Hi All,
Well, as I am acutely aware, the launch of the Project Blogger contest is a mere 4 days away...96 hours...5,760 minutes...345,600 seconds... but who's counting? Among other things, I have been agonizing on what to name my baby blog, Madison, Matthew, Jennifer and Jason all have their appeal but I think they might be a bit overused now, don't you? Seriously, there is way more that goes into the creation of these things than I realized.
I know you may find this hard to believe, but until late last night I hadn't fully realized what I had gotten myself into. I naively thought that my blogging would be conducted here on Active Rain alone. If I had really thought about it I would have realized that there was no way that would work. How can you optimize a site you don't own? Duh! I had also not realized that there would be a financial investment as well. Mind you, I am not complaining, but I am woefully unprepared. The investment is not huge, actually from what I have learned during my research today, it should cost less than the postage alone would for one mailing to my 500 home farm. Still, I had not budgeted for it, and one of the tenets of "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" (written by Gary Keller and Dave Jenks, a wonderful book I highly recommend to everyone, regardless of which company you work for) and of Keller Williams Realty is "Lead with revenue". So, I shall need to redistribute funds to ensure that I don't stray too far from the model.
As for the naming conundrum, not only does the name need to convey some information about what the site offers, it also has to "taste good" to the search engines and I need to like it. I have considered everything from the truly esoteric like "Yello Bombazine" to the way too specific "The Site For People Who Want To Buy Or Sell A Home In Southern California Using A Realtor Named Tisza". The former I think may be asking a bit too much of my future audience and the latter is, well, pretty dumb. I mean, really, if someone were to ask that specific question they probably don't need to visit my Real Estate Marketing blog now do they?
I do have some ideas that I am toying with and I will happily announce the name as soon as I have purchased the domains and space. Yes, I did say domains. Another thing that I had not really thought about, but during my conversation with my coach Drew (who TOTALLY ROCKS! by the way) he pointed out that I need to own every permutation. He shared with me that his company owns hundreds of versions of their domain name as extra insurance so that if you are looking for them, you will be able to find them. It does mean, however, that the name selected will need to be bought as a .com, .net, .org... you get the idea. If anyone is playing along with the contest, I would highly suggest that you do the same thing when you decide "whatcha' gonna call it".
I also need to start thinking about not only what I want to say, but why I want to say it. I did go pick up a copy of the book "Realty Blogging" by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney at my local Borders tonight (Ya gotta love 30% off coupons. If you ever buy books or magazines and you aren't already a member of their Border's Rewards club, you really should be. It costs nothing to join, kind of like the grocery store versions, and they send you coupons in your email several times a month, sweet.).
Anyone who thinks that I am entering this competition with some huge advantage should really think again. Sure, the ability to string words together in, what I hope is a readable and entertaining fashion is very beneficial, that is not the only skill necessary here. If it were, I would not be quite as worried (oh, I would still be worried, mind you, as I have read what some of the others have written and feel that we are all pretty evenly matched)because that is something I know I can do. But this competition is not just about the content, it is about the whole package. What goes on in front of the camera and what goes on behind. Fortunately, I take direction pretty well and have always been a pick-the-ball-up-and-run-with-it kind of girl. Actually, I am more of a decide-there-should-be-a-ball-but-I-don't-have-one-so-I-will-make-one-and-while-I-am-at-it-I-will-plant-the-grass-build-the-stadium-and-sell-the-hotdogs-too kind of girl.
One of the main things that has helped me keep from dissolving into a pool of jelly at the thought of how daunting the task ahead may well be, is how helpful, supportive and giving this community has been to me since the day I arrived. From the first kind words posted on my very first ever blog, to the encouragement, suggestions and support shared with me and everyone else at the same time (ah, the beauty of the public forum), this has been a journey that I am so grateful to have undertaken.
I promise to share this adventure with everyone who wishes to come along. I will share the triumphs and the travails so that we can all learn together. Hopefully, by contest's end there should be way more than a dozen or so new and successful Real Estate Blogging sites, there should be thousand's. Also, if anyone has questions about the process, or anything else for that matter, please feel free to ask. Don't be shy, we're all friends here!
Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!
Tisza
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