Last week, blogging platform Posterous announced they would be allowing content to be imported from real estate blogging platform ActiveRain and some people were defensive while others cheered.
To learn what the true sentiment was (and not just the voices of those who felt extremely positively or negatively about it), we took an AG Flash Poll to get a sense for whether or not people thought Active Rainers should switch to Posterous. Below are the surprising results.
Question: “are you currently an Active Rain blogger?”
We asked this question because if everyone who takes a poll is not using Active Rain, of course answers will skew negatively and we asked because we wanted to gauge how strongly current users felt versus non users.
Question: “Do you think Active Rain bloggers should switch to Posterous?”
Now that we know that an overwhelming majority of respondents are current Active Rain bloggers, the answer to this question was shocking because if Active Rain does anything in a more dominant way than any other blogging platform, it is cultivating and rewarding a culture of loyalty and participation.
What the results mean:
If you add both simple questions together, a currently active Active Rain population is torn as to whether or not to switch platforms. Not one respondent answered “maybe” or offered clarification, all answers were definitively yes or no.
In comments to our coverage of Posterous’ new offering, Jonathan Washburn, Active Rain’s CEO said, “I haven’t heard of anybody taking posterous up on their offer yet.”
In the same comments section, Rich Pearson, VP of Marketing at Posterous said, “We’ve had a lot of new Active Rain users join us in the past few days which is great.”
On top of all of that, there is a lot of bantering in comments as to the values, pros and cons of each platform and it’s an age old debate as to whether or not you should love or hate Active Rain, but the AG Flash Poll shows that whether or not people are vocalizing a switch, half believe that users should ditch Active Rain for Posterous while the other half remains loyal. What do YOU think?
Justin McHood
July 8, 2010 at 12:56 am
Ditch ’em both.
Install WordPress on your own server (or use page.ly) and own your own destiny.
Sure, it takes a little more brains than it does to use AR or Posterous – but it is the only sure-fire way that you won’t put your future (content) in someone else’s hand.
Oh, and then use posterous as a mobile blog. It is awesome!
Benn Rosales
July 8, 2010 at 3:47 am
I wouldn’t recommend to a client to switch to posterous as a stand alone solution from Active Rain. I’ve nothing against posterous and suggest that agents have a presence there for whatever seo potential there may be, but I still think it makes little sense to make a lateral move at best.
TheRECoach
July 8, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Switch to Posterous if your goal is to gain “new” readers. Switch to Posterous if your goal is to enlarge your Sphere. Switch to Posterous if you want to save time (Bookmarklet), while proving a wider Internet/Social Media presence (Auto Posting). Stay with Active Rain if you want to connect with your Peers for Referrals & Networking.
You can also have your Posterous Blog “Auto Post” to your WordPress Blog, then just go in and “edit” the Categories, Tags & add a few Keywords. WordPress is much better to have, but Posterous has given me the ability to gain close to a 37% adaption rate amongst my 200 Agents! Never, in over 5 yrs, have I found a better way to get Real Estate Agents to “engage” in Blogging & Social Media…Never! It is the best way to start off a Rookie, think “Training Wheels:”
Stay Blogging My Friends!
@CBRELongBeach
Duke Long
July 8, 2010 at 1:20 pm
OK again,
Drag ,drop to your e-mail,hit send. You are a blogger to the world…for FREE. POSTEROUS
Rich Pearson
July 8, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Justin et al – very much appreciate the props for Posterous. We have lots of work to do to make it even more useful and are always looking for suggestions to make it better. You can reach me at rich(at)posterous-inc.com if you have ideas.
If you are interested in hearing why other users switched to Posterous – or want to contribute yourself – it’s worth checking out switchto.posterous.com
Mark Brian
July 8, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Why not use both?
Bryan McDonald
July 8, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I agree with @Mark Brian, why not use both.
My guess is that not many Active Rain users will make the switch, yet. I say yet because it won’t be long before Posterous introduces a directory feature, maybe like WeFollow, where users can tag themselves with #RealEstate or #appraiser. Another interesting feature they could add would be a geolocation feature for its members in addition to the directory. I think one of the good things about Active Rain is that you can easily find a local real estate agent and view their blog, this is impossible to do at the moment with Posterous. Features like this along with the fact that it is free not only puts a lot of pressure on Active Rain, but on all blogging platforms.
Brad Officer - Jacksonville ocean front homes
July 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Avoid both unless you are doing it to pick up some links. Instead, install wordpress self-host and take control.
Natasha Hall
July 9, 2010 at 12:43 am
AG Flash Poll results should Active Rainers switch to Posterous? https://ow.ly/183zpQ
Missy Caulk
July 9, 2010 at 8:41 am
I love Posterous, and have it branded like my static web-site with full home search features. It has saved my life the last few months as I have been too busy to write full posts. My Posterous blog has a sub-domain of my web-site (mostly static) so it has helped maintain my SERPS when busy. (as many closings at the end of May as my team had all last year)
I have not ever written a post on Posterous but Share On Posterous through my bookmarklet information I want to get to my local area.
Back in April I posted on Posterous on Activerain with 94 comments and afterwards I received a lot of folks subscribing to my Posterous blog.
I agree that one should have their own WordPress.org blog and that is my primary business blog. I use all 3 platforms, each with a different goal in mind in who my target market is.