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The New Localism: "Strategies for Sponsorship"

With the unveling of the new Localism BETA version, one of the biggest concerns expressed by our members is how the sponsorship of communities and neighborhoods is going to work.

First, it should be made clear that sponsorship of a particular neighborhood or community won't exclude other members from contributing good, relevant content, photos, videos, listings, market data, etc., to that particular neighborhood/community. Your Localism posts will still show up on the community page. And, if you're a consistent contributor, you can also be displayed as a 'Top Neighbor."

Community sponsorship will afford added visibility to the sponsor. They will be granted a 'static' portion of the community page where they will be asked to author a valued descriptive content on the respective neighborhood/community. Their profile picture and three links will also be provided.

Secondly, the sponsored communities that achieve the greatest amount of success/participation will be the ones where the sponsor champions development and involvement from within the community at large. As I shared in my previous post, "What is Localism?," the whole concept behind Localism is to create micro-social networks where local residents and merchants make meaningful connections and share information relevant to their communities. An effective sponsor would be someone who would aggressively promote and encourage active participation from neighbors and businesses, and solicit their collective contribution of good local content.

How does sponsorship make sense to me and benefit my business?

Imagine if you've been farming a particular development. You may even live there, and be active in the Homeowners Association. What better way to be the chief authority of that development than to create a community on Localism for that specific development. Send out a mailer and solicit involvment on the site for all the residents. Have it become the local community bulletin board to share upcoming events, advertise garage sales, school events, whatever. And guess what? There you are right in the middle of it all!..

It could be a residential development, a downtown condo project, or an older upscale resurgent neighborhood. Perhaps even a commercial development could be created?...the possibilities are virtually limitless!

Some members have argued that their cities or towns aren't large enough to support sponsorship of specific developments and communities. In those instances, it makes more sense to simply sponsor the particular town or city. We have allowed sponsorship of these smaller cities and towns that have a census population size of 40,000 or less.

Again, realize that sponsorship isn't a requirement for your continued involvement and contribution to Localism. As always, there are still plenty of excellent opportunities for you to gain excellent search results and ranking by consistently posting good, relevant articles/information, just as you have in the past.

Community/Neighborhood sponsorship is simply one more optional tool that we've made available to help provide you with more exposure and marketing opportunities for your business.

Here's a few additional helpful links:

https://localism.com/sponsor

All Things LOCALISM

You've Just Sponsored a Community, Now What?

Making the Most of Your Sponsored Localism Community, Part One

Making the Most of Your Sponsored Localism Community, Part Two

Making the Most of Your Sponsored Localism Community, Part Three

Making the Most of Your Sponsored Localism Community, Part Four

Making the Most of Your Sponsored Localism Community, Part Five

Posted by Rich Jacobson Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Agent on 07/10/2008 06:13 PM

Comments (95)

localism, sponsorship

Originally posted at: jonwashburn: The New Localism: "Strategies for Sponsorship"

Post is included in group: The New Localism
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95 Comments on The New Localism: "Strategies for Sponsorship"

JUL

2008

Hi Rich...This is certainly spurring me on to do a better job posting information more relevant to the Lake Anna area. Knowing that a new Localism was coming I bought a Flip Mino and will now get out there to take videos representing different flavors of my community.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with an area like Lake Anna which does not have a large population but is geographically located in three counties. It's all my neighborhood. I've written exactly that and told many buyers the same thing.

I'm still excited.

Kate

So in very plain and simple terms, how exactly can i sponsor my community?

From what I'm reading, a lot of agents are going to be discouraged from using localism rather than encouraged to use it. Before, how you appeared on Localism was controlled in large part by how much you contributed in the way of blogs and content, which was a refreshing change from the sponsorship-driven other sites. Even the selling of advertising wasn't a problem.

As someone else said on another blog discussing this, I'd much rather pay $5 or even $10 a month to participate in Active Rain (even during those months where, because it worked, I'm working too much to blog!) than to have this sponsorship arrangement. If every AR member paid such a fee, even if some dropped out, you'd probably generate a tidy income.

I acknowledge that I have the sinking feeling that my work on Localism in past, and perhaps in future, is going to contribute to whoever purchases the sponsorship, not me, or more than me (they're getting credit for my work, in essence, when looked at from the perspective of the consumer) and that really isn't an incentive to contribute more. Bottom line, if it is what it looks like at the moment, I feel used.

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the clarification, it makes more sense now. Have a nice week. Michael A. Caruso

Rich, I still don't understand why someone is a star neighbor in my county, doesn't live there, wrong towns are included there, and no one cares to make it correct information. I find this very discouraging. I have been asking for this incorrect community information to be acknowledged and removed for months. Does the a/r staff who monitor the localism pages have favorites and just allow wrong information to the public, or do they not care? Here's another one, Conn State Prison, listed as a Community??

Rich, Thanks for the info. But would ask the AR Gods to appease the masses: change the singular Top Neighbor to the Top Neighbors, please. Just my 2 cents!

Rich, I just finished listening to Bob's interview on RealEstateUSA radio and I think listening helped me get an even better idea of the neighborhood vision. I have to un-do that real estate business model from years past. I have to understand that the neighborhoods I want to purchase will not allow me to have the city spot and be ok with that. After listening I am headed in that direction. I can still write about Bremerton and post the articles in a neighborhood where I purchase space. My next question is can we see a pricing chart? If I purchase 3 neighborhoods am I going to be at the $7.50 or do I need more. I would like to see that broke down so I can plan.

Do ONE big giant post on all this and post it yesterday ...just kidding. :)

Thanks for all of you AR people adding much needed clarification.

THANKS FOR THE INFO

Will there be a "list" of communities that we can look at before July 31?

Anne

I agree with Jo's comment. I was not quite sure what Localism was all about, and the more I would read, the more confusion would set in. I listened to the interview as well and it helped clarify a bit. Real Estate Radio USA - ActiveRain Interview - Bob Stewart

Rich,

The inaccuracies regarding towns and neighborhoods in Wake County, NC, Raleigh, NC, Cary, NC are positively legion. On top of that, there are significant spelling errors.

Listing "State University" as a "Popular Wake County City" rather than "North Carolina State University" as a "World Class University in Raleigh, NC" is quite a shift from reality.

"Duncan" as a popular Wake County City is rather droll. Check out Penny's map, with Duncan on the north end of Hanett County.

I'm afraid you will get someone with more checkbook than brains to kick in and sponsor these "Popular Cities," thereby diminishing the value significantly.

Will there be editing of communities and cities prior to selling of sponsorships?

Rich, there are very few communities listed in Saline. I have posted on my town of 8000 residents the most, but because I was not registered as Saline, they don't show up.

Yet, that is where the most of my posts for localism are.

What do you suggest?

I'd rather just buy the city of Saline and call it a day !

Gracious Rich...

As the beloved TLW would say I'm parking :)

TLW...ROAR!

Rich, It's as clear as mud now!! OK just kidding... I get it. Now I'm going to have to hire a Poinciana community builder. I wonder if Bertha is available? Bertha, roving reporter. It has a nice ring to it.

Am I building content for active rain and then have to pay a price for a spot. I am wondering what the end game is for the agent. Just wondering!!

Rich,

The parking lot is filling up quickly!!! LOL, Thanks, Fran

Rich, if you are going to be at Inamn, maybe all of the A|R guys should get together (I know that Bob will be there) and have some A|R folks talk with you about the new Localism.

As of right now, I am kind of shut out of Localism because of my niche (demographic rather than geographic). And I'd rather pay to maintain an A|R account than have to select a community that may not be a benefit to me...

Also, it might not be bad to offer a "pre-sale" of communities to people over acertain threshhold of points (don't freak, I'm talking about 10,000 or 5,000... just to eliminate people that haven't actively blogged at all... and it is low enough that someone started now could have more than the requirement before the sale date). This would keep people that have just lurked from sweeping into communities.

Rich:

Thanks for the visionary information. Clearly there is lots to do to get Localism in the best shape it can be but off to a great start. We do need clarification on HOW to actually do the sponsorships. I think this is more of a concern that the monetization. I expect that over time the Top Neighbors thing will sort itself out - there are a number of folks who are there where it makes no sense since they have written almost nothing, etc. There are some folks in more than one county, and other issues that will need to get sorted out. All in all a tremendous product and a great opportunity for all. Hopefully the issues can get addressed soon so folks do not get too disgruntled.

Jeff

Lots of good points made in these comments. I know you and the team will take them all into account as you tweak Localism in the coming weeks and months.

Thank you for the info! I know this will all work out. You guys work hard and I know your hearts are in the "community". Do not be discouraged by a few that have no patience. They are good people, a little confused. This is not the end of the world, folks, WAIT!

All great ideas for our community pages!

Rich, What a wonderful post. I'm liking this new Localism more and more.

Rich, it's scary to all of us that have been here any length of time and are use to the old Localism. The fact that points mean nothing is scary to those of us that have worked diligently for months attempting to accrue the wealth of being at the top! We'll adjust I'm sure but the bottom line is that the site looks terrific! Good luck to you!

Later in the rain~Deb

Like I said in my post, I don't know about the new localism and I know that the algorithum is not working in my communities. Hopefully it will work soon.

Rich, I am very excited about the new localism. You mentioned a sponsorship of cities. Will that be possible on July 31st as well. If you have a population more than 40,000 will you not be able to sponsor your city.

I think that I should rank higher in localism..... who's palm do I need to grease?!?!?!?!

Rich - This was a huge undertaking and will take some time to work out the bugs. For many of us who contributed a lot of content we are waiting to see how it plays out. One issue that has to be addressed is the neighborhoods, I see towns listed as neighborhoods in other towns.

Here is an interview Jonathan and I did today with Brian Brady. If you have some free time and Localism, ActiveRain and/or your business mean as much to you as they mean to us, please take the time to listen to it.

Interview with Jon and Bob hosted by Brian Brady

how do I pay for it???

Besides the "sponsorship" thing, I'm interested in the top neighbor issue.... Today I was replaced by a poster who has only posted 2 posts, ever. And neither were earth shattering. Confused as to how that happened. Maybe there's another spot for this question/concern. ? I'll keep reading and just park here for now...

Rich,

I am having trouble navigating it. I can log in but no longer know how to post photos, blogs, other than blogs through the regular AR portal. Is there a link that explains how to use the new localism or contribute to it once logged in. I am getting a new computer and might need it. This site is pretty much bogging down the old workhorse I have. Thanks.

Oh Boy Rich-I feel for you guys right now. I love the look of localism..and I love the concept. I know that everything will fall into place.

I am watching to see how this works out. You guys have not let us down yet.

Hi Missy,

In a comment above you said "I'd rather just buy the city of Saline and call it a day!".

If I am understanding you properly that should be possible when we start selling the sponsorships. Since Saline has a population of less than 40k it will be sponsorable at the same pricing structure as a community.

Small city sponsorships are a minor tweak we made today as a result of feedback from our members.

Hope that helps!

You just explained why my face showed up at the top of the city I was checking today. I'm a Localism postaholic! LOL

JUL

2008

Rich - Quick comment and quick question - you guys are obviously busy!

Thanks for all of your hard work - it's going to be worth it! I am in a small town, I don't think my area has been tweaked yet, the top post is a listing blog. :)

What is to stop an outside person from buying the sponsorship of the whole town? I mean, when you guys say 'go', is it 'fastest keyboard wins the community?' Or a bidding war?

OOPS another question - Did you have a down time between June 19 and June 25? I heard that rumor. One of my posts that I wrote FOR Localism on Relocation is not even on the page, I posted it on June 25, it is on my blog, but not on Localism page. The ones right before and right after are.

Thanks!

I was real excited about sharing my community, but Still not sure this is going to work, already feel the community posting I envisioned will just be lost in the sea of self marketing that has already popped up, just how does a 1000 population town fit in?

I appreciate the clarification all of you are constantly making regarding the new Localism

Crystal: If you wish, you can sponsore your town of 1000. That's what I would do. Or, if you don't have any other AR members in your area, just keep posting good quality local content to Localism, and you'll do just fine!

Virginia: I appreciate your kind words. Thanks! There is a lot of content that hasn't been moved over yet. Give us some time to get things moved over. What you're seeing right now isn't the final deal. I don't think you're going to have a problem with someone from outside your area buying up your town. Even if someone else is sponsoring your town, you can still contribute good content, just like always, and be a Top Neighbor, and have your articles show up on the community page, just as before. Or, you could create your own community, and sponsor it. Totally your option. How did you categorize and tage your relocation post? Did you categorize it for Mesquite?

Steven: Keep doing things just the way you've done them in the past. Make sure to geo-target your articles as specific as possible to your primary market. Once we get caught up, your content, when approved, will show on the relevant community page, as it has in the past.

Kat: We haven't populated all the content yet. Once that's done, you will show up in Top Neighbors, along with others who have contributed consistently...

Tom: Sorry, we don't do greased palms. Content is king. If you want to rank hign on localism, the best way still remains to contribute good, relevant local content....

Eric: No one HAS to pay. It's optional.

Jeff: Hey, man! We will explain everything in full detail as we move forward, especially as it relates to sponsorship issues.

David: We had to draw a line somewhere. 40K was it. Personally, I was very pleased with that decision. If your town/city is over 40K, then I would suggest sponsoring one of your communities or neighborhoods, and chances are, you will be able to gain the city as well, for free! Or, you can simply continue to contribute as you have in the past, and your content, when approved, will show up on the community page as it has in the past....

Deb; Thank you so much. Change is always disconcerting. We have ALL invested greatly in this platform. And together, we will continue to work to make it reach its full potential.

David: Thank you. We need more members to say the same thing. We just launched it, for goodness sake. It's still in private BETA. Give us a chance to get things fully functioning.

Lane: I've been following your comments here and other places. You've mad some good points. No doubt that Localism will be the topic of discussion at Inman. Explain your demographic vs. geographics situation to me....

Eric: You don't have to pay. It's optional. There may be a particular district or neighborhood there in NO that you might want to sponsor. But your content will still show up on the revelvant community pages, and continue to be searched/ranked, as always.

Missy: If I was you, I would sponsor Saline! Go for it!

Mike: Yes, we have loads of editing to do when it comes to correctly inaccuracies and errors that our members have made. Hopefully, we'll get things looking good soon!

Anne: Good question. It's my understanding that whats in there now is what will be available for sponsorship the end of July. If a particular community or neighborhood isn't showing up, you will have the ability to create it and then sponsor it.

Jo: Sounds like you've got a good handle on things. We'll publish all the specifics on sponsorship soon.

Frances: Not everything has been uploaded to Localism yet. Give us a couple weeks to get stuff loaded, and all the data should be accurate.

Angela: Will do!

Tricia: I can appreciate your concerns. I'm really sorry to hear you feel used. It's our hope and intention to make AR and Localism provide even greater benefit to its members than ever before. Don't rush to judgment so quickly until we've had a chance to get everything up and running, and explain fully all the details.

Brian: For a monthly fee, you can sponsor a community/neighborhood. This sponsorship affords you some additional exposure/visibility on the community page that you are sponsoring. If you go to the Localism main page, there are five example neighborhoods there. You will see the portion afforded to the sponsoring member. What else do you need to know?

Just my opinion, but I'm not going to be too interested in contributing content and photos to a community that is being sponsored by somebody with a static page, profile description and three links to them.

So.. how do I make sure my posts and content are not added to this if I write a post about a particular community being "sponsored"?

Hi Rich (OMG! not HER again!)

RE: "Or, you could create your own community, and sponsor it. Totally your option." create what? Rename something?

"How did you categorize and tage your relocation post? Did you categorize it for Mesquite?" Yes, I did. Maybe Jergen didn't like it, or maybe you guys haven't even looked at Mesquite yet. Hey come on down!

I think you have more to worry about than this. I'll bug you later!

But I am in a shopping mood. What can I buy NOW? I want it all. Can I have first dibs on Mesquite - it is only 20,001 people.

We are excited about the new localism and can't wait to see what develops. We appreciate your hard work on this.

That said, we mirror Mike Jaquish's comments above.

Our area has several mistakes on communities and wondering how this is all going to sort out.

Specifically, Forest Hills is not a community, but a school system in the Grand Rapids area. It has 3 townships and 2 villages in its boundaries.

Not sure how this will be sponsored as there is a lot of overlap???

Knowing which communities are available would be key to choosing sponsorships.

Thanks again for the question and answer format, it helps.

A BIG THANKS, Rich!!! TGIF, huh?

Thanks for the update and I look forward to more information about which neighborhoods/communities we can sponsor.

Rich thanks for the explanantion on the new Localism. It looks like it is going to be a great site.

Not sure I want to take on another paid feature post but I also don't want someone who hasn't done squat for content being able to look like the expert for the area I devote my marketing efforts to.

I disagree Rich, the only thing I hear is you can still get your posts in there and be a top neighbor, but what isn't said is someone with $10 can also be on the front page when I have spent countless hours earning my top spot in the city so I earned it they bought it. That is not right. If AR just reads the comments of most of the top bloggers and the comments by everyone else and does a poll you would see overwhelmingly the people are saying buying experts spots sucks.

AR can either listen to the majority of it's users or ignore the people who have made AR what it is. That is their choice, this is a no brainer. One is good for AR revenue while bad for the public, and bloggers who have contributed, cancelling this idea would restore most of the angry feelings about AR for doing this and business could go on as usual. I think AR is derailing itself her with this change when it was going very well.

Rich...

Thanks for additional information. In my area, Katy TX, things are really messed up with the Katy proper (Old Town Katy), and the surrounding neighborhoods. We have 3 counties, the tow main ones that AR has Katy, TX listed in (as two separate towns) are Harris and Fort Bend.

Basically are large growth AROUND the actual city of Katy (referred to as Katy proper or Old Town Katy), are subdivisions that lay in water districts, and are all Harris/Ft. Bend Uninc. To add to that it is a going area, so geographically is a large area outside the city limits of Houston and Katy, TX.

The way everything is listed on Active Rain & Localism is all screwed up (It is all of our faults...the agents that have put things in the wrong place). It makes it more confusing because even though we share a postal code of Katy and KISD schools and everyone considers Katy Uninc. as part of Katy, TX, but it's not. There are50-75 subdivisions ranging in population of 2,000-8,500 that are Uninc. but have a Katy address.

How in the world are y'all going to straighten all this out? You all have so much on your plats and I appricate all you do for us, and of course willing to wait as you get everything worked out.

I guess the bottom line is I've lived in this "strange" area for 32 years, and have watched all the subdivisions be built, so know it very well. I would just like to make sure all the area are listed correctly when Localism is officially launched, and am wondering how you plan to accomplish this huge feat?

I would of course be willing to give you a complete list with map of what is were, and names and population of all the many subdivisions around Katy proper, if you want?

Are you going to be looking to agents that really know there areas/towns to help with this or how are you going to make sure everything is listed and sold to agents correctly?

I of course would like to have Katy proper and Cinco Ranch (that's the largest of the subdivisions with 8,500 homes, where I live, and it is in two counties). Guess I'll have to wait with everyone else.

Do you want help from AR agents in defining areas and unraveling the many mistakes in AR currently before you launch Localism?

Thanks for all you are doing...I know you have been swamped, Liz

Liz, thats a great point. I also would be willing to help out with Boca Raton, FL Rich if you are reading. Some of our subdivisions are not as messed up as Liz's are, but it may be a good thing to look to help to those people on AR who know the city's well.

I read through to make sure this question hadn't been asked, and I didn't see it. My area, LaGrange County, IN is VERY rural. In fact our whole county doesn't even have a total population of 40,000 and is composed of a few small towns with a stoplight or two and unincorporated communities with a stop sign or two. Our most populated "towns" are 2980, 1300, 1000, 950, and the rest are below 500. So how would this be divided? Many of the cities currently listed are smaller than a "neighborhood" and our largest "neighborhood" consists of a few blocks of homes.

I too appreciate what you are trying to accomplish. It is a HUGE undertaking and I realize it will take time to work out the details.

Thank YOU!

Thanks for the clarification. This idea is great but the implementation is a little fuzzy.

Rich, Liz has a good idea. If you need input on areas and communities I would be willing to help you with the Spring/Woodlands area. There are some things that need changed up on there. For example, apparently someone wanted some points and added The Waterway as a Community. LOL. That's like adding a shopping mall, or park.

Rich -- I have a suggestion about sponsorship. What if sponsorship of a community could only occur after a member had submitted X number of acceptable posts about that community. Possibly that would assure that someone doesn't just write a check and capture large chunks of an area without being an active contributor.

Thanks Rich for the explanation. I have been busy for the past week and just jumping on and off. I was under the impression that the person that bought the neighborhood was the SOLE contributor. That was the only problem I had with the whole thing. If you can still contribute then I really don't understand what all the commotion is about. I don't plan to do anything different than what I'm doing now.

QUESTION: Can we suggest neighborhoods for our area if they are missing??

My situation is similar to Karen above - our main office is in a county of 30K people. Our branch office in a county of 18K. I market and write most of my posts to the counties I serve OR the school districts I serve.

This certainly is going to be interesting. I know it will take a while to get things straightened out -- and we will see how this all develops.

Rich, currently I cover a county. I deal with people that have big garages... not just a certain group of subdivisions or communities. So, to have a meaningful representation of the places i work... I'd have to have HUNDREDS of communities sponsored.

I'm not worried as much about showing up for Nash Estates and Nash Lakes as being at the top of the pile for Norcross or Gwinnett County.

So, I am targeting my marketing based on a demographic criteria (like swimming pool homes) instead of a geographic criteria (like a neighborhood).

JUL

2008

RICH

In tumultuous times people get really nervous-however, I have the utmost confidence in you all- and I think those of us in "smaller communities" under 40,000, will be treated fairly.

I for one am looking forward to it! Keep up the great work!

I expect that the sponsorship approach is set and will be implemented, despite the great number of comments and posts that have indicated serious reservations.

I would like to know more about the process to purchase, the maximum number allowed, the sponsor original content requirements to maintain sponsorships, how that will be monitored, what the sponsor ad and ad positioning will look like, and more specifics.

We cannot even now post pictures, or at least some of us cannot find how to post pictures.

Our localims posts are not showing up. Several previous localism posts are missing.

This land grab approach still bothers me, greatly.

In case I haven't already communicated that to every one.

Richard

Another thing that can be a little bothersome is when I get logged off. :)

The above comment is from me.

Thanks,

Richard

Let me try it one more time. The comment two places above is from me.

I think I have it right this time. :)

Richard

I wonder how the population thing will work for Myrtle Beach, SC....we are a tourist destination...our permanent population should be under 40k, but with tourists our population is over 100k during the summer months... how will that work? If Myrtle Beach is too big for that, it will be a nightmare because localism basically recognizes every development as a neighborhood...that includes every oceanfront condo building. There are probably 200 of those alone. What kind of suggestions do you have Rich & guys?

A couple of points that I would like to make: I did listen to the interview and everything is still clear as mud. The whole "land grab" option still bothers me as already mentioned.

"As approved by our editorial staff" REALLY bothers me as you don't have a large enough staff to do the oversight now. Pics took forever to get removed if they were ridiculous (20 pics of the same golf course, hole after hole) OR community info. We just communicated about something at Chicago O'Hare the unknown air force base being a community! Someone mentioned above a State Prison - yikes! Yes I get that nothing is perfect but policing/oversight is bad now!

I do feel used putting in good content for a particular town only to have someone else get sponsored credit. Alot of this data presented was alot of work that I feel consumers could use! I want my face plastered as large as possible for my past efforts!

Hmmm..my feeling on the new Localism would be that I won't be purchasing a neighborhood. I tried that same thing on Point2 when I first joined thinking I was really going to corner the market and get clients. At the end of each month I had a bill to pay and no leads at all. No Thanks

I'll stick to what I am doing now which is writing articles that rank high on Google and my blogs do well too. Any potential client popping into Localism can read my articles and see that someone purchasing a little space to be a so called 'top neighbor' is just "buying an ad and has no real content behind it. They will get tired of paying the bill once they see it doesn't work that way here. Goodbye so called Top Neighbor...next?

Thanks for the bit of clarification. I still don't really understand how people really find Localism so I was really never that concerned about ranking high there (don't get me wrong, every once in a while I find myself) but mostly my Active Rain blogs are the ones that seem to pop up. Thanks for the clarification though.

I am with Lizette, personally I don't pay much attention to the people that buy spots anywhere on line. It doesn't really mean anything to me.

Lizette and Cristal: You guys have the right attitude. There will be some who find value in sponsoring a community or neighborhood, and will work hard at getting the residents/businesses involved. And then, there will be those who will keep doing what they've always been doing, and reaping the benefits as well. Thanks for seeing the bigger picture of things....

Lizette: No doubt that there will be those who drop out at some point because they don't realize that simply paying the bill isn't going to attract consumers. But, there will be many who sponsor communities, and build them into very active community networks. It will be interesting to see how things develop.

The Top Neighbors feature will incorporate an algorithm that will take into consideration the quantity and quality of your content. What you are seeing now is not what will be there in a couple weeks, once we've had time to import all the content. People who contribute consistently good quality articles will show up as Top Neighbors.

Rich, if membership in Activerain is any yardstick...most of the members that joined in Kentucky hardly blog or write posts to Localism. A few got with the program and saw the value of blogging and enjoy connecting with others on AR. If they blogged at all it was merely to get on the first page. Then nothing till someone gets ahead of them. I'm sure there will be a few that will appreciate a leg up into the paid spotlight. I got there for free by always writing about my state and taking pictures. That is something I love to do...for free. I hope to continue sharing my posts in Localism and everyone still enjoys them.

Hey Rich, it looks as though the top neighbors is also going off of (possibly) recent content? Or is it just tags. I know you mentioned that before but still a little confused..just wondering.

Either way I'm ok with it. But you know me and my questions. ;0)

I actually do not think this is such a bad idea, Another thing to jump in with and I think there is a benefit

JUL

2008

Rich,

Can you guide me to some instructions on posting photos at new localism. I could do it before but cannot get to a place to upload them to communities. I can get articles in, through AR, but not photos. I tried doing as before....selecting a community, clicking on photos and going deeper in to a neighborhhood but I get no option to upload. Help.

JUL

2008

Rich, Thanks for posting this information. Looking forward to seeing what will become of Localism. A lot of good comments. Mike

JUL

2008

I am very excited about sponsoring my community! I have it on my calendar to sign up. However, do I need to have a post ready for my write up about the village?

JUL

2008

Steven: The photo loading function hasn't been activated yet. Once we're launched from private BETA, that function will be enabled. That should be in the next couple weeks....

Michelle: You could go ahead and start working on it. That way you'll be ready to put something up right away. You'll be able to tweak it after that...

Steph: They're still working with the algorithmn for Top Neighbors, as well as continuing to populate the platform with past content. It will all clear up in a couple weeks....

Thanks Rich,

I was thinking I had lost my touch or forgot how to do it.

Gracious Rich...

Do you know when we'll be getting our email functionality back? I keep checking off the boxes but I'm not receiving emails. I've never actually used my home page much so I'm all discombulated :)

TLW...ROAR!

TLW - I wasn't aware that you had lost it? How long have you been without it?

I guess about three or four days now.

Heads Up Gracious...

Looks like it may have been all my fault. It would help if I went into my web mail and purged the 5,000 emails that were collecting space dust :)

Sorry about that. Next time I'll check that before I bang my head against a wall. Ouch :)

TLW...ROAR!

JUL

2008

Rich, thanks for explaining the sponsorship rules. I guess the actual prices will be the next factor for us to consider.

Thanks for the explanations.....will you list what under 40,000- towns are available somewhere before the 31st?

I really think the members who write and post the best local content should be highlighted *at least* as much as someone who simply pays. Active posting members are paying with their time, which is worth so much more than someone paying to be there, IMO. However, I will try hard NOT to get an attitude and try harder to understand how this all will work. I really appreciate all the work you guys do for AR, even if I am not sure if I agree with the sponsorships.

JUL

2008

Hi Rich, I was directed to your blog as an answer to my recent blog. Thank you ..you have cleared up some of my concerns but wow..........I read all the comments and now there are tons of more questions and issues.......your blog did clarify some of my concerns.

I so agree with the above comment from Debra and I feel the exact same way. My heart goes out to all the people at the top making the decisions...it must be mind boggling... to read and try to answer these questions .....You are no doubt so busy trying to answer the questions ....how are you finding the time to address the problems.

I spend a lot of time writing & creating blogs about my area- time that I could spend doing ACTUAL REAL ESTATE istead of blogging....now it seems I will hAVE EVEN LESS TIME WITH THE NEW lOCALISM. I need to wait & see. and I do not want to start selling adds to other business in the community...that is a whole new

territory that robs me of my time. Everyone says wait it out...but the day after is a bit too late. The only ones that it will not bother are the ones with the fat checkbooks, they won't need answers til after the facts.

Thanks for trying to address all this ..you are appreciated but pass the head ache medicine

June, I agree...I am trying to stay positive about it but just know it will bug me if someone just PAYS to sponser all of the areas! Pass the aspirin after giving a handful to Rich!!

JUL

2008

Thank you for your post. I am looking forward to sponsorship on Localism.

AUG

2008

Thanks for the post. i sponsored my small rural town today and being a newbie on AR I need Input, input, more input!!

AUG

2008

Well, Illinois went off yesterday and I did sponsor 4 communities: Cary, Barrington, Barrington Hills and Crystal Lake. Does anyone know when we can upload pictures again?

Rich I am still very enthusiastic abot the whole program, I just hope there is somethng left to claim after waiting for all of the big pointers...On the other hand I also understand the concept of being a top neighbor. The areas I work already know me so I can still post. I'm looking forward to Friday!

AUG

2008

okay i have a few neighborhoods. that's great. now that i look at some of the ones that are set up (and I realize how early in development it all is), I keep thinking.....great to have an ownership but with that ownership I'm feeling like this: the more varied the communities are the more likely john q public is going to want to be there.

For example, just seeing my blog posts or anyone elses seems like it's not enough. Shouldn't there be local buttons for restaurants, neighborhood organizations, festivals, etc, that we and also john q public could click on? I realize again, most definitely, that this is a new fangled entity. Just thinking that it's not all about me. I already have my AR blog and so am trying to figure out how to make this about the communities, not me.

Now, having said that, am I nuts? :-)

Carole: Did you see the screen shot of the newest version of Localism that Jon put out?

http://activerain.com/blogsview/617508/Sneak-peek-The-NEW

It's got what you're looking for. Check out the flags!

Hiya Rich, yes I DID see that post and I can tell by the general layout it looks awesome. I wasn't able to zero in on what the flags said however lol. I did more serious investigating just now and found the 'enlarge and zoom' feature lol. Great, and thanks again. :-)

AUG

2008

Hey Rich, you should add some of Sally's testimonials and personal positive remarks from her own blog to your post to link back to especially since many people who ask "what can localism do for me" want to see examples of some happy localism customers. I still often reference people back to your post as it explains the best (in my opinion) why Localism is where we want to be. Thanks again for all your hard work and congrats on it's very success!!! :)

SEP

2008

Rich, you may have posted this Q & A, but as you can see there is a lot of info to wade through. My question--Can we still upload individual photos without a blog to Localism? If yes, -how-?

NOV

I have read a few people mention sponsoring a community in blogs but never fully understood what that meant until now. It seems like a great way to become an expert in the eyes of the local market extremely quickly. I will be looking into this immediately for myself and area.

APR

When I go to register, it tells me Localism isn't accepting new accounts. What am I doing wrong?

APR

Hey Ryan - there's no need to register on Localism, you already have an account there:

http://localism.com/neighbor/gildedagesales

MAY

Any idea when new sponsorship opportunities will open up? I tried to register just now and I got a message that "sponsorship has been temporarily closed."

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