This is our mission statement:
BloodhoundBlog is everything you wish were in Realtor magazine — but isn’t.
Damned if it ain’t the gospel truth! Realtor Magazine does a cover story on real estate weblogging — and none of the Bloodhounds are there.
Not sour grapes. We’re the big dogs in this menagerie of minds, but, at the same time — we’re big Bloodhounds. Friendly enough, but fiercely independent and impossible to dominate. Does that sound like Realtor magazine to you?
In fact, the article is mostly a catalog of kiss-ups to potential advertisers, the usual sort of Realtor magazine mash letter.
Even so, congratulations to the real webloggers mentioned in the piece. My thought is that the waxed fruit is there to distract our attention from the rancid vendor stew that is the real purpose of the article. But, even so, the coverage should be huge for building credibility with clients.
(What would David Gibbons do? I’m thinking this is the kind of post that people find objectionable because I am not being falsely effusive about what is, in fact, not a wholly-positive development. I live in a graduated universe, and so I understand that most blessings are mixed. Realtor magazine’s objective — always — is to pimp vendors. This is why we understand, in every other context, that it is largely ridiculous and irrelevant. But — even so — this is a sweet coup for the actual real estate webloggers mentioned in the article. I offer them my heartiest congratulations. And I’m belaboring the obvious, I think.)
Tipped: The Real Estate Tomato.
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing
Dave Barnes says:
Greg,
Ardell wrote (on another blog): “Greg blacklists and deletes comments when anyone chooses to argue a point on BHB. You can’t have a conversation there or call them out there. That’s the joke of the whole “let us teach you about WEB 2.0″ thing. AS IF!”
Is this true?
Do you blacklist and delete?
,dave
February 23, 2008 — 8:43 am
Teresa Boardman says:
sniff, kiss up to potential advertisers? It is a good thing that I don’t have any feelings. Like I always say neither real estate sales nor blogging are for wimps.
February 23, 2008 — 9:15 am
Greg Swann says:
> Is this true?
> Do you blacklist and delete?
Oh, bless you, Dave Barnes. There is nothing like an honest question from an analytical thinker. I have stuff to take care of now, but I’ll come back to this when my day opens up.
February 23, 2008 — 9:17 am
Greg Swann says:
> sniff, kiss up to potential advertisers? It is a good thing that I don’t have any feelings. Like I always say neither real estate sales nor blogging are for wimps.
😉 You got by far the best of it. Your clients won’t have to dig into the article to find you. No amount of advertising can eclipse that exposure.
February 23, 2008 — 9:27 am
Irina Netchaev says:
well… well… well… real estate blogging exposesd to the masses. Over the last 4 to 6 months, I’ve seen more and more articles on Web 2.0 and blogging. Most realtors in our market still don’t get it and will only pay attention as articles appear in the more mainstream type of media – like Realtor magazine.
Congrats to Teresa, Jeff, Dustin, Frances and Daniel! Great exposure!!!
February 23, 2008 — 9:40 am
Brian Brady says:
Congratulations to all mentioned.
The real guerrilla in that article is Ann Marie Clements. She’s been experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. The media pays too much attention to blogging and not enough to social media marketing.
I was surprised to see the advertising executive “pooh-pooh” the power of being active in social media.
February 23, 2008 — 10:48 am
Matthew Hardy says:
Realtor magazine is mostly a kiss-up to potential advertisers.
This may be a little off, but has BHB ever posted any analysis of the whole “approved vendor” shenanigans that almost all real estate companies pretend is the result of objective analysis? (Searching BHB posts for “approved vendor” came up empty.)
Virtually every company charges vendors to be on these lists. In my estimation, few, if any, of the products or services on these lists have actually been reviewed and tested in any analytical way. Every one I’ve investigated has ONLY been concerned with the fees involved. It’s been: “pay this, pay that, mandatory participation in this conference, pay for these other things too and you’ll be on our list”. NEVER have I been told that “your product will be submitted to our testing/review office and we’ll let you know if you meet our standards”. I won’t name the companies here, but if anyone felt so compelled, ask the largest real estate companies for their “approved vendor” requirements and you’ll discover that the best interest of the agent is not the raison d’etre.
Yet another reason why agents keep buying crap.
February 23, 2008 — 11:14 am
Ardell says:
Dave,
WEB 2.0 is more about the conversation that ensues from a post, than the post itself. To some that should unfold without edit at all, and outside of the real estate industry that is the definition of blogging and WEB 2.0.
You lose credibility among consumers when you blacklist and edit incorrectly, as they feel you are the type of agent that only let’s them see what you want them to see. As in will you only show them the houses that benefits you for them to buy? Like not showing the house of your mortal enemy agent. It’s not a good policy to blacklist on your blog, as the inference suggests to a consumer that you may also blacklist some companies, and won’t show them the houses of those companies. You have to extrapolate it out to the implication of those actions.
I am finally seeing why Greg does delete and blacklist. We had a similar issue with commenters from Seattle Bubble and we have thrown them into moderation for a time. Dustin has wanted to blacklist a few and I encouraged him to let me handle it differently. I will delete a curse word and put dashes in it if the comment is worthy and the curse is the only issue. And the commenters have modified their exchanges for the most part at our direction. So it worked out for the best and their comments are now invaluable to the WEB 2.0 exchange.
In it’s infancy we are all exploring the Do’s and Dont’s of blogging. Corporate Blogs will likely act more in the manner of BHB, and rightly so.
WEB 2.0 has to give a lot of latitude though, before cutting off people. Blacklisting forever is generally not a good idea, but can be appropriate at times.
By confronting one another as we have in this few days old feud, there has been much enlightenment on the part of many. Me included. I “get” it and Greg better as a result, but I still think he should give a bit on the whole Marc thing to prove he’s not what people are calling him.
February 23, 2008 — 8:29 pm
Sam Chapman says:
How flattering for Teresa and the others, but better than that is the link juice they will get.
February 24, 2008 — 5:26 am