Dear Active Rain/Project Bloggers,

First and foremost I stand up and applaud all of you for Blogging. 35% of the Realtor world still doesn't use websites so I am awed that you guys are out there using progressive technology and doing the right thing. I also respect each of you for putting yourselves out there to be judged. It's not easy to do that. I have been writing since I was a kid (books, plays, movies and scores of articles). My ego has been shattered into a 1000 pieces. I've used duct tape to piece it back together. But every critic made me want to go deeper, do better to prove them wrong. The harsher the criticism, the more it made me reflect. I tried not to be harsh, just truthful to my sensibilities.
 
In judging these blogs, I looked for the following: Content. Localism. Honesty. Passion. Originality. Style.

I didn't care about Google placement or any of the technical stuff. I approached this purely as a consumer and what value the Blog site offered me as a person looking to learn more about the community. As I am sure you know, a Blog, even more than a website, needs to really say something. It needs to stand for something and stay true to that focus. I should be honest. Real not forced. It should have a personal side and reflect the Bloggers perspective but also be mindful of not crossing that line into making this all about you. These are the Blog rules I subscribe too. They are purely my opinion, not neccesarily fact. It's the criteria by which I judged.   

The following is in order of what most favorable to least. Good luck to all of you.
Marc Davison l Partner
1000watt Consulting l Turn on 

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Julie Ferenzi & Jeff Turner - Living in Plainfield
What do I like about this Blog? Everything. What don't I like about it? Nothing.

"If you Like that Post, then try these..." Brilliant. Very Zappos. Very Amazon.

I love your headlines. They are witty, yet not over the top. The pictures are cool. Love the rounded corners. It wouldn't matter if they were square but the fact that they are rounded told me you cared about every detail. The Plainfield Mystery. Great Blog. Short, sweet and probably tapped into the minds of other locals.

Overall I feel this Blog was written by a non-Realtor. From her artsy styled personal photo to her simple tag line "I love Living in Plainfield" told me her career is her passion. Not a job, a hobby, or something she does to earn commission. This is who she is. I clicked on the Charity link afraid it was going to delve into that weird "sales" place trying to hard to get me to connect with her as a human being, but this was anything but that. It was real, honest and endearing. Take the piece "Doctors". Very transparent writing. Julie doesn't spin things. She just tells it like it is. I was drawn to that.

I'm usually critical of agents who lure the reader in through one topic only to sneak in self- promotional advertorial. "On My Mind" was the perfect place however, for Julie to offer her human side. It was compartmentalized were it should be – in its own section away from commentary and neighborhood info. Thank you Julie for doing that and as a result, I chose to go there and immerse myself a bit more in your life. I may not be buying a home in Plainfield but would love to meet your husband.

All in all this was my favorite blog site. It was neat and organized. I love the links to Schools, Community, etc. As you will see, I have a bit of an issue with placing charity causes, religious affiliations or political agendas on these blogs because I believe they detract from what these Blogs inherently are supposed to be: windows into the community so that I, the real estate consumer can make sound decisions about your community. Yet somehow, because this site kept me on it so long, I actually "got" Julie and understood why this was there.

Plainfield will never be plain as long as you're selling real estate in it.

 

****UPDATE****

The Forgotten Team: For those of you who've been paying attention to Week 10 of Project Blogger, you'll be aware that one team was left out. For this omission I (Caleb) apologize.  This will cause an upset in the results for week 10 as the group left out is placed 2 in the line-up, and without further delay here is the critique: 

Teri Lussier & Greg Swann - The BrickRanch

The criteria I set for a quality Blog is how close it comes to connecting the reader to the Blogs advertise agenda. The BrickRanch.com’s “About us” section, explains what this Blog is about. “It is about Huber Heights Ohio and Teri Lussier’s take on this wacky place.”  She continues by stating how the Blog is also about the community, Real Estate and mostly about conversation. She invites me to pull up a chair and get involved. This certainly defines my criteria for why a consumer might go to a community Blog and why I, have have pulled my chair closer and began reading.   

From the onset, its abundantly clear, this Blogger can write. She’s not just keying in words. The piece “18 years today” was flawlessly written. In fact, so is every post. Disappointment ensued upon completion of the entire Blog wishing there was more. The few criticisms I had were: 1) The Categories list of topics were located at the very bottom of the Blog rather than the top. I can’t understand why so many of the other Project Blogger sites offer the Blogroll prior to the Blogs table of amazing contents. Granted “Appalachian History” is a cool Blog unto itself – so cool I found myself staying there for a while reading. Not sure that bodes well ultimately for Teri.

Looking down the list, I’m confused wondering how links to Bloodhound, Real Estate Sizzle, and Live in Los Gatos fulfills Teri’s mission statement  seen above. They take the reader off the site to other sites where some are clearly not in Teri’s league nor do they serve to enhance my Huber Heights experience. I know what a Blogroll is but does the average buyer or seller? Regardless, my point is, shouldn’t the Blogroll and the Links section go after the sites table of contents not before?

After reading every post I found myself heavily invested in Teri as a writer. I give her high marks for her range. From the piece on Popular Mechanics to the revitalization of Sydney Australia, this Blog covers wide and interesting ground. When I finished, I felt however, I still didn’t have a complete grasp of Huber Heights. I didn’t know about the different neighborhoods. I couldn’t get a handle on the schools, the local amenities, etc., Granted the Links section provided some coverage but here’s the thing: I don’t need a Blog to access municipal sites. I could easily Google all these places myself. Also, by linking out, you are stating to the reader that these are sites you believe in and trust as quality resources. But are they really? The link to Huber Height City Schools offered me a series of reports that never loaded such as the District Profile. 2 minutes went before I finally gave up waiting for the report to download. This is the problem with linking; you need to constantly police the sites you refer your readers too. I did click on all the links and frankly found none of them really enhanced my experience. What I really wanted was to stay on Teri’s Blog, stay in her headspace and get her take on everything. In this regard, Teri definitely won me over and I feel as time allows and as Teri spreads her attention over other areas, this Blog will become one of the best out there.

Nevertheless Teri gets high marks for this Blog and I put her in the top 5. I can tell there is a lot Teri has to say and with time she is going to say it and put it in a way that we are all going to want to read. 

***End UPDATE***

Tisza Major-Posner & Drew Meyers – Route 66 Living
To begin, judging Tizsa was difficult since I begin with a bias based on past experiences with her Blog. As it turns out, in researching articles I write for Inman, on more than one occasion Google searches for facts resulted in Route66 Living as a source. I remember telling my wife that I'm almost compelled to buy a home wherever this agent works just because of her Blog. So having said that, now I need to judge this on more than just that experience.

I like this Blog site. I love the simple features like the local weather at the top. I did notice however, how hot is was and thought what would enhance this feature is tips to "Things to do to keep cool in Claremont". I like the fact that the color palate is not Orange and Green. Tells me you are not a follower. I love the calendar of events. I think the Farmer's Market schedule is great but could use pictures, video and interviews with some of the local farmers. I would have found that to be really insightful and deeply engaging. Remember, Real People, Real Stories are so compelling these days.

You put Zillow on your site. Very ballsy. I think however, you ought to place more information on that section that explains in greater detail what a Zestimate is and how it's really only a first step in getting a CMA. Not everyone knows how inaccurate Zillow is. But I admire your attempt towards transparency.

Overall I think the categories are great and offer lots of info about Claremont. The pics are great, the restaurant stuff rocked (menu items, insight into their cooking) the only thing missing here was scratch and sniff! To me this Blog is all about Claremont and I came away as I did in my previous visits that Route66 Living is just that – life in Claremont written by someone deeply dedicated to that endeavor.

My "one" concern – is the link to the One Organization. This resonated with me as I am never without my white wristband or a U2 song playing either in the background or in my head. But I feel Blogs of this nature should remain non-political or encroach on anything that takes me, the reader outside my headspace of what I am here to do – embellish myself in info about Route66 Living. This is the only negative I have.

Mary Pope - Live in Los Gatos
This is a good Blog. I like the fact that Mary is not pretending to be a reporter. I like that she writes how I believes she speaks. No pretenses. No wannabe here. The headlines are straightforward, clear and not goofy. I love all the recent posts. Some where politically charged, I like they way they were handled. Others were of local interest and they compelled me despite my otherwise lack of interest in Los Gatos. After reading about the Skate Park Gaining support and local events, my interest in this community grew. My perspective widened. That is the point of a local Realtor Blog IMO.

I like the links section though some of the links I feel are irrelevant such as links to the Chamber of Commerce. This is a personal bias but I believe the more a Realtor turns me on to the less that obvious, secret places that only local know about, the more valuable that Realtor is. Links to Weather, Chambers and Newspaper...well that is so Genstar circa 1994.

The one thing that I didn’t get what the Recent Readers section. I clicked on these people and get taken out to some twilight Realtor zone. Where is the value in that? If there is a value there, it’s lost on me. This too plays into my Genstar reference. Genstar was one of the original agent website platforms. It was just a template where every link on that site linked the consumer away to some meaningless destination. That what this is. Agents, head this warning: Don’t turn a beautiful, progressive platform like a Blog into a agent centric maze of useless links. Write about your town, your neighborhoods. Stay focused. Mary, your Blog is called Live in Los Gatos. Stay focused on that. Keep me, the visitor, inside Los Gatos. Don’t distract me with links to Suzyq and her page with virtually nothing on it. Dead ends are no-no’s.

What would be cool is to have locals be on that list. Links to their comments. Their perspectives on Los Gatos.

Don’t get hung up on this. It’s a tiny smudge on an otherwise classy Blog. You are up there in the top 3. You have the makings of being number 1. Go for it.


Jackie Colson-Miller & Jim Cronin - The Real Estate Sizzle
From the onset, I liked the Blog name. It sounds cool. Feels established. Connects me to how I feel when I’m in Florida – sizzled. I like the layout but felt the real estate resources directory should be higher up on the page above “Where’s Jackie” and “Ask Jackie a Question”. The writing is good, the range of topics, wide. I like the “series” pieces. Gave a feeling that Jackie was a reporter on the beat. Closer inspection however, gave the impression the beat was Jackie centric rather than consumer centric. I felt the neighborhood coverage was a bit weak and would have been benefited by links to actual School Data when citing the “good schools” in the area so that her word was backed by “evidence”.

Elements like “My Library” Where’s Jackie” “Ask Jackie”, the numerous Pics of Jackie and the overall “Jackie Perspective” that came across in the articles placed too great an emphasis on Jackie. I cite such pieces as the “Bus Bench Advertisement which focused too much on how the marketing benefited her. What would have made this piece cool was how the bus bench advertising impacted your ability to get your sellers a faster sale at a higher price. That would have impressed me. The divorce tie-in derailed me as well. It took my mind away from my own personal concerns as a homebuyer or seller forcing me to ponder Jackie’s personal issues. My heart went out to her imagining the ordeal. But I don’t think that’s as a cool as using elements to make me, the client feel as if your heart pours out to me.

Personal elements like that belong in a special category. Not imbedded in an article.

I was disappointed in the Restaurant coverage which featured an eatery in France. I’m trying to buy a home in Tampa. I felt that was a plug about Jackie’s jet setting lifestyle than anything else which also came across in pieces like “Fun and Frolic” and “Where is Jackie Now”. As a reader I felt that if she were my listing agent, where Jackie should be is on the job rather than hob knobbing. There was too much emphasis on her life rather than what mine would be like unless of course Jackie hooks me up and bring me long. She seems like the type of person I’d enjoy hanging out with. That made me wonder how much cooler it would be if Jackie had a “Where are my clients now” component featuring video and interviews of clients and the places they ended up as a result of working with her.

I came away feeling as if Jackie’s heart and soul isn’t in Tampa, the reader or the client but rather an attempt to get the reader to invest in Jackie. Jackie, I think you are one of the few people that could actually pull this off. Your smart, attractive, worldly and classy. What I would recommend is to Change the Focus of Real Estate Sizzle and turn it into your centerpiece for your perspective on International Real Estate. Like the host of travel show. If you did that, the emphasis on you would work very well.

Finally, I totally loved the piece on “The “Fluffernutter.” Brought me right back to my childhood. Thanks for that.

Vali Wimberley & Teresa Boardman – Denverfresh
Cool name. Pleasant layout and color schema. Right away I got a bit confused from the first post. Greetings From St Paulasaurus. Who wrote this Blog and why? Why did this person switch places for a day? With whom did they switch? Why is there is post about Minnesota on a Denver Blog? I’m confused. My understanding is that I would have come upon this site either as someone looking to buy or perhaps sell in Denver. Hence my confusion.

Not sure I agree with putting links to Denver homes right there at the top of the page. Granted it takes me to your site, but people who access Blog sites are not necessarily and primarily looking to buy homes. Denver links also took me off the Blog and away from your sphere. Gave me the impression you’re more about referring me out to places rather than being the resource. Raises the question why is your categories list below the Blog link rather than above them? Granted your coach may have their own opinion but as a consumer hitting your Blog, I want to stay here and read what you have to say. If I want links out, I’ll Google Denver.

All in all my advice would be write less about Denver as a city and focus more on neighborhoods. Get granular. Where do you eat dinner out? Where do you go to ice skating? Granted there is a line between being too self oriented and offering the reader a look into your communities through your eyes. I think you can get closer to that line.

I noticed links to Project Blogger. I found this on some of the other Blogs. Why? Seems a bit too “inside” for me as a consumer. My concern is this: Linking the consumer to Active Rain exposes a certain inside look into real estate that might confuse the consumer. Like right now I am reading some blogs on Active Rain and I’m thinking this is not the pretty side of Real Estate, why are you exposing consumers to it? I don’t get the point. If there is a good point, make that clear on your Bog why you link people off to other Bloggers outside the area.

Kevin Tomlinson & Ardell DellaLoggia – SouthBeach Real Estate Blog
My initial reaction was I love this site. I love the focus. South Beach Condo Blog. It’s not 2.0. It’s not 3.0. It’s 10.0 meaning right on target. It succinct and defined. Not all over the place.

But I started going through it. It scrolled down forever. Like a bottomless pit. Granted if more bottomless pits had jpegs of Brooke Hogan, falling through them might not be a bad venture. Below that, I finally gave up. The choppy insertion of jpegs made reading the blog really difficult.

I scrolled back up to the top of the site and clicked on Search Blog Archives. It wasn’t hyperlinked. False alarm. Below was “Start Search Here”. I found one article “How Consumers Use Real Estate Blogs. But there was no copy. Then I clicked on the headline. The article appeared. It was about how readers of blogs should read a blog. And I’m thinking I’m reading a blog about how to read a blog on a blog site about Condos in South Beach. That’s when I tuned out.

I moused around a bit more, and after a few minutes I felt this site was Paris Hilton. Gorgeous on the outside, zilch on the inside. Style, yes. Substance and results? I couldn’t find focus on it. Other than the home page and miles long scroll down of content, there was no directory that felt useful to me as a potential buyer or seller. But...I think there’s a ton of potential here. You aren’t getting my vote as the best today. But I have a feeling with more time and coaching this young man is going to have a killer Blog.


Kelly Kilpatrick & Joel Burslem - Rancho Satan Margarita Lifestyles
I like the look of this site. It has the Blog meets newspaper vibe to it. But as far as vibe goes, that’s where it began and ended. While I liked the fact that is was very “market stat” oriented, market stats only go so far with me. After a while, graphs, charts and numbers are just that. They aren’t personal. When I buy a home, I don’t move into a chart or live next door to a graph.

I felt the site lacked substance and soul. It read like newspaper without the gift of good journalism. Though Kelly got personal at times, I had a hard time relating to her POV. The “Homeless” piece came across as somewhat naïve and addressed the Homeless issue from an unusual perspective. I felt Kelly had something important to say but it didn’t come out right. More importantly, socio-political, issues are a tough nut for any journalist to crack. My advice here Kelly is when doing a piece like this you’re best served by leaving your opinions out and replacing them with a cross section of opinions from others. It widens the scope of your coverage and makes you look like you really delved into a issue rather than approaching it with a drive-by perspective and jump to conclusion insight.

Many of the other posts also felt very surfaced scratched only. The blogs seemed written for the sake of being written. The Fire Safety Blog was long and put me on alert rather than educated me. I suppose all in all, the Blog turned me off Orange County. Between fires, scary homeless people, and corrupt superintendents, this blog felt more like a personal soap box than a conduit for a buyer or seller to fall in love with the OC.

Where are stories about glorious sunsets. About homes with amazing landscaping. About people with wide points of view and an accepting cultural mix. How about a happy YouTube interview with a client who talks about how working with you changed their life. Where are reviews of restaurants. Info about the Music Scene? Girls in Bikinis? This is the OC isn’t it?

All in all I felt this Blog was really by the numbers. One again I cite the Blogroll. I ask myself why would an agent in the OC, trying to sell homes in the OC, have links to the Future of Real Estate Technology, Bloodhound or the Ubertor Real Estate Blog. They lead me off your site for no reason.

Kelly, I’m sure I’ve drawn some very wrong conclusions about you but this is what I have been tasked to do. Judge. I don’t know you so please do not take this personally. I think Blogs are meant to create a bridge between stranger/visitor and stranger/Blogger. In this case the bridge is drawn up.

Ines Hegedus Garcia & Paul Chaney - Miamiism
I had a difficult time getting into this Blog. I cannot put my finger on why exactly. I find the color unappealing and considering so much of what real estate is about is curb appeal, I felt this layout and color schema needs a Jenny Jones makeover. Especially considering this is a Miami based Blog. Spring for a better picture of Miami in header. Green is the new Grey. Miami is a spicy, hot, sweaty bowl of cultural con carne. Sexy. Exciting. I feel this Blog should exude that.

The title story did not capture my attention. The second story about Fisher Island, the exclusive, private haven for the privileged, accessible only by Helicopter, didn’t really connect with the coach traveler in me. The Hurricane story wasn’t really warm and inviting. The Fathers day article ... Well, this should explain why I have trouble with this Blog. I am a homebuyer looking to move to Miami. That is the perspective I judge from. I don’t see how a story about a Realtor’s dad and his fight with cancer embellished by graphic descriptions that includes colon removal and brutal chemo treatments can put me in the mood to buy a home and indulge myself in the frivolities of Miami’s lifestyle. I certainly can’t imagine bothering that Realtor with my shallow needs at a time like this.

The Blog is called Miamism. Stay inside that premise. I felt this Blogger used a personal tragedy as away to lure me in. I could be wrong, it’s just how it came off the page. Realtors who Blog might want to keep in mind that using a Blog to detail this type of tragic personal issue could make readers overly sympathetic and uncomfortable enough to not actually utilize the Realtor in an effective way. Harsh, perhaps. But true? You be the judge. Next time you go and buy a $1,000,000 anything, see how effective that sales person personal tragedy story affects your emotions.

The Menu of the Site left me perplexed. I view links and the order in which they appear on the site as listed in order of priority. Therefore, I scratch my head at why Project Blogger is the number 1 link. As a potential client how does your amateur blogging contest benefit me? The rest of the links, View my listings, Search MLS, Mortgage Calc...is this a Blog or a Realtor Website? Local info has no local info, but rather links to Local News and Weather. As a web surfer, I question whether a Blog should connect me with prominent web destinations I can find on my own. Local secrets ...way cooler. Far more valuable. Didn’t see any.

Moving down the list I click on Strategic Blogging Systems and that takes to a Paul Chaney’s Site. Why? In fact all those links take me to sites that have no Miami frame of reference whatsoever. I am so confused by this Blog. Remember, I am not judging this by how well Google picks you up. If a Google search results in this Blog at the top of the results page, and I click here, have I really benefited? If not, have you?