I had the pleasure of chatting with Kathy Gee Streib (stager extraordinaire) on Tuesday and it was a real treat. She is an intelligent and engaging Active Rain member who has a lot of to offer this website and I would encourage everyone to follow her blog. In our conversation, a lot of topics came up. I could spend weeks writing about our conversation, but one thing came up over and over.
What was that? It was the topic of blogging. Not only the topic of blogging, but the value of blogging and the unknown masses that read your blog. If you don't know this, your blog is eternal. As long as there is an Internet, your blog will ride the waves of history it creates.
I was telling Kathy about the volume of calls I had the same day we spoke that were directly related to my blog, and she encouraged me to write a blog about it. First, an auctioneer called to ask me if I was the Valley Trader. What is the Valley Trader, you ask? It's a regional paper that is published and released each Wednesday that is like a paper flea market. You can by a car, a house, a bicycle, scaffolding, a walker, refrigerator, a shotgun, a dog and just about everything else, other than a kidney. I wrote a blog on Active Rain on November 30, 2011. It is the #1 most viewed blog I have ever written. It has been viewed 19,678 times. I get dozen or more calls a year because of it. Ironically, I am more visible online for that paper than the actual paper. That's the power of blogging.
Another call that came in Tuesday was from another Realtor in another state who saw an article I wrote for the National Association of Realtor titled, "No one wins a onesided deal." The agent liked the article, but he wanted to know how I got NAR to publish an article I had written. The truth is, someone from NAR called me after reading my Active Rain blog. He asked if I could create an article around one of my blog topics, and that's the short and sweet process that took place. I blogged on AR, and people outside of AR picked up on it and asked if I'd contribute to their publication as well. That's the power of blogging.
While telling Kathy about my blogging adventures, I mentioned that other Rainers had emailed me to tell me they had seen my blog and thoughts in other publications. What? Where? One of the online newsletters that had picked up my blog was Inman News. Inman published "7 must-knows before you pay for online real estae leads" February 15, 2014. Better Homes out of Dubai published one of my "not so real estate" blogs also. That's the power of blogging.
Huffington Post quoted one of my blogs in one of their real estate trends updates. Hundreds of real estate firms have pulled my AR blog to highlight on their websites, and clients and customers have found me because they stumbled on my blog through Google searches. That''s the power of blogging.
All of this is to say, BLOG. Let the world know that you really are a real estate pro in your market. Write market reports, neighborhood updates, special event updates and whatever makes you shine in your community. No matter the topic, BLOG. It's the best free marketing you will ever pay for with your wit, wisdom and time.
13. Jumpstart Challenge
Comments (5)Subscribe to CommentsComment