ActiveRain Is All Wet
So I signed up for my ActiveRain profile today. First impressions? Meh. Not that impressive.
ActiveRain bills itself as a social networking specifically for the real estate community and promises to help real estate professionals promote their business on the Internet. Members can do this by creating and sharing a personalized profile within the network.
Beyond creating a profile however, I couldn't figure what else I was supposed to do with the site. But then again I've never really understood the whole MySpace craze either, so perhaps I'm missing something here. There does seem to be a way to collect "points" by inviting associates or promoting your profile on your blog, which ostensibly results in you getting a higher "ranking". To what end, I'm not sure.
I do believe social networking has its place; like finding old school mates, or looking for a job. I believe it even has a place in business. But compared to the feature set on a site like MerchantCircle, ActiveRain seems woefully underpowered. Granted, the site bills itself in "early Beta phase" - but this is hardly an excuse. Bringing a product to market that is a) incomplete and b) broken (I got a number of error pages in the signup process) does little to inspire me.
I'll keep an eye on ActiveRain as it rolls out new features, but it falls fall short of recommendation at this time.
More on Active Rain from The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
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11 Comment(s)
3 Trackback(s)
- From Revisiting ActiveRain « Future of Real Estate Marketing | Aug 21, 2006
- From The ActiveRain Addiction (Matt Heaton) | Aug 21, 2006
- From The ActiveRain Addiction (Matt Heaton) | Aug 21, 2006
Ben | Jun 22, 2006 | Reply
We appreciate the positive points on Merchantcircle. We would love to get more feedback on things we should be doing to make it better. In fact, you should see a whole new set of improvements over the weekend.
Caleb Mardini | Jun 22, 2006 | Reply
Your comments and the write up are appreciated. I’m sorry to hear that you had troubles with error pages. If there was anything you could let us know about then it would be very much appreciated.
As you stated we are in beta right now. The site is constantly being updated and new features are being added regularly. We are always taking in suggestions from the Network. Many of our users are very happy and some have actually already started recieving business from the site.
Reccomendation or not your comments are apreciated, and we have taken them into account.
Thank You,
realestatemarketing | Jun 22, 2006 | Reply
Thanks for your reply Caleb.
I took a screen cap of the error page I received a number of times here:
http://realestatemarketing.wordpress.com/files/2006/06/activerain.jpg
Ryan | Jun 23, 2006 | Reply
Hello Caleb,
Glad to see your thoughts on MerchantCircle. We definitely appreciate our Real Estate community on the circle and often do special promotions just for them, so if you know of any other realtors looking to get onto a business networking site, definitely point them in our direction. I’ll even speak to them one on one if they’d like, just drop us a line and mention this site.
Rory | Jul 29, 2006 | Reply
Hi, I am an uninterested user of Active Rain, and just happened upon this blog from a link there. I have also encountered error pages, but not enough frustration or problems to outweigh me using the site. I have actually made a real-life appointment with a lender in my area from the site. I have also invited associates from other states to the site. The site is very useful for setting up out-of-state referrals. It is going to have a gestation period IMO.
Craig Schiller | Jul 30, 2006 | Reply
Of course you are welcome to your opinion… but I have to disagree with you regarding ActiveRain.
I find it a great way to share and discuss pertanent issues facing the real estate industry today. Where else can open dialogue occur… for and by the people most affected by the rapid changes taking place in the industry.
YES the industry will grow and evolve… but I believe connections made via ActiveRain will help all understand and adapt more rapidly.
Why do I say this… because in just 2 short weeks of membership… it has helped me.
Rich | Sep 8, 2006 | Reply
Sounds like someone has “Rain” envy.
Obviously comments & observations from someone who doesn’t actually “practive” real estate.
Margaret Rome | Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
Active Rain is not even a year old and there are over 21,000 “Rainers” networking, sharing, and improving the real estate profession. Consumers have found Active Rain and it might be a good idea to “keep an eye” on this site….certainly more impressive than when it started.
Phill Cross | Apr 28, 2007 | Reply
I agree with Magaret Rome and many other ActiveRain members {27,488} In the short time that I have been a member of the site I have found not only there to be an excellent exchange of information but to be a great referral source. Additionally, they have added a feature that links users (if selected) blogs to a consumer side called Localism.com This added ability increases exposure for the agent in their local market.
It may be time to again re-examine ActiveRain.
Real Estate Video Dude | Nov 13, 2007 | Reply
I also have to disagree with you regarding ActiveRain.
I find that ActiveRain is a great place to learn about the real estate industry, search engine optimization for the industry, new ways of marketing and just a good place to get advice and learn.
I have also met alot of great people and have increased my personal network.
Lori Turoff | Jan 15, 2008 | Reply
I’m a realtor and I’ve dabbled with Active Rain. While it may be a good source of referral business, something on which I do not really focus, I have to agree with Joel that it can stand some improvement. I find there are agents who must spend all their time trying to accumulate ‘points’ by participating. Maybe they don’t have enough real business to take up their time. There is no way to edit the vast amounts of info presented by so many posters. Many of the posts are off topic or just not very good. The Localism area does not even address my neighborhood so I don’t see it offering much value for the consumer at this point. I’ve found many other sites more useful. I look forward to improvements at Active Rain but, right now, I just don’t get it.