Blogging - Dead or Alive - Who killed the blog?

 

The highway informational system gone wrong again?  There has been talk of blogging dying in the last year and now even so much as being dead now. Is this true? How can this be?  The internet is full of blog sites, people blogging left and right.

Teresa Boardman wrote this post the other day : Agents killed the real estate blog - Now, I have met Teresa a few times, respect her, her opinions, and that she is a great blogger. But what she has stated, is this true?  An opinion that looks at a glass half empty?  Or a post that she actually disagrees about, but picked a topic because it's controversial, and that she just wanted to stir the hornet's nest some.  Not sure... but let's look at it from her perspective on what she had mentioned.

 

 

 

Here are two strong comments that Teresa stated that I disagree with.

"The real estate blog is largely dead." and "It had to die."

 

 

Here are some things that Teresa listed to why blogging has died. :

"The blog-type sites that have headlines from sites like this and others, and a lot of advertising, have been dead for years but they take almost no effort to maintain so their owners keep them going." - I agree, these sites take little or no effort.

"Many of the real estate blogs that are all about local events died before they were born." - I am semi confused. As a local expert, wouldn't you want to inform your local readers of the local activities and events in your area?

"The typical real estate blog has been dead for some time, but few are willing to make the proclamation. The Internet is littered with real estate blogs that get little traffic or that were abandoned years ago -- often within three or four months of their launch." - So what, be different than these other sites.  Focus about quality content.

"Those agents who post every listing they have, and nothing else, helped kill the real estate blog." - Okay, so this is the bloggers fault. Will a consumer follow them further?  Probably not, because they lack new stimulating content or post worthy information about a local area that is not talked about much.  Ask Erica Ramus about this. Schuylkill area - She lives and works in an unique area and has blogged about some specialties and ro issues, that aren't found any where else on the net. She has garnered some excellent business because of this. Overall, these agents think this will make them money. But does it kill blogging?  Not in my opinion.

 

 

 

Teresa did mention these things that I truly agree about. :

"Agents read a success story about a blog and try to replicate it, failing to realize that each area has its own culture, and that Realtors have their own personality and voice." - Amen... your blogging voice. You need to be original, yourself, and post quality content. Not hundred's of posts in a short time with bland information.

"Some real estate blogs are written for Realtors. I don't think those blogs will die." - I know many realtors that follow each other. Sometimes it's just a popularity thing and in many cases, these people are just that good with very good content and who supply interesting topics or thoughts.

"They are looking for information they can trust, in a sea of generic information." - Isn't this one of the main reasons to why we should blog?  I am passionate in what I do and I want to get the best possible information into the hands of borrowers and other like-minded professionals, but info that is biased.

"The idea that a Realtor should be a local real estate market expert died in favor of the idea that a Realtor should make friends on the Internet and those friends will become clients." - I do think social marketing has it's place, but is over used and abused in the sense that the blog in some sense has died. To many people focus on short tweets that is based on fluff marketing of their name and or product, that they sell sell sell, yet they don't offer up useful information that is real. It's more of a numbers game to them.

"Some blogs died because their owners spent more time building and tweaking the blog than they did generating content. It is easier to build a blog than it is to write one." - This kind of goes back to social marketing and not true content or original content. I know some people that buy their material, yet they act like an expert. All they are doing is marketing someone elses material as their own, and as an expert. And some do it very well.

 

 

 

Conclusion : I could easily add another 500 words to this topic.  But I look at this glass as half full and not half empty. Keep this in mind, about 80 to 85% of the borrowers search online first. I think that the internet is way to powerful when it comes to it's searching power.  Are more than 50% of the blogs and posts out there crap, misleading, false, or just fluff?  Yes, I would say so.  Does this mean that blogging is dead?  No. Or is it dead because of how some use their blog?  Or that social media has taken over now. Such applications as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Foursquare, and a few others to name? No.. I think these applications are just quick fill-ins for those that want quick updates. But in my opinion, you can't get realistic information and or opinions by a quick post, a tweet, or because someone is a Mayor of a specific place.

 

 

BLOGGING is not DEAD - (my opinion) - It's how you get your information out there, the quality of your content and... I think if you come across very passionate and knowledgeable, that this is the key.

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                  

                                                                                                           FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

 

 

- FHA Loans - USDA Loans - VA Loans -

- Energy Efficient Mortgages - 

- Conventional Loans - 203 k loans -

- FHA Home Loans - Mortgages -

 

Experience & Knowledge at its BEST !!!

 

 

Follow me on:

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information on FHA loans, please go to this link. The FHA Expert

For important mortgage insight to watch for, please read : Consumers need to be aware of these Red Flags!

For information about FHA myths & FHA rumors, please read : FHA Myths & Rumors

 

Copyright © 2010 by Jeff Belonger of Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc