Blogging Class Notes

Successful Blogs

http://www.425realty.com

Greg Perry’s blog – has generated clients from other parts of the U.S. and even other countries.

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/

Gets nearly 50,000 hits per month.

http://gigharborundressed.neighborhoodsundressed.com/

Started Fall 2007, 14 of his last 18 transactions have come through his blog.

What Makes Them Successful?

1. Consistent blogging – a few times a week.

2. Short articles

3. Photos

4. Local neighborhood & market information

5. Show the agent’s personality

What features should you have on your website or blog?

People want to be able to:

Search for homes
See photos of listings
Learn about neighborhoods, school info, local events
Get the scoop on the home buying and selling market

Consider this: People arrive at your site in different states of mind. Think about how to set up your website so that each person sees something right away and thinks ‘That’s me.’

Try to answer these questions on the main page so that people ‘find their spot’ on your website right away:

Who are you?

A Buyer
A Seller
A Homeowner

What do you need help with?

Home buying
Home selling or staging
Remodeling advice

What are you looking for?

Homes for sale
Information about the market
Information on schools and neighborhoods

Free & Low Cost Blogging Options

www.WordPress.com

www.Blogger.com

www.Typepad.com (low cost, $15 a month)

www.ActiveRain.com – free option, and upgraded blogs for around $18 per month.

Customized Blogs & Websites

www.ToolsForRealEstate.com – I’m working on a low cost, bare bones option that gets you set up with a nice looking functional blog, you input the content.

www.MenWithPens.ca

www.Kristarella.com

www.Bournecreative.com

Social Networking Sites

www.Twitpic.com – Allows you to send photos to your Twitter feed.

The Game Plan

*** Get a blog. Don’t mess around looking for the perfect solution, it’s better to start out with a free blog – you can always transfer the content over to something else later.

It doesn’t have to look like a blog, so figure out if you’re a blogger by nature or not. Do you feel like sharing stuff with your clients a few times a week? If the idea turns you off, use a blog platform to create what looks like a regular website. Set a static page as your home page. You can create other pages (‘About’, ‘Resources’, etc.) without ever having a ‘blog page.’

I personally love WordPress blogs.

www.WordPress.com is where you go to get a free blog that’s hosted by WordPress.

www.WordPress.org is where you can get the actual blogging software and use it for a blogsite that you host yourself. (If you go this route your web designer will take care of that for you.)

You can also use a blog as a website, and have a ‘blog page’, like Jeanne Gorder’s site. But then force yourself to post at least once a week.

Get profiles up on Linkedin and Biznik

Check out Meetup to see if there are groups that interest you, or if you’d like to start a group (i.e., teaching home buyer classes)

*** Get on Facebook, take it seriously, check it at least every 2 days.

Get a handle on blogging and Facebook, and later check out Twitter.

(*** means ‘start with this.’)

Outsource if you’re not getting your social networking profiles done.

Outsourcing

www.Cybertary.com – know the social networking deal, around $50 per site to set up your profile.

www.Odesk.com – has all kinds of providers, post your request and choose someone with good reviews. Usually much cheaper.

Research

The Yahoo Real Estate Guides to consumer behavior online: