Why Should the Realtors BLOG?

On Friday I attended BLOGORLANDO and inspired I learned so much. One important thing I learned was that my instincts about Blogging and Real Estate are right on track.

This is a powerful tool for Realtors. As I listened to Shel Israel (Naked Conversations), Tom Biro, Jake McKee, Chris Heuer and the many others; my head was spinning how to implement Social Media in our Real Estate business.

Toby Bloomberg wrote in response to my post on ActiveRain The un-conference – An Improvisation In Learning which pulled all my thoughts from BLOGORLANDO into how Real Estate Professionals can take advantage of the dramatic changes happening in business today.

Why should Realtors BLOG?

This is a huge question for many Realtors, and I personally think that the most important reason for the Real Estate Professional to BLOG is because it is an effective way to communicate with their community. Advertising, sending mail, and email are no longer effective ways to communicate. The public is now using the Internet to find the information they need.

The world around us is changing rapidly and with that rapid change it is those that adapt that win. This is not just a fad. This is only the beginning.

Shift happens... Where are you going to be when it does?

In a year do you want to be sitting trying to figure out how your competition became the community expert on the Internet?

Here are the five things that I think every Real Estate professional needs to do to take advantage of the Social Media movement and improve their competitive advantage over other Real Estate Professionals in their community:

Develop a BLOG Strategy for their Real Estate business. Remove the notion that you are writing to an audience (that is one way communication) and open yourself to the fact that you are building a conversation (which is two way communications) with a community.

So what are the external changes you want to effect? Understand that in creating those changes, your Real Estate business will also change. You will need to be flexible, anticipate what else you can do and be very open to what is the next change about to happen.

Ask yourself:

Who do you want to visit your site?
What is the end result you wish to achieve?
How are you going to handle negative feedback?
How are you going to promote your Real Estate BLOG?
What technologies make sense to use? Podcasting, Videocasting, etc.
How can I use Social Media to connect with the community?
Are you going to have guest writers?

Read also: 7-Day Plan to Real Estate BLOG Success

Why Realtors Should BLOG

Don’t Be Afraid that you don’t have something to say that is important. What you say is not as important and creating the dialogue with the community that you are member of. Your purpose is:

· You want them to be the resource in your community.

· You want to connect with the community.

· Share what is going on, why it is a wonderful place to work and live in.

· You will want to subscribe to various BLOGS in your community connect with those writers

· The Goal is to become the portal for everything in your community.

How to Dress Your Real Estate BLOG for Success

Don’t neglect Social Media. The Internet and Social Media tools are how your community is connecting – are you using them? This is how you will connect with the community and most importantly on their terms. At the very least they need to be able to discover you in these places, or they may consider you not the right person to represent them. Some of the Social Media and Networking that you should be using:

It is important to use the Social Media that makes sense for you and your business. For every one listed there are 10 that I didn’t list. Don’t forget Business is Personal again. The same is with Social Media.

Be prepared that this is an Investment of Time. You are now involved in a conversation. This requires your active participation. You will need to:

· Write regularly about things you find important.

· Be prepared to respond to comments and interact with the community you build.

· Visit other Local BLOGS, comment and link to them

Remember Business is personal again. Language is very important; in order to change one’s perception you will need to change their language. Remove Client, Customer, Audience from your vocabulary and replace with COMMUNITY or NEIGHBORHOOD.

What Your Real Estate BLOG is Not. Toby Bloomberg, Elisa Camahort and Carol Krishner recently presented at the Healthcare Blogging Summit and had created a presentation that was not right for their audience. They did something radical and in the process had a great dialogue with the community in attendance. The PowerPoint Presentation they had prepared for the Healthcare Industry might not have been right for the Summit they attended, but it is an excellent resource for Real Estate Professionals just starting to create their Real Estate BLOG. (See the Presentation at Diva Marketing BLOG). Most important think I took away from their presentation was your Real Estate BLOG is not:

· Blatant self-promotion

· Press releases

· Corporate “talk”

· Online brochures

· Smoke and mirrors

· Alone in the wilderness

Now that we answered the question – Why you should BLOG, and what you should be writing about, we leave you with this very important question:

What are you waiting for?

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Posted on October 01, 2007 09:55:34

Comment from: Christopher Myers [Visitor]

· http://www.OrlandoPropertyGroup.com

Great resources Colleen! I look forward to scouring through these. Thank you!

Permalink October 01, 2007 13:00:07

Comment from: Ann Cummings [Visitor]

· http://newhampshiremainerealestate.com

Colleen - so full of GREAT info and some very thought-provoking questions to ask ourselves. I'm just getting one of my blogs up and running, and will be keeping all this info in mind with each article I post. I already know who I want my audience to be on that one - now I just need to reach them!

Thanks for some great info!

Permalink October 01, 2007 13:31:48

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

Christopher -- You are very welcome!

Ann -- You are well on your way! Congratultions!

Permalink October 01, 2007 14:46:13

Comment from: Mark [Visitor]

· http://lockwoodteam.com

Colleen, Thank You for taking time out of your schedule and helping spread some good knowledge on different sites that we can utilize to help our business. Mark

Permalink October 01, 2007 16:12:30

Comment from: Lola Audu [Visitor]

· http://www.auduhomes.com

Once again, a very good piece of advise. It's always worth the time to stop by for a visit Colleen. Thanks. Best wishes for loads of success with your new ventures. :)

Permalink October 01, 2007 16:17:16

Comment from: Lisa Hammerstein [Visitor]

· http://HammersTeam.com

Hi Colleen,

You are one busy gal! This is some very good info going forward into the next phase of real estate technology. Thanks for more good stuff for us to look over!

Permalink October 01, 2007 16:46:21

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

Mark, Lola and Lisa -- Thanks so much!

Permalink October 01, 2007 17:14:00

Comment from: dora [Visitor]

· http://www.doraworks.com

Great information Colleen, it is great to learn more about the benifets of blogging

Permalink October 01, 2007 17:34:18

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

Dora -- Thanks!

Permalink October 01, 2007 18:20:28

Comment from: richardbolen [Visitor]

· http://www.laketahoerealestateblog.com

Great post Colleen. Followed it from AR... and here we are. It's great information that is appreciated.

Permalink October 01, 2007 19:55:10

Comment from: monika [Visitor]

· http://monikamcgillicuddy.com/wordpress/

Hi Colleen.

This is a keeper...some great advice. Thank you so much for sharing and best wishes on your new position!

Permalink October 01, 2007 21:05:00

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

Richard & Monika -- Thanks so much!

Permalink October 01, 2007 21:54:05

Comment from: John Crenshaw [Visitor]

· http://truthfullending.com

Great article. That's completely true, I really think real estate professionals are missing out by not keeping a blog. Plus, you can just use the articles from your blog to send out monthly newsletters to your past clients. Kill two birds with one stone.

Permalink October 02, 2007 20:01:55

Comment from: Laurie.Manny [Member]

· http://www.longbeachrealestatehome.com

Colleen,

Great article, looking forward to exploring all of those links. Now to find the time......

Good luck in your new position.

Permalink October 03, 2007 03:42:00

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

John -- It is an excellent way to keep in touch with past, present and future clients!

Laurie -- Thanks so much! To think had you not started me exploring around the Internet, I would never have discovered BLOGORLANDO!

Permalink October 03, 2007 12:33:35

Comment from: Jake McKee [Visitor]

· http://www.communityguy.com

Thanks for the kind words!! It was great meeting you in Orlando!

Permalink October 04, 2007 09:43:03

Comment from: Sam Chapman [Visitor]

· http://www.austinrealestateguy.com

I started a blog with Blogger two years ago and another from within my site about 11 months ago. Until recently I could not trace any leads directly to either. Now my main blog is #5 and the other is #7 for the term Austin real estate blog. Just in the last 6 weeks I have had three people contact me and tell me that they like reading my blog (which one I don't know). So if you start, write good stuff and keep at it, it absolutely does work!

Permalink October 05, 2007 16:51:33

Comment from: Colleen.Kulikowski [Member]

Jake -- I really enjoyed your presentation!

Sam -- it takes time, you have to put in lots of time and energy to build the trust with the community. Once built, the results are amazing!

Permalink October 06, 2007 12:03:58

Comment from: Jennifer Steck [Visitor]

· http://www.CentralDenverBlog.com

Colleen- You seem to know just when I need a boost. This is great information. I also stepped over from Active Rain where your article is greatly expanding my must read list. Keep up the great work!!

Permalink October 06, 2007 18:17:33

Comment from: Joanne Hanson [Visitor]

· http://www.mountain-living.com

Colleen, it is good to see you here too! A great post; thanks for the links that I am going to have to spend some time exploring. I absolutely agree that blogging for business is what needs to be done NOW, and most Realtors still know nothing about it!

Permalink October 06, 2007 23:00:21

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