Every time you post on sites like RIS Media, they are getting paid by the advertisers. If they can get you to post for free, without paying you, so much the better for them.

Great point, Elizabeth.  Certainly they are not building these big sites for altruistic purposes.  

Yes, I have looked at RISmedia and not wanted much to do with them.  I even wrote a blog about them when they published a report that was more a advertisment for online leed sellers such as justlisted.com housevalues.com and homegain.com and the others.  What a joke that junk was.

Maureen,

I have been struggling with the same thoughts. I put a lot of localism posts up and I also have my own blog that I am trying to fine tune and get up and running. Duplicate content worries me...maybe it shouldn't.  I'm not a top blogger here and can't whip out daily posts. I'm lucky if I post twice a week. I can't help but to wonder if I should focus more on my other blog and less here. I've learned so much from AR but lately my thoughts have been changing.  You've given me more to think about thats for sure.

Monika, I hope Missy Caulk will write about duplicate content.   She just sold a house to a big mukkety muck at Google and he basically said if we are using our own content on a few (like 3) of our own sites we should not worry at all about duplicate content.  I have been duplicating posts on ActiveRain to my own blog for a long time.  Usually I post on my own site first to let it get indexed, wait a day or so, and then here.

James, I have to agree with you.  I have seen some of the same stuff over there.  

Monika, I hope Missy Caulk will write about duplicate content.   She just sold a house to a big mukkety muck at Google and he basically said if we are using our own content on a few (like 3) of our own sites we should not worry at all about duplicate content.  I have been duplicating posts on ActiveRain to my own blog for a long time.  Usually I post on my own site first to let it get indexed, wait a day or so, and then here.

Maureen,

Thanks so much.  I have been posting here and then changing it a bit and putting it on my wordpress blog. It makes more sense to post there first now that you've said that. Thanks Maureen!

You have a valid point and I think we will look closer at our own sites to get them really going. Maybe write more their first then here. Interesting topic as I have really never been a fan of Home Gain, House Values etc.. they just want a part of our hard earned money.

I have been pondering the same thoughts, without a solution.  A few weeks ago when I found out that duplicating my content wouldn't hurt me, it changed my thinking about maintaining another blog.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do yet but it is nice to know that other people are pondering the same things.

I agree with you Maureen. As much as I love activerain, I don't write to entertain other brokers so I will never be on the top blogger list.

Being a top blogger is not part of my strategy. My ego is not part of my strategy reaching buyers and sellers in my market is. 

I'm a little fish in a big pond but the internet has made me a much bigger fish.

Hey Mitchell you are a pretty big fish in my mind!  Geeze, I can't name another NYC broker...just you!

MF I'm with you one the blogging burnout! Who wants to build a monster for somebody else to monetize.  I say we monetize our own sites.  Bring home our own bacon!

kk 

Thanks KK, I guess perception does become reality.

Does AR still have that problem with disappearing first comments or do you think Elizabeth took hers down.  I had one of my own comments disappear from this post too.  Elizabeth made a great point about RIS Media making money from advertisers, which would be based on Realtors free content.  Great business model.

I did not remove it, Maureen, but is surely vanished. I was even polite about it. Is this a regular bug of AR? Comments disappearing?

What I said was RIS Media is making money every time a person clicks on that site. If they can use real estate agents to provide timely topics of interest to each other and to consumers, RIS Media can charge its advertisers even more, none of which is going to the content provider -- YOU.

Elizabeth,

There used to be a problem here with the first comment not getting counted in the comment count.  I have noticed disappearing first comments on my blog before.  Maybe I should make the first comment so that I don't lose someone else who wants to participate in the conversation.

I'm forumed out.  These multiple platforms, forums, lists, blogs, etc., are taking too much time from updating my web sites. 

I'm sticking to AR and getting back to what brings me business. 

Right now. 

I am with you Lenn, there are too many places to go right now, and they become a distraction if you allow them to be.

Maureen, I really appreciated your comment passed on from the google muckety-muck - and also the advice to post first on our own blog, then follow here.

I'd wondered why so many people make their own first comment. You explained it. 

Sharon, I think people also make their own first comment because others are more likely to click to read the comments if there is already one there.  And then hopefully they will leave one.  Just a guess.

Hi Maureen - Monika and I were just talking about duplicate content and she sent me here to see your post.  Somehow I missed it on my own.  Thanks for the info from Missy about the google talk - glad to hear that, and I love the idea of posting first on your outside blog and then here.  I'm just getting an outside blog up and running, so I love this idea!  I'm lucky to get 1-2 posts up a week, so it's helpful to hear we can use duplicate into.

Like others, I'm pretty tired of other platforms setting up all these 'great', 'next best thing since sliced bread' blogs and sites - we all know they're doing it to make money off what we put there.  I saw that on RISMedia, too, and thought there are too many for me to keep track of.  I signed up for the latest REALTOR blog, but doubt I'll do much with that one.  Just not enough time in the day to keep all that up.

Thanks for writing this post - the comments are most helpful!

Ann

You know how I feel about this.  They all want our content because content drives people to their sites.  As long as we participate by giving them content they will do just fine.  Hate to repeat myself, they need us, we don't need them.

Believe me Teresa, I was thinking of you as I wrote this one.

Ann, glad this was a timely post for you! 

Regarding the missing comments:  I think they may have something to do with our spam checkers.  Sorry, we'll have to look at that.

Regarding you and your interests Maureen.  The ActiveRain Real Estate Network is nothing without the community that is a part of it.  ActiveRain is nothing if it does not provide for the members.  As I work to help build this community I know that I must do everything I can to help the individual member improve their life and their business.  

From what I understand, the network hasn't served you as I'd hope it would.  I find that disappointing, and I am sorry, however I do my best try and make things happen for everyone here.  

I've written posts related to where I see ActiveRain fitting in:

 ActiveRain's Place

 ActiveRain Real Estate Network... What's the Big Idea?

Maureen,  you're very good at bringing up important issues, and while I know I cannot respond adequately (the best response would be results for you and your business.) I hope that I've added something to the conversation.

Caleb,

ActiveRain has served me in many ways, and in ways I could not have anticipated.  For the most part, my experience has been quite positive.  I probably should not have posted this here, but I guess that says something that I have generally felt quite comfortable on AR posting my thoughts even when they are critical of my hosts.  

I like the industry banter on ActiveRain.  I have taken away some wonderful ideas.  Really, I wish I had more time to read, because I am sure there is lots of great stuff I am missing because I don't visit here so often anymore.

I took a look at your posts, Caleb, and I still feel that an agent is best off blogging about local issues on their own domain.   For the most part, consumers are not interested in the becoming long term readers of our blogs when they find us.  They are looking for answers to one specific question.  And hopefully they are in need of real estate services.  Localism does not work for me.  If others are having better results, I am pleased for them and for you in building a strong site.

Thank you for being polite in saying that I am good at bringing up important issues.  You are a gracious host.

It's good to see such an excellent example of disagreement with courtesy and respect.

Sharon, Caleb certainly set the tone.  

Thanks for your wonderful response Maureen. You are so right, I would put it this way however, not everything that is put together here will be for everybody.  But some things will do many people a lot of good.

I don't want to take your post too far off topic I just had to give some response.

Thank you.

And I always appreciate your criticisms.  They've always been positive in helping this community to grow.

Hi Maureen,

It has been a while since we talked. I totally agree with you and I have a little bit different take on content. I have tried some of the lead generators. They took my money then used it to compete against me in the search engine rankings. I never received any leads so I left. Their results in the SEO lingers on though. Write at home and let the long tail of the internet get you placed high.

I haven't bothered to login.

Maureen McM and I were talking about this subject just today - which explains why I'm so late in catching this post. At first I didn't agree with your (or Teresa's) position on Localism - many months ago - like last fall. But I've now come over to your point-of-view.

With the phenomenal growth of AR membership, there are just too many people posting solely for the points. It seems very unfair that those 3-5 sentence posts get the same starting points as those people who put a lot of effort and research into their work. The overall credibility of AR seems to be declining. The way Localism is set up, there are "featured" agents who have never even posted ONE article, let alone a Localism article, or done anything with their profile, yet they can be "higher" in the featured Localism list than a "good" blogger simply because they gamed the AR system. AND as you have always said, why should those who put a lot of effort in their writings provide a benefit and credibility to the gamers.

So, like you and others, I've been lessening my postings on AR to concentrate on my new blog and building business there.

Elaine,

Send me the gamers in your community please.

Maurenn,I don't even know how I got to your post but I am sure glad I did. I have an Advanced Access site that did nothing for me at all. I am abandonning the site and need another game plan. In the 3 weeks on AR I got to the 1st page on Google in Princeton real estate search.That does not put bread on the table, but beats what I had. I undersatnd concern about Localism and competition. Believe me I am a very small fish at Henderson-Sotheby's and Princeton NJ in general. I looked at your sites. What do you use now: Point2 agent, Agent Advantage and Word Press for your blog? Back to the original question: how do you get traffic there and how does it convert into leads? I would really appreciate your guidance in either English or Russian.lol.

Privit Faina,

My blog, miOaklandCounty.com is my main lead generator .  I have had it on wordpress for a year, and before that on blogger.com.  It did nothing for me for the year and a half I was on blogspot, google's free blogging platform.  I am a big advocate of blogging on your own domain, where you can control the content around you and the use of your efforts.  

I do have a homes.com site and a point2 site.  The homes.com site has been around for years.  I live with it, but I do not like it much.  The point2 site is new.  It does not get a ton of traffic but it has generated a fair share of inquiries, which is more important than traffic.

I get traffic to my sites the old fashioned way.  Changing content, lots of inbound links from authoritative sites, and a google sitemap, amongst other things.  

ActiveRain helped me enormously to grow as a blogger.  Congratulations on your high positioning for local search terms.   

Maureen and Dmitry - thanks for the info. I am a bit late to the bloging party and your post is making me rethink my strategy of AR vs. another blog. AR has taken many hours of my sleep -I don't think I can do 2 blogs, although there are advocates of that. I don't post listings or screen shots of MLS stats -original writing even on a small scale requires time.

I assume you used the same approach for driving traffic with your old Google Blogger and your pre-Point2 site. Why did that not work as well as Wordpress and Point2 site?

I thought the reason I moved up in Google is because AR has some kind of cloud with them. If I switch to Wordpress, would I get the same results? I also sneed to switch from advanced Access - I am deciding to what. What I need most is for the phone to ring. All suggestions are welcomed. Spacebo.