Judging for Week 5 of Project Blogger:

ShackPrices.com — Thu, 17 May 2007 22:03:30 -0500

After 4 weeks of blogging, the bloggers seem to have found their niche, from local content to blogging about blogging, and they're finding their (sometimes bland) voices. The bloggers admit to spending a lot of time blogging and even to taking classes on blogging, which means to me that they're genuinely trying to do the local real estate blog right. Which means that I will be honest:

Most of the posts were boring and they would have been boring even if I lived in your hyper-local area.

Contestants, you are entering a tricky world! You are trying to both be interesting in a conversational way, but not offensive to most people (wouldn't want to offend a potential client!), but there is really only so much you can say positively before said potential clients will say to themselves " this person is so positive that they are either a) clueless or b) dishonest." Do not enter the zone of mediocrity! Highlighting or mocking something in your area is not bad - some marketer has even managed to spin "mocketing" in a positive light . Try it, I think you'll like it.

OK, on to the hot topic of the week: someone pointed out that a lot of you write boring posts. Someone who's name includes the word tomato (as in throwing tomatoes at people). And half of you blogged about how you felt bad. Folks, even if you are the most interesting blogger on the earth, you're going to get negative feedback from people who have valid points, people who are plain crazy, or people who like to get a rise out of easy targets ( trolls!). Don't feed the trolls.

Runner ups (in no particular order):

Vali Wimberly and Teresa Boardman:- It was clearly stats week this week, which is always a good real estate blogging standby. Vali dispensed stats and advice, but Vali why should I want the ski pass? Was the snow any good this last year? Is there really one area that stands out? And do I really have to do all of that cleaning now?

Julie Ferenzi and Jeff Turner: Some troll got under Julie's skin this week and she organized a marrow drive (very nice), but what's keeping me coming back? I like the Flat Fee versus Full Service post and the admission of past mistakes (intrigue!) - she should try something like that again, but break it down into smaller, more focussed posts.

London Whitted and Pat Kitano: Just one post this week and I really liked the concept - that real estate will not transform you into a millionaire overnight, but it sounded a little too pitch-y. How about some stats to back up what is "normal" and what is above average. Oooo, I like that idea!

Jackie Colson Miller and Jim Cronin: Advice, advice, advice! I like it and it's good content, but there's only so much I can take. She needs to give us some color - who needs GotJunk the most in her area? What's the worst service her clients ever got from a provider not on your list?

Ines Hegedus-Garcia and Paul Chaney : Why did they ask me to judge posts from a week that includes Mothers day, I don't know. So I like the charts, but I could do without the marketing stuff. The story about the failed buyer was interesting, even to potential clients (I initially thought it would only interest industry follks). Off topic - who is this Paul Chaney guy who is her coach? I know I've been under a blogging rock for the last few months, but the rest of the coaches all link to each other and comment on each others blogs.

Madison Hildebrand and Dustin Luther: Madison - No posts! You bailed, dude!

On to the top five:

Number 5: Mary Pope-Handy and Frances Flynn Thorsen : Mary spent the week doing local history and local ghosts (they seem like they could be combined in some way). She hit the local thing, but she could really dig in and give us the dirt on the town. A list of wireless access points is nice, but it's not going to get the Google traffic it brings in to the blog to stay on the blog.

Number 4: Kevin Tomlinson and Ardell DellaLoggia : If prettiness were the only qualification for this contest, Kevin's blog would win (what are the qualifications anyways?). The stats are good, the condo buyer info was good and I liked the detailed post about some fancy new condos was pretty good (but was it more than a press release? How do they compare to other high end places nearby?). He's hitting the Ardell-style tell them about the real estate process and it's working (or is it? Any blog-clients yet Kevin?). Kevin, give us more content, more voice!

Number 3: Theresa Lussier and Greg Swann - Theresa hit it with some good old fashioned self criticism and introspection. Who doesn't like that? She didn't blog much about her area and, like the other contributors, blogged a little heavily on the fact that she's in a competition (good thing you kept that members only). The writing is good and, when applied to local stuff, could really go places. I look forward to hearing from the cat. Perhaps the pet-lady can serve as inspiration. Theresa also hit it with the only truly interesting blog post about blogging this week - Derek, will you please critique this critique? Maybe my website too? Pretty please?

Number 2: Tisza Major-Posner and Drew Meyers: Tisza's writing style is very good and her judicious, but frequent use of bold words really makes her blog posts easy to skim - there are so many blogs out there that it's nice to be able to quickly skim, then dig in if it's actually interesting. She blogged about blogging quite a bit this week, but the local stuff was good. Who knew that Claremont was the center of the Universe (I always thought it was Fremont)?

Number 1: Kelly Kilpatrick and Joel Burslem: Kelly hit it solidly this week with meaty local content, information that even locals may not have known ( fertility bridge?) and other such super-local delights. Kelly, please give us more of the same in the future, but with a little more bite please!

The real winner of the hyper-local blog this week is not written by a real estate agent , but hits the hyper-local nail on the head so well that people write in, comment in scores (so much so that the author had to turn off anonymous comments), and subscribe in droves. I'm talking about the Capitol Hill Seattle blog. Who knew oversized Subway signs and rude baristas could be so interesting?

Galen's Blog

Judging for Week 5 of Project Blogger: