I have written a lot about the challenges facing media and trade media specifically.

But I have also thought a lot about the media that is surviving and following a smart niche strategy.

And finally, I have offered my two cents about how professionals and brands can fill this void and become media themselves.

And yet, with all of these major headwinds facing traditional media (and specifically trade media) I was thinking that there must be examples of media that is actually doing well, bucking the trends, growing and actually making money!

In the real estate sector, which is where I am focused, I think that there are two specific news sites that are leading the industry and actually kicking ass!

In my opinion, the two doing an awesome job are...Bisnow for CommercialInman for Residential

Why do I think they are so good? Why are they thriving? Simple… because they both do five things incredibly well...

1) They know their audience. One is pure residential. The other, pure commercial. They speak the language of their audience in a clear, distinct voice and don’t try and be anything other that what their respective audiences want to read about.

2) Their style is simple, fun, engaging and the content is short and useful.

3) They host killer events to support their platforms.

4) They produce a shit ton of content. I can’t even imagine how many stories a day they each put out but somehow it seems to be nonstop.

5) They are beasts on social media and share their content with any other sites that aggregate content.

If you look at the sites doing well today in mainstream media they do the same that Inman and Bisnow do.

Whether it’s Buzzfeed, Vice or any of the Vox Media sites, they all follow the same basic strategy… short, punchy stories, huge volume, a large presence in social media and sharing on every platform possible.

Inman and Bisnow totally get that this is the only way to survive and actually thrive in this constantly evolving and incredibly challenging media landscape!