Great question Brenda.

What's often now referred to as "long tail" marketing - call it "niche" marketing if you like - is indeed a tricky pony to ride.

It's increasingly difficult and expensive to get results from the shotgun approach - as you say, targeting 'anyting and everything' - but of course you have to be careful not to target too small a niche.

Consumers are searching for neighborhoods.  Loads of them.  I for one believe that niche sites like the one you have in development have enormous potential.

Good luck - looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I agree that neighborhood sites are great. I am starting that within my P2A site currently. I will be breaking down Boston's neighborhoods and have a URL for each of them that points to the page for that neighborhood site and then they can go to each of the other neighborhoods of Metro Boston by clicking the links on that page. There is always a way of integrating neighborhood specific sites into the greater picture. This way my site will use the same everyday content: buyers, sellers, mort calc, mls, etc, but will then have a neighborhood specific page as well. As long as you keep it updated and content rich, it should be a success. then create a squidoo for them as well. I am also doing this with Luxury Real Estate as a niche market separate from my regular "work horse" site.

I use a combination of both.  A free web-based service called Localism.com allows me to set up a "blog-type" of site to communicate news specific to neighborhoods.  Kind of like an online newsletter that is also interactive since comments can posted.  

If 82% of home buyers and sellers now search the net, so why not invest heavy in it?

Carey

''What's often now referred to as "long tail" marketing - call it "niche" marketing if you like - is indeed a tricky pony to ride.""

Carey:

Why have a niche market? when you can have

the whole world as your neighborhood

"The World Is Yours".

The average family stays in a home now just 7 years when I move to Florida in 1985 there was about 9 million people living there

Now there are 18 million, the sunbelt states have an explosion of jobs, retirees, relocations and still going strong.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12000.html

Lets face they all were not all born there they were transplants mostly from colder climates.

Most do not move down the street like in the old days when a neighborhood was a neighborhood , with job transfers alone accounts for many moving out of their neighborhoods.

Families stay put and the bread winner stay 30/40 years on the same job

and got a watch when retirement age came knocking.

There was no were near the real estate agents/Realtors® that there is today in any given neighborhood in Florida 135 thousand Realtors that is the real number, not to mention how many Real Estate Agents are here on top of this..

Brenda:

""''If agents can make a living off farming a neighborhood using direct mail pieces, then why don't agents make a living off of one neighborhood website? """ (You would starve to death...)

The old style traditional way of real estate is dying a slow death with the advent of the INTERNET and a much bigger issues ahead that is pending and will have its decision soon as to,

The bottom line of our profession as to were our industry is headed is right here...

Go ahead and Read about us Realtors &  NAR  it effects all of us and the public we serve, and the way Real Estate will be changed forever.

http://tinyurl.com/36mzhf

Sorry for the long winded post, I get carried away at times.

Vanceopinion...

Kathy, I use Localism.com, as well, but don't get many comments.  Either it's the subject matter that I'm posting or my neighbors haven't gotten the word.  Either way - my bad.

I also post on localism.com through my ACTIVE RAIN BLOG and it's 100% FREE!  There you can basically title your post anything you want and it will show up in the search engines within one day usually!

Get a Wordpress blog, and start blogging. Search engions love blogs.