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Blogger's Building Blocks

By
Real Estate Agent with Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com SAL.2002007747

blocksBlogger's Building Blocks

A frequent theme we hear from bloggers is difficulty finding the time to blog.  The time it takes to think up a post idea, pull the information, etc.  There's no reason for blogging to be different than your daily real estate work.  We bet you have systems in place.  You have checklists for setting up a new listing, so why not have systems in place to help you blog.  Why not have fundamental blogging building blocks? 

So here's some things we've picked up that help us keep showing up daily:

SOURCES:  You need topics right?  If localism posts are for you, there are literally dozens of sources that can send topics right to your inbox.  It may be email, it may be Facebook  it may be Twitter, but they're out there once you identify them.  We've got monthly newsletters, daily updates, status updates routinely coming to us from our local organizations and other bloggers, and sometimes you even get a direct request to cover an event!  A rich source of info:  find your local 365 Things to Do in (name your area) bloggers or your local Family Friendly Facebooker type blogger!  Add local newspapers and local magazines and you can have a daily stream of ideas.  Pick the best ones and go with it!  Remember your audience and tailor the post to them.

EYE CANDY:  Keep snapping those photos every chance you get.  Use pictures of current and past listings to illustrate your market reports.  Pictures of landmarks related to the location of events, businesses, etc.  For general posts, there are plenty of free and pay sites that can give you great photos and clipart. (for instance the building blocks photo was free from www.morguefile.com....odd name, but good source...thanks to Judi Barrett for the tip!).  Make sure you name and file them in a way you can actually FIND them too!  And don't forget to resize them smaller so your post loads faster.

LINKS:  Have your key websites bookmarked for frequent reference.  And if you have an IDX site, have you added custom searches? (don't look at us, we haven't done this YET either, but know we should....it's on our to do list!).  Add those custom searches to your neighborhood posts.

STANDARD BLOCKS:  Your typical software coder doesn't recreate everything from scratch.  Certain subprograms are ready to copy and paste.  You can do the same!  When you're doing market report or event/location type posts, why create everything from scratch?  Create a template you like for the market reports and update them.  For events/locations, some things don't change.  Address, hours of operation, etc. can be created and copied post to post.  Add the original items as needed and recycle the rest!

CALL TO ACTION:  Don't forget this part if you're writing a consumer oriented post!! Whether you're writing a market report, a local event or a general real estate related theme, remember to insert a call to action.  For our localism posts, we use a P.S. right after our names to remind them that YES, LIZ AND BILL ARE REALTORS®!  We're NOT the event organizers, but information providers.  Agents who KNOW their area, so just give us a call so we can help with your real estate needs!

We hope these tips help make your blogging life a bit easier!
Liz and Bill aka BLiz

Posted by

Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas

The Liz Spear Team of Transaction Alliance
Elizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747

William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109  Kentucky 77938
Ask for us by name if you visit the office!

EHO
Bill Direct:  513-520-5305
Liz Direct: 513-265-3004     
Fax: 866-302-8418

MailTo:  Liz@LizSpear.com

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Comments (86)

Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Jeff, You're right!  Reading other posts generates a ton of different ideas that can adapted to the local market.  No need to reinvent the wheel.

Roger, We can relate :)

Lyn, Thanks to some other things, I don't mind Excel, although I don't get full use out of all it's capabilities.

Elisa, I know finding a certain picture can be a real hassle.  I've had times where I KNOW I have a certain photo or graphic and spent more time looking for it than actually writing the post.  I've added a bunch of topic themed folders to help locate more quickly.

Warren, The more you do it, the smoother it gets.

Sylvie, Always happy to share some tips and help our AR friends blog more and easier :)

Feb 16, 2012 03:12 AM
Craig Rutman
Helping people in transition - Cary, NC
Raleigh, Cary, Apex area Realtor

Anyone who doesn't have something to blog about is just not getting out enough. There is ALWAYS something happening in your town, a good restaurant to do a Localism post on, or a nice photo worth sharing. Oh, and don't even get me started on why you NEED to be blogging every day!

Feb 16, 2012 03:13 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Craig, Since we started blogging, we DO get out more than we used to!  We've visited places that we used to just drive past, explicitly to have photos and topics for another post or too.  You know we're here every day for obvious reasons.  More posts=more opportunities to get found=more calls to US :)

Feb 16, 2012 03:18 AM
John DL Arendsen
CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments - Leucadia, CA
Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer

Thanks for the info. I've been dealing with some serious writers block speaking of blocks. But I do enjoy reading and commenting on other's posts. I actually learn a lot that way and every once in awhile someone will write about something that hits a nerve and off I go.

Feb 16, 2012 05:19 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

John, Keep plugging away, the block will clear!

Feb 16, 2012 06:59 AM
Eric Michael
Remerica Integrity, Realtors®, Northville, MI - Livonia, MI
Metro Detroit Real Estate Professional 734.564.1519

I loved playing with blocks as a kid, and up until a few years ago "with" my kids. Great blog, but I'm sure you know that :)

Feb 16, 2012 07:17 AM
Karen Steed
Tallapoosa, Bremen, Waco, Buchanan, Temple, Carrollton - Tallapoosa, GA
Associate Broker Haralson Realty

Great tips.  I always use the excuse "I don't have time to blog", but I do see how great blogging works, and your post makes blogging seem easy.

Feb 16, 2012 07:31 AM
Peggy Hughes/pha logistix, inc.
pha logistix inc - San Francisco, CA
SF NYC LA

Congrats on the feature, Bliz... but, I'm not surprised... awesome information and great tips. Thank you!

Feb 16, 2012 08:36 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Eric, I still play blocks with the nephews when we're together :)

Karen, It pays off.  The more quality posts out there, the better the chance of getting that call.

Peggy, Thanks!  Always happy to share some useful information :)

Feb 16, 2012 09:42 AM
Bob Miller
Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty - Ocala, FL
The Ocala Dream Team

Hi Liz and Bill.  Excellent point.  A checklist and list of sources would be helpful.

Feb 17, 2012 06:02 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Bob, A good starting point and process makes it much easier.

Feb 17, 2012 11:38 AM
Caprice Couselle Realtor Morristown Homes For Sale
Keller Williams Realty - Morristown, NJ
First Time Home Buyers,Relocation,Horse Farms

Great ideas. When you chunk it down like that it doesn't seem so overwhelming. And templates are very important when I remember to use one,I'm halfway there and I've barely started .

Caprice

Feb 18, 2012 12:28 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Caprice, Templates make market reports so much easier once they're initially set up.  Pull the fresh data, interpret, and publish.  Piece of cake :)

Feb 18, 2012 09:06 PM
Tracey R. Wrisper
American Dream Real Estate, LLC of LA - Leesville, LA
"RealtorTraceyW" - Homes for Sale in Leesville LA

Great Post! Thanks for all the wonderful ideas.

Mar 04, 2012 10:40 AM
Sharon Parisi
United Real Estate Dallas - Dallas, TX
Dallas Homes

Great ideas!  I like the idea of the template to be updated periodically.

Mar 05, 2012 12:19 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Tracey, You're welcome!

Sharon, I've got to put that template to work shortly, time for some market reports and some more patio home community posts :)

Mar 05, 2012 12:34 PM
Diane M. Phillips Realtor 443-286-4365
Frankly Real Estate Inc. - Manchester, MD
Specializing in Carroll Co., MD

Bliz ~ Thanks for the great advice. You are right & I believe the thing I forget most is the call to action. Thanks for the kick in the butt! : )

Mar 16, 2012 01:27 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Diane, Especially with the localism posts, we've got to remind them what our real job is!  Often the readers think we're the event organizers rather than someone just helping promote the community.

Mar 16, 2012 01:41 AM
Janis Borgueta
Newburgh, NY
Retired RE Salesperson

Bliz ~ I love the new clip art site. I'm never at a loss for my own photos.. and i agree that at the end there should be that info that tells people that we are realtors not event planners! I need to tweak mine.. thanks though for the reminder. Always something on the to do list, and the more i do the more i need to do. That is okay as long as selling houses is the end result! LOL

Mar 19, 2012 08:58 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Janis, I know we'll NEVER get everything done because someone in the Rain is always showing us something new to do :)

Mar 19, 2012 10:43 PM