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In regards to some of my recent questions...

By Mary Weiss

Education & Training with Zillow Group Mortgages

February 15, 2017 08:05 AM

Good morning, Rainers!

I hope that your post-Valentines Day morning is going well. I ended up working well past midnight last night (I'm starting to believe I'm a work-obsessed masochist) and had an idea to ask the AR community about something:

What is your most popular public AR blog post?

My inbox exploded overnight with a lot of thoughtful responses - so a HUGE thank you to everyone who contributed! I am working my way through each response now and will be commenting on each one throughout the day.

I also noticed that some of the responses suggested that I just do my own legwork by reading and finding out what seems to be popular, which leads me to an admission: I haven't been very forthright about why I am asking questions of the community lately.

I am a data-person. I live, breathe, write, and talk data. I am inquisitive and while quantitative research (just simply numbers) is helpful in some cases, qualitative research (real responses) are more intriguing to me.

Last night's question was more about engaging a conversation. What trends are we seeing in the answers? Newbies to AR can come to this question and see that there is no exact recipe for success, but that many of these posts are older and have built up over time. Also, they can see that consumers are going to find blogs that are helpful, which will increase the views/popularity of a post.

I also realize that popularity is a subjective term - done so purposely. Success means something different to each person, so I was more interested in what each person found to be their most popular one - and some used the total visits while others used the most engagement/comments as a way of measuring.

Either way - I think it did get a great conversation going and I'm glad I asked. As I mentioned, there are other eyes looking at this question and the responses learning something new other than me. I am proud of that.

I hope you have a Rain-tastic day! Leave me a nice comment if you like and I'll be responding shortly. :-)

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Mick Michaud

Distinctly Texas Lifestyle Properties, LLC Office:682/498-3107 - Granbury, TX

Your Texas Lifestyle is Here!

Numbers are our friends. But they don't tell the whole story. How to make the human connection. That's the challenge to anyone in this business.

Feb 15, 2017 08:18 AM

Mary Weiss

Seattle, WA

Mary Weiss

I wholeheartedly agree! Conversations are key! Back in my old journalism days, my editor used to ask us, "But what is the story? Sell me the story and I'll see if our readers will buy it." Moral: numbers are just that - numbers. Without a story, they don't matter. :-)

Feb 15, 2017 08:38 AM

Sam Shueh

(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA

mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

Data that people can relate making an impression. When I dtermined the home prices recovered to Great Recession neighborhood. I made a sensation realtor that I know something no others do. When I discover hardwood flooring and countertop correct to higher home price during the Great Recession people were suprised. However, I correlate with statistical significant data (F-ratio, etc) that firepits presents to higher offer value during a economic recovery people locally start paying attention to features.

Feb 15, 2017 08:44 AM

Data is definitely important. I recently took a class on how to tell a story with data and found it to be quite interesting. It's all about the narrative and how it is presented. :-) When you show someone something they don't know and it's it's compelling, they'll be more likely to remember it. :)

Feb 16, 2017 03:21 PM

Liz and Bill Spear

Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH

Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Mary, Getting to the meaning of the stats is everything. My post popular post is one about comparing sports fields to acreage. But the ones that make my phone ring the most are about subdivisions, new construction, etc. They don't get comments and relatively few clicks, but they're far more business productive.

Feb 15, 2017 10:03 AM

It's interesting to see how varied the topics are with what drive calls and what gets the most views. Either way, it just goes to show that having a wide range of topics and consistency allows you more visibility. :-)

Feb 16, 2017 03:23 PM

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Mary Weiss

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