The Well-Balanced Blog

As I scroll over Active Rain posts throughout the week, it's interesting to see the myriad approaches to blogging and choosing blog content.  Some of us have a variety of different posts, while others seem to have an abundance of one type.

Blogs typically cover one or more of the following areas:

• Localism posts with information about particular communities and what's going on there. 
• Localism posts with market reports on specific neighborhoods or towns.
• Listing information about properties the blogger has listed.
• Listing information designed to attract buyers interested in a particular area or price range.
• Photos, sometimes limited to a specific thing - dogs, flowers, children, beaches or sunsets.
• Advice to consumers.
• Advice to real estate professionals - this might include useful SEO tips.
• Posts about whatever is happening in our lives or real estate practices.
• Political posts (often rants) about the State of the Union and our leaders.
• Personal posts about religious beliefs.
• Rants about badly behaving colleagues.

As I go through looking for an opportunity to reciprocate comments on one of my blogs, or when I'm looking for something to feature in my Sunday summary, I usually scroll down each blog hoping to find something interesting.  And there is something I noticed - so many of us (myself included) have a preponderance of one or two types of blog! 

So I have a non-New Years resolution!  I need to add a lot more Localism, especially market reports and information about what's for sale in different neighborhoods and price ranges. 

But there are some posts that I feel don't belong on my blog (a decision we all need to make for ourselves):

• While I'm pretty passionate about politics, I avoid political rants.  If there is something I find funny about the presidential race or even local politics, I might write about it.  But you won't find any rants about why I think any of our nation's leaders are total jerks, even if I feel that way, 
• Aside from an occasional reference to myself as a recovering Catholic to explain some personality quirk, I have chosen to keep my spiritual values out of the blog. 
• And I think you have to be very, very careful with rants about the bad apples in our business.

Still, you can't always avoid offending somebody, and I'm not saying that you should avoid writing about anything that might ruffle a few feathers. 

And bottom line?  Do what works for you and what brings you business.