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"Forgive me, Father,...It's been 3 weeks since my last Blog Post!" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips

By
Real Estate Agent with Fathom Realty West Sound WA State 52404

For my friends of the Catholic persuasion, please know that I mean no disrespect...

 They say that one of the primary tenets of effective blogging is consistency (Although I'm not quite sure who "They" is) These days, it seems as though anyone who has been blogging for more than a year is considered an expert. However, there is a very definite sense of validity to this particular point.

It's rather obvious that in order to keep the Search Engine Spiders happy, one needs to regularly feed them good relevant content.

The big question is "How often should you throw the Spiders a blog bone?" Well, it really depends on the purpose or goals for your blogging. One of my favorite writers, Jim Cronin (The Real Estate Tomato), suggests a minimum of once a week. One of the many vital points that Jim makes is that consistency not only helps to improve your ranking, but it builds your readership as well. Conversely, a lack of regular contributions can have an adverse affect, and dramatically reduce your audience.

Case in point: I just received a comment the other day to one of my previous posts that read - "Hey Rich!  Where did you go?  I am going through withdrawals here.  I haven't seen any new material for a while!"

Another AR member recently e-mailed me with a very kind note:

"Dear Rich, are you alright? Hope you're just busy and nothing else is keeping you from the rain."

(A very heartfelt thanks to Jonathan and Missy for their thoughtful nudging!)

Blogging consistency is not necessarily as crucial here in the Rain as it is if you are maintaining your own 'outside' blog platform, such as SOUNDBITEBLOG. With nearly 60,000 members, we're all fortunate to be riding the ActiveRain Google Juice Tidal Wave. However, when you strike off on your own, it becomes absolutely imperative to post even more consistently, if you hope to have any measure of sustainable success.

How fortunate we are to be part of this amazing network, to have our fellow Rainers here to encourage us when we grow silent, and to prod us onward towards achieving the goal of effective blogging. But I have to believe, that for every 1 person who would take the time to encourage us, how many more readers are moving on to someone else's post, in search of something new and fresh?

 As the Ketchup King wisely suggests, "Keep in mind, everyday, someone new is embracing the business blog as a marketing tool, and if you aren't feeding your audience, then someone else is!"

As my mantra goes, Blog Often - Blog Well!~

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

social-media-is-a-conversation

Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Rich Jacobson is a REALTOR® and licensed Broker with Fathom Realty. He's a Crab Hunter, Clam Digger, and Oyster Shucker, skilffuly vanquishing anything in a shell! He is the Social Media Evangelist for Life on the Kitsap Peninsula & The Western Puget Sound in scenic WA State.

Comments (36)

Frank Rubi
Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC - Metairie, LA
FrankRubiRealEstate.com
Rich, welcome back. I know how hard it can be. I like your writing and no offense taken.
Nov 27, 2007 11:28 AM
Jon Mitchell
Classic Property Management - Santa Clarita, CA
Whoo Hoo! He is back and better than ever.  I was afraid that you choked on some craburkey or something!  Nice to see that you are still alive.  I will be watching for more wisdom from Washington.
Nov 27, 2007 12:02 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Rich, I am just glad yer not in jail; I'm fresh out of files and cakes :-)    Good to see ya.  PS: I am inconsistent on AR now too. But not on my other blog. Can't decide how to balance real work, outside blog and AR and community work/meetings which I have gotten into heavily as of late. You know, the networking thing which got into full swing because of...yep blogging LOL
Nov 27, 2007 12:29 PM
Faina Sechzer
Henderson-Sotheby's International Realty - Princeton, NJ
Real Estate Expert - Princeton, Montgomery ,Hopewell, NJ
Rich - as I am contemplating the outside blog I have been wondering the time commitment thing. Plus the creativity thing - does that stretch indefinitely to cover multiple blogs?:) Yeah and the work thing - this blogging just doesn't leave any time for non essential activities.:)
Nov 27, 2007 12:45 PM
Gary Bolen
McCall Realty - South Lake Tahoe, CA
CRS - Lake Tahoe Real Estate Information

Rich, we've been hunkered down too. Doing mostly market update posts for each of our 40+ neighborhoods. Seems like the creative well is a bit spent. but as you know it comes and it goes.

This time of year we get really focused on marketing for next year's listings. We're close to running out now.

Otherwise we're fine, and hope you and yours are as well.

 

Nov 27, 2007 01:35 PM
Gary Bolen
McCall Realty - South Lake Tahoe, CA
CRS - Lake Tahoe Real Estate Information
Too funny. We were writing the comment above, and when done we saw that you just did so with us at the same time. Great minds think alike.
Nov 27, 2007 01:37 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Gary - way too funny! Hope you all had a great Turkey Bird Holidays. If you hop over to SoundBiteBlog, I posted an article about my visit out to see my daughter in Louisiana. It was a great trip!
Nov 27, 2007 02:08 PM
Tom Burris
NMLS# 335055 - Baton Rouge, LA
Texas/Louisiana Mortgage Pro - 13 YRS Experience

Say three Hail Mary's and write 4 new blogs.

NO RECIPES!!!

LOL

Nov 27, 2007 02:22 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Faina - it's huge commitment to effectively feed your own 'outside' blog, but I think that longterm it is an excellent investment of time and energy. It allows you to capture a much more specific, niche market audience/following. Many people are moving towards a blogsite/website combination platform. Consistent writing takes discipline. It helps if you enjoy self-expression and creativity. I think one of the keys is create several repetitive 'feature' articles in your blog - like area market reports, local business and restaurant reviews, points of interest, etc., those subjects that you can write about consistently without a lot of creative inspiration. Then, intersperse your writing with more creative pieces on occasion. Does that make sense?
Nov 27, 2007 02:25 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Carole - Seems like a lot of that is going around lately, especially with some of the veteran members. Guess that's just the normal course of such things. Sad, but true....
Nov 27, 2007 02:27 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Jonathan - choked on a 'Craburkey?"....guess that's better than a stick in the eye!....hehehe
Nov 27, 2007 02:29 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Frank - thanks for your forbearance. Glad to hear that you like what I write. I was just out your way. Spent a few days out in Monroe, and a nice day road trip over to Natchez. Too bad the crawfish were out of season!
Nov 27, 2007 02:34 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker
Bob - Hey, man! How ya been? We ended up NOT going out for the last razor clam dig. I meant to call you, but I figured you probably had plans that day since you didn't get back to me. I'll keep you posted on the next one. We need to hook up soon!
Nov 27, 2007 02:35 PM
Fran Gatti
RE/MAX Integrity - Medford, OR
Managing Principal Broker - RE/MAX Integrity
Thanks for the post and the encouragement.  I definitely tend to go in spurts with my posts.  I'm working on that.
Nov 27, 2007 03:26 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Rich, I wondered where you were.  I'm glad to see you posting ehre again!  Missed ya!  Sometime soon I'll make it back to Starbucks Thursday without the boy.....  :)
Nov 27, 2007 04:18 PM
Roberta LaRocca
Simply Vegas Real Estate - Las Vegas, NV
REALTOR®, Broker, Salesperson, NV. Lic BS.507
Welcome back Rich and thanks for the info on how often to blog.  I've been blank lately and haven't posted as often as I thought I should.
Nov 27, 2007 04:21 PM
Anonymous
Anonymous
Always enjoy reading your posts on AR but totally understand straying away from AR. I think the reason people switch to their own blog is that we can really write to the local interests easier than we can do on AR or Localism. Plus, I find it takes less time and the results are better.
Nov 28, 2007 12:21 AM
#33
Jay McGillicuddy
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty - Exeter, NH
Real Estate Broker
Hi Rich, Monika and I have been very consistent this past month posting on our outside blog and we have noticed a significant amount of traffic lately with return visitors. We also have noticed how some of our rankings have pulled ahead of AR ranked posts and that makes us feel good too.
Nov 28, 2007 09:38 AM
Missy Caulk
Missy Caulk TEAM - Ann Arbor, MI
Savvy Realtor - Ann Arbor Real Estate

Your post today, sent me here to read some of the posts I may have missed. Appears I missed this one and here you mentioned my nudging you where have you been?

Jan 17, 2009 11:33 PM
Rich Jacobson
Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA
Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker

Missy:  I think at the time I had just experienced some blogging burn-out, and needed a slight respite.

Jan 18, 2009 02:22 AM