As 2007 came to a close, I wanted to celebrate my ActiveRain Successes. Instead, I think I should build on them and set an aggressive goal for generating business through blogging in 2008.
Crofton, Maryland - My very first ActiveRain post, back in March, was a real estate market study for the zipcode where I live and work, Crofton, Maryland - Market Report for February 2007. Within a week, I received a call from a property owner who found me on the Internet and was impressed with my knowledge of the area. She listed her Crofton property with me - a townhome located about 2 blocks from my office and maybe 6 blocks from my home.
It's a listing I never would have gotten, if not for that first post on ActiveRain and Localism.
Crofton, Maryland - About the same time, I was contacted by someone whose house had been on the market for a number of months without any success. He, too, saw that first market study - my very first ActiveRain post. Since the home was listed with another agent, I told the caller that I couldn't advise him but he was welcome to follow my online posts about market coonditions. He did, and he called me the same day his listing expired - I'M A HOUSE, AND I HAVE MY OWN WEBSITE!
Arnold, Maryland - This summer, I got a telephone call from a Georgia agent who was relocating to Maryland, due to her husband's job transfer. They, too, found my localism posts in a google search. A few weeks later, I sold them a home near Annapolis.
Crownsville, MD - In June, I had a few extra minutes and I couldn't think of a blog topic - so I did one of those market studies for a nearby zipcde - Crownsville MD - Market Report for May 2007 vs. May 2006. Would you believe that I got a call from someone who owned property in this area, and they listed it with me in October? It's a Perfectly-Priced Home Near Annapolis. This home is still available, so spread the word to anyone you know who might be thinking of relocating to Maryland.
Ft. Bragg, N.C. - Then, there was the outgoing referral that I had for the Fort Bragg area - I contacted six agents through the RE/MAX referral roster and got no response. I contacted three ActiveRain agents and had a reply from Eric Anderson within 2 minutes of sending my email. He listed the property and I earned a handsome referral fee.
Davidsonville, Maryland - In September, I got a call from someone who read my post about the Absorption Rate in Anne Arundel County, and I got their listing for the Best Value in Davidsonville within a week.
She and her husband had previously interviewed another agent and tentatively planned to list with him. However, Mrs. Seller was extremely impressed with my detailed information - that I wasn't "just another real estate agent", and I did get the listing - it was the only house listed in September in that zipcode that sold and settled in less than 60 days - and it sold non-contingent at 94% of full price in this terrible market.
Lesson learned: In spite of all my brilliant, well-composed, creatively-written blogs - it was the boring ol' market studies that captured the attention of consumers. And most of these were in my early blogging days, before I learned from Brian Block how to make fancy charts and graphs.
With four listings (three of them sold and settled, to date), one sale, and one successful outgoing referral in the nine months since I started posting on ActiveRain - I am setting an aggressive goal for 2008: 12 closed transactions from blogging. In fact, that's more than a goal - I'll stick my neck out here and say THAT'S MY PREDICTION for 2008!
What is your goal for closed transactions from blogging in 2008? What are you doing different from last year to make that happen - Better titles? More content? Targeted posts? More and better use of keywords and tags?
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Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Crofton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX. These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace.
When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900
Margaret -what a great achievement. You must have very smart consumers in your area to choose you. Despite my "brilliant" posts and charts, I did not have business from blogging yet, so it's hard to make goals. May be people in Princeton have an aversion to blogs?:)