Thanks to ActiveRain for inviting me to be a judge for Project Blogger. Each of the contestants who submitted posts this week look to be doing well with their blogs. There was no shortage of relevant, local content. Here's the link to the posts that were submitted.

Judging Criteria

Judging the contestants against each other proved very difficult as it's hard to determine a success when the individual goals are unclear. I think everyone has different targets and different reasons for blogging. I wanted to keep it simple, so I based the standings on success in creating local content that would generate local traffic, and chose to point out strengths and weaknesses of each blog.

 

Results for Week 9

1. Tisza Major Posner

2. Mary Pope Handy

3. Kelly Kilpatrick

4. Theresa Lussier

5. Jackie Colson Miller

 

Comments 

(Note: I did not include comments for the contestants who didn't submit posts for the week of judging.)

Apprentice: Mary Pope Handy

Strengths: The relevant local information is top-notch. The title of the blog and your contact info at the top make it clear what the blog is about, who's writing it and how to contact the person writing it. I also like the presentation of posts -- the pictures are relevant and the key information is bolded for quick reference. Your humor is well placed too.

Weaknesses: About the only thing noticeably missing from this blog is more links to other local content resources. Maybe a link to the most popular job board in your area, most popular site for finding local events, etc., to round it out a bit.

Your edge: The relevancy of local content.

 

Apprentice: Tisza Major Posner

Strengths: Great titles for swooping up relevant Google searches. Your post on cruise night came up fifth in a Google search for "Claremont Cruise Night." Also a great mix of local events and real estate advice postings.

Weaknesses: Very few links in the two posts I looked at.

Your edge: Your personality shines through.

 

Apprentice: Jackie Colson Miller

Strengths: Keep hitting on relevant, hard local issues like tax reform. I also like that you ask readers for topic suggestions and give some direction on how to find past articles. I like the easy click-through to property listings.

Weaknesses: Some of your bolding techniques aren't working to ease organization or the readers' eyes. What I mean by that is that bolding actually works best when used with high reservation. When you bold whole sections of text, the reader wants to skip to that part and gets frustrated because they had to go back to the beginning to figure out what it meant; whereas when bolding is used for headings or to underline key short points, the reader can glance at the post and get a sense of what it will be about and what are the important takeaways before committing to read the whole thing.

Your edge: Providing perspective on some important local issues relevant to real estate consumers.

 

Apprentice: Kevin Tomlinson

Strengths: The real example of the investor looking for advice and how you answered the question was a great glimpse into how you do business and handle yourself professionally. If the goal of the blog is to gain customers, that's the type of post that should do the trick.

Weaknesses: We don't get much of a sense of your personality, sense of humor, etc. Also, I'm a buyer or potential seller of condos in Miami and South Beach so I likely got to your site for these reasons. I love the content about "as-is" sales and when sometimes the best time to sell isn't now -- it tells me that you have some knowledge of real estate. But what I really want to know is how is the market or where can I get more market information; and I want to look at listings so where should I go? Focus on adding more of this type of content if you're trying to attract buyers.

Your Edge: Investment knowledge.

 

Apprentice: Julie Ferenzi

Strengths: Upon entering this blog, the reader immediately feels the enthusiasm you have for your community. It's clear that you love where you live, love selling houses there and are actively involved in community events.

Weaknesses: The post on wanting to know what your house is really worth didn't deliver as promised. The person clicking through to this post might expect to find a list of online resources along with an offer of your services, but simply saying that they should call you feels too much like a direct sales pitch and wasn't helpful in a blog; it made the blog no different than a Yellow Pages listing.

Your Edge: Your obvious enthusiasm for your town and neighborhoods.

 

Apprentice: Theresa Lussier

Strengths: Your mix of local events, local places and general real estate advice is good. I like that you've made it clear to readers that they are welcome to join in discussions in the comment sections and to send content or write blogs. I also like that you've spelled out the different ways to subscribe. Some readers still need help with this and many times blogs don't give enough hints at the easiest way to subscribe.

Weaknesses: I would try to craft more posts that give a sense of what your niche is -- are you best at serving first-time buyers, move-up sellers, etc.?

Your Edge: Nice clean look to your site with posts that are easy to read, not too long and not too short. Punchy humor shows up.

 

Apprentice: Ines Hegedus Garcia

Strengths: I like the listings search feature. I also like the mix of local market conditions, local real estate issues and general real estate advice.

Weaknesses: The content was great in the post on lowball offers -- very useful to new buyers; however it could've gone a bit further to give examples of how to get educated before making a low-ball offer. Maybe include links to local resources, MLS, school information, etc. On the property tax reform post -- a brief one or two sentence synopsis of what the property tax reform debate is about would've been nice.

Your Edge: Bringing up topics not discussed elsewhere (for ex., Where do Miamians vacation?)

 

Apprentice: Kelly Kilpatrick

Strengths: You have great original and local content that will draw in local residents. It's nicely organized and includes quality photos.

Weaknesses: I like the market snapshots you have in the right column, but felt you needed some more real estate-related posts. You obviously have great local knowledge, so what is your sense of the up-and-coming neighborhood or street? Maybe add more posts with general real estate advice that will make your local readers connect with you for business.

Your Edge: You're deeply embedded in your community and it shows.