Are you a newbie? Maybe you're familiar with blogging but you don't think you have the time or maybe the know how or maybe it's a bit daunting. You'd like to take advantage of blogging but are not sure where to start. As TJ McCue says, "it's not an all or nothing proposition." Much like a calling in to a talk radio show can sometimes lead to a career in Radio, commenting on blogs is a great way to create content in digetstable chunks as well as build your visibility through others. Here's a few tips:
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Pick a few keywords or terms related to your area of expertise. Then visit a Web site like Nichebot to see which similar words pop up most often in online searches. Ideally, you would pick a set of blogs that are popular to comment on. Newspapers now offer comment lines, so this is a good place to start for Realtors. In addition, Online Forums like Zillow's allow you to create a voice. Over time, if consistent, you'll have a voice and a community of readers. When you DO blog, you'll have the most important element, READERSHIP.
2. DIGG IT, visit Digg.com to see what's stirring other people on and comment there. It's a great general blogging site. Use the results at Google Blog Search or Technorati to create a list of relevant and popular blogs. Active Rain is a great place too. Click on Featured people (not featured blog posts) and see their tags. They are aiming for certain things.
3. Read what you are interested in, and begin commenting when you have something to add to the conversation. In other words, pick and choose. You're right, you don't have time to waste by posting, "GREAT POST." Those type of comments are like a bad spam drip campaign. Try to make your comments insightful. It'll help the blogger keep a conversation going and it'll help people respect your opinion when done over time.
4. Subscribe or Set up search alerts using a tool like Google Alerts so you know when new posts appear at your favorite blogs. You can decide how often you want to be notified, so you don't have to worry about being bombarded with alerts. Subscribe to blogs and get alerted whenever a new post happens. Most Real Estate websites have these features. Trulia, Zillow, most forums and of course, Active Rain.
5. Keep track of your various comments and how others respond by tracking them with Co-Comment. Keep in mind that the conversation may take a turn, it helps if you read others comments.
If you're on Active Rain, then make sure your Profile is filled out, otherwise, try to link back to a profile on other blogs. Try to keep your link as non advertisial as possible. As a Realtor, I do not appreciate it when another Realtor from my area links to their website.
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