REBlogGirl: So, let's start this out with a little background on you and your blog. How long have you been in the real estate industry?

I have been in the real estate industry since 9/11/01 - Yes. What a day to start real estate.

REBlogGirl: And when did you start blogging? Where are your various blogs?

I started blogging after reading "Small is the New Big" by Seth Godin, and then being prompted to join Active Rain from an email from Advanced Access. I joined AR, not knowing what blogging really was, Sure, I had a MySpace account, but that doesn't mean anything. I posted a blog/book review on Seth's book, it got featured (??) and, well, the rest is history.

From there, I started a WP blog, which in conjunction with my AR blog, sent a lot of "link love" to my AA site. I started noticing my AR blog and WP blog and even my AA site start to rank for all kinds of interesting keywords, so I decided to take blogging more seriously.

I started a hyper-local niche blog www.LivingInGreenhaven.com that became a hit in my farm neighborhood (Greenhaven) and a sister-site: www.GreenhavenRealEstate.net which was equally as popular.

I researched custom blog platforms for almost a year and decided to hire RSS Pieces to build what I call a Blog Site = part blog, part website.

REBlogGirl: We hear a lot about lead generation and the real estate blog. How has your blog been able to directly generate leads for you? What lead generation system do you use and why?

Okay. I see blogging as a multi-faceted form of lead generation. I get leads because of my blog in several ways.

Indirectly, my blog has pushed my old AA site up to #1 Google rankings for all kinds of great terms in areas outside of Colorado Springs that we also work heavily.

Directly, my blog ranks high for all kinds of great Colorado Springs terms now (for MANY search engines, to include Google, Yahoo!, MSN and others), bringing people in through the search engine portal.

BUYERS: The "keywords" in my blog posts bring my site to the eyeballs on Google, which brings people to my blog, which is where they find the "Search for Homes" button, which they click on and enter my IDX solution, where they look for homes ... which is what they want. They may NEVER actually READ the post that I wrote that brought them to my site. I am okay with that. However, they MAY read the posts, so I DO make sure that the posts I write are high quality and relevant - the whole balance of writing for readers AND search engines...

SELLERS: Sellers are generally looking more for information, so the keywords that take them to my site are a part of an article/post that they will more than likely read. Unlike buyers, they do not want to see homes for sale. They want to find ANSWERS to their home selling questions. The blog posts that I write offer answers to their problems and questions.

I use 1Park Place IDX solution because Mary told me to. And I do whatever Mary tells me to do. J

(And I am very happy with it. More happy than I was with my previous IDX solution. It is clean, easy to use on the consumer side and the back end is SUPER user friendly.)

REBlogGirl: And just to give people an idea of what your net strategy is really doing for you. How much business/leads does your online presence generate each month?

100% of all of our new business (not referrals, not past clients, not friends/family) comes from online. 80% of that new online business is directly from blogging. (And, FYI, we are in the top 10% of our office in productivity, so that is a lot of business.)

And I am not even counting the agent referrals that I get because they found my blog. I get quite a few of those, too.

REBlogGirl: So, in terms of ROI, what makes the online marketing channel so attractive to you and do you find that is a more effective communication channel than traditional print?

We used to be HEAVY into print advertising. We dropped it ALL. Over 80% of all home buyers are online, and online buyers (per NAR) make more money, spend more money, spend less time physically out looking at homes and are happier with their agent. I like THAT buyer.

Furthermore, most home buyers in Colorado Springs are moving here from outside the area. Print advertising doesn't even touch the majority of the buyers that I would work with anyway.

Online, we are able to actually HAVE a conversation ... It starts at Google (or MSN, or Yahoo ...) in the form of a keyword invitation, continues with a blog post, proceeds through emails, graduates into phone conversations, grows into a relationship and blooms into a happy buyer or seller.

Print marketing is sales marketing. I am not a fan of sale people.

REBlogGirl: Obviously, you have really been able to leverage your blog into business. What do you attribute your blogging success to?

My blogging success has to do with the fact that I like blogging almost as much as I like real estate. That is 1^st and foremost. I like what I do.

My success is attributed to these things:

• I love to read. I read any and everything that can make me, my business (and my blogging) better. I know that I have a lot to learn and I love the journey.
• I have friends who blog. I read other re blogs (and other non-re blogs) and get great ideas of things that I can write about.]
• Active Rain was a great place to start. It was a relatively safe place to "practice" blogging and a great "hub" of information for a new blogger. However, you DO need to be careful that you check sources...
• Total plug: RSS Pieces, you specifically, Mary, are a large part of my success. You tell me to do something and I do it. Why? Because every time I do something you say, I get results. Good results, at that! I have NO interest in being an SEO master. Blogging is just a facet of my business. I am a real estate agent, not a professional blogger. You do the blogging research for me and them I just implement it.

It's like hiring a Realtor® vs. going FSBO: I am trusting the person I hire to make my goals a reality instead of wearing a professional hat I have no business wearing.

REBlogGirl: What is the number one thing you would suggest a Realtor just jumping on the blogging bandwagon do?

#1: TIME BLOCK. Blogging can easily eat away at both your career and your life. Then 3 months later when you fizzle out (like most bloggers do) you look up and see your career and family in all kinds of disarray.

I am an avid time-blocker. I make sure that I do not abandon the other money making activities in life, and honestly, blogging is always 2^nd place to family, clients, and sometimes 2^nd place to sleeping ...

#2: IDX and CMA. Make sure that you have prominent "Home Search" and "Home Value" links on your blog. Most people will want those buttons more than your blog. And your job is to give them what they want.

REBlogGirl: One of the things I hear Realtors say all the time is "I don't have time to blog." How do you find the time blog and how much time do you devote to blogging each week.

I don't have time NOT to blog. Honestly, I dedicate about 5-10 hours a week to blogging. Mostly at night and I will also consolidate my time on days when I am not particularly busy. Each person organizes their lives differently. Sometimes I can write a flurry of posts in just a few hours. I can save them and post them when I am too busy to blog.

REBlogGirl: I know you get a lot of search traffic. What do you do to optimize your site and what can you attribute your success in climbing the engines to?

I write articles that PEOPLE want to read, even if they do not read them as I write them. Someday they will. Some of my hottest posts are ones I wrote awhile ago. I also do my best to fit keywords into the post in a way that is not stuffing, but as natural as possible. Additionally, I add custom RSS feeds from my MLS to indexed pages of my blog which helps me rank for all kinds of longtail keywords.

Finally, I am relatively consistent. I aim to post about 3x a week or every 2-3 days. This keeps me looking active to the search engines, and keeps me accountable to not let my blog swim with the fishes...

REBlogGirl: What would be your advice for bloggers, regarding content ideas?

Be creative! But the 2 best types of articles I have found are:

1. Market reports - great for your stat-seeking buyers and sellers. Market reports are guaranteed monthly content generators.
2. Neighborhood reports - great for people looking to relocate. Do little reports (with pictures) on the different areas and subareas in your city.

Do not get caught up in writing too many non RE-related posts or posts for other bloggers, unless they are your target audience. (Some off-topic posts are great! But there is a balance.) Your potential buyer and seller clients do not care about your bad hair day, Active Rain points, HTML, SEO or blog wars. They care about buying homes, selling homes and moving ... and maybe about finding a good Realtor® to work with in the process. (If you like writing about those other topics, then create a different blog for those things. I did: www.myKWblog.com )

REBlogGirl: I figured I'd wrap this interview up with a wacky question that might give people a little better look into the mind of Mariana Wagner, so here goes:. If you were a fruit, what kind of would you be and why?

First, Mary ... You do not WANT to look into the mind of Mariana. There are those out there who have been there. They now issue medication for those people ... and lots of therapy.

But fine ... I do what you tell me. Remember? So, here goes... I would be a banana, because it tastes good dipped in chocolate and it rhymes with "Mariana"

REBlogGirl: Mariana, thanks so much for giving me the time to interview you. Now, get back out there and sell some Real Estate!

Just for Fun: check out Mariana's Page 1 Real Estate Blog Google Listing

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