest with his blog… .”
Gnhuuhh???
You clearly have not read Casey’s blog closely at all. Casey has been far from honest on his blog.
He has been caught in lies more than once.
He has been called on saying one thing in one post and something different in other posts on multiple occasions.
He has not been honest with himself about admitting mistakes – note how often when he “admits” a mistake there is language along the lines of “sort of, kind of, my fault” “perhaps, partly my fault”.
He posted a transcription of himself lieing to a CashCall representative on the phone. At the start of the call he claims his monthly income is around $3,000 (itself a lie based on numerous previous posts in which he claimed no income whatsoever). The CashCall rep tells him that is not enough so he claims a higher income. Still not enough he is told, so he hikes it again. By the end of the call he is claiming $5,000 a month income.
You think he is being honest on his blog? Good Lord man! He posted a transcribed phone call which very clearly and in no uncertain terms shows him lieing about his income.
Then there are all the numerous, numerous, numerous, things from his blog which are not outright lies, but are deceptions and attempts at obfuscation.
You really should read his blog closer if you are going make assertions like he is being honest on his blog.
I do commend you on recoginzing the entertiament value of his blog. The C/Net journalist nailed this one as well when he caleld what Casey does “Irritainment”.
This sort of entertianment has had a niche carved in the entertainment world at large recently. We all love to hate Paris Hilton, laugh at Brintney Spears and Kevin federline, and be annoyed by Casy Serin.
Thanks for your comment. What I meant by him being honest on his blog was that I believe that by and large he is telling his story as it happens. There are some facts that check out otherwise I don’t believe the media would have covered his story.
As you say yes there probably are some deceptions and obfuscations. I do believe he leaves many things out. There is also a difference between being dishonest with his creditors and with what he writes on the blog. If he was totally honest when he was applying for the loans he wouldn’t been in this situation.
Kind off of the topic, but I can’t believe that US banks and financial institutions allowed a person to get into this situation. I don’t think this could have happened to an individual in Australia.
I think he has provided too much detail in many circumstances, which will probably come back and bite him at a later stage.
It is not my intention to say what he did was right or wrong, honest or dishonest, my point is that if you want to get as much attention as he has in a limited time, these are the lengths you have to go to.
while i agree with you about some of casey’s blog, he is a criminal, willingly having committed loan fraud numerous time. the fact that he is stupid enough to blog about makes me think he wants to be on the next episode of ‘Americas Dumbest Criminals’. what is fasinating to me, is how many different bloggers and companies are attempting to latch onto his online traffic.
i know that you can say that i’m here looking at your site, but only for one reason. there is a similarity in these companies and their sites. this similarity makes me not wish to use any of the ’services’ offered by any of their sponsors. but that’s just me as i can appreciate your desire to have ‘eyeballs’.
Hey Mike,
Understood where you are coming from with not saying what Casey did was right or wrong. The truth is though that this is not even a question. What Casey did was wrong. It just that simple. What he did was a crime in fact. No one, including Casey, denies that.
I do like your comment about how he was allowed to get into this situation. A Casey hater would say he wasn’t allowed into his stiuation, but he lied and cheated his way into his situation all on his own(i.e – by lieng on his loan applications about his income, intention to live in the houses, his cash-back at closing, etc. etc.)
While that may be true it is being too simplistic in my opinion.
I think you bring up a relevant point about America’s recent housing bubble. That point being that theere is plenty of blame to go around. Real estate appraisers can be blamed for making ridicuolously large apprisals to support ridiculous sales prices; banks can be blamed for underwriting loans they knew to be very risky; even the U.S. Federal Reserve can be blamed for leaving interest reates too low for too long.
Yeah, there is plenty of blame to go around in this mess.
Hi Mike,
I think you are on the right track when you talk about Casey uses several tactics: offering some insider information (which he calls expertise) and entertaining/irritating his readers. I did a blog once that is still live, but I won’t point to it, about controversial blogs getting more attention. It’s like they say over in the Casey blog, you just can’t stop yourself from rubbernecking the train wreck going on there. It’s human nature, I think. It’s much harder to build a blog based on quality information, then sensational value. Just think Anna Nicole.
That being said, I have to say your blog post on how to reduce your living expenses by going abroad is very well thought out. However, if you don’t happen to be a citizen of that country, won’t they eventually kick you out? I would like to do this in two or three years and I am now investigating my choices but I am finding that my best choice may be in the U.S.!
A hint for you too on making this blog more successful: start keywording and multiple indexing your blogs (take a look how Casey is doing it). It will raise your standing with search engines. I have other tips too, if you are interested. I think your blog deserves more attention than Casey’s.
Have fun!
i wonder how he’s going to make a $1000/wk from jail?
Claire, thanks for the comment. I am glad someone could understand what I was trying to say.
Regarding living abroad, visa regulations vary from country to country but in South East Asia, it is possible to get a business visa. Cambodia for example lets anyone get a business visa, which can be renewed indefinitely. You don’t even have to work or run a business.
You can also just stay on a tourist visa, exit the country temporarily and enter the country again on a tourist visa.
Developing countries are eager to get foreigners in their country as they provide an external source of income.
Perhaps I will write a post on this topic sometime soon.
I am not sure what you mean by “multiple indexing”. I would appreciate any tips on how I can improve this blog.
I don’t want to debate whether Casey has committed a crime or not, most people agree that he has, but this makes me wonder why the authorities have yet to take any action.