This is wonderful info here. thank you for organizing it so well and for sharing!

Going to bookmark,

Thanks,

Tom Davis

World Class Delaware Realtor

WOW! terrific posting, thanks so much for sharing all that great info Ann.

Great post! Thanks!

Thus, blog reading is a completely worthless exercise and nobody should really engage in it.

Hi Anne-Marie,

I realize those aren't your words, but Matt's claim is almost completely worthless.  Active Rain provides tremendous value, both to real estate agents and to consumers, packed into thousands of blogs.

Interesting post. Problem though.

1.80% of the people go online to look, not buy real estate. Big diferrence and why your client can get 80% referrals. However, the agent that finally gets it right will not be merely a charity for the agent NG. They will be their Realtor.

Right now the world (the vendor industry won't mention this part) does mostly go online to buy, but their loyalty and attention is about as much as my cats.

2. Should anyone blog? No. They should however,  create content if they wish to remain online. Small play on words but huge. The recent arguments played out against Trulia should have been a wake up call to the industry. Content is king and Trulia did it without creating much, but doing a whole lot with borrowed content. Is that wrong? Well I don't know, tell that to Google. Blogging is a tactic that should fit under a wider strategy having to do with publishing.

3. Community News is a great idea but where it falls flat on its face is there are other organizations that do a much better job at it, like say the AP and Reuters. Oh I know they do not drill down into the local community. Nothing does. And this is the opportunity for the REaltor. But again that person has to get into , drum roll.....Content Creation. They can pull in some listings from various sources, mls, foreclosures, etc. Easy enough but also a commodity. The stickability comes down to the publisher offering something of value.

What did Trulia do? They knew any Tom , Dick and Harry can pull listings. So in order to continue to be unique they create voices. Other people creating content on Trulias site. Nice.

So can an agent make this happen? First off most agents I know have zero interest in creating content. As one of my clients said , "who in the hell has the time?" .  Why would Agent NG "blog" when she  gets 80% referrals?

I know, get others to blog for you! Just like TRulia. Well in order to get people to create your content for you, you have to have a bunch of zealots. WHo has heard of Twitter? These people are insanely into Twitter. Zealots. Who has heard of Pownce? Same thing. Not as popular though. 

Online Realtors are zealots, thus the first sites  to offer free publishing would get free content. (look where you are reading right now for starters)How easy would it be to get ma and pah Kettle to write on your blog or community? How about the Baker or Lawyer? Possible I guess, but unlikely when they can just get their own blog.

Then the next question is how do you profit from the content? Trulia is struggling as they just got another infusion of $15 million. Active Rain itself is trying to figure out how to make a buck. So just because you provide the community will that make them buy and sell real estate from you? I know of at least one company who based their whole blog model on that. You can guess the results.

Then of course just building the community and expecting the public to run to you is naive. No marketing= no business. Trulia has been hammered of late for their aggressive marketing. That $15 million is not going to just fancy lunches, I would guess it is going towards big marketing and the next "nuance" to their community. Good for them. But expensive for you and I.

I am not a Real Estate Agent, I am a mortgage agent.  However I have already recieved business from my blogs in the few short weeks that I have been on AR.  And I have recieve much business from Blogging on other networks.  I think people are making a mistake not blogging.  It is one of the fastest growing forms of advertising, if you do it right.   I write my blogs at the biggining of the week on sunday, then I will post them throughout the week.  Afterall this is a socialism website and all about developing relationships. Letting others know how you can help them sell their wares.

@Tim O'Keefe of Spider Juice Technologies gets at the point of this conversation:  blogging works best as part of an integrated Internet marketing strategy that draws qualified traffic back to your lead capuring website.  Ultimately, a blog without calls to action and landing pages does not capture leads. By generating compelling content that is meaningful and "remarkable" (to quote Seth Godin), you gain confidence in a low-trust era.  A blog is a conversation-starter -- like this informative exchange.  The challenge is whether or not you can afford to invest in the conversation -- to keep the brainstorming process in motion and fuel better practices. In the case study of Ms. Ng, her real estate website is more of an information portal for prospects (whom she directs online).  At this second, it doesn't make sense (cents) strategically to sacrifice 80 percent of her business for the other 20 percent. Conversely, 97 percent of online home buyers are more likely to use the same real estate agent. Admittedly, one can't afford to neglect that 20 percent.  But for Ms. Ng, who is dedicated to client satisfaction, it may be a distraction to launch a blog and nurture leads online. As previoulsy suggested, ghostblogging is another option -- but it raises the question of transparency.  The pain point is authentic communication.  But, again, dialogue with other industry leaders like yourself and Thomas Hargreaves, which happens best on ActiveRain, also offers traditional practitioners a vehicle to better evaluate how to engage Internet consumers -- when they are able to devote the energy to that process.  Thank you for your participation in this conversation.

Conversely, 98 percent of online home buyers are more likely to use the same real estate agent

Hi Anne-Marie,

Can you please expand on what you mean with that statistic?  My perception is that home buyer loyalty is not at 98%, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point.  Thanks.

In pointing out online home buyer loyalty, I am highlighting important new sources of potential business that should be considered--especially if your business revolves around referrals (as part of an integrated marketing strategy).  The following data on the real estate market in CA for 2006 was published on 02/08/07 by Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist and vice president of the California Association of Realtors ® (CAR®). "An incredible 97% of Internet buyers said they would use the same agent again. Traditional buyers? 50%. (Twice as likely to be satisfied and twice as likely to give a referral....)"

Internet Buyer vs. Traditional Home Buyer
http://tinyurl.com/6bm3eq

That IS incredible!  Thank you.  I had not heard that before.

Can someone tell me how to bookmark.  I have tried searching and after 20 minutes I have given up finding it.  I am sure its on a million posts but I just cannot find it and i cannot figure it out...please help.  I appreciate your time to help me.

Very interesting post.  I've heard from many valued sources that the blog is more of a near term fad.  For those who take time to post meaningful content and thus build out their online brand, I do think their is value in reaching the consumer shopping online however.  The ultimate fate of blogging will be an interesting dynamic to follow over the next few years.

I really like this post.  I don't think most full time busy realtors have time to come up with articles for posts.  And many with a strong referral base don't really have to. 

Why not hire a Blogger to blog for the agency -- all agents? A blogger is a researcher with some (or great) skills in writing.

Larry- go to SocialPoster.com lots of places to bookmark.

Sierra Nite Tide- Hiring a blogger is great unless you want the blog to carry tons of authority. How can a hired writer write about your town with any credability? ITs hard, but thats why it works or everyone could succeed at it.

Great post and info.  Thanks for sharing.

Here is my 2 cents.

Blogging should be a part of your marketing plans on the basis that it generates search engine relevance. Be balanced in your marketing approach and watch your metrics to see how and where you are successful in generating and converting web traffic.

There are far too many success stories which can be directly attributed to blogging and social networking to ignore, therefore, I do not full agree with your analysis:

Blogging is a proven strategy to build backlinks.

There are so many examples of bloggers who attribute their blog to newspaper coverage:

Concetta Pepenella

Joshua Jarvis

When you blog, write about your experience and expertise. Offer opinions and analysis, be genuine and honest. Blogging works.