When I first learned about blogging for real estate, I was confused. I had somewhat of an idea of what blogging was - after all, I did have a MySpace account. I could not understand how that could become part of building my real estate business.
Jennifer Allan brought me to ActiveRain - I followed a link in her signature on a real estate agents forum, 
because I liked what Jennifer had to say about almost everything, and if she thought ActiveRain was worthwhile, then so did I. (Baaaa. I can be a sheep at times....)
At first I tried to use ActiveRain like a message board - it did not work. Eventually though, I got into the swing of things and the rest is history. I found terrific bloggers to learn from and emulate (I'd like to name them all here but I'd rather not - I will leave one of you out and hurt your feelings!) The late Karen George really helped me with search engine optimization. Everyone else has been so inspirational and given me great ideas.
I have had great success with my Lake Wallenpaupack real estate blog - I love blogging, even if I don't have the time for it that I used to.
But it seems that a lot of agents still don't get it. They don't understand what blogging is - what it is supposed to be. At least, in my not so humble opinion.
Your blog should be a place where your readers and future clients can get to know you, where they can catch a glimpse of your passion, where they can fall in love with your area and want to call you to help them find a home there.
When it's a rehash of headlines from Realty Times or Inman News...or if it's a bunch of general mumbo jumbo that they could find on HGTV.com, they don't get to know YOU or your area. You are merely adding noise. If they want real estate headlines, they can go to Realty Times, no?
Simply posting vFlyers or Postlets of your listings may get you some results but you'll still be missing the boat of what a blog should be. They should be part of your blogging, but not the main source of content.
I read a post by a user on a real estate agent forum...she was raving about this service she subscribes to that gives her conent for her blog. "I no longer have to think about what to write!" she gurgles. Basically she just copies and pastes that info right into her blog.
But where is *she* in that blog? One of the things my readers have commented to me, when we meet face to face, is that they feel like they already know me, from reading my posts. They know a little about my sense of humor, they know that I grew up here, they know that I know the area.
Furthermore, we all know that real estate is local. How can you post blogs that are of local relevance - if you're regurgitating something written for a general audience?
Use your blog to talk to your readers, turn them on to you as a dynamite real estate agent, and turn them on to your area as the place to call home. Otherwise, you may be missing the boat.
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