10 Lessons Learned from Writing Localism Posts

Great post!

One minor quibble with lesson number three..we have  earned a client's business via a Localism post.

Debbie, I have done a few neighborhood posts and still get calls on 3-4 year old posts.

I get those kind of things when I post on a local business, park or activity.  However, I also use Localism to post my Market Reports and Real Estate Reports on that community.

I had a caller contact me regarding the Cape Coral New Resident Club.  I had written a post on it and when they googled it they found my post.  Unfortunately for me, they had just closed on the home they purchased here with another real estate agent.

Smiling as I read your 10 lessons, my wife gets some of the funniest calls about her localism posts. Are they still selling the Christmas trees this year? or What time does the festival start? What has amazed me is she has been patient and enjoyed providing the service and answers when she can, and generates a surprising amount of goodwill. She has tried to teach me that if you are going to provide the localism posts, you have to react well to the interest of others and be happy to play along.

Hi Debbie,

I just got one of those calls the other day. I make chocolate covered strawberries for my open houses. Your know, Berry/Barry. I help promote the local strawberry cart/truck who sells  fresh picked strawberries from local farmers, and I got a call from someone wanting long stem strawberries. I even created a webpage for him and a URL too. He helps me by handing out my  advertising material which has recipes for making Chocolate covered strawberries and other strawberry related recipes. 

I got the two together.

I also do local restaurant reviews on my website, and I get calls at least once a month.

I like your take on the whole thing. 

http://www.trooprealtors.com/Simi-Valley-Strawberry-Stands

Great points ALL!  Thanks for sharing... :-) Also got lots of good ideas from the comments...

Very good points. It does help to be recognized in all types of ways.

What a fabulous post.  I hadn't thought of a 'localism' post on my blog.  Thank you for sharing the idea!  BTW, ourDungeness crab was deemed "safe" to eat finally!  We were hit by El Nino's warming waters and a toxic algae that the crab were exposed to. Back to crab here!

Blogs are long lasting for sure.  I was getting tenant inquiry calls from posts 3 years after I retired.  

Exactly! Blog and they will call. 

Good one Debbie. My experience matches yours...Local posts last forever and are the best way to reach the selling and buying public. 

Localism posts can bring calls totallu unrelated to real estate, but on the other hand they are a good way to showcase your knowledge (and get found on Google by those researching neighborhoods and amenities) and learn more about the community. Depending on the topic some are more timeless than others. I have one post I wrote about 6 years ago and I probably get a half dozen calls from it every year. Too bad it's not one of the community posts!

Jeff

I bet you had a chuckle over that phone call!  I get those, too and I often wonder which post they saw or found online?!  Localism posts are good for consumers to find information.  Good for you!

I'll now think of you as the crab leg queen - and you can think of me as a goat herd! I wrote a post years ago about the goats used to eat weeds in the hills of Redwood City and elsewhere as a fire abatement method, and have received at least 2 calls from people wanting to rent my goats.

Hi Debbie, I love to write those Localism posts, in fact those where the very first ones that I wrote in the Rain. Yes, You do get all those calls not related to real estate. I had a parent call me once to ask if I was till giving away FREE school supplies, when I wrote a Localism posts about the annual event where sponsors provided kids with school supplies.

I do like your idea of not leaving a phone number in your post, but leaving a link to your website instead.

Good point, Debbie Reynolds, in only including a phone number on the neighborhood or marketing posts.  

I like to write localism posts. I want to be known as the local expert and the go to gal. I also want phone calls for business, not for the hours of operation of a local business. You've got to take the good with the bad with localism posts!

I really don't know how I missed this post last year but, regardless, it's certainly timely!  I love my city so, like you, I LOVE writing about it!  It's something that is so very easy to do and these are the posts that definitely make your phone ring!  

Have a great week, Debbie Reynolds!