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Ask An Ambassador: Tossing Out Digital Breadcrumbs

By
Real Estate Agent with Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com SAL.2002007747

Sometimes someone says "I never get any business from blogging".

And maybe that's an accurate statement.  Depending on topic choice and quality of posts, it's quite possible to never give a home buyer or seller a reason to contact you to be their agent.

But IMO, a lot of consumer contacts might not be blatantly obvious as being sourced from blogging, but can still be fruits of the blogging vine.

Every time you post, you're feeding Google and the other search engines with a little more information about you, where you do business, and what you know something about.

Your blog signature, the post title, the post contents, even comments, all are throwing out some digital breadcrumbs.

Toss out a handful of posts about new construction.  Digital breadcrumbs.

Another handful of long tail home searches (5 bedrooms, pools, 3 car garages, etc.).  More digital breadcrumbs.

A healthy double handful of niche home posts.  That's digital breadcrumbs on steroids.

 

If I've heard it once I've heard it 937 times, "I found you on the Internet".

The typical consumer doesn't remember EXACTLY what website they found you on, just that they found you for what they were looking for.

Maybe it was a blog post about a subdivision they were interested in, or maybe an IDX search page on your main site.  Regardless of where, they FOUND you and contacted you.

It's all part of the effort that is interrelated with blogging to create lots of digital breadcrumbs leading to your phone number and email and providing a reason for a consumer or referring agent to pick you instead of one of the other 5,834 agents in your local market.

Increase your digital footprint with Google My Business, Facebook, Pinterest or whatever other social media method works for you, and whenever possible tie them together and direct the traffic where you want it to go.

So maybe blogging is working for you after all!

Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,

Bill & Liz aka BLiz

Posted by

Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas

The Liz Spear Team of Transaction Alliance
Elizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747

William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109  Kentucky 77938
Ask for us by name if you visit the office!

EHO
Bill Direct:  513-520-5305
Liz Direct: 513-265-3004     
Fax: 866-302-8418

MailTo:  Liz@LizSpear.com

Search Homes:  Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com

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Comments (18)

Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hello Bill(and Liz too) - some activities and their results may not always be obvious.  Blogging is definitely one of those.  And unlike most fairy tales --- a happily ever after ending is not always the rule when choosing a blogging strategy.  Especially in the short term or when there is not a consistent, properly targeted effort.  

Jun 08, 2021 12:08 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

The right blogging strategy is critical.  I can look at some blogs and understand why they would not get a call, there is no content a consumer wanting to buy a home would search for, or it's repetivite content producted almost identically by 1000s of other agents.  Unique and relevant matters.

Jun 08, 2021 12:27 PM
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Liz and Bill,

Strategy is key, and the other one is consistency.   Once a strategy is developed you should not change it in midstream...Great suggestions!  A

Jun 08, 2021 12:53 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

Agreed, consistency does matter.  The more relevant, high quality posts, the better the chances of being found.

Jun 08, 2021 01:08 PM
Tracy Lee Parker
RE/MAX DFW Associates - Royse City, TX
Buy*Sell*Rent

Hi Liz & Bill, 

I have not been on here awhile but am wanting to return ! I did get calls that said they found me on the internet but only when I was consistent. 

Jun 08, 2021 02:34 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

It does work.  There have been times I've been able to know a specific blog post that led to the call. other times it's more general.  I think with enough content creation, the "real estate agent near me" type searches start to give us better placement because the bots tie all the work together.

Jun 08, 2021 03:45 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

Giving space for others to get/give their share of the community insight is pretty important

Jun 08, 2021 07:34 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

Fortunately plenty of Rainers willing to share and help others.

Jun 08, 2021 07:39 PM
Erik Hiss
Keller Williams Capital Partners Realty - Worthington, OH
You can trust me for all your real estate needs!

Yep, you have to be in many different places for people to recognize you and your brand. Otherwise you won't make it into their mind to call you!

Jun 09, 2021 05:07 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

A broad presence helps, especially with the "near me" type searches.

Jun 09, 2021 05:48 AM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

I agree and some things require one to have a little bit of faith, haha.  I don't believe anyone has directly contacted me and said I found you on ActiveRain, but I am certain that I have been contacted as a result of my blog posts.

Jun 09, 2021 05:31 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

There's that gray area where the consumer doensn't remember, or directly know how they found you, just that they did.  But over the years I've had plenty of calls that it was obvious the only source was a blog post I'd written here (where can I get the best free seats for the air show?, I want a table for the Applefest, etc.).  And if I have those general question type local event posts queries, I know they're also finding the other stuff I write (besides when they blatantly identify the post they found).

Jun 09, 2021 05:51 AM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

Indeed, the bread crumbs are so important!

 

Yesterday another SEO salesperson/expert called me to tell me that no one can find me because I'm not showing up on the first page of google. I said, um, well, actually, if you search for certain terms, I do indeed show up on the first page and in fact, as the first response. If he was such an expert he would have done a little research first.

 

Click.

Jun 09, 2021 06:35 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

Ditto, but usually emails.  Statements like that shouldn't be made unless you know the search terms I'm after.  If you're going generic Cincinnati homes for sale, I'll probably not rank and I'm fine with that.  Search for anything to do with Cincinnati patio homes for sale and we'll get found, and that's our primary target market.

Jun 09, 2021 07:30 AM
Beth Atalay
Cam Realty and Property Management - Clermont, FL
Cam Realty of Clermont FL

Hello Liz and Bill Spear, blogging definitely works. Definitely not for those expecting overnight success,  it does take time and continuous effort.

Jun 09, 2021 07:18 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

Definitely in our case it took a lot of initial work to figure out what to blog about and how to do it to get the results we wanted.  It's much easier to blog to our target audience now.

Jun 09, 2021 07:31 AM
Ginger Harper
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage~ Ginger Harper Real Estate Team - Southport, NC
Your Southport~Oak Island Agent~Brunswick County!

Wow. THis is such a good post.Thanks for sharing

Jun 09, 2021 10:12 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

You're welcome!

Jun 09, 2021 10:28 AM
Caroline Gerardo
Licensed in 20 states - Newport Beach, CA
C. G. Barbeau the Loan Lady nmls 324982

I love the yummy bread photograph coupled with the positive attitude that blogging does support your work.

Jun 09, 2021 12:11 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

Caroline, Blogging coupled with IDX search pages have been very good to us.  We'll never be the #1 agent for volume in our market, but that's never been our goal. 

Jun 09, 2021 02:52 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Bill:

This is certainly an apt analogy in the online world. I have often asked buyers and sellers how they found me and it's not unusual for them to not be sure, other than to say "online."

Jeff

Jun 09, 2021 04:51 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

If I'm REALLY lucky they'll have a more specific answer, but most often it is just "online" and that is good enough :)

Jun 09, 2021 05:07 PM
CANDACE (Candy) STEVENS, EA
Number Cruncher LLC - Overton, NV
Helping Taxpayers Resolve IRS problems

Thank you for this post Liz and Bill Spear.  Sometimes, many times I wonder if my blog posts are doing any good!

Jun 09, 2021 05:15 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

CANDACE (Candy) STEVENS, EA , It's easy to feel that way about blogging.  It takes time, and sometimes a lot of time and effort to start getting the payoff.
There are a few key questions to ask if your blogging for business:
1.  Who is your target market?  Is your blog designed to entertain/educate/inform existing clients, or attract new ones?  Do the people you actually want to reach use the internet to find that help?


2.  What are you competing against?  Mega-sites?  Other individual tax specialists?
3.  Is your practice broad (multi-state) or focused to one locale?  If local, how big is that market?  Are there enough people that would need your service, NOT already know a pro that can help them AND would go to the internet to find the help you offer?
4.  What does that audience want to know that you can provide AND would give them reason to contact you?  Are you providing that specific content and in sufficient quantity of posts to reach a critical mass that helps you get found?


There are more nuances, but if you can nail the answers for the above, you can develop a plan to provide what is needed to get those calls, or as an alternative realize that maybe your target market and blogging aren't the best fit and different methods (or more productive methods) might be available.

Jun 09, 2021 07:58 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

All those digital breadcrums work wonders, especially when paired with your signs, etc.

Jun 10, 2021 09:45 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

I think the more things connect to provide a unified message, the better the chances of getting the calls we want.

Jun 10, 2021 11:04 AM
Sheri Sperry - MCNE®
Coldwell Banker Realty - Sedona, AZ
(928) 274-7355 ~ YOUR Solutions REALTOR®

Hi Liz and Bill Spear - Many of my clients have found me "online".  I had a person in tech in Silicon Valley who came to me because of my online presence.  digital breadcrumbs do matter. I have had some specifically say, they found a certain post that drove them to me.  

Jun 10, 2021 10:30 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

There are some community posts that I know do very well for me.  I'm about to close another townhome next week, the 2nd time in that particular community that I can point to KNOWING for sure that it was blogging/IDX pages for that community that brought me the deal.  And I've probably shown another half dozen buyers in the community over the years that weren't looking for an agent, just the particular home on the market that day.

Jun 10, 2021 11:13 AM
Hannah Williams
HomeStarr Realty - Philadelphia, PA
Expertise NE Philadelphia & Bucks 215-820-3376

Liz and Bill Spear  I just sign three listings from a post from 2016 on Active Rain. We do need to be consistent if we are looking for a quick fix blogging is not the answer and sending out a mailing with it as Barbara Todaro  would say is definitely money in the bank 

Jun 10, 2021 12:09 PM
Liz and Bill Spear

Congrats on the listings!!

Jun 11, 2021 07:28 PM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Bill this is so true.....leave a long trail of bread crumbs and people will notice and find you.  We've all left a lot of crumbs over the years!!  Great talking with you last night!  Hope you get a little relaxation time soon!

Jun 11, 2021 11:33 AM
Liz and Bill Spear

Great talking to you too!  And no doubt, a LOT of digital crumbs have been left!

Jun 11, 2021 07:29 PM
Debb Janes
Nature As Neighbors - Camas, WA
Put My Love of Nature At Work for You

We got a call last week from someone considering a move to Camas. How did they find us? You got it, through our blogs. It does work. 

Jun 12, 2021 05:55 AM
HomeSalesForce.com Team Brokered by eXp Realty
eXp Realty - Canton, GA
Canton, Alpharetta, Roswell, Woodstock, Atlanta

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Hope you enjoyed the video!

Now, it's time to experience the magic for yourself.

Jul 18, 2021 01:18 PM