Reasons to Blog

There are four key ways that blogging can have a huge impact on your success as a real estate professional. 

You become an instant authority – When a potential client visits your website they see information about you. They see your face, your pretty design and your well-written sales copy. In 2009, this doesn’t go a long way to convince clients to pick up the phone. However, when a potential client sees your blog they can then trust you as an authority on your local real estate market. They see that you take the time, every week, to write about the market they live in. This solidifies you as a trustworthy professional in their mind. 

Blogs Speed Up Relationships – I have previously likened social networks (things like Twitter, Facebook, ActiveRain) to free billboards around your city. A blog is the same concept but on a much more effective scale. With a blog you’re able to provide value to your readers. Instead of a basic Facebook friend request (which does little for either party), a blog gives users value and when they need to sell their home, they’ll remember the value you’ve given them.

Knowledge – When you begin blogging, that perceived “authority” is not just imaginary, it’s very real. For a committed blogger, their blog is at the top of their mind at all times. They’re constantly scanning for new blog topics and new ways to provide value to their readers. This goes a long way to truly make you an authority on your market. You’ll find that blogging expands your horizons, it opens you up to new, creative perspectives that you may not have otherwise seen. This is often a pleasant, unexpected change that can go a long way to improve your knowledge and your confidence level of the market you work in. 

Convinced yet? Good. Now let’s go over how to be effective with your blog. 

Getting out and writing about anything, anywhere, and in any way is great. That’s the first step, but here’s a few pointers that may help you be as successful as possible with your blogging efforts.

Where to Blog – There are a variety of blogging platforms but, for real estate professionals, you’re looking at one of the best. Using your pre-built ActiveRain blog is an option worth considering. It has your photo and contact information, it’s easy to use and it’s customizable. Another option, if you’re looking for something in addition to ActiveRain, is wordpress.com. They offer free blogs that are a breeze to setup and give you a blog at yourblog.wordpress.com.

What to Blog About – I believe real estate blogs should contain at least 50% local information. Since local leads are the ones you need, it makes sense to blog about your regional market. Updates on market conditions, featured homes in your neighborhood, even local events and activities are all great topics to cover. 

How to Get the Word Out – There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to blog marketing and that’s the subject of another entry. But the first step of good marketing is good content. If you’re writing valuable, insightful blog posts several times a week: people will find it and they will love it. Also, once your blog is launched, you want everyone you know to be aware of it. Update your business cards with the blog url (it’ll be the first place clients visit), add it to your email signature, email your contact list about your new blog, add it to Facebook profile, Twitter about it, etc. etc. – everything you can do to make people aware will be valuable in the long run. 

Five years ago the center of an online marketing strategy would have, of course, been a website. However, I firmly believe that moving forward in this era, a blog must be at the center of a marketing strategy. A website about a real estate business is generally just a static advertisement. Clients will visit, look around and leave. However a blog is interactive, it’s fresh and it’s (hopefully) valuable to the audience. Blogs  are marketing tools that can help build relationships, create authority and separate you from the crowd in the 21st century.

Question: Do you have a blog? If so, how have you seen it impact your business? If not, what are you waiting for?

Add your Activerain blog posts to your Facebook profile automatically

Facebook allows you to add the posts from any blog (including those on activerain) to your Facebook profile, which is a great way to get your activerain blog noticed. To do this, first install this Facebook app: http://www.Facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=5315590686. Follow the instructions of the application and enter your “rss feed” url which is http://activerain.com/blogs/username/rss (changing username to your activerain username) and every time you post something on Activerain, it will get posted automatically on your Facebook profile!

Put a “Share this on Facebook” button on your Activerain blog

Facebook created a system where any webpage can be “shared” through your public timeline on Facebook. To see what I mean, take a look at my sidebar under the RealSpace Tours banner is a “Share This on Facebook” link. When it’s clicked, it brings up a box that allows others to automatically post my blog to their Facebook timeline.

To add this link to your Activerain sidebar (just like I have in my sidebar), copy the code below and paste it into your “Blog Settings -> Blog Description” under the “My Settings” menu from your Activerain profile:

<a href=”http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://activerain.com/blogs/username” target=”_blank”>Share on Facebook</a> 

(changing username to your activerain username)

This will allow other Activerainers to easily “share” your Activerain blog with all their facebook friends.

Link Your Facebook Profile from Activerain & Vice Versa

It almost goes without saying that the most important thing you can do is make sure you have a link and description to your Facebook profile under each Activerain blog post as well as on your Activerain profile page. You should also have a link to your Activerain blog from your Facebook profile.

Join the ActiveRain Facebook Group

We’ve already discussed how you can create a group and fan page for yourself (see here), but joining other groups can be valuable as well. You can interact with other members and grow your friend base. Activerain members even have a group on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/group.php?gid=2707000332 – joining this group gives you access to over 1,000 Activerain & Facebook users. What better way to cross promote your profiles?

These are four quick and easy ways to integrate your marketing strategy and cross promote through Facebook and Activerain. Questions on integrating anything above? Additional ideas on cross-promoting? Post them below:

Why Blog Subscribers Matter

Wouldn’t it be great if every post you wrote ended up getting featured on Activerain? Well, for your blog subscribers, each post pretty much is featured. When a user subscribes to your blog, they will see all of your most recent posts along the right half of the “blogs” page. This gives you recurring exposure across your entire list of subscribers. When you write a new post, you can be sure they’ll see it.

For example…let’s say you write a fantastic blog entry that you’re sure the community will love. You post the entry and within 10 minutes, you’re not getting any more views. The problem was that you didn’t have any subscribers following your blog and it got lost in the pile of other blog entries. WIth no subscribers, your only opportunity for users to read your entry is during the few minutes it’s on the “most recent” page. Then, unless someone specifically searches this topic, your entry is basically lost forever. However, with 250 blog subscribers, the majority of them will see it, comment on it, tell their friends, build buzz around it and your post will get the attention it deserves. 

Increasing Your Subscriber Base

So – now that we understand the importance of blog subscribers, how do we go about actually getting more subscribers?

Subscribe to your favorite blogs

When you subscribe to a blog, there’s a good chance that the writer will then view your profile and subscribe to your blog as well. When you’ve showed interest in them, they’ll show interest in you.  

NOTE: That doesn’t mean you should just follow every blog on the entire site just because they might subscribe back. Only use this technique with the blogs you’re truly interested in.

Encourage users to follow your blog from each post

You may want to include a simple note at the bottom of each new blog post that encourages users to subscribe. Something like…”Like this entry? Subscribe by clicking the link above my picture!” This is an effective and non-spammy way to make users aware that you’d appreciate more subscribers.  

Write Valuable Content

Of course, if you have nothing “subscription worthy” no one is going to subscribe! Even though I mention that subscribers are an important part of your blog, producing valuable content is infinitely more important. True success with any endeavor will come through providing the community with content that they can benefit from and enjoy. 

Question: Are you currently subscribing blogs on Activerain? If so, do you check your subscriptions more often than other blog pages?