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The Trulia Honeymoon is Over

I did think it would be worth my while to set up a profile, claim some locations, and post answers in Trulia Voices. I bought their line that if you participated, it would broaden your exposure, and the more you participated, the higher up in the "Find a Pro" results you would rank.

I have posted a few blogs, answered more questions on Trulia Voices than anyone else in my area (without spamming and begging for leads), have a complete profile, and even got some answeres rated as "Helpful" or "Best Answer."

So, I've been participating. I have helped build Trulia's content. I put several locations in my profile, because like many agents working in rural markets, there are many little towns nearby that are part of my real estate market. It's hard to tell where one town ends and another begins, sometimes. I wanted to be sure that someone looking for real estate in Tafton, or Greentown, Lackawaxen, Greeley, Honesdale, Milford, or Hawley, among others, would be able to find me.

Imagine my surprise when I used Trulia's "Find a Pro" service for Tafton PA, and got the "NO RESULTS" answer. Huh? How can that be? I've included Tafton PA as one of my locations. Same deal for Lackawaxen.

I looked in Hawley PA. There are several results...a couple of them are agents who have started to contribute to Trulia, but most of them are nothing more than simple profiles probably started by the company secretary when she had nothing else to do one day. The thing that ticks me off is I am nowhere to be found on that page, even though Hawley is not only one of my locations listed, it's my BUSINESS ADDRESS!

I looked in Greentown. There are 13 agents in Greentown, but I am not one of them. Nobody can see that I've answered several questions, nobody can see how much I've contributed to Trulia. Nobody can see that I work in Greentown, as well as Hawley, Pike County, and Wayne County....and all the other locations I listed in my profile. Right now the only way they will find me is if they search for Pike County PA. That's it.

WHY does Trulia allow you to add multiple locations to your profile, if they are not going to show you as an available agent in that location when someone searches in that area?

That's it - I'm done. I will no longer be contributing to this website at all. What a waste of time. Customers looking for specific info for one of my areas won't be able to find me.

Use the links below to learn more about real estate for sale and about my innovative marketing plan for sellers in Pike and and Wayne County of Northeast PA.

Areas Served: Hawley, Honesdale, Lake Ariel, Lake Wallenpaupack, Lords Valley, Greeley, Greentown, Tafton, Waymart, and Lackawaxen. Planned Communities: The Hideout, Hemlock Farms, Wallenpaupack Lake Estates, Fawn Lake Forest, Pocono Springs, Masthope, Indian Rocks, Tink Wig, Woodland Hills, and other communities in NEPA.

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Posted by Karen Rice | Lake Wallenpaupack | Pike & Wayne County, Northeast PA Homes on 07/16/2009 02:12 PM

Comments (26)

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26 Comments on The Trulia Honeymoon is Over

JUL

Thanks for the note! I've noticed the same frustrating results working in our rural communities of Southwest Wisconsin

Thanks for the information. You can bet I'm going to check my "Status" on Trulia!

Hi Karen!

Thanks for doing everything right - setting up your detailed profile, blogging, answering questions etc.....I see that you come up for Pike County in "Find a Pro" but not for some other locations as you have mentioned. So, I created a ticket and we're looking into it for you.

I will let you know as soon I have more info.

Thanks for your great effort on Trulia and for your patience.

Best,

Rudy

Social Media Guru at Trulia

Karen says "That's it - I'm done. I will no longer be contributing to this website at all. What a waste of time. Customers looking for specific info for one of my areas won't be able to find me."

and Rudy submits a ticket. thanks for your Patience? No apology? I hope more is going on in messaaging than on this blog, because "I'm done.'' is pretty clear

Not exactly putting your best foot forward here IMHO

I feel like that one here. I was sold on the outside blog opportunity and promised a call back from a person at Active Rain. Never heard from anyone after my money was paid and now it seems that every agent in my 'hood is on there but me!

Glad someone is looking into it for you. I have written to AR several times with no response.

Ok, I didn't see Rudys response, but I went in and tried Hawley Pa and you came up http://www.trulia.com/voices/directory/Pennsylvania--hawley-39

But, what I was going to say is that even if you cannot find yourself, I personally have gotten three clients just from answering a question. One is closing next week:) So for me, its definitely worth the time I have spent there.

Unfortunately in this type of market, you've got to take vendor promises with a grain of salt. Good for you for holding them accountable. I just stumbled across a web site provider company promising all sorts of services in their advertising. Looks like a great deal, etc. THEN when you purchase and click on the links for these services, it says 'Leave your contact information and we'll notify you when the service becomes available'. It's been like that for months. Be careful out there, and thank goodness most Trulia is FREE. Don't pay for anything without talking with references. If they don't have current, happy references, that should be your red light.

Boy Karen If anything your voice on AR made an impact. It was read by MAYBE someone that will see it corrected.

It has to be corrected. I don't blame you for your complaint. How rewarding is that? Who wants to take the time to support and work the cause and then have it make no difference.

They better correct the glitch.

Hi Karen - What I have found to be useful is to put your market reports if you do them in Trulia. They do get viewings by consumers. I am sure Rudy will square it away for you. I have had a couple of issues like that myself and they squared them away pretty quickly.

Rudy, -well, I'm surprised. I submitted a ticket to Trulia myself and got an auto email that I may have a response in two days. Thank you for looking into it for me. I most certainly will reconsider my personal boycott if this problem is corrected in a timely fashion, and I will also brag about your awesome response time.

Daniel, since I've been a member of Trulia since November of 2007 - almost TWO YEARS, I think I've had a LOT of patience. Apology? It is I that is owed the apology, and I am thanking Rudy for looking into it for me.

The reason I now come up in Hawley is because I switched my primary location a few hours ago to Hawley from Pike County, but I still do not, to my knoweldge, come up in the other locations.

I understand the "ranking" based on your PRIMARY location, but what I don't understand is not coming up AT ALL in other locations that you have listed in your profile. It doesn't do me a bit of good if someone is looking for an agent in Tafton, and Trulia says there are none..when I've been here since 2007.;

Karen I quoted you to emphasize how poor Rudy's response was. Glad he is looking into it too, but an apology should have been the first words he typed

Oh, OKay. Sorry, Daniel - I though you were annoyed at me for being frustrated and upset over this...

text, unlike speech, does not have the emotional cues we are so familiar with. Takes time to get familiar with peoples posting styles online. No worries here

Kim - regarding ranking on Active Rain - I think your ranking completely depends on your points earned, rather than if you are a paying member. So if someone who is no longer active has more points than you do, they will continue to outrank you until you get more points than they have.

I have lagged a bit on AR recently, myself....I have to post more blogs...but I have a lot of places I'm trying to promote. So far, ActiveRain has probably been the MOST productive one for me. I think that to date I have earned almost 10,000 in commissions from AR generated leads, if not more.

Hi Karen!

Upon re-reading the post, I realize now that I answered too quickly. So sorry about that. I was testing using both “Find a Pro” and “Search Advice and Opinions”. In "Find a Pro", members are listed in the directory and searchable by their primary location. I see that you changed your primary location from Pike County to Hawley, PA yet still come up under Pike County – this is what we’re looking into. However, you are searchable by all locations using "Search Advice and Opinions" so consumers can find you that way for your blog posts and Q&A.

Allowing all your profile locations to be searchable in the directory is on our roadmap.

I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer re: the primary location discrepancy.

Thanks,

Rudy

PS - I had a few friends in Lake Wallenpaupack many years ago and used to go boating there - Love PA - miss it!

Karen, I have been answering questions and posting listings and my profile on Trulia for quite a while and have never received any kind of lead or contacts from buyers/sellers. I did check out just now if my profile shows up under "find a professional" and it only showed up on my primary city and I don't know how far down it is buried in the other locations.

Rudy, that's practically worthless to me the way it is now. If theyconsumers can't find me under Find A Pro, a very obvious real estate agent search, then there is no point for me being there. If someone wants an agent, I want them to be able to find me...not through some convoluted nonsense like searching through advice and opinions first! How stupid is that? This is UNACCEPTABLE and there is NO REASON why it can not be corrected.

So unless this is changed, this WILL be goodbye. Trulia can take a hike. And I will continue to tweet this blog occasionally so that other agents dont' end up wasting THEIR time helping Trulia build content, just to be shafted by Trulia like this.

If someone searches Tafton PA on Active Rain, they find me. If they search Active Rain for "Lake Ariel PA" they find me. If they search for a city in my market, chances are they are going to find my blog. NOt on Truilia. On Trulia, it's "No Results Found" or a bunch of profiles of agents who haven't done anything beyond putting their name down for that "specific" location. Most of them don't have pictures, and I know at least ONE of them is no longer an agent!

Nice.

JUL

"I have written to AR several times with no response."

Kim,

I am sorry that you have not received a response to your questions about the Outside Blogs, and we have not done what we said we were going to do. I just emailed both Brad and Bob asking them to look into your support inquiries, to determine how they were missed, and to get in touch with you to make sure your Outside Blog is properly set up and in position to generate great results for you. Please contact me directly if in the next day or so all of your concerns have not been adequately addressed.

Kim - very enlightening and helpful post. Thanks for digging into this and staying with it

I'm blown away by the ultra-fast and comprehensive from both Trulia's Rudy and our beloved Jonathan!

Karen - You are a force for change! What is your secret? ;-)

Karen - Thanks for writing about this. I get my profile started in places but I never do my due diligence in checking them. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Bookmarked.

Hi again Karen!

Pasting my comment from your other post:

Just to be clear. I hear you. It’s something we’re working on....along with many other features.

In my comment to you yesterday I said,

"Allowing all your profile locations to be searchable in the directory is on our roadmap."

Rudy

Rule #1 Don't make Karen mad.

Rule #2 If you violate Rule #1 RUN!

Chuck, you know me too well *grin*

Rudy, as I said on my other blog - the answer I received from Stacy @ Trulia was worthless - it addressed none of my concerns except to tell me what I already KNOW - that I will only show up for the search for my primary location. It was borderline insulting. No mention of your "roadmap."

Again I ask - how LONG before this is fixed? How long will I, and other agents like me, be invisible in "Find a Pro" to a vast majority of our market????

JUL

Karen, thanks for getting this started. I haven't used Trulia much, and only recenly added a listing or two. I'll test it and review to see if my profile is coming up on consumer searches within Trulia. John

I have to agree with Karen here, the customer service on Trulia is worthless. They are ALWAYS putting on the incorrect photos on my listings & I'm tired of hearing their ridiculous excuses on how the MLS sends them the feed. DUHH, yes and the MLS photo is different from the one on Trulia! Not even the same house. I don't bother with them any longer and I urge others to rethink their relationship with them.

Another point, when you add things into a particular area (town) Trulia puts out a search in that area which is actually in conflict with you personally. Ex. I put up a blog in Schaumburg and then all of a sudden so does a blanket Trulia Google search for that town. At least here on AR, I don't have them competing with me in the search engines.

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