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Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blog Archives

Balanced Bloggers Spin Timeless Classics

What are the timeless classics that live in the archives of your blog? Your blog should be well stocked with a Spin Timeless Classics that will Rock your Blog Archives variety of posts that will rock the prose of time. As you look through your blog can you pull out a dozen or more posts that a real estate buyer or seller can turn to for advice, inspiration, or information?

If your mission in blogging is to educate homeowners or buyers I bet you can find these posts.

Once you spin some timeless classics on your blog take these steps to gain traction and mileage from your hard work.

Keep your posts that have a shelf life clearly labeled in your archives and make them easy to find for your blog visitors.
Repurpose the content from these posts in your newsletters or on your website in lieu of the boring canned copy that comes with some websites on topics like relocation or first time home buyer tips.
Syndicate these posts to article directories.
Create a lens on Squidoo for post topics that will be part of an ongoing series on your blog.

Are you stuck on ideas for timeless post topics? Take a look through this list of 101 Real Estate Blog Topics Teresa Boardman wrote for the Real Estate Tomato in 2007 and your sure to get your blog gears grinding.

I went through my own blog and dug up a consumer post I wrote last April as an example.

Adieu.

** UPDATE: YOU CAN ALSO REPURPOSE YOUR POSTS INTO AN EBOOK IF YOU HAVE WRITTEN SEVERAL POSTS ON ONE TOPIC**

**UPDATE #2- A COMMENTOR, BORINO OF EXPIRED PLUS, NOTED WETPAINT, WEEBLY, AND HUBPAGES FOR ADDITIONAL SEARCH ENGINE EXPOSURE**
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Your real estate dream can become your reality

I was thinking last night about the first time I bought a house. Maybe it was because on one of the real estate forums I was browsing, I stumbled across a remark on a real estate forum that made my bleary eyes blink at midnight,

"Please convince me to buy a house".

It made me take a trip down memory lane to my first home buying experience. I was 22 years old and had been renting a townhome from the real estate attorney I worked for. My fiance and I were looking for room to grow and he was feeling the pains of non-homeownership kick in. If you have ever rented, you know what I mean: "Why am I paying someone else instead of paying myself?", "If I do any home improvements, the rewards are going to go in my landlord's pocket and not mine", "Working nine to five for zero return isn't all it's cracked up to be.", etc.

Are you feeling me?

I wanted a place to call home. My homeownership pains were not the same. I wanted a house for room for my impending family to Home_sweet_home grow. I wanted a nice back yard for my kids to run around in and to fulfill a desire to learn how to garden and make things bloom. I longed for a space I could call my own and to be a true ruler of my destiny. To me, buying a house would mark a milestone and the beginning of the lifestyle I desired.

I got on the phone and called a local real estate agent I found in a newspaper advertisement. She agreed to take me around to see houses that weekend. I gave her my unchangeable criteria: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a yard. I also gave her some "would be nice if I could get it" features: a fireplace, a bathroom in the master bedroom, a fence around my yard.

I also told her if the house needed a little work in the way of updating, that would be OK. Well, my house hunting trip was devastating. I went alone, armed with my camera to show my fiance pictures of the gems that awaited us. After 10 houses, I was convinced that within my price range, there was nothing. I visited houses where the basements had flooded and the smell of mold was pungent to the point of distraction.

I visited houses that appeared nice on the outside but on the inside they looked like a war-torn, third-world country. I visited one house in which the ceilings were no more than 6 1/2 feet high, let alone the ceilings in the loft, where I had to bend down so my head didn't go through the ceiling.

It took me a year after that first house hunting trip to get back in the saddle and try again.

This time, I chose a real estate agent who was referred to me.
This time, I waited until my fiance didn't have to work so I would have some strong shoulders to support me, should I experience the same trip down house hunting lane again.
This time, I discussed my needs and wants in explicit detail. I also emphasized that the need for new carpeting and cosmetic updating were fine, but I was not satisfied with a house that looked like it had been dropped by a tornado in the Wizard of Oz. If that's all my money could buy me, I would just sit out this wave and wait for a better one.

I did end up purchasing a house that year.

My price range was the same. My needs were the same as two years ago. What changed was that I was more educated. I worked hand in hand with a local real estate agent I had been referred to and pre-screened. I did some homework on the Internet to get a feel for the real estate listings in my price range. I asked my real estate agent to send me only listings that met my criteria and not ones that could only possibly make the cut--this meant nothing above my price range and absolutely no wayward houses.

The house we settled into to build a family did have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It did have a yard with a fence. The master bedroom did have a bathroom. I also got my fireplace and a bonus, a screened-in porch.

"The impossible quest can be your possible reality."

If I were writing back to the real estate buyer in the forum, this is what I would say.

"Although home prices in some real estate markets throughout the country have dropped, they may still seem higher than what you want to pay. You may be harboring fears about whether you will lose your shirt because you think you should wait until it has been declared that the real estate market has bottomed out. Or, the good deal you are asking for seems to lead you to REOs and foreclosures that make your heart heavy.

Ditch your dread and start getting an education. The right investment for you is a personal decision. It is about your personal finances, your personal needs and yes, your personal desires. Research house listings for sale online. Prescreen and interview local real estate agents until you find one who will listen and offer honest feedback.

Choose to invest in your dream by investing in yourself. The journey is much easier when you have the right support on your side.

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Posted by Rebecca Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant on 03/17/2009 07:00 PM

Comments (45)

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Originally posted at: Real Estate Marketing Drips: Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blog Archives

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45 Comments on Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blog Archives

MAR

Rebecca, thanks for the ideas on how to keep those favorite and more timely blog posts fresh and easy to find.

Mike

Rebecca --- thanks --- you are always full of great information. You are my idol ---I am recommending this post for a feature. It is terrific.

Mama Liz's Signature

I'll have to check out Squidoo, thank you so much for a to-do reminder!

Rebecca, nice theme for this post, along with the excellent content. You're still rocking out from all that dancing right? Happy St. Pat's Day. Party on!

MAR

Mike,

I hope you enjoyed them

Liz,

You are so sweet thank you.

Janie,

I am good with to do lists, lol, but only as long as they can bear fruit. They need to be productive.

Charlie,

Yup you bet. I love the to boogie.

Rebecca........great ideas! I am having a blast getting more into posting and any new ideas are very much appreciated!

Anna Banana, Phoenix AZ

Rebecca, terrific tips. Syndicate to article directories and create a lenses on Squidoo. Never thought of that (and I think of lot of stuff ;-)

Thanks for the tip. BTW, couple of other sites (a bit similar to Squidoo) are coming up more and more on Google. So if SEO is important, check out Hubpages, WetPaint and Weebly.

Borino

www.ExpiredPlus.com

Good stuff Rebecca. One day I need to go thru and organize my older posts. They're out of control!

Thanks Rebecca, I didn't know of Squidoo. I'm often using my localism posts about certain neighborhoods and areas in emails to new customers to give the added info. Works great!

WOW, Rebecca thanks for all the information... I have to spend some time looking at my old blogs.

Rebecca - a nice reminder to go back and search through the old archives for some of our better posts. I may have 1 or 2. The one you shared with us was an especially good one for new buyers to read - I suspect many have had similar experiences.

Jeff

There are so many things to write about and we do have some doozies that we have written

Thank you for the information Rebecca. I always find your posts very informative and helpful. Keep up the good work.

Cool, thanks for posting this and also for making it easy to understand and actually use. I have a squidoo account so will try that too!

Hi Rebecca, thank you for posting this. Although I don't have that many posts, I should probably start organizing them now. I need to do a search on AR for Squidoo to figure it out.

Thanks for the information. Organization is good stuff!

Nice spin. You always do a good job of bring people in.....and you have them (me) hooked........

Cool ideas Rebecca. I will have to start digging through all of mine to find these top blogs.

The drawback of having 1000+ posts on multiple platforms is that there is a LOT to go back through... I have 2 or 3 posts that are pretty good, though.

This is a great post full of useful information. Just wondering if you can expound further on syndicating your posts. I'll be back for the answer. Thanks.

Thank you for the recommendation. I need to go take a look at Squidoo as I'm not familiar with it.

MAR

You must be a mind reader. I have the creativity of an ant, so this just got my wheels turning. Thank you so much for all of the great ideas and tips. I loved your "spin" on this.

Anna- Blogging can be fun glad you are having some.

Borino- Thank you. I do use weebly and actually have a paid account for that site. I have Hubpages on a list to check out, now I will do that even sooner. I'll add wetpaint to the list.

Bryant- I have to do that too.

Silvia- Yes absolutely might as well, you have created the work already.

Donna- There's gold in those posts.

Jeff- I am sure you have more than a dozen. Yes there are some posts that are just as relevant a year or two ago as they are today.

Russ- Exactly so you should get full mileage out of your work.

Jerry- That is my goal so thank you.

Russell- Your welcome glad to see you will make use out of Squidoo.

Zilkia- I think you'll probably find a post on Squidoo in Katerina Gassett's blog.

Sandy- Absolutely right.

Tim- Thank you...I hope to be a great blogging dj:-)

Larry- Seasonal advice is good as well as timeless tips. Happy Digging.

Lane- LOL- Then you might want to write an ebook or two or three cause I am certain you have more than a couple timeless posts.

Joan- Absolutely. Just as a writer might write a column and the AP(Associated Press) picks it up from which newspapers then pull those articles it's the same concept. You want to get mileage out of your timeless content.

So if you have a post series on say, the short sale process, you can write a squidoo lens, or a hubpages or weebly or wetpaint page. THEN you can build a page showing you as having knowledge (being an expert) on this topic and include links to all of these posts. I would make sure to go back and make sure the posts are fresh- check grammar, spelling, your style (you might find ways to change it that you might not have back when you wrote it that will improve it's readability), your links inbound and outbound, etc.

Also, you can create articles from the content of these posts and submit them to directories where others can use them (applying original credit back to you)

Christine- Squidoo is user friendly and was created by Seth Godin.

Elizabeth- Glad the wheels are grinding from this go for it:-)

Hi Rebecca: Keeping everything organized is one of the hardest things for me. Sometimes I go back and tweak one area only to find another out of kilter. Sometimes I have to let go! Hey congrats on your 100K milestone!

Rebecca - These are some terrific ideas, some of which I have had in mind for awhile (like the e-book). I hope you're having a great week!

Rebecca,

This is a great line, "Choose to invest in your dream by investing in yourself. The journey is much easier when you have the right support on your side."

I have always felt this way and the current economy is further evidence of this. :)

Very nice post, put a smile on my face today

Hi Rebecca -

As usual you are right on the money!!!! Very good Blog and solid suggestion which can be implemented pronto.

Cheers

Thanks for some great advice.

Hi Rebecca, I'm new to blogging and am still not sure where to start. Needless to say I don't have any oldies but goodies to draw from but I want to learn from those of you have done this for a while. I've been a Realtor for 16 years and sure have lots of stories to tell but not sure anyone would be interested. That's what keeps me from doing it. Any suggestions?

MAR

Rebecca, You always come up with great ideas. Do you know of a good way to find your members only post? Ever once in a while I want to dig one back up for someone and it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

MAR

Rebecca - terrific tips and advice - funny isn't it that sometimes all we need to do is look back at our previous posts to find other ways of sharing that information in other places. I think it's so important to have a "toolbox" of posts organized by topic for our readers and practice this on my blog and website. I also love and use Squidoo a lot to help promote information and services and the google juice is amazing! ~Anne Marie

MAR

Gail- Thank you. Yes a blog is like a work in progress for sure. It's like the manuscript that never had a final editing and it was published and edited, published and edited. Blogs are so fantastic in that way. A growing body of work.

Jason- Thank you, it's nice to put them all down in a blog. The ebook was actually from a post I was going to write last year- lol.

Mark- Absolutely. Sometimes it really does take a village or at least a few good support beams:-)

JR- I love smiles.

FreddyT3- Might as well work what you got? Why not:-)

Irene- Thank you for coming by.

Gayle- Exactly the point:-) You have been a REALTOR for 16 years= Experience.

Stories to tell= Food for posts.

Likely interest level= High.

Start writing a few topics to start and then when you have a topic you feel you can write about, give it a go:-)

Marchel- Good question. In looking at my home page options I didn't see anything. My thought is, since members only posts have the no follow tags why not notate your members only posts, so if this post were members only it would read,

Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blogs Archives (members only)

That way when you logged into your statistics you would be able to easily spot them out of the sea of posts. You could also tag them members only for your archives.

So no easy advice going backward, but hopefully some good advice moving forward.

Anne Marie- A toolbox of posts is a good way to put it. It's nice that you don't always have to do double work. A blog can serve as a reference point and resource for many projects.

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