Lesson 6: Posting of Real Estate Listings in Forums and Directories

Download the PDF file attached to this lesson as a guide while listening to the webinar.

For your assignment, from Maita, you may do either one of the following, and submit a report on it of no more than 2000 words. Use the following as guideline questions for the report:

A)  JOIN AN EXISTING FORUM:  Try signing up as a member of any of the existing online real estate-related forums (or any forum that you find interesting) discussed during the webinar.  You may also report on your participation on an existing online forum that you’re already a member of.

Once a member of the forum, take a look at the list of topics and threaded discussions.  I suggest joining two existing topic threads:  One for posting listings, and another threaded discussion for a topic you are genuinely interested in .   As you participate  in the discussions, take note of the following and write it in your report:

1)  How easy or difficult was it to become a member of this forum?  Did you get a welcome message/greeting? Were you ‘briefed’ with guidelines on participation, whether by the moderator or thru e-mail? Were you allowed to use an alias (i.e. not reveal your real identity/name)? Other than the forum, is there a way to be notified via email or mobile if there are respondents to your post? If so,  configure your forum/group settings to send you notifications on the conversation posts.

2) Apart from the listings forum, what topics did you see in the forums/sub-fora that interested you?

3)  Try to post several listings  in the listings forum. If you provide other real estate services & products (appraisal, consultation, or a real estate product/application), look for the appropriate threaded discussions/topics where you can post about them. Remember to always put your ‘signature’, ie your name/website/email address when you respond.   If there was a particular format, write down in your report what format you were asked to comply with.   Report how other members responded to your postings.

4) In terms of membership or participants,was there any heirarchy of participants in that particular threaded discussion that you joined? List down the types of members and discussion leaders that you saw. Observe the following if they were present: Moderator, discussion leaders (formally assigned), informal discussion leaders, technical support persons (formally assigned or volunteers). How many moderators and members were there?

5) Style or language used in the either listing or topic forum:   Look thru the previous postings, topics and popularity of topic in your chosen forum.  What was your initial impression of the language used,  the conversation style, and the vibe of the community?  Were there any trolls (aggressive or offensive participants)? How formal or informal was the ‘feel’ of the community?

6)  Write down or take a snapshot and paste in your report any examples of rules, guidelines on participation in the online community. As you participate in the forum, take note if there were violators of the guidelines, and how moderators or discussion leaders responded to it.

7)  Think of a topic that will interest you, and create a new forum or sub-topic.  Write it in the form of a question to invite other members to converse with you. Take a snapshot of this and post in your report.

8) What suggestions, if any, can you give to further improve participation and engagement in the forum?

B)  CREATE A NEW FORUM and SUB-FORA:

Sign up and explore the free version of FreeForums.org.  Submit a report which details the following:

1) Forum name or topic.  Write down in your report the registration link or URL to join.  Take a snapshot of your forum thread/webpage for reference.

2) Explore the forum application features, and write down the features in your report.

3) Write at least 4  topics for sub-fora, or create threads with these topics (including a listings forum/thread). I also suggest to create threads which deal for welcoming the participant, community or forum guidelines for participation, a tech support thread, and guidelines on content type to be posted.

4) Write down any hierarchy of members you’ve created.

5) Nature of forum:  Is it a closed (by invite only) or open group (anyone can participate)?

6) Write in your report the guidelines you’ve created for participation and content.

7) You may choose to invite members from your Digital Marketing for the Real Estate Industry group to participate and comment.  We welcome you to post the invite or registration link in our Facebook group.

8) How do you plan to get members to join your forum?

For questions about this lesson, send Janette Toral a private message.