Ah, a title that will past muster with Mr. Rosales … always a good start. Now if I only can find a way to make the article sync to the title.
First, some very brief history.
I started my Dalton’s Arizona Homes blog in January 2006 and did nothing with it until that July. I asked for help, Ardell offered it and I was up and running in fits and starts. By the end of the year I’d left RealTown Blogs for my own server and that’s where I am now.
When I started writing I didn’t realize there was a blogging community. Ardell asked me what I knew about Bloodhound Realty and I gave an honest answer – never heard of it. It struck me as totally an Internet and blog-driven phenomenon. I didn’t know who Jay Thompson was either, at least not until I ventured onto Active Rain.
There may have been one or two others writing then but for the most part, that was how my blogging career started – trying to escape the long shadows cast by both the Phoenix Real Estate Guy and the Bloodhound.
(Such a different world now for Steve, Chris, Heather, Christoph, Austin, Rod and so many others. The competition’s so vast here in Phoenix now that you almost don’t worry too much about it. Doubt it? Consider the link love I just sent to six, some of whom you may not already know.)
In Jay I found a kindred spirit. In Greg, as I’ve told him, I found my personal Howard Stern. I’d read something he wrote and react on my own blog. Before HousingPanic dubbed him “he who shall not be linked to” I’d already started to call him Lord Voldemort on my blog. It was great for traffic. It also was utterly pointless.
Fast forward to this past weekend’s row between Odysseus and one of his most ardent foils, Joe at sellsius. Two days after the eruption the news wasn’t the actual argument, it was the lack of attention paid to the entire episode. Some of it could be attributed to the “been there, done that” feel. Some could be the realization that the real estate blogosphere or re.net (Greg’s term) has evolved past the point where there was one dominant dog.
Agent Genius was born into somewhat different times – Zillow and Redfin already were in existence, for example. The shock value from both (and for those who don’t remember, there was a considerable amount) long since has worn off. There seems to be a lot more imitation than true innovation these days, and imitation’s not as interesting a topic.
My personal reaction to the entire row also gave me insight into the evolution of my own blog. Once upon a time I’d have jumped into the fray with both feet, eager to pick up the traffic and get my voice out there. But now? My blog wasn’t the place for it. (Neither was Agent Genius … or apparently FOREM, Inman or I Can Has Cheezeburger given the total lack of coverage there as well.)
Yes, I’m still guilty of glancing at my Technorati ranking but I’ve come to understand that a high Technorati ranking in and of itself means nothing, at least not unless you’re trying to pursue a second career as a social media expert. I check my traffic numbers every day, not so much for the raw numbers but to see who has come from where so I can adjust my strategy as necessary.
Traffic for the sake of traffic means nothing to me. Focused traffic – people looking for bank owned homes, Canadian buyers, etc. – means the world. (And I didn’t even have to pay 15 Benjamins to learn that lesson.)
In spite of myself, my blog has become a semi-local real estate blog – semi-local in that I’d prefer to write about larger issues than a weekend farmers’ market. But it’s no longer a place where I’ll discuss a blog war in hopes of pulling in some extra readers.
Most everyone who’d take notice of such a post already is reading me. I thank you for that. And now I’m looking more to the public side of things.
Hmmmm … Britney Spears. Yes, here it is.
One of the primary drawbacks of a discount real estate model is there’s always going to be someone willing to go lower. And at the end of the day, the first one to zero will win. That’s the inevitable end.
One of the primary drawbacks of building your traffic through link-baiting, blog wars, contests (pissing and otherwise) and other such publicity stunts is the next such stunt has to be more outrageous than the one before. People aren’t fascinated by Britney Spears because she’s drunk nightly. It’s because she’s drunk, then drunk with the kids, then driving through stop signs, then stripping naked in a store …
Every action causes a viewer to stop and say, “no f’ing way.” It’s when these things are taken for granted that attention begins to wane. Some were outraged by last week’s post on BHB. I was one who read it and yawned. Just another personal attack in the interest of one person’s view of truth. Ho-hum.
There was news in the after-math. When Dustin speaks, people listen. When distinguished writers such as Jay, Kris and Jim summarily leave, that’s notable as well.
But the thing is, attention already has started to wane. In today’s real estate blogoverse, there’s such a rich and varied conversation constantly taking place that the “look at me” shouts and insults and their aftermath are gazed upon as a relic of the days when Phoenix was a two-horse blog town.
