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What’s all the fuss about buying a Localism neighborhood?

I have been reading with growing interest a number of posts and comments concerning the upcoming localism neighborhood sale/ land rush:

http://localism.com/sponsor

There appears to be a number of different opinions about the subject and I would like to add my two cents worth. Please bear with me because I want to comment on each of the issues and do the best I can to articulate my responses to each.

A number of people have indicated that they feel they have been working and marketing themselves in a region and do not want someone else to have that particular area. The sentiment being that for some reason they "deserve" the location. I guess the most extreme are those who would like to have an entire city. I think this is unrealistic because there are lots of agents in any particular city and more than enough business to go around. There are others who would like it narrowed to a zip code. I know that many people expend a lot of money, time and energy marketing these areas and want something in return but I know that there are many realtors in every part of the country who may feel the same way about these localities but again there are potentially thousands of homes within a zip code. I live and work in Austin, Texas and my primary focus is in Central, West and Southwest Austin and the Eanes School District in the $500K-4.95M price range. There are many neighborhoods within these areas and frankly I have farmed a couple for many years. Again, that hardly seems reasonable and in addition there are 7 or 8 different zip codes in the areas I work that encompass many more THOUSANDS of homes. Narrowing the bids to smaller areas seems fair and reasonable to me so neighborhoods could probably work and let me give you an example.

When I first moved to my neighborhood in the Eanes School District in 1992 (an area with more than a thousand homes), it was referred to me by a fellow realtor. I mentioned that I would probably work there and that we might compete. There are at least five other realtors living there that regularly list and sell homes in the neighborhood. Her comment to me was that I should not worry because each of the realtors working the area had completely different personalities and ways of doing business and that someone that employed me would probably not use her or any of the others. I have always admired this realtor and her advice was right on the nose! My point here is that even if someone stakes a claim to YOUR neighborhood, it does not mean you are going to lose business or that the new person is going to dominate the market at all. They might not even use what they have and that's the point. It is a great idea but an agent will have to actually put some work into it to make it profitable and don't we all hopefully do that every day?

Here is another way of looking at the issue. Purchasing a neighborhood in Localism is a tool. My previous life, before I entered real estate in 1989 was as a carpenter/construction worker. I went through an intense four year apprenticeship program combined with working on site and learned everything from the ground up. I learned to use various tools to complete many construction tasks from the foundation to finish out. I eventually went on to be a Construction Foreman and Superintendant as well as co-founding a company that designed and built furniture and high-end finish out projects all over Texas. As realtors we have a toolbox full of different tools that we can employ along with our experience to generate business and deliver the best possible service in the most professional manner for our sellers and buyers.

I plan to bid on a couple of neighborhoods that I have worked for years and hopefully will add this service to my tool chest an means of increasing my marketing and market share. If I am successful at signing up the neighborhoods, I will add this component to my marketing to increase and develop my market share. If not, I will continue to learn more in this incredible community and frankly I have already received so many great ideas that my assistant and I will be busy trying to use everything else we have found so useful here.

I like that active rain has provided such a great forum for the exchange of constructive ideas and look forward to as much brain storming as possible Again, this will probably generate some serious discussion and I am not attempting to create controversy but you can never tell when it comes to "opinions".

I'm just sayin'...

Russell

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Posted by Russell Lewis, Broker,CLHMS,GRI on 07/26/2008 01:03 AM

Comments (76)

Originally posted at: The Good Life in Austin Texas: What’s all the fuss about buying a Localism neighborhood?

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76 Comments on What’s all the fuss about buying a Localism neighborhood?

JUL

2008

Good post Russel. You sound like the voice of moderation in the firestorm of opinion. Good luck in getting your neighborhood.

As realtors we have a toolbox full of different tools that we can employ

Hi Russell,

I agree. I tell my clients to use everything that helps them build their business. I hope you get the neighborhoods you want. I still have to learn about Localism.

Thanks for putting some perspective around this -- I know that I really want to sponsor a few neighborhoods on Localism and have my calendar blocked for the Land Rush, but I didn't realize there was a bidding process?

Kerry (and anyone else who might think there is to be any bidding in the traditional sense of the term)I did not mean to imply that there would be any sort of "bidding process" I only meant that we would attempt to secure a particular neighborhood. Sorry for any confusion and thanks for your comment!

Russell

JUL

2008

Russell: Wow! What a nice breath of fresh air. Thanks!

Hey Russell,

For me -- it has nothing to do with expecting something for free -- it has to do with contributing to a neighborhood or community with information with my content, pictures, time and somebody else being considered "The Community Specialist" JUST BECAUSE they are PAYING for it.

It's a credibility issue IMO. Wordpress.com is free and a Wordpress.org blog can be set up as low as $7.00 a month so you can blog your heart away about a community and show that you are the True Specialist.

My thoughts -- there are better ways to make a buck such as Adsense then promoting fake specialists. (Just because you have more points or pay more money... certainly does not make you the "expert".)

I hope you are able to get your neighborhood. I am still on the fence about the whole thing.

Paul well put! I couldn't agree more. If you put the time in and the work, somebody else should not get the credit by being called "The Community Specialist" because they are willing to pay!

Russell - great post. I totally agree with your point of view, we all have different personality and attract different kind of clients. Good luck on getting your neighborhoods.

so i guess i understand the purpose of it but im still little foggy on how it works please explain?

I am disappointed that AR is turning into a pay for placement site (re: Localism).

Till now... it was purely contributor driven and contributor rewarded.

Cameron

@Tony -- Thanks. I think you'll agree that the professionals are not going to let this go by without exposing that the "community expert" is a paid sponsor -- which IMO should be openly stated as such for credibility issues.

Too much like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Housevalues.com, etc... for my taste and you probably know what I think about these services. I am CERTAINLY not against the great AR guys to make money for their hard work... there are just better ways of doing it and keeping the credibility.

Cameron: The overwhelming majority of the AR platform is still FREE, and will always be FREE. Because we have created an additional feature as a 'paid' option doesn't turn us into a 'pay for placement' site. ActiveRain has always been a cooperative, mutually beneficial propostion. We create the rocket - the platform that functions & performs well for the search engines. Our members provide the fuel - the content - that helps the rocket blast off. Consistent contributors will continue to reap the rewards of their time and efforts here, just as they always have.

Paul: We will be removing any of the references in Localism sponsorship as being so-called "Experts." Although, there will most definitely be many instances where that will be proven true, by virtue of those who legitimately do so and are qualified as such.

Will we have those who sponsor neighborhoods and communities hoping to simply gain a quick flash of recognition? No doubt. But there will also be those who use this tool as another means of developing their sphere and creating more valuable networking opportunities.

Why anyone would begrudge AR making a bit of income is beyond me. As for localism, keeping the fresh content out there is what will work in the long run, whether you 'sponsor' or not.

@ Rich,

Thanks for clarifying this. Some absolutely are the "specialists" for their communities and I do not doubt this since I firmly believe in specializing in something and not knowing a little about everything.

I'm not always on top of every change AR is doing since I don't live here but I do like what the AR team has built and primarily because of the great ideas real estate agents have shared.

However... the content that agents provide about a local community (neighborhood) being used for Google Juice and benefiting the person paying for it with a position on the page that is going to attract the most attention (eyeballs) is something that I think will turn off bloggers from contributing useful content. Just my thoughts....

I don't mean to take over this post but that is what the fuss is all about from bloggers who understand that you can't have the positions in the search engine rankings without the content. Much like Trulia would not have anything in the rankings without "Voices", Widgets and Listings without real estate agents providing the material to create the detour between the consumer and the actual real estate agent in search engine rankings.

In other words, without the content... you have no rankings in the search engines. Just because somebody sets up a blog.. does not mean it will be found in the search engines.

I've certainly ALWAYS enjoyed posting a blog about community information on AR/Localism and it being picked up by the search engines.... But doing so with another agents Mug in the prime position on the page of the same community I'm competing with them about gives me absolutely no reason to do so anymore...

Just my thoughts... I'm sure there are others who understand this so in the long run... I think it's going to hurt more then help.

Russell..finally, a good post, with a positive outlook on Localism. I could not agree with you more. I loved your example about farming neighborhoods. That hit the nail on the head.

Since moving to Huntsville, I began to farm my own neighborhood, slowly but surely, like clock work. 3 months ago, a new agent began to farm my neighborhood as well. At first, I was concerned, because she was hitting it hard. Now, it's been over a month and she has disappeared! She sank quite a bit of money in my neighborhood and walked away. This agent wanted instant gratification, it seems. Now, it's back to me, for now. I think my neighbors will realize sooner than later that I am the expert, because, slowly but surely, I keep appearing in their mailbox! I'm not a flash in the pan, and I"m not going anywhere. As with farming, some agents will "buy their neighborhood", hit it hard and simply disappear. Those of us that keep tending our gardens, will soon see the rewards. We will be the ones that they see as the neighborhood expert.

I'm still on the fence about purchasing an area. I guess I had better hurry up and decide! If I don't purchase, I'm not concerned over the long run. Like you stated, there are plenty of fish in the sea! Just because a person buys the neighborhood, doesn't mean the neighbors will like them!

So, someone who has never built up their neighborhood in localism, and possibly doesn't even know the area, can just buy a spot?

Seems counterintuitive to the organic nature of AR.

Interesting.

I have had the same concerns as you and still have not decided what I am going to do, sponsor a neighborhood, we still have a couple of days left right? But, I do agree with your thoughts about each agent being different and people relate differently to each of us and thus will only work with who vibes with them, so to speak. So is it necessary to sponsor a neighborhood? Still not sure.

I don't think this has anything to do with begrudging Active Rain money. Paul makes a valid point about content being king. It's what has made AR what it is today.

Like the others I'm on the fence about sponsoring. I'm in a rural area, that takes in three counties. I know my area very well - I'm not a sponsorship will add to that - unless sponsorship offers me additional TOOLS to use with Localism that others won't have access to.

Well I feel a little frustration and also a challenge... What I mean is that, over the course of the past 18 months I have made a fair amount of posts. Not the most by any means but I haven't just blathered along, just trying to swell my points and rankings either.

Now I click on to localism and find myself at the bottom of the heap of agents... Now I look at myself honestly and consider that my posts need improvement in regards to content and or SEO in order to move up the food chain. I'm up to the challenge and will be working harder than ever to be a resource to my local community. I mean in the information age we live in buyers and sellers don't need my blah, blah blah, but rather need someone who can make sense of all the information out there.

On the other hand, I have, as of late posted several new listings (via the postlets method) and still the agents that are new with less points are having their listing show right at the top. It doesn't seem fair, but I am also considering that the crack AR staff has a lot of posts to culled over and haven't had a chance to see any of my attempts to rise to the top.

Russell, I agree with you, that localism is just one tool in our chest of marketing options and I most likely will purchase a corner of Northwest Ohio and see how it goes. It's not going to make or break me, and if I fester on what my competion is doing, I'm not going to doing my best for my clients!

Just a thought for Toledo, Ohio

I'm sorry can some really explain to me what localism is going to do for me, in actuall mesurements to the real world of real estate marketing, to internet marketing area?

Jeff

I guess it all goes back to your belief about what AR is and what it *should* do. I am a writer, by nature, and a Realtor by profession. I blog because it is a natural form of expression for me, not because it is a way to capture leads (if I capture leads, so much the better, but that is not my purpose for blogging).

Blogging takes effort and skill. If someone comes in off the street, so-to-speak and purchases a neighborhood and becomes the cyber expert, to me, that is cheap and kind of cheesy. It is not earned. It is purchased. I don't chase the Almighty Dollar, so I do not respect that.

At the same time, while I have high ranking in my area because I blog (and to tell you the truth, I do not blog consistently or that much), that does not mean I am the most productive agent in the area (I am far from that).

I participate in venues that have depth of character. If AR becomes a throw-back to sales slickness, I will be out of here.

Now if the neighborhood purchasers have to wear a label that says "Not much talent, but lots of money," then I will not object to their rising to the top of AR.

Jeff,

Active Rain is a platform that is highly visible on the internet because search engines find the content here valuable regarding real estate and real estate technologies. Now when consumers start looking for this type of information they will be directed here.

Localism is a format for us, realtors, lenders and the like to connect and report what is happening in our local communities, and neighborhoods. If we are active in our communities and can effectively report what is going on personal level through our blogs, then our blogs and websites will be more visible to consumers searching the web. We are more likely to gain business because of through this visiblilty we gain creditablity and from there profitability.

Now, Active Rain is offering local neighborhoods to be purchased by a first come, first serve basis (the way I understand it) and the sweat of agents that has helped propel Active Rain to the top of search engines can now be purchased by someone that has just started blogging... And there lies the rub... Does that make any sense?

I am conflicted about the direction of the new Localism. On one hand, I think that the guys NEED to do something like this in order to monetize the site. And I know from my dealings with Jon, Matt, Bob, Rich, Brad and the rest of the folks at A|R, that they will develop, tweak and modify the system until it works well.

Yet, I see some issues that will crop up with community erosion (being able to erode a community like by segmenting it eg. Hillshire Farms, and then someone adds North Hillshire Famrs and South Hillshire Farms and sponsors those, effectively eroding the value of Hillshire Farms). Also, for anyone working a demographic or lifestyle niche, rather than a geo-farm... there isn't a great strategy to be found.

What I would like to see more than anything else is HouseValues being removed from the A|R world... NOT a fan of that company.

Okay, let me share a story about my most recent client I got from my blog. A smart young attorney who searched the Internet with great expertise, he told me he could tell which bloggers were serious and committed and which dabbled at it or were inconsistent. I am grateful that he chose me based upon my quality of content and whatever I else I may have conveyed to him. Clearly, consumers are smarter than many of us give them credit for...I have evolved from not liking the localism top neighbors etc. to realizing it really doesn't matter because the consumers I want to work with aren't going to chose their agent solely on the fact that they are the first picture they find.

Rick

Thanks for the low down! I do thank its a good idea, and i guess im at conflict with this now as well even though it will benifit me now rather then later. Because i am a farely new agent, i can get a one up on agents in my area that have been a round for a lot longer then i have. But on the other hand i can see where some are coming from those that have been here for a time and have helped build AR should actually have a senior chance to get those areas first.

But what do you do, we dont make the rules.

Hmmmm...Who was it, Abraham Lincoln who said, 'You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time?' I think most consumers will not be fooled. They will be able to easily determine who the true experts are.

I think those who have been here and worked the hardest bringing AR to the top of the search engines should get first rights on purchasing their neighborhoods.

Hi Russell, I recall reading that people routinely ignore the paid placement ads on Google. Not sure if it is still true.

Hello to everyone who commented on this post! THANK YOU! I left earlier this morning to go to the Texas Hill country to pick up some delicious peaches (Check my next posts about all things Texas Peach-wise) and when I returned, I found all of these great commenet. I have learned from each of you and thanks especially to seberal of the veterans especially Paul, Rich, Elizabeth,RICK, Deborah and everyone else who provided further ideas and counterpoint to my original observations and qyestions. I really am glad i joined AR and this yet another benefit of being connected to full time, intelligent agents who can articulate ideas in a constructive manner!

Thanks -Russell

Hi Russell:

Please, PLEASE don't take this the wrong way. I find it amazing that this got featured when others who were voicing concern - who have been blogging their hearts out for MONTHS and YEARS were not given a featured spot when they voice anger and betrayal. I think AR is proving itself to be very good at propaganda machine worthy of Pravda.

As to your comments. I looked you up in Austin TX, and you are relatively new to blogging and the internet in general - which is fine. EVERYONE has to start somewhere. I also looked you up on AR and you have only 11 blogs out - Just FYI - I've logged over 225 over a 9 month period. Although your writing is good, I don't see you drilling deeply into neighborhoods for rich content. You haven't burned shoe leather yet by posting good photos - which I think are essential blogging to buyer prospects.

Now why do you think its OK for you to leap-frog ahead of those who have spent weeks, months, years and thousands of hours providing rich, deep hyper-local content, just because you can write a check? Although you don't mean to be, you are part of the problem. Why should YOUR FACE and your INFORMATION go ahead of those who worked hard, dug through massive amounts of data extracting nuggets of gold, who got in their cars, parked them and walked miles on foot to provide deep content in the form of photos and market research? These people made this place what it is - and they are angry - and justifiably so. Do you really think that is fair to those of us who put these cities, towns, villages and neighborhoods on the AR map to begin with to have our data benefit someone else - or worse allow it to be attributed - no matter how loosely - to someone else? AR unfortunately chose to monitize this system in a way that makes it impossible (or at least unwise from a business perspective) for many of us to buy back the content we gave them.

To make matters worse, my city has been carved up into 10 neighborhoods (two not truly "real") because of MY BLOGS. I introduced those neighborhoods to AR! They wouldn't be able to charge for them separately if it weren't for me making the aware of their existence. New Rochelle, which has more than double the White Plains population - has ONE neighborhood. Why? No one really blogs that city.What you may not understand - being new to blogging - is that anyone can blog, but few put the time and energy in to BLOG WELL. Blogging the way it SHOULD be done is very hard work. Many make fun of it. They say its not TRUE prospecting - or so they say, but they have their checkbooks out when they smell opportunity. it is up to those who run venues such as this to make sure that the BLOGGER is protected. Charge a flat fee - but don't stick a knife in the backs of those who worked hard to make a city or neighborhood WORTH owning to begin with. . Right now it would cost me $210 a month to buy the neighborhoods I've covered - AND introduced to AR. Thats a very steep price considering the number of actual closings I've had from AR. That's actually more than half of what I've made from blogging here so far. Certainly not a wise ROI.

The way they did this - could make it blow up in their faces.

Problem 1: It appears that the success of blogging is quite variable for AR. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to this. My localism is very strong. It gets me leads, but the quality of the lead has been disappointing to say the least. Some very unrealistic buyers and sellers have found me through AR, but that's not going to close a deal. There are a lot of bloggers who feel that they are blogging for the "future." But for those bloggers, its simply too expensive to cough up a lot of money each months.

Problem 2: Who is going to introduce a "new neighborhood" when they know it will cost them $15 a month to OWN IT. I know that AR is hoping to cash in on people competing for smaller and smaller slices of the real estate pie - that's obviously part of the plan. People will buy a subdivision or a complex of condos for example. if someone "buys" New Rochelle - what did they buy? The whole city? No, if someone comes along and says, I want "x" neighborhood in New Rochelle, the pie just got sliced smaller. If a bunch of people jump on board to "own" a slice of New Rochelle, it ends up getting carved up into thinner and thinner slices until its useless to the blogger. People need to know what they area buying. What they buy should be fair and equitable. If I have to pay for 10 neighborhoods to get White Plains, somone who wants the more populous New Rochelle, shouldn't pay for ONE neighborhood.

So the above problem splits into two issues:
a) the blogger may not be buying what he THINKS he's buying.

b) Established bloggers are going to have to avoid too many neighborhood references unless they want to cough up more money.

So there are some serious flaws in this model....

Russell, you are a multi-talented guy bringing many talents to your profession. Great post. I'm not in favor of what AR has decided to do but no matter as the cream will always come to the top and consumers won't miss the point. I liked Pat's Lincoln reference, so true.

I completely disagree with buying neighborhoods on localism. I'm part of the group that feels it's "unfair" to allow someone to buy an area that they have no developed or helped grow for the past 2 years. Others might feel it's "unfair" that I'm constantly on their opening screen for the state of Texas, but I earned that spot, I did not BUY that spot. I will not be buying neighborhoods, and I'll be relying on people reading my blog and enjoying my stories of experience and continue to contact me that way. I hope people don't get dooped into thinking someone is a "specialist" in an area when they're really not.

I do think it is "interesting" that only blogs that support the new scheme get featured. I am not sure what to make of that because of course, people in power are going to skew things to favor their biases. This is not a democracy, for sure, but I am glad that at least for the moment, people are "allowed" to comment without censorship.

It will be interesting to see of a real 'land rush' develops when the territories go on sale.

Pretty awesome but I am not sure how i feel about paying for areas'

JUL

2008

I'm buying if my fingers click quickly enough! This is another tool that will only be useful if it's sharp. The content of one's blog will have to keep up with the community if it's to be worthwhile for the buyer. (And I'm not even selling real estate!) Thanks, Active Rain!

Mike in Tucson

Deborah: I'm not sure I understand what you mean? What 'scheme' are you talking about? Currently, the blogs that are being approved are the ones that our editors feels will be most attractive & engaging for consumers. We don't 'skew' anything for 'our' biases. We are intentional in everything we do to create greater value and benefit for our members.

Donna: You're looking at this from the 'glass is half empty' perspective. Good quality content has always, and will always, rule the day. When all is said and done, contributing consistently good local content is going to lead to your being found by consumers. However, as another option, you can now sponsor a community, one that currently exists, or one that you create. Let's say that you're farming a nice high-end development. You can go in, create that development, sponsor it, and begin to promote the development page to all the development residents. It can become the local community bulletin board, with YOU at the center of activity. But the bottom line is that consumers will more than likely find you through relevant search terms, rather than through accessing a particular Localism page. Content will continue to reward those who contribute.

Sponsoring does not make you a specialist or area expert. It simply affords you added exposure.

I have every confidence that our conversations will be decidedly different in a few months from now...

Rich, WHat you're saying is exactly why I will not be buying a neighborhood. I feel they'll find me by googling what they're looking for and sponsoring a neighborhood is unnecessary. If someone else sponsors a neighborhood that I blog about, I hope they'll chose the agent that actually has the content that gives useful information.

I really like your comments so far and they do represent another point of view but I want to add that my posts about localism were prompted by the following blog post that was featured prominently for days.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/585228/Localism-Crew-To-Bridge

I also want to add that I really enjoy this couple's work and blogs from Florida and though we may not agree on everything (I have never met anyone who I was in 100% agreement) I would gladly refer business to them. Thanks for your comments and broadening my perspective here!

I would like to add you and actually everyone else who has posted here to my associations. So many people are moving to Texas and I would like to be connected to as many REAL Realtors across the country as possible!

Thanks again,

Russell Lewis

Not to worry!

I do not take your well spoken comments wrong. As I said each time I posted I AM NEW TO ACTIVE RAIN. That being said I also have nineteen years of proven experience and success marketing upscale homes in Austin Texas finest neighborhoods. I appreciate you insight and at the same time am grateful for the posts from Rich regarding all of the issues. I think AR will try to work out what is best for all. No I am not "Pollyanna" but from everything I have seen so far the corporate culture appears to want to support all of the community is the best way possible.

Again I am learning more everyday here and thanks for the picture posting hints! I enjoyed your metaphor about "burning shoe leather" it reminded me of when (years ago) I actually walked door to door!

You are also correct that I have fewer blog posts than many people. I do not have any idea why some people's blogs are featured and others are not. I do however try and carefully pick my info and write as intelligently as I can. Some times I see things posted that are not , how do I say this?. informative and well you have seen the same things...Any way, maybe Some one will please explain featured posts to me!

I hope all is well with you and everyone else who commented here and as we say in Austin during times of change, "Onward through the fog"!

Thanks again - Russell

Again, I appreciate everyone who has posted so far!

I have really enjoyed getting to take a look at this from so many different points of view! Overall I think that "the powers that be" still have our (we are real estate professionals) bets interests at heart and though there are some issues that need to be addressed, I am glad to be a part of a community that has so much freedom to disagree and it seems that the AR team has demonstrated in the past and presently that they are willing to try and work to address as many of the issues as reasonably possible.

If for some reason, I do not get the neighborhoods I want, I will just post like crazy wherever it ends up. Again, this is only a small (but certainly growing) part of the resources that I employ every day to be successful!

I'm just sayin...

Thanks again -Russell

Ruthmarie: We are an equal opportunity 'featurer.' We always make a point of highlighting posts which question/criticizes our decisions. We have consistently attempted to be extremely transparent about what we're doing, and value the input of our members. Katerina Gassett's post is just one example. If you honestly feel that we're insensitive and self-seeking, then we have failed you. Just because someone is relatively new to our platform doesn't necessarily make their opinions any less valuable.

Rich: I guess it would have to do with your mission statement for your members, which I am not really aware of.

The new "scheme" I am referring to includes the new direction in general, and the new decision, specifically, to sell "neighborhoods" (as opposed to the old organic direction of allowing bloggers to create content by blogging and be rewarded by google and AR points).

The featuring of posts may be conscious or unconsicous, but it can't help but be biased in favor of the preferences of the people in power, in my opinion.

Anyway, I don't take any of this too seriously. Things change and not always in the direction I prefer and that is okay. People will stay or move on as the spirit moves them.

For me, blogging has never been a slick trick to fool the public to trick them into hiring me, so I will not be purchasing any neighborhoods. I am against it in principle. I prefer to write about what I want to write about. Blogging to me has always been about sincerity and freedom of expression. Now it can just be a bunch of slick people with too much money showing off. And those people do attract a lot of business because a good percentage of the public is easily fooled.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It could be really funny and could be fodder for more interesting blogs.

I think it is a pity that if AR wanted or needed to raise funds that members weren't given a voice in how best this might occur.

I am reading all of these comments, every opinion, different from another...

that seems to be because every locality will be different and this New Localism can not be condensed down to fit every individual area in the country. We are all in different situation with different territorial boundaries.

I am in a little part of western Pa.....we are lucky to have 500 homes listed in the whole county. How can we compare that to extreme large overpopulated areas that have a thousand homes in a development?

The really sad thing to me, new to AR and a new blogger ( just a little before all this New Localism came to be)

is that, all this controversy is creating a wedge between members, this I was never aware of before, It is a family problem that needs a fix and in a hurry. I hear a lot of hurt and feelings of sabotage. Agents are always sensitive to loyalty, we deal with it every day. or lack there of............

June - I do not feel like it is a wedge and to tell the truth, I find it refreshing that there can be so many opinions sahred here in such a civilized manner. I think it speks to the caliber of members that are here and the professional attitude exhibited by the majority! I am newre here too and have had an overall positive experience!

Thanks - Russell

Hi Russ I agree the members are open and polite and the caliber of members are extraordinary and although it is an open ciival forum with many opinions.. to me there are definite sides taken on this New Localism.

and that's to be expected.....I just don't like hearing the hurt and I can hear it loud and clear.

But like all hurtful things ....time will heal...and time will tell

Rich,

That has been a topic of intense debate for months in general. You've made it worse by NOT featuring those who don't like the new system and having a plethora of "rah rah" blogs about AR and the new system featured. Many feel that the voices of dissention are not being properly represented - I just have the GUTS to say it out loud! The solution is pretty bloody simple: FEATURE A DISSENTING POSTS!!! There were plenty to pick from that much is certain.

I'm all for monitizing AR, I've been saying that that's what we should do for a long time now, but I don't share credit for my content with ANYONE. I worked too hard for it - and you made the COST of retaining such content in my name so high its ridiculous. If I work with your competition on an "outside blog" I will have recouped my initial outlay plus about $1500 within 2 years.

To have credibility with disillusioned Rainers, you need to address the issues I brought up in a concise way and stop deflecting and avoiding. FAIR means you don't take the information regrading neighborhoods from Rainers who supplied you with that knowledge and use it to jack up the price of ownership. FAIR means no one gets to sneak through the back door and get leads from someone elses hard work just because they have a lot of cash to blow. FAIR means eveyone pays SOMETHING.

The fact is that only about 6% of all Rainers have more than 5000 points. That's a problem for you because you need to keep membership numbers high. Yet at any one time only about 5-6% are actively blogging. The rest will drop out once you monitize because they aren't using AR. My guess is that you don't want the numbers to decrease like that. But encouraging "the more the merrier" notion, you are discouraging your better bloggers and giving them every reason to move on.

Besides, what would be so awful about charging $1 a month to beginning bloggers and raising it increments? Almost EVERYONE can afford $1.00. That would be $100k a MONTH. You'd have some attrition, but not much. If you brought it up in increments according to the number of points or posts you could easily get close to $200k a month or $2 million a year - without squeezing and driving away your quality bloggers. There were plenty of ways to monitize this. The fact that you chose this is pretty awful.

You seem to want to blame the messanger. Why? The messenger is only conveying what is already out there in the background. This wasn't my briainchild - in many ways it was yours.

Russell, I think you struck a nerve. Personally, I no longer allow anything except the allmighty google be the dominate lead generator for us. It took a while to get off the adwords runaway train and now we will NEVER pay for a lead service again. Adwords was a relatively inexpensive service 7 years ago, but not anymore. I hope Localism does not follow suit and become a bid process, that could be UGLY, it appears just this flat rate itself is causing ripples in the network. Good Luck All!

Just a quick comment.....Do you still feel there is not a wedge or hurt feelings? These members are not just commenting ion a post ..they are indeed passionately, emotionally immersed in this.

I am new ..I don't have a heck of a lot to loose..but honestly I can understand where they are coming from and how this gotta really get to you.........there is a lot invested by EVERYONE

Ruthmarie: We HAVE featured dissenting views, just like we always have. And we have a very long and consistent track record of listening and being responsive to our members opinions. Why do you think I'm up until 3AM responding to member comments? I'm not doing it for my health, that's for sure.

I will respond to your comments here at length tomorrow. Right now, I need to spend some time with my family.

Rich ( first I must say ..it is only my opinion..maybe it is not worth much..but it is how I feel.)

your comment to Ruthmarie made me take a step back.

I admire her openness and honesty and agree on a lot of her points....

..I am still torn because, I know this confusion is not deliberate.

You guys that are trying to resolve the issues, have to be drained.

In all of this

I hope you know,

we are aware of the time spent re-assuring everyone, answering their comments.......

this takes time and we all have been there ...done that...now you guys seem to be over-run with questions and it must seem, that what you have done, has no worth...or appreciation.......

well no matter, if there are issues, problems, differences or what-ever.

It can never diminish the value that we all get from Active Rain and the appreciation we have for everyone that has contributed to it's success.

I have a very sensitive spot...I don't like confrontation or anyone getting hurt. Maybe I am reading too many opinions and post.

I hope you took that quality little time ( in all this, it can't be much) to be with and enjoy your family.

These Localism issues will come and go,

but time with family will be with you forever.....Enjoy ...Be happy...( notice the BOLD)

PS maybe one solution for us all, is to lighten up. I just mada a comment on a super post by Gary Woltal " If I only had a Brain" funny happy stuff.....l

Ruthmarie,

I can understand that you are passionately committed to his but just wanted to add that my psot was not a rah-rah endorsement and i was only observing and asking questions. Please note that i was actually responding to the following post that has been featured and run for weeks.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/585228/Localism-Crew-To-Bridge

Whatever the outcome, I truly feel that this is still one of the most innovative sites I have found in years and will try to utilize many of the resources here including the ability to generate dialogue and respond to fellow working raeltors like you and EVERYONE else who commented here!

Thanks again - Russell

June and everyone else who has posted,

Yes, you were right but it is ok for folks to be passionate about their beliefs as long as they are not too rigid or inflexible and it looks as though this will continue to change and evolve as we go forward. Hopefully everyone will be able to shake this off and continue to work together to make the Localism thing work by continuing to evolve. As I have said over and over, it's a great place to "cuss & discuss" (an old west Texas saying) just about anything as long as we continue to COMMUNICATE.

Have great evening everyone. Next week i am going to post some great non-inflamatory articles on my trips to pick some of the best peaches on the planet AND my good fortune to place at the stonewall Peach Jamboree for my home made each preserves and actually i probably take too much time on the light sode but it hasn't done me any harm yet!

Russell

Russell - take a look at that post..it was NOT featured! In fact, it is the main post that I was referring to when I made the remark. It should have been, but it wasn't. 152 comments and probably multiple flags to feature it and it still WAS NOT FEATURED! There is a point at which these guys left being objective behind. The strength of this particular bloggers following made it impossible for them to bury. It was front and center in SPITE of it not being featured not because of it.

In fact, you helped prove my point. Its pretty obvious by referencing the blog that you felt it deserved a feature.

Just FYI - for a main feature it has to have a gold star at the bottom...There is no star. NOT featured.

Just in case there is confusion, I wasn't talking about my own blog being quashed. I have not even commented on the new localism up to this point. AR has become way to cliquey and that's what got me into hot water with the rain gods before. For the most part, I have been the messanger - they don't like that at all.

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

I know that I,m new to Bloging on AR and also being a Realtor, but this just another vehicle to competing. And whats wrong with that? Nothing! Now should AR have given the veteran's of this blog a chance to collect on their work? Maybe, but isn't life and this business tough and we don't always get the sale or the listing no matter how much blood, sweet and tears one puts into a neighborhood or in the entire town.

Maybe none of you have done any manual labor work before or lately or work two jobs to keep up on your house payment, and help put cloth's on your kids and feed your kids. Well i do all of those things i work form 7:30 in the morning until noon and then for an hour I'm an Realtor i walk the street knocking on doors or setting the neighborhood up for a open house i agreed to do for another agent in my office because he has 100 listings (I'm will to do them because I'm busting my you know what to get a listing) or going to lunch and talking to people and passing out my card. Then from 1:00 to 5:30 I'm working a regular job. When i get off work I'm dad for an hour then I'm a Realtor, so from 6:30 to until the next day when i go to work this is how I am. So I guess I'm telling you all this is because if i can get a leg up on all you who are successful that already have a 100 plus listings then that's what i have to do to make my transition to being a full-time Realtor easier. I already have to work twice as hard as you do to keep up to get my name out there, whatever i have to do I'm going to do it with out stepping over the ethical line we have.

JUL

2008

Jeff, you need to get the chip off your shoulder. It is weighing you down. There are a lot of us here who are struggling and busting our behinds. Many have other jobs and are on our feet hours a day. You think we are all rich and successful? HILARIOUS! Most of us are struggling and having a hard time getting our names out in front of people. I've only been in business a relatively short time. I started BLOGGING when my father was diagnosed with cancer - I can type from the hospital or nursing home or while he's getting chemo. I too have a "day job" as an adjunct professor that doesn't pay squat and am hoping real estate will pay off handsomely in the end. I busted my @$$ and put in a lot of shoe leather taking pictures everywhere I went and posted 227 blogs in 9 months.

Everyone is working terribly hard. You are not unique in that and it certainly doesn't give you the right to take advantage of someone elses hard work. Blogging - since you haven't even written a post yet - when done correctly - is not easy. It's WORK. If you choose to badger people by knocking on their doors that's YOUR decision. There is only so much time to spend on self-promotion for any of us. Since you spend your time that way - you may not have time to blog. That's all well and good, but you shouldn't be able to benefit vicariously from MY work any more than I should benefit from your door knocking. Those of us who chose to spend our prospecting/marketing time on our blogs have the right to OWN what we write and be assured that our intellectual propety is ours and ours alone to use as we see fit.

Personally, I think your time would be better spent building an internet presence and maybe working contacts in your SOI rather then going door-to-door. I work open houses for other agents as well.

Remember that building an internet presence brick by brick is more far reaching than knocking on doors. The posts are still there months and years later. But its YOUR JOB to put them there. You can also pay to put them there, but that payment properly belongs to the person who did the actual work.

I may or may not buy a neighborhood. If I don't buy anything, my posts will be truncated and redirected to my new blog. If I do, the neighborhoods I dont' buy wll also be truncated. I hope that AR will uphold their word that our content is ours and that we are free to remove said content from localism. I will be looking to see if the content is taken out of localism as per my wishes.

Jeff,

Actually I agree with most of your statement:"

"I know that I,m new to Bloging on AR and also being a Realtor, but this just another vehicle to competing. And whats wrong with that? Nothing! Now should AR have given the veteran's of this blog a chance to collect on their work? Maybe, but isn't life and this business tough and we don't always get the sale or the listing no matter how much blood, sweet and tears one puts into a neighborhood or in the entire town."

And you are correct and right on that this is a competitive business. Everyone though has different challenges and it would be nice to have it easy once in awhile but this business is always in flux and everyday presents new challenges and opportunities! Having been in the business since 1989 I feel kike I have a definite advantage over newer agents and in the beginning when I was a rookie I was extremely fortunate to work for and be trained by one of the finest brokers in the business here in Austin Texas. It was like attending an Ivy League school with private tutoring and mentoring every step of the way and I am always grateful. I think anyone would do well by asking for help from a professional associate who has time and would not be intimidated to mentor fellow agents (not just people with one or two years).

As far as manual labor, I was in the construction business in many different areas for 16 years prior to entering real estate and frankly, I think real estae is harder (but physically safer - in more ways than one!) than construction!

Good luck in your career, it does help to be dedicated and tenacious but I have learned we all need some tact now and then.

Have a great week! Russell

Ruthmarie,

The blog DOES and HAS over time had a gold star and is now featured in the Realtors group again.

Localism- Crew To Bridge, Come In Captain- We Have A Problem!
07/09/2008 02:36 PM - (152 comments)

Anyway, I agree that we are all working hard and that we all face challenges daily in our personal lives as certainly in the crazy world of Real Estate. My original intent was to elicit opinions about Localism and learn more about the options and possibilities. From what I can tell nothing about AR is written in stone and that every facet of the site is constantly evaluated to try and make it the best possible for us as members. Now if that last sentence is a rah-rah for AR, so be it but I think you will find that I can also be a contrarian at times!

Have a great morning Russell

There are certainly a lot of comments here both pro and con. I am glad thet the original post was pertty balanced and I appreciate the chance to learn more about the new Localism!

Thanks,

Ruthmarie,

It's not about me having a chip on my shoulder, i have no ill will towards another Realtor, or feel im being slited in anyway. My whole point there is that its a chain recation to life and business i run a very successful automotive shop a really great boss. Don't you think that i benfit from another competitors idea when i can pick it up and make it work better. This isnt the first and it wont be the last thing in life that some pours their hard work into only to display it and have someone else benfit. One way or another we're all going to benfit some how.

Im not being neg towards anyone else I understand whats at stake here and what others have done, I maybe new but im not dumb. Would i be upset if it was me in that position? Yeah, i would but what do you do? You find the next big thing and you use it. Everything you have done to work your career to this point has been used by someone else that was most likely upset when other started benfiting from his or her work.

"Having been in the business since 1989 I feel kike I have a definite advantage over newer agents and in the beginning when I was a rookie I was extremely fortunate to work for and be trained by one of the finest brokers in the business here in Austin Texas. It was like attending an Ivy League school with private tutoring and mentoring every step of the way and I am always grateful. I think anyone would do well by asking for help from a professional associate who has time and would not be intimidated to mentor fellow agents (not just people with one or two years)."

You do have an advantage over me, but that was my point this is away to get an advantage over my competitior here where im at. Im doing this on my own with very little help from a broker or anyone else so its all a big learning curve, and im happy with the fact that i have a challeange infront of me.

I am new to Active Rain and I am learning more about the localism issue. This is a great post but I see that there are many points of view. I look forward to reading more about it. Thanks!

Thank you for writing this balanced post. There seems to be many differences of option and I am looking forward to the next phase of localism.

I have a question: If each post is manually reviewed for Localism, how could there be any spam or junk? In my area (Santa Cruz, CA) the blog has several posts from cities in another county. And there posts with little "x's" where the pictures should be. I have notified management and they are aware of this problem, but it didn't occur to me until afterward to ask how any spam or less than wonderful posts could even make it to Localism if everything is being manually hand-picked.

Deborah: All posts are being populated to Localism immediately. Then, they are reviewed and approved. Initially, we were reviewing first, and then publishing to Localism. But too many people complained that they're posts weren't showing up.

Oh. Thank you. I guess I have not kept up on the latest!

Jeff,

Thanks for an articulate response. There are obviously a lot of emotions here and I do understand how passionately that many of the members who have been here longer feel. I am still glad that this site is a forum for the fre discussion of ideas and the best part is that i am already receiving benefits form my short and i intend to dive in and get as much out of the resources and members advice that is available.

Thanks again,

JUL

2008

Russell -

Not everyone reads the "Realtor's GROUP" I don't. It took me over a week to find that blog. You are new so you don't understand what I meant by a "feature." An AR feature is on the HOME PAGE Blog Roll as an AR feature - not in the Realtor's group. That feature is the only kind that gets full visibility and is the only type of feature that AR itself has control over. The groups are independently run. That blog absolutely deserved a position on the front page and didn't get it.

The gold star would be on the bottom of the page where yours is. You can see yours below.

png

Do you see a gold star on this blog in the same place?

png

This may seem trivial but it isn't. These are major league bloggers. Their voices were heard in spite of not having a major feature. For me - the post would have been "buried" with only a few comments because I don't have the following. The knew they had BIG TROUBLE with this one. Given their response, they took it seriously. But they should have come clean and given it a true feature. There would have been more like 300 comments had they done so. So they did "quash it" as much as they could.

Ruthmarie,

Thank you, I stand corrected and I appreciate that you pointed out other things along the way. As I learn more, I still feel that AR is an incredible community and though surprised initially by the intensity of many of the comments, I have to say it makes sense. This is a site made up of agents and brokers who care about their business and succeeding as well as building and maintaining a degree of professional standards. I feel like this is not the case in many communities and learned recently that here in Austin the 80/20 rule is more like 90/10 or putting it anther way 10% of the realtors sold 90% of the properties here last year. I need to find that statistic but it was sent out by some local Title Companies. My point is that AR attracts a very good caliber of realtor and it's the quality of the participants that make the difference (and also generates the intensity and passion of our views)

Thanks again,

Russell

OK, I read the second post first and then followed the link to your first post. this is all good information and there a a lot of meaningful comments posted too. Thanks for trying to keep a balanced perspective in what is a very emotional issue!

Here's an update: http://activerain.com/blogsview/612513/-Going-Loco-Over

What's Localism?

Rich, Thank you! I read it earlier and commented. it was a very good overview and I am looking forward to seeing how it evolves!

Paul, Follow this link to learn more about the new Localism and what it is and does!

http://activerain.com/blogsview/612513/-Going-Loco-Over

and thanks for asking!

-Russell

I am still up in the air at this point. Thanks for your insight

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Russell Lewis, Broker,CLHMS,GRI

Austin, TX

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Realty Austin, Austin Texas Real Estate

Address: 1209 W. 5th Street Suite 300, Austin, TX, 78703

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