Why limit yourself to just being a commenter on our site and other real estate blogs? You know you have what it takes to create good dialog and content (we see it), so we’re giving you the chance to be heard, in a big way.
We suggested it to Missionite, and even prodded Garrett to do all their real estate blogging here, but they’ve gone it alone. (Crazy, if you ask us.) We know there are a lot more of you out there that should quit surfing the blog comments and start creating blog content.
All you have to do is go to wordpress.com, create an account (it takes two seconds), send us your email and phone # (no, we won’t let total randoms post), we’ll be in touch, put you through a litany of questions, and grant you access to our site as a “contributor”. You’ll be able to use the powerful WordPress platform to create great articles, which we’ll edit (for grammar and spelling), and post to our site.
We only ask a couple things:
- If you use a picture (we hope you do), please format it to 500 pixels in width, and make every attempt to claim the source.
- Keep things civil, don’t defame, slander, lie, cheat or steal (content) from other sites.
- Your post should be about real estate or San Francisco.
- Realtors….No sales pitches.
We hope you consider our offer.
[Editor’s note: This is a “beta” feature.]
[Update: We overlooked one important factor and this idea has been canceled until further notice. If you’d like to write content for theFrontSteps, you can still do so, but it will have to be the same way we’ve done it before, by submitting content to the editor ([email protected]). We are more bummed than you…trust us on that.]
I don’t get it – why post on yours??? So you can add advertising and make money on the side? no thanks
anon,
testing the concept. Thanks for your feedback. We already thought about that.
Lot’s of smart passionate people out there looking for a more high profile role in the tiny world of SF RE blogging, but don’t want the hassle of runing and maintaining a site.
Great idea Alex.
This will be lot’s of fun too watch! Seriously, what could possibly go wrong?
i like the idea too…bloggers can specialize in specific areas of interest/expertise.
Hassle of running a site? Are you serious? The hassle is coming up with the content (which Alex is soliciting). WordPress, Blogger, etc. have figured out how to create/edit a blog pretty simple
All valid points, and all things I have already thought of. As stated, this is “beta” and may not even make it off the ground. I might just can the idea of a “community” altogether and make this site 100% about me, so I don’t have any other interests to protect, I can pump my listings, solicit new business, sell sfnewsletter, call content poachers out, and I get 100% of the leads and minor revenue that comes in. I have no shortage of ideas (content) for the future, trust me on that. However, I do have a shortage of time, because blogging chews up a lot of it, with little reward financially. “Anon” is right, WP and Blogger make it easy to blog, which is exactly why I’m soliciting bloggers. Doesn’t it make more sense having one real estate “hub” rather than a bunch of little blogs all doing essentially the same thing and getting way less traffic?
I’m hoping it happens like AMinSF says and people find their expertise and keep producing quality information. If not, I’ll kill the idea and the Stammtisch and make this thing 100% Alex all the time. Would that be better?
i love the idea. who has the best blog focused on my hood, south beach/mission bay?
sounds like we’re wearing you down.
You are! I say that with a laugh of course. And you’re right…I need to harden the fuck up. Or, you should start paying me for my pain and suffering you readers, nay haters, often put me through. ;-)
oh toughen up Alex really :)
Just pointing out the obvious. We like your blog or we wouldn’t be here in the first place.
It’s just very web 2.0 to ask readers to product content for free (when the site owner makes $ on fresh content). It’s your blog – Manage it as you see fit.
I think we can just simply coin the acronym “HTFU” at this point.
HTFU! I love it. You all have to admit that is one of the best clips ever. Chopper Reid is the man!
Anon, I don’t make jack off this blog. A little bit here and there, but nothing worth calling it a career. Now if you’d send a few referrals my way, it’d be a different story.
I like the idea of having a blogger dedicated to writing ‘fresh real estate content’ everyday for each of the micro-neighborhoods in SF. If a knowledgeable real estate agent writes it, it would be a good marketing and branding opportunity for him/her because after having blogged about the micro neighborhood for a while, there will be a body of blog entries online to establish the agent as ‘THE go-to person’ in San Francisco for that micro-neighborhood next time when somebody decides to buy / sell in that neighborhood.
While I agree that coming up with fresh content every day is difficult, there is another challenge to writing your own blog: getting reader traffic. In this regard, I think it’s easier being a barnacle that piggy-backs on “the front steps” whale than to go at it on your own. The traffic is already here on the site; you don’t have to submit your blog to all the search engines, getting people to link to you, etc. The way google and other search engines index blog sites, unless your blog entries are being widely linked, it’s hard for anybody to find you through search terms. And being widely linked takes a lot of effort.