Noteworthy

Can a Blog be a Community Resource?

Today I was fortunate to interview a woman who has created a blog that has become a true resource for her community as part of a weekly podcast series I’m doing on Rain City Guide.    This woman spends hours and hours each day crafting posts about her community, everything from local events, new permits, “missing pets”, etc for the West Seattle community.

West Seattle Blog ScreenshotIt’s become such a great community resource and so widely read that she’s been able to quit her day-job in order to blog about her community.   It’s a fascinating interview where she discusses many different issues around what makes her community special and I think well worth listening to for real estate professionals who want ideas for how to turn a blog into a dynamic, interesting and local neighborhood resources.

However, you’ll may also walk away thinking, “I need to sell real estate and that sounds so time consuming,” which is why I say listen just for ideas.  She’s clearly tapped into something that works for her community… and I think it is well worth a listen:

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3 responses

  1. Rhonda Porter Avatar
    Rhonda Porter

    I really enjoyed this interview, Dustin. I do believe West Seattle would be less of a community without her blog.

    I think the lesson an agent could take away is that they can implement being part of a community via blogging–not to the same level as Tracy–but just posting community events, garage sales and connecting pets makes one more valuable than “just listed” post cards or calendars IMO.

    I know w/my much smaller West Seattle blog, I know more neighbors than I ever would have without it…they shout (nice words) at me when they drive by. I don’t receive as much biz from it as I do Mortgage Porter, however I don’t push biz either. I am looking at creating an adverstisement for myself on my neighborhood blog…I’m probably too much of a soft sell…always have been. 🙂

    Thanks again!

    Reply
  2. T. Record Avatar
    T. Record

    Dustin, thanks again for inviting me to be on Rain City Radio. Wanted to echo Rhonda’s point. As I mentioned during the show, my husband and I are somewhat shy, nonsocial people in general … me even more than him … when we’re outside business situations. So we have lived in the same house for 15 years and barely know anyone. As a result of WSB, though, I have heard from two more neighbors … and although we haven’t talked F2F yet I feel a little more connected as a result … like I could at least go knock on their door in case of emergency or something. And in the wider community, now that we have spent more than six months identifying ourselves at community meetings and other events, we often see people we “know” wherever we go … and that is a nice feeilng too. My very favorite part though is when I hear from readers (I don’t like that term because so many “participate” too, by sending tips, or photos, or posting comments or forum discussions) about how THEY became more connected because of something we mentioned or reported on. Sunday, for example, I posted an item that as an aside mentioned the next West Seattle La Leche League meeting was the next morning. Heard from the leader later that night that two new moms showed up at the meeting just cause they’d read it on our site. We have a lot of stories like that, and it makes the long hours worthwhile because unlike a lot of the media work I did for 20-plus years, it feels like this really *matters*. Thanks again!!!!

    Reply
  3. Dustin Avatar
    Dustin

    Tracy: Thanks again for sharing your story! I definitely agree that what you’re doing matters and as Rhonda has said many times, you’re definitely making a difference in your community!

    Reply

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