There exists a debate (maybe light conversation) on perspectives of "inside" and "outside" blogs. To define what is meant by inside and outside blogs, I'm simply stating that:
-- Inside Blogs - are blogs hosted by real estate professionals where content is for the audience of peers in the real estate industry (agents, brokers, mortgage brokers, technology vendors)...whereas
-- Outside Blogs - are blogs hosted by real estate professionals where content is for the audience of consumers and potential clients.
Does a real estate professional require 2 blogs to best connect with their peers & counterparts and another blog to reach & connect consumers? To best answer that question, I will say "it depends".
What's Happening in the Industry...
What is happening in the real estate, Web 2.0 space are the notable lines being made between inside communication and outside communication.
This is very true of real estate professionals who post articles on their blog and state "Consumers can skip to the next post" or on discussion forums saying "‘Agents only’ or ‘RE professionals only’ or ‘No consumers please’" as found on Trulia Voices Q&A.
ActiveRain currently is driven by "inside" communication (as of today). AR allows Real Estate Professionals to blog about anything. However, much of the content is geared towards professionals talking to other professionals. The majority of content is "inside", where points are assigned to professionals who comment on the "inside" content. Do note, many agents may use an ActiveRain blog for outside communications, linking to their AR blog from their agent website and even marking content for distribution at Localism (AR consumer Q&A site). Limitations to outside communication with today's AR blog is they lack personal branding. Also, comments on AR blogs are driven by other real estate professionals only commenting on "inside" content. ActiveRain is moving towards the development of outside blogs, for an annual fee, as many agents at AR have requested such a service.
RealTown - includes highly customizable blogs that can be used for inside communication with peers, or for use of outside communications with consumers. As this blog platform allows for customization of the look and feel of the blog, it's purpose of inside or outside communications are left to the real estate professional.
Zillow Q&A / Trulia Voices Q&A - Zillow Q&A and Trulia Voices Q&A, following more of a discussion forum format, are "outside" communication venue. Real Estate Professionals can directly communicate with consumers. For some agents, its a reality check on consumers concerns, fears and trepidations in today's market...as its not the same, highly upbeat ("that was a great post") communication as found on "inside" communities such as AR.
Trulia Voices Agent2Agent - Due to requests by real estate professionals, Trulia now has Agent2Agent discussion areas inside Trulia Voices. The importance of community, knowledge-sharing, quick Q&A professionals is commonly desired. In my opinion, such discussion in a discussion forum-like format allows for quicker communication (I.e. "get to the point").
Zolve - has many features that to me, speak to primarily inside communications. With sphere-of-influence, referral features, and its newest "Over Coffee' feature (a Q&A area for real estate professionals), It's primary service is a referral network for real estate professionals. Outside communications are brought forth when real estate professionals elect to "speak" to consumers in their Zolve blog...sometimes using their Zolve blog as their outside blog.
Conclusions
I feel that real estate blogs established by real estate professionals for consumers should remain with majority of content driven for consumers. A small percentage of topics geared towards peers can show breadth & expertise of the real estate professional (in the eyes of the consumer); someone "hip" to not only local real estate industry but having knowledge on the market as a whole. To consumers, this is important. Should real estate professionals strive to have 2 blogs (an inside blog to connect and engage referrals with peers and an outside blog geared towards consumers)? What do you think?
Avondale, AZ – April 23, 2008- The National Institute of Webographers, owner of the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™(REW) program, announced today that it has reached an agreement with InternetCrusade’s RealTown.comreal estate portal to offer RealTown’s 75,000 members access to Webographers 12 Real Estate Technology courses.
continuous and educational learning opportunities already made available RealTown members", says Marc Grayson, President of National Institute of Webographers.
To receive special discounts on the the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™program, simply go to the RealTown.com site and visit the "Education" tab or the "Store" tab OR look for the Webographers.com logos and banners.
