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Active Rain, Outside Blogs and Content

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Real Estate Agent

Am I here for the consumer or other professionals?

I joined Active Rain a few months ago. And it wasn't long (about one week) before I realized that creating a blog was going to be in my best interest.

I started my blog here on Active Rain with the consumer in mind but as I posted I began to feel I wasn't getting it. I was reading posts about SEO, market opinions and photography yet I was contributing posts about Eustis, listings, and Faith Lutheran's golf tournament. These posts, albeit important to the consumer, were contributing nothing to the real estate professionals within the AR community.

And before anybody jumps all over me and says it is all related I agree that information on our areas, listings and local events are essential. (And I even enjoy the occasional recipe, joke or movie recommendation.) What I am trying to convey is that, for me, I felt I needed to contribute more on a professional level.

Maybe I feel this way because the agents in my area don't eagerly share ideas and tips and I want to reciprocate to other Rainers with my own ideas as a matter of courtesy. Or it could be because I have found a community where I can speak my opinion or offer up an idea and receive genuine feedback. Either way I felt it was important to take it a step further.

I decided to start an outside blog. (I actually ended up with two as one is provided with my personal website but somewhere on Active Rain I read that template website blogs would not be picked up by the search engines so I have another blog) Those two blogs are entirely consumer driven. They are in the infancy stages and will require a lot of attention as I find my "voice."

As I decide what to post on my Active Rain blog, I find myself being drawn to not only blog about my area but also about my views and opinions on real estate and life in general. In my opinion this represents who I am and what I am about. As essential as it is to write consumer driven posts I am a member of Active Rain to further my knowledge on the intricacies of the real estate business, the intangibles that cannot be gained in any other way.

Now that I have three blogs and a lot of work ahead of me (more if I keep reading posts about all the cool tools I need) I am curious about you. Do you have an outside blog?  Who are your blogs here and elsewhere directed to?

 

Interested in buying or selling a home in northeast Lake County Florida, including Eustis, Mount Dora, Howey-in-the-Hills, Tavares and Sorrento contact JoEllen E. Stranger-Thorsen, REALTOR® for all your real estate needs. Visit my website.

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Mike and Dawn Lewis
The Lewis Team at Keller Williams - San Diego, CA
The Lewis Team at Keller Williams in San Diego CA

JoEllen,

I Have over 100 Blogs.

Mike Lewis

Jun 13, 2008 06:17 AM
June Piper-Brandon
Coldwell Banker Realty - Columbia, MD
Creating Generational Wealth Through Homeownership

I blog primarily here, but do ones for agents and for localism.  I have a blogger page but I don't really have time to do both that and this too.

Jun 13, 2008 06:21 AM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL

Mike -- I can't keep up with three, 100 would probably be the death of me.

June -- I have taken to copy and paste (my own content) in order to keep the other two halfway active.

 

Okay for the 6th time today I have had to enter "guajilote" for the graphic. What is up with that?

Jun 13, 2008 06:29 AM
Ray Nelson
Exit Realty Expertise - Fredericksburg, VA

I have 4, including my AR one.  One is dedicated solely to my son and his issues, one is for fun, one is consumer driven and this one is professionally based. I love to write, so it works out for me.

I would not cut and paste your content though.  That might drop you in search rankings.

Jun 13, 2008 06:32 AM
Jimmy McCall
JimmyMcCall.com - Cunningham, TN
The Ex-Mortgage Consultant

JoEllen, I have a wordpress.com blog but have only posted two items on it.  I do my blogging in the Rain.  It is the most likely to be read.  My goal for my wordpress blog, as is for my website is to write more industry related topics and create links sending people to it.  A lot of work ahead of me though.  With all the blogging I do in the Rain it is hard to catch up.  Once, I pass the 100,000 point mark I may slow down in the Rain aand focus more on my website and other internet presences.

Jun 13, 2008 06:36 AM
Steve Loynd
Alpine Lakes Real Estate Inc., - Lincoln, NH
800-926-5653, White Mountains NH

JoEllen : I have been providing content to a blog tied into my web site mainly as an attempt at SEO, and I occasionally drift over to the Real Estate Tomato blog site, but A/R is the main site to read and post. There are so many talented people on this site and if you ask a question you get some very good answers, so my consensus is this is the main real estate site for info to read and contribute. Steve

Jun 13, 2008 06:41 AM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL

Steve -- There is an incredible amount of talent here on AR and that is why my other two blogs get so little attention right now. I'm too busy reading and learning that I forget to check in on the others.

Jimmy -- On AR I have a chance of being read and I get the all so important feedback in the comments. I haven't figured out yet how to tell if anybody is reading the others.

Ray -- Does it matter if you cut and paste from word instead of the actual blog? I write in word, cut and paste the content and then add pictures and do some slight editing on the wording as I post to each. I love to write also but with two kids and the need for sleep I don't always get the chance.

Jun 13, 2008 06:49 AM
Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

JoEllen, a lot has to do what the focus, direction, and intent of your outside blogs. I have one primary other blog that I publish daily - usually 150-400 words (I also comment on and guest on others). I post personally on most days but have guest bloggers as well. It is strictly limited to real esate sales and marketing (new homes and general). The wacky posts I put here on Active Rain because they seem to have found their home here. I didn't start out doing that, but whenever I publish an instructional or serious post on AR I get 0 or maybe 1 or 2 comments. When I publish wacky stuiff I get over 10. Email me or call if you want to discuss it some more.

Jun 13, 2008 06:55 AM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL

Steve -- Thanks for the assistance, I might just take you up on that offer. I always enjoy reading your posts; probably because you find amusent in the same everyday things I do.

Jun 13, 2008 07:02 AM
Heather Rankin
Rankin Realty at Lake Powell, LLC - Page, AZ
Lake Powell Real Estate

JoEllen ~ Good questions and ones I've struggled with. I have an outside blog at

The Lake Powell Real Estate Blog

I am doing everything Lake Powell there - water, music, real estate, market reports, listings, some virtual tours etc. It is strictly for the customers. I post every three to four days - more if I can swing it.

I have done some double posting to my AR blog but have read that is not good for SEO and Google and the like so am trying to keep that to a minimum.

I also do posts to localism, at least one a week. I am not sure how that works and am thinking AR may change the way the posts are featured but for now, I post.

The AR blog, wow, what a help it has been. I've learned so much here in the past four months it's staggering. I write for all sorts here, Realtors and Clients and the curious. I don't post anything that I would not want a potential client reading. Even the members only posts I am careful with, as anyone can sign up to be a member if they are curious enough.

I think that is one of the things that has made AR great - the lack of flame wars.

I also set aside time every day to comment, not only here on AR but on the other Utah and Arizona real estate blogs - there is Bloodhound, Blueroof 360 and the PHX Real Estate guy that I follow.

 

 

Jun 13, 2008 11:11 AM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL

Heather -- I have never commented on outside blogs. I guess I never thought about it -- see something else to add to my list. If I had never come to AR I would never have discovered cool things to do like comment on other people's blogs.

Jun 13, 2008 12:36 PM
Richard Byron Smith, NMLS #184479
Mortgage Loan Officer, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation NMLS #2289 - Chattanooga, TN
Mortgage Loan Officer

Active Rain is a great training and continuing ed ground. But it also provides a powerful engine to the consumer.

It is important, I think, not to get caught up just in the community of AR and neglect the blogs that have the consumer in mind. It is possible to do that.

I am interested though in an outside blog, but am unsure of the vehicle. My website has a blog attached but it does not have the power of AR. My hope is to feed a more effective outside blog into my website.

Great questions and comments.

Richard

Jun 13, 2008 04:19 PM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL

Richard -- Thanks for stopping by. I resisted blogging for so long and now I am playing catch up. Since joining AR I have read different views on consumer driven vs professional posts. I have decided to go with a little of each and try to treat them with equal importance here. Then I take the consumer driven posts to my outside blogs.

Jun 13, 2008 05:00 PM
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