Yesterday was a lot of fun - I had the pleasure of being a panelist at Inman's Bloggers Connect in San Francisco and was honored to be surrounded on stage by bloggers I truly respect: Laurie Manny (Long Beach Real Estate Home), Teresa Boardman (St Paul Real Estate Blog) and Linda Davis (Eastern Connecticut Real Estate), and we were lucky to have a great moderator, Jay Thompson (PhoenixRealEstateGuy).

The point of the panel was to get input and tips from bloggers who are closing sales from their blogs. When Inman asked me to be on a panel for blogging, I said "sure", but also reminded them that I am on the continuum of success - but am not at the top of it!  They wanted me despite my disclaimer :)

Here are a few things I hope I conveyed to the good people in attendance at Bloggers Connect yesterday:

• Be patient, persevere and be passionate about your blogging - for most of us, there's a lag time between writing and getting leads. It's hard to keep doing it if you aren't passionate about your subject, so make sure you have a sustainable topic - it will help a lot with your motivation to blog consistently! I blogged a long time before it really started paying off, and this year it has become the backbone of my business.
• There are many ways to be successful in blogging. When I started my Live in Los Gatos blog, people told me I was making a big mistake to write about more than just real estate in Los Gatos. I didn't buy into that idea and wrote about the town's events, history, neighborhoods, and even a few haunted spots...and took a lot of photos (but not as many as Teresa Boardman! She is the best in that department.)
• Several of us tried to indicate that the way you write will determine the kind of contacts and leads you get. Because I write about my town's many wonderful features, with real estate updates a regular part of the blog, I have gotten a lot of buyer contacts and especially folks relocating to the area, from that venue. I have seller clients and leads too, but 2-to-1, the content is about why Los Gatos is a great place to live - so the blog is attracting people looking for a good place to live.

A lot of other great comments were made by Linda, Laurie, and Teresa regarding their style, frequency, content, and the way they handle contacts from the blog. Many times, what worked for one was the exact opposite of what was working for someone else.

Linda made a great comment about the need for "being yourself" with the blog, and I think that resonated with everyone in the panel and in the audience. Laurie Manny's style works for her, but it's very different from others who are also experiencing a lot of success. So don't feel like you have to be like, or blog like, anyone else. I would say this: figure out what you want from your blog, find a way to write to attract that, make sure you are passionate and enthusiastic about it, and get to work!

Many thanks to my fellow panelists and to Jay, and of course especially to Inman News for inviting me. I had a great time, learned a lot, and met a ton of wonderful people afterwards.

Blog on!