Ask An Ambassador: Why Isn't My Blog Making My Phone Ring?

Ask An Ambassador:  Why Isn't My Blog Making My Phone Ring?

There are two primary camps of bloggers in the Rain:  those just here to have fun, and those blogging for business.  MOST of us fall into the 2nd group, and it's not uncommon for us to read blog posts or see comments where the writer expresses an opinion that blogging doesn't work for them.  Now this might seem kind of harsh, but we know that blogging CAN work to build your business, so what that leaves is an issue between the seat and the keyboard OR in your local market conditions.

Here's a list of things that may be causing you to feel like blogging doesn't work:

• You haven't given it enough time.  Unless you hit the magic formula of content, SEO, high population market, etc., blogging is NOT a quick fix, wham bam thank you ma'am business doubler.  30 days, 60 days, 90 days....probably not long enough to make a true judgment on blogging's effectiveness.
• You have a VERY small target audience.  Live in a small town?  Writing to a small niche?  Those can be tough to reach.
• Someone else beat you to it.  There's some King and Queen Bloggers that consumers in your area already follow and you've got to fight to get YOUR voice heard.
• Your area isn't tech savvy.  They still use the newspapers, the yellow pages and their neighbors to find out everything they want to know.
• You're working in a Good Ole Boy area.  Everyone has been there for generations and you just moved there 20 years ago....you newbie!!  Every family already has a REALTOR(R) of choice and you're not it.
• You don't write enough.  It's like being a farmer.  You don't plant two tomato plants and wonder why that bushel basket isn't full.  Blogging takes dedication.  Plant seeds.  A LOT of seeds.  We're not saying you have to post daily, but be a regular.
• You've got zero SEO.  You write generically and there's nothing to tie to your local communities.  Namedrop.  Subdivisions, events, schools, zip codes....give Google SOMETHING to make them think you're a local expert.  Don't know jack about SEO?  Take the Active Rain University classes, and there are a number of Active Rain bloggers that provide plenty of SEO tips.
• You're not providing LOCAL real estate specific info.  If you're typing general "first time buyer guides" and "how to landscape" and things like that that can also be found in the Yahoo and MSN real estate columns, your phone probably won't ring.  Those topics may be good to write, but as far as phone ringing they may not get the job done.
• Your writing is full of typos & grammar errors.  Readers see that and assume you'll do a sloppy job of helping them too.  Run spell check and grammar check.  Copy into Word if you need to just for the purpose of running those checks.  And don't forget the title of your post when you're checking!
• This one may hurt, but you just may not be a good writer (YET).  You struggle with expressing yourself and it shows.  Blogging is an art form and practice makes perfect.  And if ultimately writing just isn't for you, there are ghostwriting services that can fill your blog for the right amount of $$$.
  
• Aesthetics.  Your blog isn't pretty.  I know it shouldn't matter, but the reality is your message's change of being read drops dramatically if it's a wall of words, the font is tiny, you have no eye candy (graphics, photos), etc.  Learn to spiff your post.  You don't have to use colored fonts, but DO make your posts easy to read.
  
• You made it hard for people to figure out HOW to contact you.  Do you have your email and phone numbers PROMINENTLY displayed? 
• Not enough of your posts are YOU.  If your reblog ratio is too high people don't get to see YOU as the subject matter expert for their area.
• Your ratio of posts to the Active Rain community vs. your local consumers is out of balance.  You've got to feed your local market REGULARLY.  Comments from Rainers are fun, but they generally don't make your phone ring. 
• You picked the wrong niche to blog about.  If luxury homes aren't selling AT ALL, all the posts in the world aren't going to help you in the short term.
  

What works in one area may not work as well in another area, but certain fundamentals apply across the whole market.  Apply the fundamentals, and adapt as you need to for your market.

Still not sure what is getting in the way of your blog making your phone ring?  Ask someone for an impartial review, don't be offended by the feedback and use it to make the changes you need to increase the odds of getting your phone to ring.

Keep on blogging!
Liz and Bill aka BLiz