Strategy: Sell Your Neighborhood!

Am I using the holidays as an excuse for "fluff" posts? Not at all. What does Lincoln Avenue have to do with technology and marketing for real estate? My post on "The Heart of Willow Glen" was an example of the sort of local content that will draw clients and prospects to your real estate blog. But more than that, it was an example of how an area expert sells their neighborhood, not just their listings.

I moved to California thirty years ago. Before that, I lived in New England. I grew up in Portand, Maine, not a large city, but definitely an urban setting. I often visited relatives who lived in small towns in Massachusetts. When I came to California, I lived in Cupertino. Cupertino should be known for two things, great schools and lousy strip malls. It has an abundance of both. Being from New England, I never felt at home surrounded by all those strip malls.

For twenty years I lived within a few miles of Willow Glen, yet I had no idea that it was there. I frequently drove to the old Tower Records on Bascom Avenue. That was as far east as I ventured through San Jose's neighbornoods. When I finally found Willow Glen, I felt at home immediately. Here was the small town charm that I had been missing. We all look for different things in a neighborhood, but we often don't know where to look and rule out areas out of sheer ignorance.

You can draw readers to your blog and create excitement about your target neighborhood by posting local content in your real estate blog. Far from fluff, these posts are actually what will differentiate you from agents who merely copy and paste sales charts from Trendgraphix or DataQuick in their generic, lookalike blogs. Your posts will help sell the lifestyle that comes with owning a home in your target market and demonstrate meaningful area expertise.

Now I'm not holding up "The Heart of Willow Glen" as the greatest local post of all time. In a proper real estate blog, it would merely be an overview to set the stage for individual posts reviewing the restaurants and shops along the avenue. You can cover an area of a neighborhood in one post, then write other posts that zoom in on various businesses and activities that make that neighborhood a uniquely attractive place to live.

Cupertino gets all the publicity because of their great schools. Most neighborhoods aren't known for anything, except by the people who live in them, but there are wonderful places to live all over Santa Clara County. As a real estate professional, part of your mission should be spreading the good word about your neighborhood so that buyers are aware of all the great choices available to them. Let's make 2008 the year we sell the benefits of all areas of Santa Clara County.

Thanks!

Frank Jewett