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Want to Reach More People? Then Start Blogging Less!

Unlike some bloggers I know, it takes me quite a bit of time to write a blog post. I tend to slave over my blog post with research, creation of graphics, and gathering links. I was often frustrated when I saw other bloggers be able to churn out multiple blog posts a week with little effort. But the more I thought about this, I began to wonder if it's actually a good thing. Pat Kitano then confirmed this at Inman Connect when he talked about focusing on the quality instead of the quantity of blog post.

I tend to agree. The internet is all about information overload. We even see this on ActiveRain. With now more than 100,000 subscribers, it's getting more and more difficult to have blog posts stand out from the crowd. Instead of more content, I think it's time we shift to refining the quality of the content and then focus on getting that content to as many eyeballs as possible through automated content distribution.

Extending Your Blog Reach

If I am going to take the time to write a blog post, it's important that I get the most "mileage" of out my blog post. After all, it's all about return on investment. Right? That's where I think automated content distribution can help rocket the return you receive in your blogging investment.

Take the Ron Popeil Approach

I love automation. In fact, everyone in the office laughs at me because one of my most quoted lines is "Set it, and forget it!" If something in the office has to be done more than once, I am typically asking my programmer how we can write a script to automate that process. I think it's important to take this same approach with blogging. Now I realize that it's not possible to automate actually writing a blog post. (Don't we all wish!) However, it is quite easy to automate the distribution of your blog to reach more eyeballs.

What Happens When I Click Publish

Content distribution may be different for different people. But here is a quick example of what happens (automatically) when I hit the publish button on my blog...

Blog Post title automatically appears on the Dakno Home page (that links to the blog post)
Headline and link to the blog post appears on my staff page on the Dakno website (Thanks to the AgentBackdoor software)
Twitter post automatically goes out notifying my Twitter followers that I just posted a link (Yup, this can automatically happen without you having to even login to Twitter!)
New blog post notification populates to my FriendFeed account
New blog post notification on MyBlogLog profile
New comment on my Facebook profile page letting people know that I just wrote another blog post.
Email Blast to my email based Subscriber list with the content of the post
Link to the new blog post added in the sidebar of my ActiveRain Blog

Why is This so Effective?

By distributing your content to different sources, you are able to reach otherwise untapped market segments. For example, I may have one group of contacts that frequent Facebook. While another audience may be less tech-savvy and prefer to receive my updates via email. At the other end of the spectrum are those who would much rather receive a "tweet" than yet another email in their inbox. However, once automated content distribution is in place, I am now able to reach all of these different market segments and only have to originate the content from one source – my blog!

I believe that blogging can be even more effective as we begin to focus on quality content and then use automated distribution channels to extend the reach of that quality content to as many readers as possible.

To Your Success,
Brad Carroll

P.S. Ready to learn more about how to make your blogging efforts even more effective? Check out our 8 Week Blogging Webinar – BloggingBootcamp. ActiveRain members receive an exclusive $50 discount. Hurry, our first session starts Thursday August 14^th. Sign Up Now.

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Posted by Brad Carroll - Real Estate Web Designer on 08/07/2008 12:09 AM

Comments (73)

blogging and seo, online marketing, real estate blog design

Post is included in group: Blogging & SEO
Post is included in group: Online Marketing Help Center
Post is included in group: Rainmaking - Internet Marketing Strategies
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You

73 Comments on Want to Reach More People? Then Start Blogging Less!

AUG

2008

Great advice Brad, I'll have to look into some of that further.

Brad, I like your idea of one post to several source. That is great. In real estate sales, you need to stay in front of the audience. They expect it. I have work in Real Estate now 23 years. Although this median is more cost effective, it needs to be work. My post are very simple and to the point. My results and my teams results have resulted in several close transaction. I am quite happy with our outcome. I don't place many graphic or pictures in my post. That is just me. I did not post much in May due to grad and weddings, kid stuff. I saw an immediate decline in my lead generation. June was so slow I thought my phones were not working. I will continue to post several times a week, for us it means business.

Brad thanks again for the information. You guys are really heads and shoulders above the competition. I appreciate your contribution to AR.

I like it Brad, and you are right. Websites have the same requirements. Vanilla is out. Quality is in.

Hi Brad-I'm a A/R newbie and am quickly learning who has quality info. I've been a realtor for 13 yrs but all this "techy stuff" is not my comfort zone but know in order to stay ahead of the competition I have to. So I thank you for your quality blogs vs your quantity blogs. Keep up the awesome work.

Great post. I'm gonna have to look into how to automate my blog...

Excellent advice! Am off to check into your various suggestions -- appreciated you sharing.

Brad, I have set up a blog distribution through MyBlogLog, but I got to check out Facebook. I had no idea you could do that through FaceBook!!! Thanks for another informative post.

Great information I often struggle myself to find quality content.

Brad, thanks again for sharing your expertise with us. I feed my blog to Facebook, but I need to get busy on the other ideas you've shared. I appreciate it!

Ron Popeil....But wait, there's more!!!

Hi Brad, I usually only post 3-4 per week. This week I've been doing more because of the localism thing. I do send my posts to twitter, facebook, mybloglog. I need to start doing emails to more people, guess I figured if they wanted to read that they would sign up for emails notifications.

Hey Brad - I've got it set to automatically feed to Facebook but can it do the same thing for LinkedIn? Just wondering! Thanks!

~Renae

Frank - You hit on a key point. The frequency of posting really comes down to what works for you. I don't think it's so much about frequency but more about quality of content.

David: Thanks. You're too kind.

Pat: Thanks! Mana: There are actually a few facebook apps that allow this. Try it out it's pretty easy.

Jeremy: Classic! I should have incorporated that phase into my blog post!

Missy: Glad to see that you are taking advantage of automation!

Renae: No. LinkedIn does not have the ability for you to add your RSS feed.

You have motivated me to step mine up to the next level. I have been putting off needed upgrades.

Aloha Brad,

Thank you for your pearls of wisdom. The automation advantage makes great marketing sense. I really like your link buttons they look sharp!

Peace,

Brad, I see where I agree with you. but I did not like english class and I do pretty good with flying off my cuff and I do read good information from others that write little blurps. But then on the other hand I love reading your blogs that are full of learning information. I believe we need both types.

Please keep them coming.

Brad,

It seems when reading your posts I experience information overload. Wow! You're far ahead of the curve.

Brad, if you distribute your post to so many different sources, you may reach more audience but don't you lose some of your "Google Juice"? aj

Brad, as always, you provide much detailed information. I belong to all of the social networks you mention - plus; however, NOW I need to figure out how to automatically share. I typically copy and paste into my non-AR blog, and my website blog.....;-)

I also don't always post a lot here.....but get decent result when I do. ;-)

Susan: I think quality content can come in the form of short blubs or long crafted post. I think it’s more about the quality of the information. Like you, I hated English class. I never would have thought I would actually enjoy writing!

AJ: Just the opposite. It can actually help gain Google Juice if implemented correctly! That’s because all of the links are pointing back to one authoritative source.

I like your approach. I wish I had the time to learn all the things you mentioned and perhaps I will soon. You did mention one of my pet peeves. I subscribe to you and several others and I hate it when they churn out more than one blog a day. One a day is enough and as you say, perhaps too much.

I've always believed that quality trumps quantity in most things in life. A good small piece of dark chocolate is better than a Hershey Bar!

Great ideas, Brad. Quality content attracts business, not 60-word after 60-word post. Anyway, I have work to do, since I am only leveraging my blog posts twice. I need to get working on the 6 other ways you outlined.

Kelly said, "A good small piece of dark chocolate is better than a Hershey Bar!

That is SO true - and hilarious at the same time!

~Renae

I don't send out an email (partly because I post every day) and I think I need to tweak FaceBook some more... but I have the rest of it covered. And it IS very important. I see with my analytics that my traffic comes from a variety... and RSS feeds. We have to cover all of the options.

Thanks for the post Brad.

You always have great posts loaded w/ info.

AUG

2008

Congrats on the gold star Brad!

Brad,

I know the level of your work since the time I met you and your dad at Michael Russer's 3 day bootcamp in Chicago 3 years ago (I think). Very good post.

The trouble with the quality vs quantity is that you can easily measure the former, but not the latter. The whole AR landscape would have changed, if quality was to reign.

But your stuff was and is of terrific quality.l Thank you for that.

This sounds like it is so much more effective than my method and more widespread.

thanks for posting that,,,,that rings true with myself as well.

Networking is not the future it's now. Between all the groups etc I know when I post a blog many people are reading it from all kinds of places

You are so far out there I cannot see your tail. Good information and motivation.

Good information. Always appreciate and enjoy your posts. Thanks.

Great information here. I don't know how some bloggers put out so much in such little time. Will have to figure out how to do some of the stuff you mention here.

Thanks for the great advice. I will bookmark this and see how I can be more effective.

While you provide some good information, and bring up some very good ideas, there is one aspect of this post that I tend to disagree with. If you focus your content on one specific topic or area of expertise, then you are probably right about spacing out the blogs and getting the most bang for your buck (so to speak).

However, if you blog about a variety of topics and use longtail and keywords, there is no reason to take this approach. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your post. If you are looking for dialog and interaction in the form of comments, then allowing the post to live a little longer is good advice. If you are using your blog to reach different people, then this is not necessary, particularly if you are expecting to be found by search engines, and not just regular readers.

For example, I do market reports for several areas. Spacing them out would be impossible, because the data would not be fresh. I don't expect comments on them, but I get some anyway. If someone is searching for their area, they will find it without having to sift through all of my other posts. So to me, it's about reaching your target audience, not just the largest possible audience.

Brad,

As usual, an exemplary post--We can all glean a lot of valuable information from your wisdom.

I think there is a balance between what and when you post. Unfortunately for many AR creates the mentality that you need to post more to stay on top of the pile. As a result some bloggers just post anything in order to get their points and don't worry about the content. I'm some where in between and need to think about what makes more sense.

Brad nice tips. I especially like the idea of not having to go to twitter to update. I just signed up for the feedblitz account.

Quality of the post is an important thing. Though getting your message out there is important

Great post, and very informative. I try to do this as much as possible. Relevant links, unique materials on varied subjectsmake things work, and the phone ring. In the end, they winning hand is content when we compare substance vs. quantity.

Excellent post as always. Brad. And I agree with your premise, quality not quantity!

Agreed...quality is important...now, if we could just write the graphic directions so that we don't have to hire folks to do em we would be in good shape !

I like the idea of automating some of the process and also learn more every time I am here. I also agree with your less is more Idea. I see so many blogs with multiple posts that are irrelevant, filling space or just posted for "points" and most have no comments! Thank you for adding relevant information I can actually use!

Thanks so much for the great info! I'll be looking forward to your future posts.

Pat's comments make so much sense, Brad, and your suggestions are things I need to implement. I just haven't taken the time to better understand these issues.

Brad: I've often wondered how others churn out post after post virtually on a daily basis. It's frustrating because I feel they have a secret I don't know about. But, I do what I can when I can. My focus as I've learned more and more through Active Rain is to write quality posts and that is very time consuming for sure. But I think it is the best way and I learn something to help me improve everyday from folks like you on AR. Thank you.

wait, you mean useless jokes and non-relevant "stories" that give us 200 points don't impress the public? hhmm.. I like reading your blog because it is useful, informative and professional. thx

I so agree with you - there is this lady who "blogs" away aimlessly on a variety of worthless topics. I wonder if she ever gets true leads from her blog?

Brad - Thank you for sharing this. I've been really trying to figure out ways to get more mileage out of the posts I do write. I tend to go in spurts based upon my available time (and energy) and can often go several days between posts.

Brad.... I can see why this was featured... this has been on my mind for some time. I am one that can't crank out a blog in 30 minutes and under 1 hour as so many can. I am like you... think, research, rethink... add good pictures and links.

In regards to how many blogs to write... I stopped writing for almost a month... and I am still getting the same traffic and in some cases, more people to call or e-mail. You hit the nail on the head, quality. My problem was that I was writing about 30 a month and still made sure that 23 to 25 of them were better than good quality... full of info. But then again, some people just blog 10 to 15 times a week to just blog.. makes them feel good or because they want those points.

jeff belonger

Relevance to the industry is key. I also believe that people want to know what an area is like and that is also of great importance.

You hit the nail on the head it is all about CONTENT! What would you like to put out to the world quality or quantity? As agents or business professionals its all about public perception. Mastering your business not just filling time or space with rants. Give quality to get quality, thats just my opinion ;)

Brad,

It's so true that the Internet is overflowing with info and much of it is of dubious value. To stand out and gain maximum mileage, trying to emphasize solid content is the way to go.

AUG

2008

Brad- I like the idea of do it once....now I just have to learn HOW to do this :)

Start Blogging Less???

Hey Brad,

When I read your headline, I thought maybe you had become a blogging heretic! :) However, now that I've read your article, it makes perfect sense. You're just trying to teach us how to take blogging to a higher level. Thanks!

Best regards,

Bruce

This is great information. I would like to know how you get the blog post title to appear on your home page. I think that is pretty neat. I am using the twitter application. I need to research the other things you've mentioned. Great post!

AUG

2008

Thank you Brad for the information. I do over half of what you are doing and I will implement more because of this post, thank you. Must figure out the home page link however.

Brad...............I'm not worthy! I'm going to go find my daughter to help me figure all of your tips out. Thanks for your efforts.

Brad, thanks for sharing this information with everyone. Informative and interesting. We need to check into all of this.

Good luck, Carole Lhuillier

Keller Williams Realty

AUG

2008

Brad,

I so enjoy your posts. So many ideas...so little time.

Syndication is key when it comes to blogging...I'm just starting to realize this, and striving to implement it on multiple levels. I will check out all the resources you listed & linked to in your post, and hopefully one day I can get this process as automated as you have. Great post.

-Peter H.

Good post, I have been trying to link a number of different communities. Is there a list that someone has created that shows the sites that will allow auto syndication?

Great point about quality content Brad. I think you're right and you should get 10 times as many points for quality blogs that are completely unique instead of information overload for everyone!

AUG

2008

Hello Brad, thanks for sharing how you you automate your blogging activity. Decades ago I worked for GTE and my boss would think we "Just Pushed the Button" and it got done! Little did he know! John

SEP

2008

this is very helpful. Can I just borrow your brain for a day so I can get caught up? :-)

SEP

2008

So much in this one little post, thank you! Yeah, I may need to borrow your brain too!

NOV

2008

I guess I do blog less. I really don't have a story to tell each day. When I do decide to write it usually isn't just about nothing. I want my readers to subscribe. People get bored pretty quick.

Quality is important, but many use it for fun too. They deal with matters that research and precision doesn't matter. Yet you may to a great blog on a subject that takes a lot of focus to produce. It is all a matter of what you want, I guess.

Richard

AUG

I need to revisit this post again and see if I can figure out how to make more things automated. Thank you.

AUG

Hi Brad...It was great seeing you all at REBARCAMP in Va Beach, Va in July! One question about automated content distribution. I am still not as tech savvy as I would like to be but here goes my tech question....let's say I take Ron Popeil's advice and set up several automated functions that works with the social media you mentioned in your post, then if I continued to blog say.....everyday or every other day than wouldn't this cause a bit of overexposure? I'm just asking as I'm trying to figure out how to automate some of these processes without losing my mind...your help is appreciated!

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