The golden rule of blogging: think before you type

A real estate blog is a marketing tool and marketing IS a science that can be managed methodically.  Each post should be planned in advance so that your time spent blogging is efficient and  each post builds on one another to create an egaging masterpiece.  Sounds like a lot of work, right?  Not at all, by investing 20 minutes each week into perfectly planning your articles, you will save yourself time and create a cohesive collection of posts that keep people coming back to your site again and again for your nuggets of wisdon and wit. 

Shout out of the day goes to A List Apart and this terrific article on blog writing.

Set a goal and develop a plan

If you fail to plan you plan to fail.

When you set a goal, it must be quantifiable regardless of whether it is to incite a blog war or to drive more traffic/leads.  The key to planning is to first set a specific and quantifiable goal for traffic or comments.  Then, spend 20 minutes each week writing down the topics you plan to blog on.  Make sure the topics have a related theme or build upon one another.  If you revisit a theme every week in a post like I do with Podcasting or an Interview, publish it on the same day each week so people feel as though they can expect it which helps build comfort.  Be consistent with your blogs, create community by building routine.  The general pattern is to have a few topics you revisit each week and once a month post an article that creates discord or some controversy.  This keeps the blog engaging and yet managed.  You are the ringmaster of your blog, so know what to expect from the show each week and stay in control of the circus at all times.

HOT TIP: No matter if the response is positive or negative- traffic and participating visitors are good! 

Anyhow, I could give you a bunch of esoteric advice on building community and creating social connections and discord, but I like specific advice so here goes:

New Sites:
Goal: If your site is brand new your goal is to drive traffic!  Any and all traffic!  A reasonable goal is to reach an average of 500 unique visitors per day consistantly within the first month of blogging.

Plan: This means you list yourself in every directory under the sun: every real estate directory and every general directory! This is also when you start commenting on every community blog in your industry or local area that you can.

Read also How to market your site with directories

Established sites with some traffic:
Goal: If you have an established site with some traffic you want to increase traffic by driving it from other sites. A reasonable goal is to increase traffic by at least 50% each week for one month.

Plan: Start commenting on industry and local blogs, syndicating your blog posts on industry and local blogs and involing yourself in forum discussions either related to your industry or your local area.  Also, start an incentive program among your readers that rewards readers for inviting their friends.  You can use contests where visitors vote on entires (most people will invite their friends and family to vote on their entry to boost the results.)

Read also Boost traffic by 40% in one hour per day

Established sites with solid traffic:
Goal: If you have a well extablished site with a lot of traffic you want to engage people emotionally to keep people coming back and acting as your sales force to invite their "friends."  A reasonable goal is to increase commenting on the blog by at least 50% each week for one month.

Plan: The plan for a site with established traffic is two fold because you always want to increase it but you also have to focus on keeping your existing visitors engaged and contributing to the community.  The plan is to create a "tightly knit community" and a "war" within it. The first step is to write "tutorials."  Post articles that give step by step instruction on how to prepare for a closing or stage a home for an open house, etc.  Write an article like this at least once per week to establish yourself as an expert.  This creates your "tightly knit community."  Once you have created community- engage it!  Incite strife with an article at least once per month.  People like managed strife.    Too much and it becomes uncomforatble and you become a crumedgeon, but a little helps create community. 

So, create a blog war by posting an article about a local event that might impact homeowners like the construction of a new road that may devalue homes or targeting a politician that may be making policy that affects taxes.  Some of the best posts I have seen for creating a "war" have been about local celebrities or shop owners that have been causing a stir with neighbors.  This is your way of inciting readers to participate in the community through commenting and dialogue with one another.  The key to this method is to not enter the fray yourself.  If people have questions, answer them, but don't start to moderate the "war."  You want people to remain emotionally engaged but never turn their anger towards you! Through strife, friendships are formed, alliances are made and personalities are brought to the surface.  Basically, this is your own Jerry Springer show.

Read also: Handling the angry blogger

Measure your results
If your goal is to drive more traffic, log your traffic at the beginning of your campaign and each week as your traffic climbs. Typically the back end tools of your website or hosting provider will provide these metrics for you.  If not, you can get a reasonable range from Alexa.

If your goal is to increase participation on your blog and engage people emotionally through a blog war, you will need to use the tools that log comments on each article in your blog.  Inciting a blog war is a good thing and it is quantifiable by the number of comments you see posted on your blog or posted on other blogs about your blog.  More comments means you are connecting emotionally with your readers and they in turn are creating a community for your blog.  To measure these results, you will also need to check your backlinks to see who else is talking about you on the Net.  Keep these metrics in an excel spreadsheet and track them from week to week to see how your participation grows.

Related Posts

Combining the Realtor blog and website
THE RULES of commenting for traffic
HOW TO BLOG for local traffic
GOOGLE advertising
Real Estate Blog SEO Tip of the Week: Internal link relevance


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