blogging: Is blogging important to your clients?
- 07/04/08 02:27 PM
This week, on a listing appointment, I spent a lot of time discussing blogging. Why do I do it? What does it mean to a seller? We talked about the "long tail" and how continuous bloigs about benefits can attract potential buyers. We discussed the difference between "putting a listing up on the internet" and really marketing a property. How do you rank in search terms that matter to your client? Bring printouts and graphs to your listing presentation. Bring copies of your statistics - the number of visitors, the number of flyer requests, the geographic demographics of your visitors. Don't … (12 comments)
blogging: "Blogging is Virtually Free" - or Is It?
- 02/28/08 07:51 AM
In proofreading an article today for publication in a real estate magazine directed to agents, the discussion was on blogging and the writer made the comment that "blogging is virtually free". Certainly, it CAN be free (except for the time factor, of course), whether it's posting on Active Rain or posting on a Blogger.com site. But many times blogs are not free. Education as well may not be free. Some sites are very expensive to purchase and continue. Do you feel calling blogging "virtually free" is valid or misleading in describing it to real estate agents? … (35 comments)
blogging: Blogging in Defense
- 12/14/07 08:37 AM
Many companies - and agents - now set up Google Alerts to keep track of what is being said about them online. Grumbling about airlines and restaurants and hotels have long been fodder for blogs, so it's no surprise to see hoteliers blogging in self-defense. In January 2007 Bill Marriott published his first blog post on blogs.marriott.com. Marriott says that he "manages by walking around" and he had discovered that blogging would let him talk to his customers as well as his staff. Nearly a year later it seems more Marriott to the world than The World to Marriott, but that's not … (5 comments)
blogging: Naked Conversations
- 08/18/07 02:43 PM
"Naked Conversations" by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel is a very interesting book on blogging. It's not a how-to book, at least not in the sense of giving you instructions 1-2-3 or a-b-c. He does talk about the significance of blogging, what it can do, what it reflects on the bloggers and their companies. Some have been wonderfully good - others have been nefariously bad. Some of the book talks about corporate differences - Microsoft vs Google, for example. Much of the book, though, is about how blogging brings connections, keeps you in touch with the world, evokes passion. Scoble even brings in … (13 comments)
blogging: What IS blogging - how did it come about?
- 07/14/07 04:50 AM
This morning's Wall Street Journal had a very interesting two page spread on blogging and its evolution over the last 10 years and their website has podcasts, photos, videos and forums on it as well. It takes ARDELL and John's recent blogs far further afield: It's gone from NWALs (nerds without a life) to intellectual "skin contact"MSM (mainstream media) can no longer rule what the public gets to knowCorporate executives are able to communicate about their companies directly to the public/worldYou don't have to fret about being turned down by a publisher - publish whatever you wantDon't wonder if your Letter To The … (4 comments)
blogging: Is blogging worth it?
- 05/18/07 10:37 AM
When my team (and my husband) watch all the time I spend blogging, they have to wonder if I'm wasting my time, or just choosing to have fun instead of prospecting. This week a woman called me, looking for a $1 Million+ condo in downtown St Petersburg. After arranging a meeting so that we could discuss her requirements and what buildings might match them, I asked her how she found me - she responded, "from your blogs". So - if that's wasting my time, I'll just keep on wasting it. Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf … (19 comments)
blogging: Hooray! I'm out of the Sandbox!
- 03/26/07 01:20 PM
Earlier this month I started my new blog, and on the 21st I posted about a New Craftsman Bungalow that I have listed. Look at the Google search results: New Craftsman Bungalow in St Petersburg, Florida Nos.1 & 2/ 133,000 Craftsman Bungalow in St Petersburg, Florida Nos. 1 & 2/ 149,000 Bungalow in St Petersburg, Florida No. 5/ 147,000 Bungalow in St Petersburg No. 5/ 331,000 Craftsman in St Petersburg, Florida No. 8/ 332,000 I'd say that's out of the sandbox! Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area. … (6 comments)
blogging: Blogging
- 03/16/07 01:41 PM
It's always interesting to hear people's comments when they ask What are you Doing? Blogging. or Why do you have to leave so early? I need to blog. Most people ask What as well as Why. And after the simple What, you have to answer Why. What's the point of blogging, they want to know. Once they "get it", they get excited. Once I "got it", I was excited, too. Now my day is incomplete if I haven't done at least one blog. Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area. … (7 comments)
blogging: New, Upgraded Blogsite
- 03/04/07 04:47 AM
I started in the blogging world with a Blogspot or Blogger blog back in mid-June 2006. Wanting to advance a bit from that, I started a Typepad blog later that month. Like many neophyte bloggers I did some posting and learning. Then by mid-July I found ActiveRain and nearly 500 blog posts later, here I am. In my addiction to ActiveRain posting and commenting, my two earlier blogs faded into the typical nonblogging world, one in July and the other in September. Nonetheless, as many of you have, I wanted something in addition to ActiveRain and Localism, and from what I've … (4 comments)
blogging: Smile, You're on Candid Camera
- 01/21/07 02:56 AM
One of the benefits often given for blogging is that you appear in the search engines, that you're on google, and that you reach a wide audience. The flip side of this is: you're on the search engines. And your blogs stay accessible, while ads disappear. So, remember when you blog, that the entire world can see what you're writing. A year from now a potential client may find what you wrote on the web, either inadvertently or by researching you. It's so easy to blog that it's easy to vent, or complain, or point fingers - think before you post: … (30 comments)
blogging: What is it about Active Rain?
- 10/05/06 11:41 PM
At the Leaders in Luxury conference we were talking about blogs (no surprise, it's permeating every sector of real estate). We know blogs are about search engines and blogs provide BetterListingOnGoogle and we know it's about a conversation, not a monologue. Many individual's blogs are monologues. Look how many ActiveRain members blog that they're not getting any comments - i.e., no conversation. So what's unique about ActiveRain? Why should we blog here, instead of or in addition to our own blogs? There's great real estate content on other blogs. I think it's because 1) There IS conversation. Some of the blogs get dozens of responses, … (4 comments)
blogging: Points
- 09/15/06 12:44 PM
I recently heard a member of ActiveRain screaming at how outlandish it was that somebody passed her in points, when she had been a diligent but not prolific blogger, putting a great deal of time and thought into her blog posts, when a newbie "got points just for having some designations" and not only passed her in points but became #2 in her city. She declared that she was going to erase everything she'd written, because this was stupid and unfair. After she cooled down, another AR blogger and I did some analysis and put it into an Excel spreadsheet, showed it … (6 comments)
blogging: Nonblogging members
- 09/15/06 12:32 PM
Kristal's blog on the HUGE majority of people who aren't posting in Active Rain is apropos to the change I've seen on the points - an invitor whose invitee has accepted his invitation now earns 25 points instead of 100 - but the invitor (in real estate-ese it's invitor vs inviter - remember, it's always the -or and the -ee) still gets 10% of the points. Lesson: inviting people who join just to join and do nothing later aren't as valuable to the growth of AR. They need to participate, i.e., blog and comment. We're counter-culture here - the world is … (5 comments)
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This week, on a listing appointment, I spent a lot of time discussing blogging. Why do I do it? What does it mean to a seller?
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