Re-inventing the real estate blog with listings

Dont let your blog get bloated with tools that simply wont work to build your business. It is just as easy to embed quality, real estate tools directly into your blog as it is to install a plugin that has little to no business value.

You know the blog. The one with every cool bell and whistle, the one you love to visit and hate to leave. The blog that is perfect in every way except for that one annoying flaw... it takes an eternity to load. And... wait for it... when you really think about it, all those cool bells and whistles are completely useless to the real estate market. Hey, it happens to best of us. We think, wow, this MyBlogLog plugin is cool and Meebo is neat and videos and podcasts are a must and oh yeah, Feedburner and tag clouds would look great right over here... Basically, the list just goes on and on until your blog has picked up some serious wait when loading, looks cluttered to the naked eye and most importantly, a bunch of tools that do not have a direct impact on your real estate business.

How to make wise value added feature and plugin decisions:

Before you install your next plugin, ask yourself if it will help you increase traffic, improve the user experience or help to generate leads. If the answer is "no" or "I dont know" do not install it.
Think about what tools and information buyers and sellers in your area are really looking for. Then, look for plugins that satisfy those needs. March to your own drummer. You dont need to be part of the "in" crowd and install the plugins everyone else has.

Rule of thumb: If you wouldnt want it on your website, then it doesnt belong on your blog.

If you cant find a plugin or widget that does what you need, ask your developer to embed the tools you already have on your website into your blog so you can provide users with a consistent and robust experience. Specifically, use your IDX search and CMA lead generator tool. While not all blogs make that process as easy as RSS Pieces, most open source blogs can be modified to accommodate this. It is just a matter of finding the right programmer.

So, what is "hot" and useful for real estate blogs?

Laurie Mannys blog over at Long Beach Real Estate Home: Check out how the community reports, IDX search and school tools are embedded right into the blog and a very web 2.0 CMA lead generator to give it a robust and useful tool set that appeals to people looking to buy and sell real estate in Long Beach.

Kevin Oraks blog at Best of Flagler Real Estate pulls their MLS feed directly so each listing is fully SEOed for better search engine placement while pulling value added Zillow and mapping data on each property. They also have a full IDX search right in their blog as well

Best Homes in Broward uses the Home Values CMA and IDX search to pull in quality leads

The Marriott Groups site, Phoenix Arizona Property Search, has every bell and whistle you can imagine. Market research, Zillow, podcasts, listing searches, feed pulls, a CMA. You name it, its in there. And the best part is, each and every tool is real estate specific!

The X Broker, uses Meebo and video to get his point across and interact directly with his audience. Check out how he easily embedded a WelcomeMat video right into his blog. I like Meebo on Xs and Transparent REs sites because they have positioned their blogs as educational resources and offering readers the ability to directly communicate can help them build their businesses.

Conclusion:

So, what I am saying, is, dont let your blog get bloated with tools that simply wont work to build your business. It is just as easy to embed quality, real estate tools directly into your blog as it is to install a plugin that has little to no business value.

Guide to a successful real estate blog launch
Drive local traffic with reviews and interviews
Learn How To Blog for Real Estate
Feed your real estate blog to the dogs
A Year's Worth of Real Estate Blog Ideas, 3

http://www.rsspieces.com/0004B1

http://www.rsspieces.com/re-inventing-the-real-estate-blog-with-listings

Posted on February 23, 2007 11:09:00

Comment from: David Smith [Visitor]

· http://www.realestatebloglab.com

I'm a little puzzled why you would call a registration form a web 2.0 CMA.

The form I see is the same old "give me your information" form that has been around for a long time.

Most people think of a CMA form as one where you fill in information about the home not just give me your contact information and I'll get back to you.

I don't think the rule of thumb applies. I do a lot of things on the blog I wouldn't do on the website, (ex. post) they are two different tools which function in different ways to produce the same result.

I do like seeing some of the functionality that has typically been on a website begin to appear on blogs, such as CMA forms, IDX searches, etc. The difference between them is becoming less distinctive.

Permalink February 24, 2007 12:43:05

Comment from: Terry Smith [Visitor]

· http://www.planohomesandland.com

Hey Mary,

Thanks for the gentle reminders on gadgets, widgets, etc. I really like the zillow stuff, does that come with your blog site, the other adds ons are other subscriptions? yes? I like your product, but really want to be different from other RE sites, I attribute 4 of my new clients right now from your RE blog. Thank you
Terry

Permalink February 24, 2007 14:12:07

Comment from: admin [Member]

I was speaking in terms of Web 2.0 design, which that form is. It is also not your typical "give me your info form." When you fill it out, it pulls back the Zillow data immediately while also submitting the data to the Realtor. So, behaves differently than most CMA forms.

The idea is to blur the lines between blog and website. I hope more blogs will integrate more useful functionality. I'm just tired of seeing the same old useless plugins out there.

Permalink February 25, 2007 12:15:55

Comment from: Lucy [Visitor]

· http://www.realestatetrendsreport.com/

Good post. Thanks for the tips! Also, blogs tend to be more successful than web sites due to the "human touch" aspect - the fact that writers and readers can interact.

Permalink March 21, 2007 16:07:57

Comment from: Laurie.Manny [Member]

· http://www.longbeachrealestatehome.com

Today my RSSpieces blog is 2 months old and is quickly becoming a raging success. Mary, I cannot thank you enough. Thank you!

Permalink March 29, 2007 05:07:09

Comment from: Paul [Visitor] · http://www.austintowers.net

I manage a site which provides information on downtown condo projects in Austin, Texas and would like to add building specific listings on our feature pages. Do you know of any widgets that can be preprogrammed to provide dynamic listings for units at a specific address? the site is http://www.austintowers.net

Permalink April 27, 2007 21:23:45

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