Real Estate Blog - ActiveRain is so yesterday

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ActiveRain is so yesterday

I read it on Twitter just a few minutes ago....

Or that "the door for blogging has closed on ActiveRain."

Tina Merritt is watching a webinar from real estate trainer Amy Chorew (an ActiveRain member)

@tinainvirginia tweetted "per @amychorew - the door for blogging on activeRain has closed - many other options out there."

Tina quoting Amy Chorew

A number of people tweeted why???

@ginakay that's what @amychorew said since they are now charging for outside blogs.

@tineinvirginia tweeted another quote: " per@amychorew - propopoly is the new into (intro?) to blogging platform for RE"

Tina quoting Amy Chorew

Has anyone heard of Propopoly before?

EDIT Propoply Propopoly is part of "Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®" wow I recognize a brand or two there...

Do you think?

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Posted by Maureen McCabe Central OH Homes on 03/04/2009 01:21 PM

Comments (30)

ActiveRain in the ActiveRain Channel

activerain, real living, blogging

Post is included in group: Real Living

30 Comments on ActiveRain is so yesterday

MAR

Maureen - I've never heard of it but I did check out your link. Personally, I don't think it's as good as AR and in my brief visit to the site, I didn't see any mortgage companies. That's one of the reasons I like AR, even if we are a minority here.

As I always say - use what's best for you. If Propopoly works for them then great! I on the othr hand will continue to play in the rain!

never heard of the site or the company who runs it. The site itself looks a little like it is still in beta testing.

I think blogging on Active Rain is alive and well. I have my blogs sent to Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. They all work in tandem for me...

Propopoly says that they charge a low monthly fee. So if they charge also, why would you go with an unknown instead of ActiveRain with three years of Google power?

Thanks all for the comments.

I don't know Tim... that does not make sense I did not see that they charged a low monthly fee...

There are plenty of places to blog. I had never heard of Propopoly (I think that is hard to spell)

"the door for blogging has closed on ActiveRain."

LOL

That's almost like saying the Indy 500 is over after watching the first 25 laps. :)

Maureen,

I think the natural thing to do for a new company is target the market leader. AR no doubt is in that seat. When you're a leader you get the unfortunate position of wearing a target on your back. Now whether AR's new fee based system will help or hurt is yet to be determined. My feeling is you will see a slow down in growth. Their motivation for charging new members may have been driven by a lack in ad revenue. If they can generate the fees more power to them.

Wow - I had no idea my Tweeting of the webinar would cause so much conversation! To keep it in perspective, Amy said the "door has closed" for NEW bloggers - not existing members. She did mention that Propopoly charges a set-up fee and then a small monthly fee. I had never heard of Propopoly before the webinar so thanks Maureen for taking the time to check up on it!

Tina in Virginia

Thanks for the comments.

Amy also had a prediction about Facebook that Tina tweeted....

I thought that was probably what Amy meant Tina, but I wonder how much the small monthly fee is... and the set up fee. It must be less than $29 ....

Do you recognize "Leading Real Estate Companies of the World"? Propopoly blogs must be available from more than those brokerages???

Never heard of Propopoly. Their parent company, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World spams me incessently.

They also charge, so saying the "door has closed" at AR because they charge new bloggers seems, well, silly.

The PDF of "All live sites" on Propopoly lists 19 sites. I'd hardly call that "one of the hottest new online marketing ventures around"....

Still the best blogging solution in my opinion is a self-hosted Wordpress blog. It's had to beat complete ownership and control and customization for a hosting fee of four bucks a month.

Dang, forgot to log in for that last comment. Missed out on all those points...

More on Leading Real Estate Companies of the World:

"Membership fees are based on the population of the service area covered, with a one-time initiation fee ranging from $750 to $6,000, and an annual membership fee ranging from $1,700 to $21,000 for most companies."

That's a lot of coin to get listed in a directory...

WOW.....

That is NOT for the blogs though.... that is to be a listed as a "Leading Real Estate Company....... a relocation directory as I understand it.

I agree that the site does look like it is still in beta. I'm not sure why someone would choose that over a WP blog, or a Dakno blog. There are many choices out there.

Lotsa places to blog... for free... Tina quoted Amy "many other options out there."

Blogger.com

WordPress.com

The Realtor.com blogs... the one Move developed to replicate ActiveRain

RealTown Blogs by Internet Crusade....

or cost?

aren't there Bloodhound blog? I am not sure if they are free or low cost....

for just a smidgen for hosting WordPress.org.... as Jay says.... I got mine.

I still like the Typepad blogs... and they are inexpensive, I believe.

pay for a Dakno, a Tomato Blog.... Is RSS Pieces still doing blogs? Mary McKnight is with???

"a relocation directory as I understand it"

Correct, which is why I said "That's a lot of coin to get listed in a directory..."

My concern is if they charge THAT to get listed in a directory, their idea of a "low monthly fee" for a blog may be different than mine.

I can't imagine then why they'd be recommended by a real estate coach to be the new intro to blogging platform... if there is a fee.

"PROPOPOLY^® is a full-service, "hands-free" blogging platform that was designed with real estate professionals in mind"

What does "hands-free" blogging mean????

It's hard to type without hands.

Just want to clear up a couple of misconceptions about Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® and Propopoly® if you don't mind...

LeadingRE is the largest independent real estate network around and has been around for 30 years, selling more than any other national franchise -- check out our credentials:

http://www.leadingre.com/SubCatEngine.aspx?subCatID=1004.

We are FAR more than just a referral directory - we offer cutting edge resources in a number of areas for all of our members.

Propopoly® is a full-service, fully managed, "hands-free" blogging platform that is completely dedicated to the agent and their brand. "Hands-free" means that agents can submit blogs via email, text and/or voice mail and never have to log-in to a system to post their thoughts. The Propopoly® team personally reviews each blog before it is posted to ensure it gets the attention it deserves from the consuming public....right down to grammatical editing. All of this is backed by extensive SEO strategy and syndication that puts our bloggers at the tops of consumer searches. Propopoly® services are only available to agents of LeadingRE member companies. Also, our monthly fee is lower than the AR fee that was recently initiated for new bloggers.

To each his own! Whatever works for you is great -- I just wanted to be sure all the facts were out there! Best of luck to each of you in your blogging worlds!

Wow - You guys have a lot of passion. I have been blogging on Propopoly for about six months. In fact our firm has five separate propopoly sites - including www.guidemehome2chicagoluxury.com . It drives business to my site as well as my agents (I run relocation and operations for my firm). I check the google analytics on it every week. When you look at what propopoly delivers on the "long tail search" it is quite impressive. That doesn't mean there's not room for AR or another platform. I have my own blog www.chicagorelocationblog.com - blogs are niches and should be treated as such.

For $20/month to be a part of a team blog that does back-end SEO, checks for duplicate content, posts, checks spelling and grammer, and transcribes voicemails, it's worth it for my agents.

Thanks for the info Lauren!

Since Propopoly is only available to agents of LeadingRE member companies, saying they are the next "intro to RE blogging" is ludicrous. (and I realize LeadingRE wasn't who said that).

Passion? I thought I just asked if anyone had heard of Propopoly.

Another option for those who are with companies that are "Leading RE Companies of the World."

Guy with Propopoly responded via Twitter with a bunch of links too, to both Tina and me...

Their pretty passionate about Social Networking over there....

I'm proud of the passion that our members have. There are SO many benefits to membership with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. It's certainly a group of the finest real estate companies and most are proud that they meet the criteria to even become a member. Propopoly is one advantage that will help set our brokerages apart from others in the real estate space. One thing is for sure, we are so much more than a 'referral directory'; we are THE answer for the best independent companies. Feel free to really check out our sites www.leadingre.com and www.luxuryportfolio.com

Hi Maureen... I think that there will always be naysayers.... I just ignore them... A|R is alive and well and continues to evolve with the changes in our industry. That's a winning formula in my book.

I'm not impressed with their blogs or the hype.

NO more testimonials for this company here, please. Write your own blog...

Wow - lets clarify - I was speaking about brand new bloggers who are part of the Leading RE brand. If they are going to spend money, they need to check out all products.

If you were in one of my intermediate classes we would discuss the outside blog of Active Rain and using Wordpress or Typepad.

I am an active Active Rainer and I also post on my wordpress blog www.thetechbyte.com

Thanks for a stimulating conversation!!

As I sat through several band concerts tonight, I pondered this thread and other conversations that originated from a 140 character Tweet that was part of a far lengthier webinar.

And I realized that I shouldn't have jumped into the fray without knowing a LOT more information.

I didn't attend Amy's webinar, so I don't know what was said before during or after the "door for blogging on AR is closed" comment. I have no clue what the context was.

I've got ultimate respect for the AR folks, and for Amy Chorew. I don't know a lot about LeadingRE, but when I found out Eric Bryn was associated with them, someone I know and DO have a great deal of respect for, it made me start to think.

Yes, from my now admittedly very limited knowledge of Propoploy, it does seem to be somewhat limited due to the restriction that only LeadingRE member companies/agents have access to it. That doesn't mean it's not a good platform. Maybe it is. But it doesn't seem like it's an option open to anyone in the industry like many other solutions are.

I've said for a few years now that I think the best solution for a blog platform is one you control completely. For me, that's a self-hosted Wordpress blog. I don't ever have to worry about a company being sold, or someone moderating who can and can not comment on my blog. I control *everything* -- content, what and who stays and goes in comments and even my own spelling and grammar (or lack thereof). That's the way I like it. But I need to realize that some people don't have the desire to control everything.

And I need to remember not to jump into a conversation that I've only heard bits and pieces of.

Thanks Jay. I too have the upmost respect for what you're doing, your thought-leadership, and the fact that your brokerage is going strong. You're breaking down traditional business models while using effective strategies to prove new models of brokerage, business development, and client acquisition. But you're right in noting that not everyone wants to handle everything. That's where we're trying to do our part to bring the power of blogging to those in our Network who want to participate in this incredibly powerful medium. I'm really looking forward to meeting up in Scottsdale. Have a great rest of the evening.

MAR

Lots of misinformation... from the get go... It is a small program for a small select group of real esate companies. It is one of a zillion blogging options out there.

The end.

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