Blogs Better Than Newsletters

Depends on the objective.  I agree with most of the points made.  However, to me, blogs & newsletters are aimed at different audiences & purposes. Newsletters are sent to a 'passive' audience. Blogs on the otherhand are interactive and people read/subscribe/comment on blogs proactively. 

A few items I disagree on are:

Build Trust/Your Voice - in respects to pre-made newsletters, I agree.  But, people do create their own.

Timing of interests - it never hurts to remind & plant seeds.  If  leaving it solely to when they happen to be in the mood to go blogging, opportunities may be missed.

Blogs are free - some are free, some cost.  But, all blogs require investment by the author - time, knowledge, research - and there's value to that. 

As a rookie blogger, I do have to admit that I am addicted to blogging.  I feel like I have to speak my mind onto a blog every single day.  This is the first time I have blogged and I never knew there were others out there that cost money.  Keep blogging and let it rain, let it rain.

That is interesting, Jason. I have never really seen the value in the newsletters and, as for blogging, I see it more as a chance to put some of my thoughts down in writing... a diary, if you will. As for the 'cost'? Time is money and blogging definitely takes time.

Blogs certainly are diverse, we can poke around and find topics that interest us, rather than be told what is important.

Of course I wonder if we get so fine tuned to what interests us we exclude other information that we should know? 

As real estate brokers/agents it's probably better to be well rounded, we have to deal with so many personalities diferent than our own.

Are bananas better than plums?  They're just different. The same with blogs and newspapers - one isn't better than the other, they're different.  Some people read the newspaper when it's printed, and others prefer online.

Blogs are the next wave. I enjoy reading blogs more than newspapers. I find them more interesting. Good stuff Jason!

I say that news letters cost money, time and may or may not be read.

Blogs are free, also take time, and may or may not be read.

The initial difference is cost.

However, blogs, if used right, can generate leads to your website from people who really do want to be there.  With that, I will take the blog over the newsletter (if I have to choose between the two). 

We send out newsletters only to real estate professionals that we already work with.  They don't get thrown away.  Otherwise, we stick to human to human contact.

I am new to blogging andI am still trying to figure out the concept, I do know that if you want to get upfront and start to market your farm area the best way i found is post cards and newletters. What a better way to break the ice with that homeowner , when they are holding your newsletter in thier hand, I remember my mentor telling me that real estate is a number game , you will never get them all , but a few who know you by name and reputation makes good sense to me.

Lotrs of newsletters are just "fill in the blank" templates.  A lot of ourselves comes out in a blog - and I believe it's less work!

Hi! I love your quick to the point list here. I agree with what you are saying and I just wrote a post about the benefits of blogging. I think what you've written here provides a great perspective on that and I included a link to your article. You can see it here. Just thought you may like to know that what you wrote was referenced in another post.

Jason, I'm new to blogging so I really appreciate your list.  Even though I'm new, I'd say that both newsletters and blogging have a different audience...and not just in size. I like the "opt-in" feature and nearly limitless potential audience of the blog.  Also, it has a life-cycle well beyond the posting date...which is not true of most newsletters. You wrote your post on this some time ago but having just joined AR, it's fresh material to me. It does seem to take quite a bit of time and dedication although I hope that's just my learning curve. I can see I'll have to be disciplined about it... 

 

Hi Jason,

You make some very good points on Blogging.  I don't know if I would want to hire someone else to write my blogs for me, since I like to share my thoughts and my perspectives with people.  However, if nothing else, blogging helps your communication process.  You benefir especially when you do a lot of public speakng or trainng like I am doing more and more these days.  This is especially true when you read your writing out loud.  It is amazing how much we can miss when we do not.  Thanks for sharing!