Why mainstream media should be developing online real estate magazines
Posted by Pat Kitano at 5/13/2008 9:33 PM 
Categories: New Business Models, Lead Generation, Social Media
Categories: New Business Models, Lead Generation, Social Media
A few days ago, I noted that the new and most relevant online real estate magazines are best exemplified by blog properties like Agent Genius or Bloodhound. Mainstream media should be playing this card - building their own local real estate magazines - because they already have the consumer traffic base and can leverage their brand names to capture real estate readers.
Newspaper publishers
Screenwerk cites the local online newspapers' trend to "site diversification" in order to capture more relevant local traffic. Greg Sterling's main point:
Newspaper sites cannot accomodate all the various local uses cases and newspapers need to build or buy (if they can) other sites that will. The Gannett Mom sites (e.g., IndyMoms) are a great example of the strategy. Make the newspaper sites as usable as possible but build other sites (demographically focused, vertical, etc.) for content and ad distribution.Real estate fits this paradigm. Newspaper sites or companies like Planet Discover or Pluck that syndicate content to online newspapers can create local "real estate magazines" to supplement the standard "Sunday" listings. The key is to find the local real estate writers, and that's where the bloggers come in. They welcome participation because the newspapers offer another syndication source, usually for free, for their content.
Newsrack real estate print publications
Beyond mainstream media, what about those local newsrack real estate publications? With print newspapers back pedaling towards extinction, aren't their print business models also becoming obsolete? Wouldn't they be ideal for an online makeover?
It's hard to change a revenue model. Real estate print publications are stuck in the old publishing paradigm that charges an advertising rate schedule to their real estate agent clientele based on impressions from circulation. Although the model has been updated to include online impressions, the game is still centered around listings and broker/agent advertising.
For example, Homes and Land is an established brand newsrack name. They have integrated their ad offering to include both online and print. Yet, try to find their online magazine; go ahead click "Free Magazine" and the application forces the user to fill in all their contact details, including the type of house the user is looking for. And now I'm on their leads list (and I feel tricked):
Counting impressions/leads in order to support the "circulation" numbers that sell ads is an old newspaper game.Thank you for visiting HomesAndLand.com
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The point here is - H&L is already a real estate magazine in most metro markets. They are well positioned to develop local real estate magazines and recruiting local real estate bloggers for supplemental content. All the while, they can continue with their ad-based revenue model until their online real estate magazines gain traction. Then these magazines will provide the traffic/circulation numbers to make them relevant marketing vehicles for their clients... and hopefully they can get rid of those annoying lead capture screens.
Why don't they do this?
Because They Are Scared.
Reply to this
I think it is important to use several different means of advertising. There are some people that are stuck in their ways and do not use the internet and computer as they should. Others understand the importance of online communication and know how to use the tool to buy and sale properties.
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