Can blogging attract sellers?
I think it's possible, but my personal experience is attracting sellers via blogging has been more "accidental" than intentional.
I believe the pool of sellers using the internet to find their next agent is smaller than the buyer pool using the internet.
In most cases, sellers had an agent help them buy their home years ago, and if that agent has kept in touch and did a decent job with the buy side, who do you think is going to get contacted by the sellers?
Now if they don't go back to their last agent, there's a good chance they go to the "neighborhood expert", the name they see on the signs regularly, or direct mails the neighborhood.
Next up, asking friends and family for the name of a good agent.
Somewhere down the list is going to the internet, and once they're there you're competing with portals and other sites "offering help selecting a top agent" aka lead referral sites.
So somewhere down that list is the seller who doesn't use any of the above, or grocery cart signs, or park benches or other assorted advertising meant to keep an agent top of mind.
So personally my experience is that buyers are more easily attracted than sellers. And that's especially true for buyers looking for specific information about specific types of housing or specific places.
And if you can win those buyers as clients, they MAY also come with a house to sell. Succeed with the buy side, earn their trust and your sign is probably the one going up in the yard.
There are times a seller does go direct to the Internet to find their agent. I have a landominium under contract right now, and he sourced us from a web search for his community. That particular blog post/IDX page has been one of our most successful for attracting buyers, so it was nice (especially in THIS market) to have it attract a seller. We got to prove our selling chops with a clearly thought out marketing strategy that achieved its goal of competitive bidding and a top price for our client.
It is possible for blogging to attract sellers, but a lot will depend on your type of market. Here, we're working mostly with primary residences. An area with lots of out of town owners might see a much better response rate blogging to sellers.
What's your experience attracting sellers?
Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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