Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.

Thanks to the recent frequency and quality of guest posts, I’ve had the pleasure of taking a little time off from shouldering the content on the Tomato.  Keeping in stride, we have another treat for you.  Todd Carpenter, ubiquitous RE.net participant, and owner and author of the globally appreciated mariah.com (a web 2.0 real estate network of websites), just emailed over this solid piece weighing the value of blogging for Search Engine exposure.

Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.
By Todd Carpenter

What’s the difference between a blogging expert and a real estate expert?

Blogging experts may or may not understand how the real estate industry operates. Take, for example the theory forwarded that, for the sake of superior Google search results, bloggers should not write about their community. That instead, they should stick to posts that are only about real estate itself.

You’ll get no argument from me that a real estate blogger should blog about real estate. Blog about your listings. Blog about your open houses. Blog about market conditions. Blog about foreclosures. You’re a real estate agent, of course you should write about real estate.

Blogging this way and you’ll get search engine traffic. However, blogging only about real estate means leaving much of a blog's marketing power at the table.

Some experts scoff at the idea of blogging about the community, or local businesses, or even writing a restaurant review. These topics may not drive in large numbers of web driven leads, but let’s face it, you can BUY Internet leads. You’re not in the Internet leads business. You’re in the real estate business.

Step away from blogging for a minute and think about how successful real estate agents market in the real world.

Referrals are key to driving a successful real estate business. I’ll take one referral from a real live human over a hundred from Google. Referrals from past clients are very powerful, but you can use you’re blog to create a referral stream from people you’ve never worked with before.

 ...Continued - Where is John going with this?

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Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.

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Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?

Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?

I recently got rejected on a listing presentation, and it hurt. 
Unless you're a realtor that signs up 100% of your listing presentations, you know what I mean.

This one was particularly painful because it was to list a couple's lake home and help them buy another. The combination of the two homes would have been about $2 million in gross sales, which buys a lot of groceries in Alabama.  It also hurt because I felt I had a really good relationship with the husband.  He contacted me out of the blue.  We talked a lot.  He liked the way I marketed other homes in the area.  So I was surprised to hear that I had lost at the last minute to someone else. 

I swallowed my pride and tried to salvage the episode by getting some good feedback. 

I said, "I'll be honest.. I am really surprised.  I thought that you all had made up your mind to let me help you.  Please do me a favor.  Can you give me the full unfiltered truth, even if it hurts my feelings?  How did I miss this one?"

And he told me, bless him.  He's one of the few people out there that will really tell you what they think.  I am so glad he didn't spare my feelings; what he said flabbergasted me as much as it helped my career.

He: "My wife didn't want to go with you."

His wife??  Up until then, he had been my main contact.  I had offered to meet with them both in person, but they declined for the sake of time.  How could she not like me if we had never met?

Me: (cringing) "Why didn't your wife want to let me help?"

He: "I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but it's because you're a man."

What?  Have I just become a victim of discrimination?  He's kidding, right?  No, he wasn't.

He went on to say that his wife felt that she could not work well with a male agent.  In their past real estate transactions, she liked dealing with women.

I thanked him profusely for his honesty.  The conversation ended on a positive note, but I was frustrated.  As a man, how can I overcome that objection?  Sure, there are a lot of great female realtors in the world.  I know many.  But there are also a lot of great male ones, too.  I really think that I could have done a great job for these folks.

So how can I lessen the chances of this happening again?

...CONTINUED

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All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So.

I know what you are thinking…”not another SEO article, please…”

SEO focused companies have secrets.
They want you to think that you need them to get you to the top of the search engines.
They want you to think that you need to learn the complex details or you will fail.
They want you to think that there is so much that goes into it, that you'd be a fool to not put your faith in them.
They want you to think that your success depends on their knowledge and tools.
They want you to think that their advice will make "all the difference".

Well folks, the truth is, when it comes to blogging, SEO consulting is a lot like cold medicine.  When you catch a cold, if you don't take medicine you are going to be sick for seven days.  However, if you do take cold medicine it is going to only be a week before you're healthy.

The fallacy of SEO advice is that Correlation does not always imply Causation.  Just because you took your cold medicine, and then got better in a week, it does not imply that it improved your health.  It just made you feel like you were doing something positive.

When it comes to blogging, many of those that are currently holding the top spots in the search engines have done it without much concern for SEO.  In fact, it may have never even crossed their minds.

Well Then, How Did They Do It?

They blogged, they blogged and then they blogged some more.
They blogged on topic.  They blogged on the topic for which they were looking to be found.

So, if you want to be found in the Search Engines for terms that you expect will generate an audience that will develop into leads, then you need to blog those topics. 

Is it really that simple, Jim?  Yes it is.

But what about all those advertisements and remedies we hear about that are designed to help us be found in the search engines?  Should I not be taking those as prescribed?
You can.  And they may make you feel better about everything.  But an active blog, on target and on topic is a healthy blog. 

So what's the SEO equivalent to "stay home, get some rest, and drink lots of fluids"?  Surely you can't completely ignore some advice.

There are some basic guidelines, but once you read them, you'll realize that they mostly common sense, and not some packaged remedy.

...CONTINUED

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All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So.

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How Has Blogging Changed Your Real Estate Career? - Brad Nix and the RETechSouth Event

This is the fifth article in a series of interviews that we've held with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients.

Our mission throughout these interviews is to learn how the efforts of our blogging clients have made significant, and positive differences in their real estate career.

Today’s interview is with broker, Brad Nix of Maxsell Real Estate.  Maxsell Real Estate “is the only real estate company in Metro Atlanta exclusively servicing the I-575 Real Estate Corridor of Northwest Atlanta.”

Brad joined the Vine in late February of 2007.  He was a great choice for today’s interview because of just how much his business and use of technology have changed in just 12 months.

Here’s his story.

Tomato:
You know the drill… you still working with the traditional marketing strategies of print and mail?

Brad Nix:
Very little.  We are definitely using a lot less of all of it.
If we do anything [in print], it’s simply to drive traffic to the site.
But for example, we used to buy a 1/4 page, every week, in the local paper here in Atlanta.  That along with some many less effective print ads have all been left behind.

Tomato:
How has the blogging and focus on technology made an impact to your brokerage over the last year?

Brad Nix:
That’s the thing… without a doubt it has been a huge part of our growth and philosophy.
Last year, before we met, we had just 6 full-time agents.
Since the blogging, we have grown to 21 agents (and counting).
We are attracting agents that recognize that we have a finger on the pulse of the future, and they want to be a part of that.
They come to us impressed by our tech savvy, understanding of SEO, blogging, and commitment to adaptation.

Tomato:

So how many agents are participating on the blog and to what capacity?

Brad Nix:

Right now there are 5 of us that post regularly on the site, so about 20%.  But we are just getting started.  I am really looking forward to some developments; tying the whole company into the back-end of the site, and encouraging them all the get involved. 

Once we move to using the back-end as a forum/intranet for the company’s announcements, updates, stats, etc, I believe it will get more participating, more regularly, simply because they are now just a click away from writing an article.

Tomato:

How else have you used the Internet and blogging to your advantage in ways you hadn’t prior to this new approach?

Brad Nix:

Well, our Listing Presentations are so technology centric now.  We take the time to explain how we embrace everything blogging, to social networking to Trulia and Zillow.  Instead of being fearful of something like Zillow and the objections and challenges it can present, we actually are embracing it for the benefit and exposure of our clients’ properties.

Tomato:

Are there any topics that you are finding are working better for you than others when it comes to generating leads and clients through blogging? 

Brad Nix:

Actually, yes.  By taking a bit of a commercial approach, and blogging about local developments in our region have had a great effect.  Whether it’s a new project getting started, or new stores that are coming in… the effect is amazing.

The perception is that I’m the expert and they contact me for all sorts of reasons.  Concerns such as when projects will start, what roads will be needed, what businesses are coming in to the area and how to lease commercial space… but the curious thing is that we’ve actually been generating listings because people don’t want to live in the area any longer, and need someone to sell their home.

Tomato:

Now, I know you have a big event coming up that has really caught tread… this has to be perhaps one of the most relevant ways that blogging has changed your career… organizing a big tech event, drawing huge industry names, filling 100’s of seats… look at you.

So what’s the low-down?

Brad Nix:

Well, Matt Fagioli (another Tomato Blogger and Atlanta area Broker) and I have gotten together to try and educate the local real estate community here in Atlanta about all the technological advancements that are taking place in the industry.

It’s coming up fast (March 27^th), and that initially was of some concern to us, as to how we were going to pull it all together and create enough of a buzz about it to make it a success.

And that’s just it… you won’t believe how fast things came together.  In literally a week, we had already established a huge buzz online in the RE.net community, but even more impressively were able to land some Big Names as panelists and speakers.

Dustin Luther of RainCityGuide and 4Realz.net, Michael Simonsen of Altos Research, Mark Warner of RealESpace.com, David Harris of GeekEstateBlog.com, Christian Sterner of WellcomeMat.com, Rudy Bachraty of Trulia, Jason Benesch of your Real Estate Tomato, Pat Kitano of TransparentRE.com, Kevin Boer from 3OceansRealEstate.com… and maybe even you, I have heard.

Tomato:

Maybe….

Brad Nix:

The thing is, how this all came together so quickly just endorses the fact that things don’t need to be planned 6 months in advance to get the attention they deserve.  The buzz that social networking and blogging can create is unbelievable.  It’s amazing what has happened in just the last 7 days with this event.

Tomato:

I know you all have a video promo for it, so I will be sure to include that here at the end of this.  Thanks so much for your time today, Brad.  I am really excited for you and Matt, pulling off such a great 1 day event in such a short period. 

For more information on the Tomato sponsored event, simply go check out their website: RETechSouth.com

RE Tech South Conference in Atlanta -- Real Estate 2.0 "Southern Style"

Real Estate Blogging Business Plan For 2008 - Boots On the Ground Will Help You Find and Service Buyers

Anytime that you force an industry to establish, present, and defend opinion and insight, you’re heading in the right direction.

The reason I feel that a rush to blogging as a marketing tool will never catch fire is because of a major deterrent called: Work. 

Writing for most is work.  Sitting alone at a computer, being asked to pave the way to your marketing success through writing, is just not a reasonable endeavor for most.

Real estate success, like that of many consulting industries, is very much dependent upon one’s own, solitary efforts.  Because of this, agents tend to do look to peers for guidance rather than risk it and forge a path of their own.  Blogging is the dark horse in real estate marketing, and curiously this is what has it working so well for the few that have learned to embrace it properly.

So what’s “embracing it [blogging] properly” supposed to mean?

The trick to making blogging work for you, as a business growth strategy, is to build an audience of past, present and future clients.  Getting in front of the past and current client group is as easy as setting up their subscription to your blog’s feed. 

Getting in front of the new audience has been blogged over and over and over and over and… more to come.

It’s maintaining the interest of the audience that’s the difficult part.

A concern I frequently hear from potential bloggers is the fear that they will not be good enough or interesting enough of a writer to bother trying.  The funny thing is that blogging success does not depend on one’s writing skills.  To be a good blogger, you don’t have to be an interesting writer.  Heck you don’t even have to be a fair writer.  You simply need to know how to present information that is interesting to your intended audience.  If they can appreciate your regular message then you will have earned their readership.  This is embracing blogging properly.

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Starting A Real Estate Blog? Grab That Email Database, Let's Get You Read

When I started the Real Estate Tomato, in June of 2006, I had one reader, me.

Before the first month was over, I was averaging 30 unique visitors a day.
Within 2 months it was 135 unique visitors a day.

How did we get out of the gates so quickly?

We did it in part, with an old friend: The Email Database.

To make a business blog a successful marketing strategy, you need to have an audience of potential clients. 

Having been a consultant for online real estate marketing for 6 years before starting the Tomato, I had a mighty database of real estate agents, lenders, industry professionals and friends.  If I was going to regularly write articles about leveraging the internet as a marketing tool for real estate, then this was the audience I would want to be paying attention.

So I shoved it down their throat.

Well, not exactly.

Email Marketing For Bloggers

My strategy was to comb through my list of about 1500 names and whittle it down to around 300 or so that would not mind that I started sending them articles I had recently written.  I chose friends, newer clients, and clients with whom I had worked very closely with.  I left out older clients (both in age and date acquired), acquaintances and those names I couldn’t put a memory to.

Once I had this list of choice contacts, I sent them an email announcing the launch of my brand new, curiously named, real estate marketing blog.  In that email I informed them that I had taken the liberty to subscribe them to a bi-weekly (2x a month) email blast of the articles that I publish each month.  I made it clear that they had been hand chosen based on our relationship, and my understanding that they would appreciate my efforts to educate them on the art of internet marketing.  I also explained that they could easily unsubscribe from this free service by either contacting me directly, or clicking an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this and all future email blasts.

No one unsubscribed from the first email.

I scheduled the first email blast to go out after my first week of posting to the Tomato.  The email that went out was branded with the Real Estate Tomato logo and included 3 parts.

...CONTINUED

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The Real Estate Business Is Content, Not Home Selling

The above might seem like an odd statement, but it couldn’t be more true.

Let me use some examples of other industries to illustrate the point.

The Music Industry

The business is content creation; melodies, lyrics, videos, live presentations, etc.
The product comes in the form of CD’s, DVD’s, downloads, posters, T-shirts, tickets etc.

The Baseball Industry

The business is content in the form of the actual game, the play-by-play, the TV broadcast, the reporting, etc.
The product is tickets, jerseys and caps, hot dogs and beer, etc.

The Restaurant Industry

The business is content in atmosphere, presentation, description, expertise, service, etc.
The product is meat, vegetables and alcohol, etc.

...CONTINUED

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How Has Blogging Changed Your Real Estate Career? - Roberta Murphy

Here we are with our fourth article in a series of interviews that we've conducted with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients.

Our mission throughout these interviews is to learn how the efforts of our blogging clients have made significant, and positive differences in their real estate career.

Today’s interview is with Roberta Murphy of both SanDiegoPreviews.com and LuxuryHomeDigest.com.

Roberta was one of our very first clients and an early graduate of our intense blog training course. Way back in the Fall of 2006, Roberta contacted us after reading our writings on ActiveRain. She contracted us to build LuxuryHomeDigest, a blog focusing on a blend of Luxury Living and the world of Luxury Real Estate.

Shortly there after, she hired us to convert her main website, SanDiegoPreviews.com into a full featured blogsite and intense community resource.

Tomato:

So, you know the theme, how should we jump into this? Should we cut to the chase?

Roberta:

Might as well. Shoot.

Tomato:

All right then, what’s the biggest, noticeable difference in your real estate career since your blogging has become the center of your marketing efforts?

Roberta:

Making the move from Website to Blogsite has helped me achieve results in the search engines that I never imagined possible. I am ecstatic with the dominance I have in Google.

Let me start from the beginning. I had been online for years with SanDiegoPreviews.com as a static real estate website. I hate to admit it, but it is the truth, at one point we were spending $5000 a month on Pay-Per-Click advertising. It was working, which is why we paid, but it was getting so expensive, and it was always rising, with no end in sight.

Basically, I saw the writing on the wall in about October of 2006, and new I had to go for organic results in the Search Engines, and fast. That’s when I called you.

After several months of regular blogging, what’s proving to be amazing is that we are coming up all over the tops of the search results pages that are hugely competitive. Terms we used to pay several dollars a click for are now ours, organically. Back in August I sent you a list of over 50 competitive terms that we are top 10 for, and in most cases top 3. And that was just for SanDiegoPreviews. There were another few dozen for LuxuryHomeDigest. That list has grown tremendously from there.

Tomato:

Well, besides shedding your Pay-Per-Click expense, what else have you found leaving behind once the blog proved to be such an effective lead generator?

Roberta:

No more newspaper ads, no more magazine ads, most of my mailings… but my favorite is when I get calls from vendors looking to sell me advertising, like shopping cart ads and things, and I just tell them that I blog. Usually there is silence on the other end of the line. Then I thank them for calling and hang up.

On physical advertising that I continue, like my signs, everything says “As Featured On LuxuryHomeDigest.com”

Tomato:

So, do you have any particularly interesting stories of success that you would like to share?

Roberta:

Oh do I. This one is great.

So I did an article, as I usually do, on this listing I had that was referred to me by Brian Brady. I met Brian on ActiveRain, so it was a blogger to blogger referral.

Anyhow, the listing is priced at 1.5 Million Euros. (approx $2.2 Million), and belongs to this couple, and opera singer and an artist, that are looking to move to Europe, preferably Crete.

So get this email from an expatriate, currently living in Ireland, that wants to move back to the US, preferably California. He is enamored by the home, and wants to see it immediately.

So he flies here to San Diego, and decides it is perfect.

But here’s the big twist.

He is now selling his 12 acre, 16^th Century country home in Ireland. You remember how the California sellers are looking to move to Europe. You got it. They are now flying to Ireland to go see his old home. The buyer and the sellers are swapping homes. It is unbelievable. All because of that blog article.

Tomato:

That is amazing. Crazy, and amazing.

Well, I like to ask the same closing question in my interviews. I know we didn’t cover a ton of topics, so was there something I should have asked you that I neglected to?

Roberta:

You could have asked me what advice I would give to new bloggers out there trying to forge a name for themselves online.

Tomato:

Go for it.

Roberta:

Take your personal interests and turn them into a second blog. I know, it sounds like more work, but it actually makes the commitment to writing that much more enjoyable, and then you start to develop an audience that shares similar interests to you… and that’s when the fun starts!

Tomato:

Thanks so much for sharing with us Roberta, it has always been such a pleasure having you on the vine.

We look forward to hearing more stories from you again soon.

Roberta:

My pleasure Jim.

—

We’d love to hear from you about how blogging has changed your real estate career.

Feel free to post below, or email me to interview you directly for a future post. I’ve heard some great stories, so stay tuned!

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Other Interviews with Tomato Bloggers:
Week 1 - Jackie Colson-Miller
Week 2 – Uncle Jack LeVine
Week 3 – Mary DeLuca

7 Reasons Why Your Local Real Estate Blogging Peers Are Not Your Competition

Because the clients we work with have such a positive experience with their blogging, they commonly express the concern that they would prefer us to not educate others in their geographic areas of focus.  Sometimes they ask in jest, other times they are actually dead serious and willing to pay for exclusivity. 

As unwise as this is from a business growth standpoint for us, this is not the reason I discourage this manner of thinking.  Below are 7 arguments in favor of the growth of the real estate blogging community, in your town.  And, selling more custom blogs and training is not one of them.

1. Coke Needs Pepsi.  McDonalds Needs Burger King.

Why?  Because the consumer should not be discouraged to get more of what they want, just because they can't have their preferred product.  Coke can't be in all places at all times.  So Pepsi is there to provide the thirst quench.  Just as McDonalds can't be on every corner, BK is there is fill the void.  This keeps the consumer perpetually satisfied.

The consumer still prefers Coke over Pepsi (or vice-versa), but in a time of need, is at least able to get more-or-less what they are looking for. 

Your Blogging Audience will react in the same manner.  If you get their attention with relevant, interesting and regular content, you will earn a fan.  For those days when you are not there, the consumer wants to be able to continue to satisfy the their need for local real estate blog content, at the same time, wishing it was yours.

Sure you risk losing them to another neighborly blogger, but only if you put out an inferior product.  Trust your fans.  Let them go, and be confident that they will come back to you when you publish again.

2. Build Win-Win Relationships

Show an interest in your neighbors real estate blog, and they and their audience will show an interest in yours. 

This is such a foreign concept for many agents that have been fighting for client loyalty for so many years.  But the truth of the matter is that it is precisely this reciprocating effort that will be the difference between a good blogger and a great blogger.

Initiating conversations in emails and in the comments of your peers' blogs will both establish the recognition of your name and your blog as well as help you earn their trust and their visit.

Bringing local Realtors and their audience to your site to contribute to the discussions on your platform is the reward.  But, you'll need to make the first (or many) effort(s) by playing nice on theirs.

This is certainly another instance of:
Keep your friends close, and your enemies competition even closer.

Pay it forward.  It will come back to you.

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Is Your Website Working Against Your Real Estate Career?

Empty cubicles, where there once was a waiting list, tell the story better than I could.
A thinning of the herd is always a positive thing for those staying put, but the bottom line is that there will always be more agents in the field than ready-to-act buyers and sellers.

So we ask, what are you doing to ensure that you are a 'stayer' in 2008?
There is common saying that I can't see being much more appropriate than now: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Along with this national 'shift in the market', that has many agents looking for a new career, there is another 'shift' that will certainly lead to the frustration and demise of many seasoned and novice agents alike.

The Digital Divide.

In 1997, an agent having an online identity was the exception and today it is the rule.
Unfortunately, today 99% of these online real estate identities have been rendered mostly useless.
The typical agent's website is a glorified digital brochure with it's only useful tool being the ubiquitous home search button.
So the rhetorical question becomes: Of what use is a canned real estate agent website to today's ready-to-act buyers and sellers?

Your challenge: Today's internet user (real estate related) is looking for Right Now Answers to their Right Now Questions. They are looking for and expecting Perspective and Insight from a changing industry.

Being a huge fan of Wired Magazine, I am going to lift one of their standbys in order to illustrate how the industry is failing to meet the expectations of the internet user and what can be done to improve the effort.

Introducing the Expired, Tired and Wired when it comes to the online presence of a real estate agent.

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