Real estate blog entries tagged with blogging by Wayne Zuhl, The Last Name You'll Ever Need in Real Estate (Remax First Realty II)

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blogging: Is Your Blog Copyrighted? - 04/01/17 01:03 PM

We're not attorneys, but we've done a little bit of research into what is and what isn't protected property. Here's what we learned.

Copyright law protects literary, musical, pictorial, and graphic works. In real estate, this also applies to photographs, virtual tours, videos, floor plans, architectural drawings, and social media and blog posts. The author doesn’t need to register or put a notice on their body of work to ensure its copyright and the copyright is automatic from the moment of production.
Listing descriptions are also copyrighted in so much as they are creative rather than factual. In other words, “charming and cozy … (2 comments)

blogging: Are you using a Call To Action? - 04/01/17 06:54 AM

Blogging can build SEO and can build your network. But it also can be used to generate business directly by using a Call To Action, or CTA.
What are Calls To Action?

A Call To Action is clickable piece of content, either a button or a link, that invites and encourages readers to do something specific, such as going to your website.
The simplest Calls to Action ask readers to comment on the blog. Ending a blog with "What do you think?" or "What would you do?" is one way to do that. Other CTAs are hyperlinks to other content that you might … (4 comments)

blogging: We've reached a MAJOR milestone. 1,000,000 points on ActiveRain!!! - 07/14/16 12:33 AM

Vizzini: "Inconceivable!"
Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Attention followers of Team Zuhl and fellow 'Rainers, we know what "inconceivable" means. When we first joined Active Rain in 2011 we saw several members with a million or more points and we thought that was inconceivable.
We thought "How many posts, comments, questions, likes, follows did they have to write or answer? How do they find the time?"
Well, when we post this blog we will have surpassed the million point milestone!
So, a million points... What does it mean? Well for one, we … (23 comments)

blogging: Why do you blog? - 06/06/16 08:04 AM

Recently,we asked the question "What kinds of blogs do you like to read" and "What kinds of blogs do you NOT like to read."
The results, while not surprising, may help other AR members who want to write appealing blogs. So here's the breakdown of what we learned. The overwhelming majority of respondents said they prefer to read about advice about real estate best practices (76%) and about adventures that occur during a showing or a listing (67%). No respondents indicated that they do not enjoy those types of blog posts. A comfortable 52% of respondents enjoyed reading about home maintenance tips and … (45 comments)

blogging: Those first 1500 posts went by so fast!!! - 09/06/15 05:18 AM

This morning I was checking our AR stats and noticed at the top of the page that we had just posted our 1,501st post. Neither Jean nor I had any idea!
So what has writing more than 1500 posts gotten us? A LOT!
We have learned a tremendous amount about Active Rain and about blogging, so much so that it's given us blogfidence! We've made some great friends and referral partners along the way.
Here's the interesting thing. With each post, comment, question asked or answered, we learn something. I belive it's made us better AR members and better REALTORs. So thank you Active Rain!
We're … (12 comments)

blogging: This 30 in 30 was FUN!!! - 11/30/14 12:08 AM

Well, we did it! We met the challenge of writing at least one original post per day for every day in November. It was fun, but also challenging at times.
Here's a recap of what we wrote about.
We wrote two posts on November 1st. One was about the time change and the other about No Shave November. As month went on we wrote about converting a rental listing to a sale listing, the trouble with short sales and those annoying robo calls from poiliticians. We also wrote about a new listing as well as several open houses that we held. … (14 comments)

blogging: We've reached another AR Milestone! 700,000 points! - 11/21/14 05:35 AM

As I write this we are at 699,999 points. When I hit the publish button we will surpass 700,000 points!
We are so happy to announce that we have passed the 700,000 point milestone here on Active Rain. We have been 'Raining for less than three years. We've made great friends and have learned much from the many blogs that we read. ActiveRain is such a phenomenal resource and I hope that we've been able to help others as well.
I think that we've come a LONG way since that very first post on December 31st, 2011. We reached 500,000 points … (16 comments)

blogging: Titles that Attract Traffic - 08/05/14 01:25 AM

What makes people click on your blog post?
Clicking is, for many businesses, the first contact they have with new clients. If you want clients, you've got to make them click. "Click bait" is a term used to describe a title that makes people want to click on them.
What kinds of titles do people click on the most?
Curiosity gap headlines. "Guess what this woman did to the man who confronted her?" and "You'll never believe how this student answered the most common question from teachers." The secret is to create a headline that creates curiosity and motivates the reader to … (8 comments)

blogging: If a blog falls in the woods and no one hears it..... - 11/05/13 07:01 AM

Is your blog getting read? Or is it like the proverbial tree that fell in the forest with no one to hear it?

If you go through the bother of writing a blog post and publishing it, you're just spinning your wheels if no one reads it. Here are our top 5 favorite ways to make sure that your blog post gets read:
1. Take advantage of the Rainmaker outside blog. Posts that are published for just the eyes of AR members are not without merit, but the number of readers for your posts will increase dramatically once you're a … (25 comments)

blogging: Too many distractions to blog? Go Cold Turkey! - 11/03/13 07:44 PM

Who's doing the 30 in 30 challenge?? We are!
And boy, is it hard!
Not only are we super busy.....

but we're also super easily distracted.

And the blinking lights and possibility of something interesting happening on Facebook and the cell phone with all its interesting contacts to chat with - well, they're keeping us from getting it done.
What's a blogging team to do?
Get Cold Turkey.
Cold Turkey actually prevents you from going to those websites that distract you for whatever time periods you choose. You can block Twitter, Facebook, gaming sites, YouTube, Hotmail, and all sorts … (3 comments)

blogging: Do you plan your posts in advance? Maybe you should... - 11/01/13 10:26 AM

Juggling so much that you're not sure how you'll complete the 30 in 30 challenge? Maybe you need an editorial calendar.

An editorial calendar is nothing more than a plan of what to post and when to post it. You can schedule posts around holidays and local events. You can also schedule any regular features - we often post "Dear Team Zuhl" posts with FAQs about buying and selling homes.
For example, blog writers in New Jersey might do a bit about the gubenatorial election this week, or about the annual Teachers Convention this week, along with ideas for how to … (38 comments)

blogging: Keep Calm and Blog! - 07/15/13 09:10 PM

Does it actually do any good to blog? What's the benefit, other than hearing your own voice?
How's this for a quick list of benefits:
networking with others in your profession increasing your visibility on search engines so potential clients can find you bounce ideas off others learn marketing techniques from others in your profession discover productive ways to handle difficult principals display knowledge of the local market and of real estate in general communicating with the public about your profession communicate with other realtors to make wise choices in giving referrals and hopefully snag a few for yourself
So … (6 comments)

blogging: What's your on-line personality? - 07/10/13 11:48 PM

Are you who you say you are? Or is your blogging personality different from who you are in real life?
Perhaps you want to make a good impression on potential clients so you increase your chances of getting business. Maybe your broker has asked you to tone down the comments that are polarizing.
Team Zuhl's blog is a pretty accurate representation of who we are. When we comment, you get to know the real Team Zuhl. When we post blogs, this is who we are. There's no subterfuge, no artifice.
We are ourselves. After all, everyone else is already … (9 comments)

blogging: Breaking Through Writers' Block - 02/24/13 04:53 AM

We've all been there.....That urgency knowing that you need to write a blog post, but the complete absence of any ideas. Nothing seems interesting, nothing motivates you. All you want to do is eat Peeps and flip channels....well, that might just be me.
Here are 2 blog posts to write when you've got the dreaded writers' block - guaranteed to get your writing juices flowing, so to speak.
Market reports. No creativity required. All you need is your local MLS and Excel. While not necessarily fascinating writing or reading, market reports are a critical component of what we do as real … (5 comments)

blogging: Do Bloggers have to give up their sources? - 01/31/13 07:28 PM

Are bloggers given the same protective rights as journalists?
Of course, the shield laws that protect journalists' sources are critical to providing news. Without this protection, journalists would find it nearly impossible to find credible and publishable information. But do these laws apply to bloggers? If a blogger has an unnamed source for a blog post, is that blogger legally required to give up the name of the source if law enforcement requests?
This is the question being decided in a Union County Courthouse. Tina Renna is a write for The CountyWatchers.com blog and often writes posts criticizing Union County officials. … (110 comments)

blogging: A short history of blogging - and an unexpected newcomer to the game - 01/30/13 07:31 PM

Bloggers were originally journalists. Back in the 1990s, blogs began as online diaries and eventually morphed to provide a forum for businesses to show off their stuff.
By 1999, when the term "blog" was first used, blogging was gaining in popularity. Political blogs emerged a few years later and how-to manuals began to appear. Suddenly, blogging was a a legitimate way to get a message across to a large variety of people.
By 2005, blogs were being compiled into digests and published in newspapers and on websites.
Then in 2009, Julie and Julia became the first major motion picture … (34 comments)

blogging: A Reluctant "Best of" Post - Advice needed! - 01/02/13 07:54 PM

I swore I wasn't going to do it.
Bloggers' "Best Posts of 2012" are showing up with increasing frequency and I swore I wasn't going to write one.
But then I compiled an Excel spreadsheet of all of our 2012 posts, just for informational purposes. I wanted to see which posts got the most attention. By tracking our results from 2012, I figured I could better direct what we did to help us get where we want to be in 2013.
And what I discovered wasn't what I was hoping for.
To start, if you're read our blog before, you know … (8 comments)

blogging: 6 Tips to Break Through the Toughest Blogging Challenge - 12/27/12 09:02 PM

We are extremely committed to blogging, not only as means to connect with clients and potential clients, but also as a way to connect with other real estate professionals. If you're like us, you've probably hit a few dry patches - times when there was nothing that you were inspired to write about, or times when writing was more difficult than usual.
According to the Social Media Examiner, creating new content is the toughest challenge for bloggers, with 64% of bloggers reporting it as their biggest problem. I'm only surprised that 36% of bloggers found other aspects of blogging more difficult … (24 comments)

blogging: Yes, people do judge you by your grammar - 09/11/12 08:43 PM

Dear Bloggers,
Please proofread. People will judge you by your ability to use the written English language appropriately.
Thanks,
Granny Grammar

Here are some common mistakes I've seen around AR:
you're and your - "You're" is a contraction for "You are" and "Your" is a possessive pronoun. For example, "Be happy when you're selling your home." its and it's - "It's" means "It is." If your sentence would make sense with "it is," then you can use "it's." If not, then use "its." "Look at that dog! It's wagging its tail!" two, too, … (81 comments)

blogging: Are there measurable benefits to blogging? - 07/19/12 10:20 PM

When my parents bought their first home in the 1960s, there was exactly one Realtor in town, and they went to him and he helped them find their home. When we bought our first home in the 1990s (pictured at the right), we asked our friends who their Realtors were and then chose from there. That's not how clients choose their Realtors any more. There's an avalanche of information on buying and selling a home available at the fingertips of clients - like Trulia - and clients use the internet to learn about the products and services they are interested in. … (4 comments)

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