Earlier this week was a big step for me as I’ve started blogging on our new blogging platform. You can read my first post here. Two posts so far this week and many more to come – I’m delighted to become a blogger!
In the post, I explain why I’ve started blogging and also why we’ve launched a blogging service on Trulia. I’m including an updated excerpt below.
So you may be wondering why on earth does the world need another blog platform. Here are my thoughts on why we’re launching Trulia Blogs:
It’s uniquely useful. Other than our Q & A service, Trulia Voices, there is no good national real estate site where you can have useful and interesting discussions about all things real estate between active consumers and industry professionals. Sure, I’m biased and there are some great local services, but Trulia Voices and Trulia Blogs are really a unique way to interact with a large and interested group of people. We see Trulia Blogs and Trulia Voices as complementary services.
It’s free and really easy. We have deliberately tried to make blogging as simple and accessible as possible. It shouldn’t be daunting. We know there are many options out there if you want to build your own blog, but Trulia Blogs is a simple service for you to get up and running as quickly possible in front of a targeted audience and learn the basics. We don’t have every possible feature you can find on other paid services, but we have the basic important tools and will be constantly adding new features.
It’s local. When it comes to real estate everyone knows that location is critical. We all love (or hate) our communities we live in and have an opinion about what goes on there. We are interested when new shops open up, roads are built, schools re-zoned, licenses granted and thousands of other things, Trulia Blogs is a way to share this information and begin the conversation with others in your vicinity. I’m truly fascinated to see what people use Trulia Blogs for and what conversations start here.
Trulia Blogs was launched along with our new home page and mobile applications. We’re delighted to have so many posts up and already and are looking forward to seeing many others up there soon! Join in, start blogging on Trulia today.
Also, we know it’s the community that makes Trulia popular and useful so..a huge huge thank you to the users of the community here on Trulia. It’s you that make Trulia’s community services great and thank you for showing up and participating. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with product ideas, bugs and suggestions. We’re constantly releasing new updates so will work on including them.
Popularity: 56% [?]
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August 29th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
The blogging platform has simply become ubiquitous as the most efficient social media conduit for its participants. Each platform has a built in audience, in Trulia’s case the real estate trade and its consumers, and bloggers will choose their media distribution strategies based on who they want to reach.
Eventually, as Friendfeed and Facebook have proven, knowledge distributed across the “Trulia” platform will be aggregated and distributed across other platforms (like Friendfeed and Facebook). Soon, there will be no need to inefficiently write, or cut and paste new content across, say Active Rain, Wordpress, Ning networks and other blog platforms; the aggregation services will distribute articles by feed or other method we haven’t seen yet. Here is the next big thing you’ve never heard of that will help to accomplish this distribution: Ubiquity… watch this video - http://www.vimeo.com/1561578
Simply put, Trulia becomes another media distribution resource that real estate professionals can use to market themselves. And the more distribution sources a real estate professional is broadcasting through, the better. For marketing purposes, think about being your own radio or TV station.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Oh, and Pete, glad to see you blogging!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:50 am
Nicely said Pat.
“Liquid conversation” already has conferences, so it’s prime time, I guess. The real interesting things will happen to information AS it is being distributed, will gain weight and loses it during transmission (quality, context etc). Not unlike syndicated listing data. With all the challenges of course (noise, integrity etc.)
It makes a lot of sense for Trulia being one of the hubs to initiate conversation especially if consumers will blog about their home buying experience as well.
– Zoltan
September 4th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Fewer than 4% of REALTORS have blogs, and there is a small percentage of real estate bloggers who blog regularly. The Trulia Blog platform offers some distinct advantages over other blog platforms:
1. It is EASY to use, requires no complicated setup.
2. There is a built-in consumer base of prospective buyers and sellers. The blogger can write without the worry and concern of technical search engine optimization considerations. Bloggers can find their voice and share their message in an environment where consumers are already congregating in increasing numbers.
3. Agents who are new to blogging and online community participation have an opportunity to call themelves “early adopters” of advanced technology that marries real estate search with social networking tools. It is a marriage made in heaven.
4. Agents who are veteran bloggers see it as the next logical step in the blogging evolution. I have been blogging since January, 2005. I have blogs on Typepad, RealTown, ActiveRain, and Wordpress. I am a licensed REALTOR in Arizona and I moonlight as a Real Estate Blog Coach. I am going to launch my Trulia blog today. It’s the only logical, sensible thing to do.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Thanks Pat, Zoltan and Frances.
We’re excited to have so many great posts in such a short period of time.
Looking forward to expanding the functionality and audience of the platform.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I always think it is a little unnecessary to worry about the necessity of another blogger platform. Either you tune in or you do not. I look forward to more content from a variety of sources as it turns out our smartest people running our biggest companies can’t seem to get it right, maybe those in the trenches can.
Feel free to check out my site which is a similar concept, but local to San Francisco and for commercial real estate only.
Tom Poser
http://www.sanfranciscotenantrep.com