Many thanks to the Active Rain gods for the opportunity to judge Project Blogger. Two months in and the apprentices are finding their stride. Go here to review all of the posts submitted by Project Blogger apprentices this week. For all the apprentices who were wondering how the big-Z ended up on your mybloglog widget, I confess, that was me. Thanks for your efforts this week; it's been fun getting to know you all a bit better.

Judging Criteria

Trying to keep this simple, I judged this week on a single criteria; how much return will your business enjoy from the investment you made in blogging? After almost a decade in the internet industry I've picked up a few tricks and will try to explain my rankings in the feedback to each of the apprentices (posted below).

Feedback Format

I've borrowed a format commonly used to review technology projects and so will try to give each blogger advice on what they should a) continue doing, b) stop doing and c) start doing. It's the "SWO" in a traditional "SWOT" analysis ... and I find it a useful format for reviews because it both accentuates the positive and gives constructive criticism. 

The Results for Week 8

But since most of you are here to see the leader-board I won't keep you in suspense. The Top five apprentices this week, judged according to the business their blogging will generate and ranked from 1st to 5th are; 

1. Mary Pope-Handy
2. Tisza MajorPosner
3. Jackie Colson Miller
   
4. Ines HegedusGarcia
5. Kevin Tomlinson
   

Apprentice Feedback

Apprentice: Mary PopeHandy

1. Continue ... to post great useful local content.  The Los Gatos events and Historical stories (very novel idea) are both awesome themes for driving search engine traffic to your blog.
2. Start ... cross-linking (not cross-posting) between AR and your other blog. 
3. Stop ... I wonder if you could drive more traffic to your blog if you blogged a bit less and invested that time in other social media activities that could create links to your blog. You should be spending as much time commenting on other (local) blogs as you do blogging.
   

Apprentice: Kevin Tomlinson

1. Continue ... to post "insider news" about local developments. If you're trying to attract an audience of investors to your Miami blog, you're going about it the right way. If however it's a consumer audience you're interested in, you need to start to mix it up a bit more. 
2. Start ... to personalize the Miami blog a bit more (show your readers who you are) - the same way you do on Active Rain. 
3. Stop ... Don't waste your own time on generic pieces like this one ... http://activerain.com/blogsview/114935/Comfort-is-key-for. Take Ardell's lead and wait till you have a "person" who is in that position and then write the story from their perspective. 

Apprentice: Ines HegedusGarcia

1. Continue ... to cultivate an active community of commenters on your blog - clearly you're applying lessons learnt at AR to Miamism. Your passion for the neighborhood comes through nicely in your posts - I want to book a vacation to Miami.
2. Start ... to sort your blog's comments from first to last. They're currently from last to first - very confusing.
3. Stop ... using your blog for industry PR - it doesn't work. If an economist predicts an upswing in the market, you should definitely report it on your blog ... but using that sound-bite to declare the "Housing slump" over may hurt your credibility with regular readers. Good advice is to neutrally report this news and then ask your readers what they think. No-one can accurately predict future of home values - even current values are a real challenge ;-)

1. Continue ... to let your sense of humor shine through your writing. It will quickly win you a loyal following. The extra time you put into the witty, clever pieces will pay off. Clearly your blogging effort IS bringing you business and so it was difficult not to select you into first place -- but there's room for improvement ...
2. Start ... linking!!! Links are the currency of the internet - to get them, you have to give them. This is very important.
3. Stop ... OK, I'll admit it ... I love to read your blog but the inline bold font kills me. Some of your prospective clients will be geeks like me and they won't like it either.

1. Continue ... to brand yourself -- I can't put my finger on what it is exactly but the Real Estate Sizzle brand is very compelling for a first-time visitor.  
2. Start ... to focus your articles around your target audience. The RE advice you posted this week seems targeted at consumers but the local content seems to talk to investors. I recommend more local content aimed at consumers (like local events and local history - see Mary's blog).
3. Stop ... the animation (scrolling pictures in your blog's header). It's distracting - especially for anyone who spend a bit of time on your site. You want your readers to wallow in your blog and that's hard to do while stuff's moving around on the page.
   

1. Continue ... I really enjoy your writing and it's obvious that your readers do too. Keep the blog simple and inviting ... it's a very welcoming place for a first time visitor.
   
2. Start ... to physically reach out to other local bloggers to contribute to your group blog. I applaud your goal of a community-generated resource but to get it started initially, you need to do more than just post an invite on the blog. I also think some editorial control may be required to keep the blog useful once you do get contributors. I'd be glad to discuss this with you further. 
3. Stop ... this is actually a "start" ... same thing I told Tisza ... start linking!!! Links are the currency of the internet - to get them, you have to give them. This is very important.

1. Continue ... posting stuff like "Why I'll never forget". Thanks for sharing that.
2. Start ... to quote other experts. There must be 1,000 experts that have posted advice for folks in a Tornado -- tell your story and then quote them. You are the real estate expert; show us more of that on your blog. 
3. Stop ... adding any more "bling" to your blog. The layout, styling, sidebars and widgets are awesome as they are - from a design perspective, yours is my favorite blog in the project. Anything more would start to be overkill. 

1. Continue ... covering local events -- it's a great way to get found by your neighbors. 
2. Start ... writing more. Teasing - I read your post about writers' block - trust me, we've all been there.
3. Stop ... over-thinking it. Again on your post about writers' block -- don't let anyone else tell you what you should and should not write about. Just do it :-)

1. Continue ... to experiment with Guest Authors. Not only do they bring you free content, they also bring an audience of family and friends they will show your blog to.
2. Start ... to be more deliberate about communicating that your in the finance business. It's hard to tell who your target audience is.
3. Stop ... not posting to your blog at least once a week. Seriously. Blogging for business is all or nothing.
   

1. Continue ... 
2. Start ... posting to your blog at least once a week.
3. Stop ...

1. Continue ... 
2. Start ... posting to your blog at least once a week.
3. Stop ...