This is a continuation of yesterday's post where I'm teaching my able apprentice Ines the fineries of blog copywriting. From her link-only post, I'd say she's a quick study, though I have given a bit more work to do on that score.

Today, I want to share a list of seven blog copywriting posting formats, which come directly from Realty Blogging. I have to confess that these are not original with me, but come from a series of posts on the subject written by blogger extraordinaire Amy Gahran, one of my long-time blogging buddies. She gave us permission to use them in the book and wherever else I please. So, here goes...the seven posting formats...

I. Link-only
Using this format the blogger posts only a link to another blog or website along with a few words of commentary. When blogging was in its formative years, link-only type posts were common. Real estate investor Hanan Levin's blog Grow-a-Brain uses this format extensively, but he is clever enough to add the small nuggets which make you want to read more about what he has posted and which reveal his sense of humor and irony. Here's a sample:

Another blogger, though not a real estate blogger, who uses this format is my good friend, Steve Rubel. Here's a sample of one such post:

II. Link blurb
This is similar to the link-only format with the exception that the added commentary is longer than a sentence or two. Often it is used to explain the value of the link in question.

It’s easy to imagine creating these link lists or blurbs that are relevant to your local community which your readers will come to expect from you on a regular basis.  This creates a blog that is “sticky,” i.e., one that visitors will come back to again and again.  The next time they have a real estate need, whose name have they seen over and over again as a result of your blog having become their local information source – Yours!


III. Brief remark
The brief remark is a blog posting that generally is just 1-3 short paragraphs long. It can contain virtually any kind of content: an observation on current events, an idea, an event announcement, a question for readers, an anecdote, a joke, a description, etc. A good example of this type of blog is The Real Estate Blog written by Fran Vernon and Rowena Emmett. While they use the Link Blurb style as well, this is the style most often in evidence. 

IV. List
A list-format blog posting combines several short items into a single posting. This could be a collection of anecdotes, examples, categories, links or link blurbs, quotes, product recommendations, etc. It also might be a series of instructions for readers to follow. This format is useful when you want to do a "Ten Tips..." or "Five Reasons..." type of post.  One of my favorite examples is Dustin Luther’s  8 Common Mistakes Made by Real Estate Bloggers. (I trust Dustin doesn't mind us referencing him. After all, he is a "competitor" in this competition!)

V. Short article
This category includes any blog posting that runs up to about 300-700 words. Typically, these blog entries are long enough to merit extending off the home page to a separate full-text page, but not so long as to require more than a couple minutes’ reading time. This differentiates short articles from brief remark postings. This is the style I most often note with Active Rainers. You guys have a lot to say!

VI. Long article
These are blog posts extending beyond 700 words. They qualify as a true essay and are much more difficult to write. I don't recommend them unless you feel you need to address a topic in-depth. Because these tend to take on a less conversational tone, they need to be well-written, well-edited and unless your blog is intended as a public policy forum, written as infrequently as possible.  Most blog readers are interested in capturing the message quickly and long involved posts have a tendency to be clicked away from.

VII. Series postings
A series of blog postings is an excellent way to approach almost any topic that is too long for a single post and can be divided into sub-topics. A series is a collection of separate blog postings built around a theme that are posted over time. 

In March 2005, David Smith, founder of the Affordable Housing Institute, wrote a series of posts on the future of New Orleans post-Katrina. The commentary included an extensively researched analysis and quantitative projection of the city in terms of future population and housing. There was so much detail that it would not have been feasible for Smith to include all of it in one post. As such, the content was serialized into three segments entitled New New Orleans: Diagnosis, Prognosis and Prescription.

In similar fashion, in 2004, during the time when blogging was just entering the business sector, I wrote a series of posts entitled “The Future of Blogging in Their Own Words,” which featured interviews with leading voices in the blogosphere at that time such as Steve Rubel and Seth Godin, getting their take on what business blogging might look like in coming years. As you might expect, the commentary was too extensive for one post and so it was turned into a four-part series. (I have to apologize that those posts no longer live, unfortunately. The wisdom contained by those I interviewed is still relevant today.)

That's it, the seven posting formats!

The task before Ines over the next couple of weeks is to compose posts using each of these formats. She is well up to the task at hand too. However, considering it's me she has to work with, you might throw up a little prayer for her. :-)