It's official, the blog has become mainstream.

So much so if you don't have one you can actually be doing damage to your brand, and let your competition pass you by.

Since there is only a finite amount of buyers and sellers out there, why should you give other agents a head start?

Your blog is a great way to get warm leads and bring in potential clients.

The good news is your real estate blog is pretty easy to get started. The bad news is it's even easier to screw up.

Don't let that happen!

Follow these tips and take your blog from "blah" to "let me get this agent on the phone!"

Post Consistently (and Often)

That doesn't mean you have to post on a daily basis, but be consistent about when you do post.

Ideally, you want to post at least once a week on the same day.

Thursdays is great, Sundays is fine, but whichever you day you do pick, stick to it.

Why? Because once you start getting some readers they are going to know that you post on Tuesdays, so Tuesday they will arrive. And if there is no blog, then you might have lost them.

Sucks, right?

But it's true.

Think of your own experiences, have you loved a blog that posted every Monday and Friday only to show up on Friday afternoon and notice there isn't a post? How often did you go back to that site? Chances are not as often as you used to.

It takes a bit more effort and commitment to be consistent, but after time it is totally going to pay off.

Provide Great Content

This one seems really, painfully, obvious. But it's not!

Do you know how many blogs out there post really crappy content? A lot.

What I mean by good content is something that does two things:

First, it actually helps your reader. It gives them good information, advice or knowledge.

Maybe a post about the ins and outs of VA loans, or things to look out for on PMI insurance, or ways to get your house ready to be put on the market would all be great examples of blog posts that your readers (clients) will appreciate because they provide good value.

The second thing you need is trust.

That comes from step one, providing great content.

When you write content that is good, and your clients get something out of it, then they start to trust in you. That can do nothing but help build your business and brand.

Readers who trust you will want to work with you, makes life much easier, doesn't it?

Understand Your Target Audience

It may not make sense to many real estate agents, but zeroing in on a target audience where you are seen as an expert is a really good idea.

Your blog can help establish you as an expert pretty quickly and get potential clients coming back to your site again and again.

If you want to be the first time home buyer expert in your area, make that the point of your blog.

If you want to be the golf course condo pro, then tailor all your content to that.

If you want to be the guru of luxury high end apartments in your city, you can come up with plenty of things to write about.

Always remember to keep your target audience in mind when you are writing these posts.

And, keep in mind, the added benefit to this is it provides major help with your SEO. Not a bad consolation prize, right?