I recently posted some comments, observations and questions about the new Localism.
What's all the fuss about buying a Localism neighborhood?
In my spare time (that is certainly an oxymoron in my life!) I have been reading a number of the disparaging remarks and complaints about paying for a neighborhood in the new Localism. At the same time I also read a number of interesting views and facts from folks who have been around for awhile and helped build Active Rain and Localism into what it is today. There were nearly 1000 views and numerous comments but surprisingly a very large number of emails making the different arguments that there seemed to be a lot of belligerent attitudes about having to pay fees for access to the various neighborhoods as well as the people that wanted it to evolve in it's own manner. I was completely surprised at the intensity, drama and frustration of the members who felt so mistreated.
It seems that many of the complaints I read had to do with the amount of time and effort that people had devoted to using Localism as a tool to generate business. Many were frustrated by the idea that they had worked hard loading data and adding content and seemed to feel that because their efforts and in some cases a sort of perceived "seniority" they deserved to be treated differently. What I thought was most interesting were the statements made praising ActiveRain for all of the new business (from both buyers and sellers) that they had been able to generate, the great information we are all able to access and share and the incredible networking and referrals available within the ActiveRain community. And now that Active Rain wants to charge a nominal fee for some of the services, it is suddenly A PROBLEM! On one hand this is now beginning to make some sense to me because we all spend so much time and money generating business.
We all know, real estate is a very competitive business and there are no guarantees anytime or anywhere. When I get up and go to work in the morning "I apply for a job" several times every day. I get a chance to compete with other agents for the business of a buyer or seller and do my best to make the best impression and get the business. I will say that I am incredibly fortunate and generate about 80% of my business from personal referrals and that is the result of spending years marketing myself and creating an incredible list of clients who happily advocate me to their friends and family. That being said I also have to constantly market myself to past clients and to future customers too. Active Rain has been yet another great resource for helping me to generate business and so far it has been
FREE
I have only been a member a short while but have received an enormous amount of benefits and all it has taken is some time and effort on my part. ActiveRain deserves anything that the company reasonably expect to help as a return on investment and now that there will be a small fee for the services, I ay GREAT, sign me up, To tell the truth, I just hope I am able to procure a couple of the neighborhoods where I have already been active for many years. If I don't, I promise not to whine...Actually, if I understand it correctly, I will still be able to post info and data and show up as a top neighbor or something like that. No matter what, when I go to me next listing appointment later today, I knew that I will probably be competing with one or more realtors so will try and spend most of my time tweaking and perfecting my presentation and my market data to not only impress my future client but also give them the professional service and results that they deserve.
More than anything, I realize that both points of view have valid arguments but I am confidant that the people who built Active Rain and Localism will do what is best for the community because none of us want to lose the opportunity to participate in such a great enterprise.
That's all I have to say and I realize that it may stir up some dust because "I never met a person who showed up at an argument expecting to be convinced" (you can quote me on that, it came from my father but I changed it to fit my own particular view).
Thanks again - Russell
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