WHAT?

Hi Lisa!  I think this is a great post and will pay more attention to my localism posts.....

I just love the idea of Localism...for me Localism is the most fun for me to write for.

I love it here, but this is something that bugs me sometimes, too.  I also know that non-members are reading my Localism posts, and I would love to have their feedback.

Lisa, I know that tons of non-members are reading my Localism posts, but in 5 months, I've only had a handful or two of comments from non-members.  Perhaps directing questions directly at them may help, but my guess is that most of them are early in the process when they are searching online for information and will contact you when they are ready rather than leaving comments and questions in a public way.

Great point...The public has access and I welcome any comments.

I'm happy to get comments from any consumer but one caveat is that they sign their real name.  All too often on the other sites it becomes a flame war against Realtors and I don't see any value for me in getting into that with anonymous comments from someone whose goal is to be disruptive.

Valuable commentary and discourse I'd love to see!

Lisa - I agree with you.  I would love to see some consumer feedback.  But anyway, we know they are reading, but not necessarily responding.  Some gratification anyway.

Localism is the reason I am here.  I have no need to impress those on AR.  I'm a featured agent for Iowa and while I love the comments from AR members I have the luxury of not having to fight for points.  I can concentrate on putting the content I want out there on Localism.

Lisa:  You make an excellent point. We all know that perception often becomes reality. We need to do something now to change the perception so that we can change the reality. I am so thrilled when the public responds to my posts. I wish it was more prevalent than internal commenting...but I love the input from my peers also. PROVOKING!

Lisa, this is an excellent point.  I read a tip last week about asking a question at the end of your blogs in an attempt to engage the consumer.  I'm trying to figure out how to use this in my Localism posts without coming across as too cheesy or salesy. 

Lisa, Great blog. I'm sure that none of us knew what the public actually thought of AR. Thanks for the info.

Lisa:

I have found (and can only speak for myself) that the public reading my posts prefer to pick up the phone and call me or send me a private e-mail.  However, I think your topic is excellent and I am very curious to see how others respond to this. 

Lisa,

It has been my experience that the general public that is NOT LOGGED IN (as we are) do not get the make comments on the posts, or there are some glitches there with them leaving comments.   We need to notify active rain and let them know that there are some issues with this....

Katrina

OK I Just did this... see below, but I know that I have seen this come up before and a person said that they weren't allowed to leave a comment. . . can you ask what happened next time you get back on Trulia Lisa? 

Lisa,  I really think you have a great point!  I love meeting and getting to know other agents in other markets but I think the consumer needs to be more involved.

making a comment as the general public would (NOT LOGGED IN) ....

Lisa, Awesome insight. All too often I read the Active Rain Kool-aid Drinkers' Brigade. I would absolutely welcome the public's comment on my blog, if they're real. One outside individual hijacked a Localism Open House post with negative comments. They typed in fictional names. For every Members Only post I write a Localism blog.

But if the website doesn't offer the general public access ... what's the value of pointing questions at them? They can pose questions here, looking for advice under "Q&A".

I wouldn't worry too much about one comment on Trulia, but you make a valid point.  I actually write nearly all my AR blog entries with Localism in mind.  And, I have received many positive contacts from the public through Localism.

I do think our post should be geared to consumers, at least half of them. I know they like reading about and getting to know us through the posts. I focused for awhile just on localism, but there is a balance. I didn't realize consumers might find active rain not user friendly.

Good points to ponder--I'll be sending more posts to Localism.

WooHoo Lisa! Great points although I also have weighed out the possibilities of why they do not. Not everyone likes to be in the public eye.....and I know ALL of the ones who have contacted me....did not leave a comment although they let me know that they read a certain post etc.  That's fine with me. At least we're getting contacted :)

from your post --

Just a quick check of your stats will show you that the public is definitely reading our posts. They're just not commenting.

OK.  Maybe I'm being a little dense here but how can you tell if a member of the generel (non- real estate) public is reading your blog?

I'm relatively new to AR and the only people that have ever posted comments have been other real estate professionals.  I have also noticed that certain geographic areas tend to be better represented than others. For example, I'm the Featured Agent in College Park, MD and I haven't been around that long.  I'm almost at the top of the list in my County.

So is it that AR doesn't market itself to the general public in order to get them in the door?

I checked the Q&A section where it looks like members of the general public leave questions but they rarely, if ever, concern my area of the earth or expertise. 

I'm on Trulia as well and when I was wide open I would get all kinds of questions about the price of rentals in San Diego (I'm in Maryland) or whatnot.

Localism may be the way to go.  As I say, I'm relatively new here and I was always under the impression that Localism was the place to "reach" the general public. 

BTW, I found a basic "how-to" for Active Rain and I could spend the next month reading all the ins and outs of Active Rain. 

Lisa that is so wild. I am on trulia as well but I have don't see how the person can say that.  I know I have deleted comments when people decide to do personal attacks or write something that is an advertisement for themselves.

All I really do now (with minimal exception) is write for Localism. I have gotten A LOT of business because of both AR and Localism. SO WORTH IT!

You're right.  It's fun to talk with each other, but it's the client (potential or otherwise) that matters. If the public is not looking at Active Rain for information then we are just talking to the wall.

I would also like the public the leave comments and answer questions and I agree, more posts on localism will encourage that. Good post.

Lisa-I would love more consumer comments...and I have gotten them...I pulled them in my going out of the rain.it's prospecting as....they now have joined my community... but I have to be honest...I prefer the personal phone calls the e-mails that I recieve....because it seems that is their favorite method to contact me!

My market is fellow Real Estate industry experts and the Consumers...so I address both.  Just like in real life we have to have a compelling reason for a buyer or seller to get in touch with us....we have to do it here in the rain too!  A really great post.   I may just have to join your new group!  

great point. The more we post for the consumer, the more we will bring consumers to our blogs. That's what we are here for, to help the public buy and sell

Maybe the comments box needs to come up for all posts not just for us when we are signed in. I dont think that the public realizes that they need to click on comments to bring upp the response box.

Activerain = NAR..   Figure out a way to change that viewpoint and you will have future in Real Estate.  Otherwise go down with NAR..  NAR is done....     You would think Yun would hide under rock.  One more statement like that and we will demand a jail term..

"The worst part of the credit crunch" is already reflected in the data, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR . . . the data suggested the worst declines are over."

-NAR release, December 10, 2007

I find a lot of comments from the public on my localism posts.  Otherwise I don't see them on my other posts.  Putting the comment box in, like someone else suggested might help.

I think the public is reading...since I have received business from blogging. But IMO they are not commenting because they prefer to remain anonymous until they are ready to contact us. That's the beauty of the internet and using it for a home search. They linger on my website and read my blogs for months, perhaps, before finally contacting me to assist them. I certainly don't think that anything about AR is unfriendly to the public...they are absolutely welcome here!

I'll bet that overall they've never heard of it. 

I  don't think ActiveRain / Localism does anything to keep people from commenting on posts written for consumers, I have got some regular people commenting on ActiveRain / Localism.  I think it may be similar to the % of comments from consumers I get on my outside blogs. Consumer comments just looks dinky in comparison to all the commenting that is done on ActiveRain by members.  

It's been a bit since I have paid attention to Trulia.com do they have blogging?  Isn't it the consumer that asks the question?  That is different than commenting on a blog. I am not sure if that Q & A feature is not as popular on ActiveRain.com I have never got into it on AR. 

I do get frustrated when I post a blog for consumers and I get comments from people in other parts of the country, members who are just commenting for points, aren't about to bother to really read it, click on links to more info.

I think ActiveRain does have to create a consumer membership for localism at some point.

I had another blogger (non real estate) in my market ask me once what ActiveRain was about.

Few consumers I've talked with have heard about this site.  Others probably stumble upon it during a search of a particular community. 

Someone above said that members of the public who visit here are likely early in the process.  I agree.  Consumers like to "lurk" for awhile and gather information, so I would not expect most to jump in and comment. 

It's possible that consumers fear they will be inundated with emails or calls from agents if they leave a name here.

Great post Lisa.  I had the experience of a consumer posting to one of my localism posts just the other day.  I am trying to find new ideas and topics to come up with that are not "members only, or directly related to AR". 

I really enjoyed doing the one I posted this morning Ladybugs...friend or foe it was very fun to do.  I too, welcome any and all comments on my posts.

Thanks Lisa,

 Just looking at search engine placement, I know my blogs both activerain and outside blogs are being read. I do not get many comments on my outside blogs either so I do not blame this on us at activerain. 

Lisa, I think the home page of Active Rain could be better designed to involve the public. The wording doesn't appear to be very welcoming of the public.  I would strongly encourage the AR designers to explore way to involve more public comments.

I don't see that my localism posts are getting much attention. But even my broker was not aware of ActiveRain. I don't think many consumers in my area know about it either. I live in a technology challenged area I guess.

Lisa, I do get an occasional public comment on my blogs, but, frankly, was expecting more of them. Many reasons to that, I guess. Yes indeed, we should post more on Localism to heighten the awareness of its presence. Good observation.

I always am interested to find out what consumers think.  I think that their perception is very important.  I'm working to add more posts to Localism.

Lisa: I hate to say this, but when I get outside comments they are usually expressing a lot of anger with the real estate community. The pent up hostility is actually rather scary....

I have also had outside readers who hate it when I blog about blogging. And tell me that!!! Yet on any given day, many of our featured posts are about blogging....WE are interested in that, but is the rest of the world?

If we want more outside comments we should have more members only posts, and make our feature page more welcoming to outsiders.

Well done on this post Lisa. I have had quite e few consumers comment on my posts. Some are regular readers. But I get many more consumer emails from folks that are reading. I get them everyday so they are certainly here in force. Trulia is a forum AR is a blog site. It's a big difference. The consumers are here soaking up information. I welcome their comments but would much rather have their business. And in that respect AR works just fine.

Excellent....  Great Points and Great Advice.

Connor with Honor

I love the post and am happy to see that it is featured.  This is a wonderful example of thinking outside the box.  Thanks...

Lisa, I'm not sure the consumers comment but I do know they are reading. So they call and that's fine with me. Yes, I wish they felt the freedom to comment but I think most consumers don't. We are addicted here and love to comment on each others posts. I do comment on out-side blogs too when I feel I have something to add. But, Sellisus and Bloodhound I read every day and only comment when warranted.

I agree and would love to see comments from the public!

I tend to think of AR as a sacred place for Raltors to share ideas, etc. and Localism as more of a "consumer frienldy" environment.  But I definitely welcome any and all comments to my posts.  Thanks for this blog!

I aim for making 7 of my ten posts each week to be public.  of those, five are generally geared towards localism.  I would love to have more comments. 

On my non-A/R blog, I have gotten a few public comments, but I have had more people call me to say what they thought... or email.  And there certainly isn't an industry bias there.   

I've actually received more comments from consumers on my activerain blogs than my outside blog. All my post are written with the consumer in mind. Activerain has a contact form on every members profile. It's obvious they are reading my activerain posts when they contact me through the activerain contact form with very specific questions about very specific topics. I think the way they find me is through google for specific searches. I doubt the consumer goes on the main page and starts looking to read posts. I think the consumer is looking for specific information and they find it through searches.

I've had consumers correct me, criticize and compliment. You have to willing to take it all. I answer every comment except spam. Many bloggers on activerain will delete comments that disagree with them.

Janet Guilbault hit the nail on the head.

The public IS reading what goes on this site.  Whether that translates into successful transactions or not is an individual matter.

Wouldn't it be odd if we were all serenading each other and nobody in the public sector even noticed?

Lisa

I noticed that many questions that are asked on Trulia are asked by agents kind of "pretending" to be a consumer. Thirdly, there are such abusive comments directed at the real estate profession, that I am not sure why these professionals would want to be on a forum where they  are treated this way. Perhaps, the idea is that if there are such negative feelings by consumers, it will help real estate people to hear them. Sorry, if I got away from the point of writing for Localism. 

I am guessing the reason someone wrote that is that they saw some blogs that really didn't relate to them.  There are so many different types of blogs on AR: some are much more consumer focused than others.  I know I appreciate the bloggers who give blog ideas, SEO information, web design, and real estate discussions.  I'm not sure most consumers are interested in the internal functioning of real estate though.

I know some of my consumer friendly AR posts brought links to my web site, so people definitely read them. I think the thing is to make your blog have some variety, or just make some posts members only.  There is SOOOOOO much good information on AR that it can be overwhelming to go through it. I can see consumers having a hard time navigating AR.  I get overwhelmed with all the information on here sometimes.

Like Karl Burger, I am in a technically challenged area, with not a lot of Realtors active on the Web. I AM getting contacts from consumers resulting from my efforts here (Thank you AR!!!), especially since my focus is on first time home buyers and returning Vets. They have been picking up the phone to call me, or e-mailing me directly, though. The consumers may not comment, but they are definitely here. Heck...how many posts do WE read, and not comment on? Great post, Lisa.

A/R all about Real estate professionals helping each other, and share ideas. Great Points and Great Advice.

Just like my outside blogs don't get alot of comments from the public, neither do my AR posts of Localism post. But my google analytics on each blog tells me many people are reading. When people want to say something they will, but most are just content lurking around. Such is the life of blogging.

Thanks for a though-provoking post! We should all consider the public's perception with each and every post.

Great debate...I love reading both member and non-member comments...

This was a terrific post, Lisa, and the commentary was helpful to read. We know consumers are reading but the percentage of comments is low, which I suspect reflects comments on RE blogs in general, not just on AR. I think the perception of AR is that is IS for our business, while Localism is for the consumers. I get a good number of comments on some specific posts, but many, while widely read, get no comments. as long as there is readership and that results in business I am not too concerned.

I think the point raised about the public's perception of our business and us is a valid one. Many ARE unhappy with how the business operates, and the manner in which agents treat the public, their perception of fees, and so on - in many cases their concerns are justified, IMO. So much of what is written here, unless specifically for localism, is not of interest to the public, so to expect them to read AND comment here is probably not reasonable. I applaud your encouraging consumers to participate more - we can learn much what they have to say about the business.

Jeff

Localism is great for the consumer posts and comments, but would hate to see A/R change to have non Realtor community comments and posts on all of the site. It would change the entire feel of the site and without a doubt there would be more of a monitoring issue. Just my 2 cents.

Good points!  Localism certainly can draw attention to specific areas and may help bring consumer awareness to the hidden charms only locals know about.  Thanks for the pep talk

I have only rarely gotten comments from the public.  Too bad Localism doesn't allow comments!  I would welcome comments from the general public!

All, There seems to be much concern about the lack of consumer comments, but right here on this post, there is a comment from outside the system.  I don't see where any comment addressed that person and what they had to say.  hmmmm.

let's keep up our post at localism, it does pay to post. Happy Holidays.

Lisa - Agreed.  I would love to see more public feedback on posts.  As Doreen McPherson has already pointed out, I also think the 'anon' comment should be addressed by a Realtor here.  As a Mortgage Guy, I don't think it is my place to do it...but somebody should.

Lisa,

Very interesting post. I would like to see more involvement with the public on localism.  Happy Holidays

I've actually started to do just that. That's where our business comes from doesn't it?

Jason wrote:  "As Doreen McPherson has already pointed out, I also think the 'anon' comment should be addressed by a Realtor here.  As a Mortgage Guy, I don't think it is my place to do it...but somebody should."  

According to blog etiquette it is the blogs owners place to address comments.   Yes we do a lot of crosstalk in the comments because we know one another. Or many do. Of course I am not saying that anyone else can't answer the anonymous comment, if they want to.  Nor am I saying that Lisa is shirking responsibilities.  Or that other real estate agents shouldn't address the anonymous comment if blog etiquette is not part of their repertoire.  In fact I see answers to the anonymous comment in the thread of comments. Or maybe someone who is not a Realtor is the prefect person to answer the comment.   

In all comment threads there will be some comments that are ignored.  Often they are the anonymous comments.

If I start a conversation where a member of the public gets involved on my blog I am more territorial than I am if it is a post where it is a bunch of members commenting.

Lisa--I have received public comments on several of my localism posts. But most comments do come from other AR members as their is more of an incentive for us to leave a comment or two. What I like best from the public is when they call or email me for more information...I have had much more of that then comments!

Lisa - Thanks for the encouraging words. I try to maintain a healthy balance of published articles. I think the main reason that consumers AREN'T reading a particular post is that the writers aren't sharing anything of specific value to the consumer. We don't ask probing, thought-stimulating questions. Many articles are dry and void of life/personality. It's content that should be on static websites, not a interactive, conversational blog platform.

Lisa, Great post. I write a ton of Localism posts. I have thought about trying to engage my audieance more and I think that your ideas are right on. I think we should  be asking the general public questions if not for our own education but also as a way to measure. Would be cool if a member of the public made a response here :) My husband made a response on one of my blogs before and I was like - hey - what you doin!!! lol!! Thanks for the motivation!!

I am so grateful that  have found AR because I have had so many consumers find me through it!  This blows me away that there is a perception that AR is not consumer friendly.

Thought provoking comments. We do try to post to Localism as much as we can. I'l make a point of doing it more thanks for the thoughts.

I think of AR as serving two purposes; it provides me with an invaluable resource for exchanging information with friends/agents/lenders all over the country and a tool for reaching out to consumers.  I have not paid as much attention to the consumer aspect of it because I have been enjoying the comraderie of AR.  Thanks for brining this up. Ironically, I posted to Localism right before I saw your post :).

OK. I am so overwhelmed with all these comments that I don't even know where to start. I was debating whether I should write another post, just to address some of these questions. I still might, but I'll try to answer some right now.

Ken- You can find out how many public views you're getting by embedding Google Analytics in your posts. Just type in Google Analytics in a Google search =) Also, the public is finding us through random Google searches.

Katrina- (off topic) Thanks for the plug on Trulia. You're so silly!  

Mary- It wasn't the "one comment" I was worried about. It's the fact that for every one person that voices an opinion in public, there are probably hundreds more that feel the same way. I believe I read a poll once that addressed that topic. 

Everyone- who thinks the public doesn't even know about Active Rain. That's not true. They're finding us through their Google searches. If you have the right key words in your posts, your blog is going to come up very quickly. Then, if your post is relevant to the reason that consumer is searching, they're going to read it. But too often, we address our posts to each other. Just a subtle shift in how we approach the same subject, would make it more "consumer friendly".

Everyone else- who have had "flame wars" on their posts. I understand. I haven't had it happen here yet, but I've certainly had it happen on my You Tube channel. When the happens, I just block the person. If they create another account, I block them again. As I stated in my post, "Everyone is entitled to their opinion when its' stated in a respectful manner."

Ken (again)- Localism IS the place to reach the public, but it's our Active Rain posts that are coming up in the search results. So we need to be aware that EVERYTHING we post is open to public scrutiny.

Michael- I believe Katrina Madewell posted a comment here that demonstrated the ability to comment without signing in. I haven't tried that. 

Eric- I just listed 2 condos and when I was  still in the "interviewing process" with this seller, I started to mention a source where I and she could find answers to the questions she was asking, and she immediately asked "Active Rain?" I've had a couple of others do the same thing. However, you're correct that MOST of the public have not heard about it. 

Midori- I'd love for you to join my fledgling little group. It's just a baby compared to the others ;)  And you and Lysa both have great Localism posts. They would be great for that group.

Bryant- "Trulia is a forum and AR is a blog site". "Consumers are here soaking up the information." I get what you're saying. And I realize that is true. But the way the Trulia comment was posed meant that person felt like their comments were unwelcome here. And that's simply not the case. The platforms may be very different, but when the consumer is here soaking up the information, they must have questions. I'd like for them to ask those questions and know that they're free to do so.

The few posts that I have written are intended only for those in the business.  I use A/R as a learning tool to further my education and experience as well welcoming advice and comments from those who know this business.

i ditto a lot of the responses. i like ar because for me i get to bounc ideas around and get new ones all in an effort to help my sellers get their homes sold.