A lot of attention has been made recently over the usefulness of real estate blogs.  If you have the time and are inclined you may want to go over to Jeff Brown's article titled Real Estate Bloggers - Why Are You Blogging?  What Currency Does Your Bank Accept?  The sad thing is I think the argument is going way off course with people I really respect bickering over the importance and relevance of SEO and verification of hits, amongst other things.

So I thought I would weigh in here on active|rain, for whatever that will be worth knowing that I am not the most read author here on AR and probably can never be because of my niche (I usually write about real estate investing) or my outspoken opinions.

My blog BBQ Capital has several purposes;

1. To attract real estate investors who may be interested in moving capital to the Kansas City area.
2. To educate potential real estate investors who may be on the verge of making a major decision.
3. To let people know there is a common sense, practical answer to the "gurus" that are so prevalent in this business.
4. To let people know who I am.  That I don't bite.  That I have likes and interests outside of investing.
5. To promote and command attention to Kansas City.  I love this town and want to share it with others.

Of course, there are different directions you can go from there.  But that's just about it.  And in just about that order.  I make no bones about the fact that my blog is there to attract consumers.  There's no purity of blogging intent on my part.  I'm going to put myself on the line and share my numbers right here, right now.

In the year 2007 I began by getting around 5 hits a day to my blog.  That sat at about 30 hits several months later and now I'm averaging about 42 hits per day on BBQ Capital.  Nothing spectacular.  Rather embarrassing, in fact.  But, I can verify 2 closings in 2006 from a yearly total hit count of 455.  So far, to date in 2007, I have had 5 closings and 2 pendings where the lead source came directly from my active|rain blog or my BBQ Capital blog. 

In addition, I've got 4 leads, plus a new one today that I'll interview tomorrow, that I'm working with right now to find a quality investment for within their criteria. 

BUT MORE THAN THOSE 5 CLOSINGS, 2 PENDINGS AND 4 LEADS WHAT MY BLOG ALLOWS ME TO DO IS ATTRACT MY CONSUMERS AND SUCK THEM IN LIKE QUICKSAND.

I'm not talking about quicksand in a bad way.  If I was, or if I was going to tell you how to manipulate potential clients I sure as heck would have made this a Members Only post.  No, I'm talking about writing a blog that has relevant content to my target audience.

Sure I only average about 42 hits per day.  (Hits, by the way, are Unique Visitors.)  But through my StatCounter I can tell you that about my readers.  Where they live.  Search terms they use.  Articles they read.  While they are stalking me to determine if they want to work with me I know who they are. 

I want my clients to stalk me.  I tell sign calls and mailing respondents all the time to visit my blog.  My blog will then act as quicksand and draw them in or they will be so repelled by me that I will never hear from them again.  Either way, my blog works.  It saves me the time of saying the same thing over and over or working with someone I'm not going to jell with anyway.  It helps to sift through the leads.  When a blog reader calls me they are ready to go.  Simple as that.

Quicksand is how I want my blog to operate.  Yes, I know how to get more readers.  I could tone it down.  I could write about what agents want to read about.  (Did you know that for most of you that is your target audience?  Check it out.  How many homes will another agent be buying from you this year?  Yes, I know about referrals.  But how many of those will you get living in KC?)  I could write more controversial subjects or bash people and things I know little about. 

But in the end, after the hits are counted, the fame is enjoyed and the first page rankings have slipped, how many closings did your blog get an assist in?  How many?