Real Estate Blog - A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

Home : Blogs : Real Estate Tomato : The Real Estate Tomato

A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

About a month ago I received, in the mail (yes, the kind with real letters, bills and magazines) an envelope with 3 items in it.

The first was a a New Blog Announcement, something like a Baby Announcement: It’s a BLOG!

The second a business card showcasing the Blog Address and contact information for Michael Bergin and Virginia Amos (on the reverse), proud new owners (and authors) of GWSleptHere.com.

For those not “in the know” – GWSleptHere is embracing the common local claim to various local destinations in greater Alexandria, VA, that the Father of our nation, President George Washington, slept on the grounds. Business-card

The third item was a a faded $1 bill likeness (you know, the one with George Washington on it) offering a quick and easy was to receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card: Subscribe to GWSleptHere.com.

I found the marketing idea so clever and fun, that I immediately went and subscribed to make sure I was one of the first 50. I’m sure his local audience got their announcements days before me, given that I live 3000 miles from Alexandria, VA.

Fast forward to yesterday.

In the mail, as promised, I received my $5 Starbucks Gift Card, along with a very nice, handwritten note thanking me for my subscription, and to our team for doing such a wonderful job on their new blog. So, not only have Michael and Virginia earned my (and many others’) subscription, but they also get a huge shoutout from the Tomato!

I’ll ask Michael to give us an update in the comments as to how many he sent out, the investment and the number of subscribers they have earned with their campaign.

So, if you want to read a real estate blogging team that really has the hang of blogging for business, go check out GWSleptHere.com, and be sure to subscribe to their feed.

To see how much Michael and Virginia spent on this campaign, and other comments, please visit the original location of this article on the Real Estate Tomato :

A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Posted by Real Estate Tomato on 06/10/2008 11:41 AM

Comments (16)

blogging advice, blog marketing

Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You
Post is included in group: Online Marketing Help Center
Post is included in group: Internet Lead Generation-How Best To Capture Your Audience
Post is included in group: Getting and Working Internet Leads
Post is included in group: Real Estate Tomato Bloggers

16 Comments on A Clever and Effective Way To Gain More Real Estate Blog Subscribers

JUN

2008

Good afternoon - That is an interesting way to get more blog subscribers. I may need to think about that myself.

Good way to get subscribers. Now its a matter of how effective the subscribers will be. Take thier gift cards and never come back. The conversion rate on leads and referrrals. The time it takes to convert them or pay back. I dont mind advertising a blog, but spending money on advertising needs to lead to business not blog traffic. He spent $1,000 easy for this promo. Hope it pays off. For that much I can farm a couple of neighborhoods.

Buying subscribers may work, but I'll win them over with content.

What a great idea. Thanks for letting us know about the marketing plan and their blog.

JUN

2008

I love innovative marketing! Thanks for the juice this morning

I'm wondering if this might be a good way to get homeowners to subscribe to a real estate newsletter & get their email address. I'm thinking of mailing one to all who I don't have an email address for, but would love to convert them all over to email. $5 per name = maybe 5 mailings and then it's paid for?

What a great marketing idea. I have not started to market my blog through print advertising but plan too soon.

JUN

2008

I think that is a great way to turn postal addresses into email addresses. As real estate agents we often spend a bundle on mailings. Wouldn't it be better to spend the money just once or twice on the mailing, get a bunch of emails of interested folks and then send them electronic info in the future at a much cheaper cost?

JUN

2008

Hi R.E.T.. Thanks for sharing the great tip! Keep them coming.

Excellent article and suggestions. I'm relatively new to blogging, but have already been impressed by the response within the ActiveRain Community. There's so much that is being learned by having Professionals come together in this format.

Thanks again for the article.

Myrl Jeffcoat
GreatWest GMAC
3604 Fair Oaks Blvd., #120
Sacramento, California 95864
916.635.0420
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com

JUN

2008

Thank you for sharing. How long does it take you to design a blog like that?

About a month to get it polished and launched. Sometimes less, sometimes more.

JUN

2008

Thank you for sharing the great tips.

Enrico Pozzo, Coldwell Banker Bain: Seattle Condos, Lofts, Houseboats and all Seattle Real Estate Listings

JUN

2008

Loved the ideas here. I am considering writing an outside blog...probably wordpress. The birth announcement is great! Do you think I should have different content on the new blog or just duplicate post I make here. Time is a consideration. I need to sell real estate to pay the bills.

Lizette,

My take on the maintaining of Outside Blogs:

You should first post there, and then repost TRUNCATED versions of your posts here on AR. You will own your outside blog. Therefore, you should first post there for the SEO juice and credit. You do not own the site here on AR, so it should always be considered as a secondary location for content if you have an outside one.

You have to look at the other possibilities - offering the $5 Starbucks card may be unique enough that a local newspaper will pick it up (be sure to send out PR releases) and from that, who knows, it may even go national. Now that's one heck of a return on investment.

Looking at their blog, I see that each of their posts also has a form for subscribing - that's making it easy for the reader to do that.

Buzz creates clients - keep up the Buzz!

This blog does not allow anonymous comments