Conversations with Joseph and the Nurturing of the Real Estate Blogging Community
Reading real estate blogs has no sense of boundaries... compelling writers are compelling writers... you're only jarred into realizing the writer's geographical perspective when they discuss their local idiosyncrasies - how real estate is done differently, weather that is completely different from San Francisco, and where the hell is Fluvanna?
The real estate blogging community is a close one... my initial blogging friendships were struck organically, almost randomly, through the commenting and connecting on topics of shared interest. It's very easy to see that the number of friendships in this community will continue to mushroom just like life... the older ones (for me, the ones that are two months old now), already through the nurturing ("dating?") process, become mature and become "family"... the constant flow of new ones are exciting because so many bloggers are coming online.
Joseph at Sellsius and I were talking about the community and how he really advocates for the nurturing of the newest bloggers... in fact he offered the first comment to my blog when I started less than three months ago... and that first blogger contact makes a "wow" impression.
We've been discussing how the RE blogging community is isolated from "real people" and how important it is to start creating ways for getting the Consumer access to blogs. I'm now doing informal polls when I make presentations to groups of Realtors themselves, asking them if they have ever heard of Rain City Guide , arguably one of our most popular blogs, and no one knows... and if they don't know, how can your college professor looking for a house know about RE blogs. Googling "first time home buyer" as I did last week returns no blogs, and in fact returns dull sites and lead generation / loan companies...
Joseph postulated one idea that would enhance the reach of the community - getting the "500 blogs" and more to all link up to each other. It's messy/undoable in practice, but the mission is a real one... reach is important because our blogs are and will be the key "real time" disseminators of relevant real estate information, tips and data analysis for everyone. (hey is this turning into Sellsius interview #3 for the week? #1 , #2 )
I'm following in Joseph's footsteps. I want to mention a few blogs I've recently discovered... funny to say, but sometimes I don't notice them because I don't recognize their locale ... the same way NBA executives always want to see a Laker/Knicks playoff series, not San Antonio/Sacramento.
- CondoDomain and Condo Contessa - yes, condos... I enjoy reading blogs that focus on exclusive topics... there should be more specialist blogs. Condo Contessa is particularly appealing because I monitor the San Francisco real estate market and her writing and data analysis are singular.
- MiOaklandCounty - today's article is about Beverly Hills... 48025. And where is Oakland County? It's not my Oaktown (across the Bay, btw)! May sound aberrant, but here's why I like 'em and they are on my feedreader - every single article is about local stuff that I just can't relate to - look down their post list today- syrup, local politics, Tigers (ugh), ten most expensive houses in Oakland County... I appreciate reading a refreshingly written local viewpoint that seems like the virtual opposite of San Francisco.
- RealCentralVA and Real Estate Zebra - from Charlottesville... I'm a geography buff, but I had to look this one up in an atlas. Great blogs seem to popup in cities as pairs - Bloodhound and the PHX RE Guy , StPaulRE and Snippets . Jim at CentralVA is prolific and really knows his technology, Daniel the Zebra does the things I like - bball officiating, loves New York teams... and now he's fallen for NASCAR (well ... 2 of 3 ... now I'm thinking I should take my boys to a NASCAR event).
- SLC Real Estate - the newest one on the radar is taking his role as a journalist literally with an interview of Casey Serin.
Maybe there should be REBlog Guy then. Lar
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Pat, I believe it will take a few things and watch blogging catch on with the consumer. 1- More content on blogs that is for their benefit as a consumer. Much of what is currently on line is technical or mySpacey garbage. 2- Consumers have so much do gain by searching the blogshpere for info about who they are considering doing business with. Because of this, I believe they will get it and get it in a big way some day. They need to be educated as well as finding pertinent content. 3- Patience and preparation. As we write with the passion we do, the care we do, the content is created. We are building it - they will come. Thanks for your important role. Lar
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Larry, your insight is right on... I'll be continuing discussion on this topic and bouncing ideas off you... stay tuned...
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Pat -
Thanks for the mention. The growth of the RE blogosphere is incredible, but the connection that many of us who blog have with each other is even better.
For that, I am grateful.
Every day I learn so much from my fellow bloggers; for that, I remain indebted.
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Thx Jim, I read through a % of your vast archives on RealCentralVA earlier this week... very easy to navigate with descriptive titles... you pack a wallop in some of your simpler posts... great to find you!
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I've come back here a couple of times today. Each time I struggled with what I wanted to say. So I will make it simple: Thanks!
ps. I'm honored that you can't relate but you keep on reading anyway.
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Hi Maureen! I knew as soon as I posted it that you would be puzzled... I was just in my Seinfeldish mood... and you're such a good sport... I was just joking around... now that I feel so bad, I promise to provide a comment for each post you make next week! even if it's about the Tigers! or syrup!
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Oh, and MiOaklandCounty has a wonderful ActiveRain blog. They are hosting the first ActiveRain Carnival. I'll be the first to submit, and I won't submit my Seinfeld shtick!
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Pat,
I am honored that you included me on such a list. You have nothing to feel bad about! I was at a loss for words, as in speechless. Like I would be if I won an Oscar. I wanted to write something witty. Or somehow do a trackback and put something smart on my blog about being how cool it is to have a reader in SF... Or about how nobody in Detroit reads but people in SF do.
My content is very local. I am honored that you would read it. Really. You don't have to comment every day next week.
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Maureen, you're polite... well, I'll still be your City stalker on your blogs for a while... I have a mean conscience and always feel like I ought to make up... I really like your Carnival gig and was almost ready to submit this article here as part of the blogging "Community" category but then I read it's about the ActiveRain Community, which I am relatively inActive in... I am amazed and impressed when I see wonderful bloggers managing two full time blogs...
Hey, and what are you doing up so late?! Doesn't Oakland County close up?
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Hmmm... I guess it does close at midnight!
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Always good to see new blogs coming up that have good substance. Blogging changes the boundaries of interaction and gives us a means to make significant change and open dialogue across borders- making industries more "TRANSPARENT"...
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I am still missing something. My blog is available to consumers through the internet and they are reading it. What am I missing or doing wrong here?
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You must be doing everything right... you're using your blog as a marketing platform that gets you leads.
My question is how does your consumer base find you and your blog? Are they finding you through search engines? Do they know you offline and develop an online relationship with you? Do they subscribe to your blog and drip marketing campaigns?
Why do ask this question? Last week, I spoke to about 30 Realtors in the heart of Silicon Valley. With 25 of them, I asked if they ever heard of RainCity Guide, or even read a real estate blog... and not one of them did. Furthermore, about half had heard of blogs but did not really know what they were. If the Realtors in the heartland of Blogging didn't know this, how could the Consumer know about real estate blogs? So this led me to investigate what would happen if a first time home buyer were to query google to find out more information about first time home buyers. Again, no real estate blogs were returned by google for at least the first four pages.
So how do the Consumers find the real estate blogs? I think this is a very interesting topic, and I'm eager to hear how your Consumers find your blog.
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Thanks for the linkage Pat! To be mentioned in the same sentence with Greg's BloodhoundBlog is an honor.
I've got updating my blogroll on my weekend to do list, and TransparentRE has been on th elsit for awhile now. Love what you have going here!
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Pat,
Thanks again for talking about my little blog in Salt Lake. I've been giving that first time homebuyer site a lot of thought...a lot of thought.
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You are a natural Pat and a credit to the blogging community. You walk the walk. As Lar said, keep building it and they will come.
PS Thanks for the kind words.
PPS Hey Lar, where's your spider pumpkin?
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The boys of Sellsius are nothing less than amazing. And they do exemplify what a blogger should be- connected, involved and most of all participatory. If you look at the best bloggers in the industry- Rain City, Sellsius, NYHomes4Sale, you see a trend, these blogs connect with people on a human level. While many RE bloggers are conencting with other RE pros, some are taking that step outside the industry to connect with the consumer. It's all about how you write and what you choose to write about. Write to engage your target audience.
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Excellent post and it touched upon the ongoing internal battle I'm facing: who is my audience? I write on the topics that interest me the most - the MLS, the future of commissions, etc. - but these may or may not be of any interest to anyone who is not a real-estate professional.
There are a few non-agent subscribers to my blog who have left comments; but the bulk of the readers still seem to be others in the industry. Neither good not bad ... simply is what it is.
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Thx Jonathan, I'm glad my focus audience is actually realtors and mortgage brokers, and I like the topics I write about. That said, I'm on a mission to bridge the consumer with the real estate blogosphere... stay tuned...
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Well done. Blogging anniversaries come much faster as you go on. Keep up the fine work.
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I think there will be an increase of blogging on real estate topics such as tax liens, tax deeds, and foreclosures over the next coming months. And of course, this comes mainly from some investors and home owners that didn't protect themselves from the housing correction.
In fact, some new books are released just to address the buyer's market and how to make money out of it like Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607).
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