The Real Online Real Estate Magazines
I recently noticed Agent Genius's (new?) tagline " a National Real Estate Magazine". It's the perfect metaphor for how blogging is converging into mainstream media under the guise of a "magazine" format. Magazine 2.0, using Wordpress, drives down the cost of an online magazine to insignificance, and positions Agent Genius as a real estate media property (in the old world, Oprah spent $20 million to launch her national magazine...)
Note the intuitive difference between online newspaper and magazine. Inman News, Realty Times and RISMedia have always been positioned as news sources or networks with a mission to provide journalist quality and factual reporting (umm... some do this better than others). Magazines, on the other hand, aggregate articles and provide perspectives and subjective interpretations, making their online equivalent ideal for blogger authors. Both online formats attract readers in the same way people read both the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine.
Greg Swann pioneered the positioning of a real estate blog as national media with his recruitment of a national author crew (taking his cue from Rain City Guide, which has been positioned as a Seattle resource). Now, six seven blogs have distinguished themselves with a growing cadre of authors:
Rain City Guide
Bloodhound Blog
Geek Estate - real estate technology
Agent Genius
Lenderama - mortgages
Bigger Pockets - real estate investing
HomeGain blog - real estate marketing
Special note: Inman has been the most progressive in developing a property that combines news, blogging and a social network.
This is what makes these "magazines" compelling - readers are pulled in by the character of the community. The blogging authors become the brand... the reader can expect different perspectives and conversations on Bloodhound and Agent Genius, and their intersections can be an amusing watch. The reality is each is establishing a brand that will have more impact in the community than any Realtor Magazine or other canned content real estate site.
Next, I discuss how the online real estate magazine becomes a localized marketing paradigm.
No magazine can give the type of feedback a blog does. And, after all there is too much editorial censorship in true magazines. Just like reality TV, we're all addicted to the drama and the raw flavor of great blogs and their subscribers.
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Hey Pat, And to think, I only began blogging because the Chicago real estate business slowed to a crawl and there was nothing better to do. Who knew that anyone would actually be reading? I now actually even write about some serious stuff every once in a while.
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Another beautiful part about blogs as a platform is the interactivity with the readers. You have got to love this new media format.
Nice post.
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Love the magazine aspect! I'm a Tomato girl out on her own now and working with a marketing guy to add more community content, and am immediately sending him a link to this post. Love it! Been hooked on Kitano-san since RE South.
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