Blogging Basics for Real Estate Agents

While some have declared the death of the blog, others (especially in the real estate community), are finding that the blog is alive, kicking and continuing to be strong in lead generation.  Why?  Blogs are online, written content hosted on a website.

“Content is King, Context is Queen, and Consistency is Key.” – Me

When updated with contextually-appropriate  content in a consistent manner, a blog can provide online communication, credibility and continuation of your digital footprint.  Perhaps it’s time for you to explore blogging for your real estate businessHere are some blogging basics:

Know Your Why

Before you begin, know why you’re blogging.  Are you trying to showcase your local expert knowledge?  Do you want to provide content for a specific neighborhood, community or demographic?  Are you going to use the blog as a knowledgebase resource – something you can point real estate clients to if they have questions?  Will you include listings on your blog?  Experiences with buyers?  Do you want to include information about yourself (interests, hobbies, etc.) so that people have a better sense of who you are?

Know Your What

Once you’ve determined whyyou’re blogging, you have to decide what you’ll blog.  You can get some ideas of what others have been blogging about from online real estate blogging communities like ActiveRain and RealEstateTomato.   You can give your take on local and national real estate news and topics, which you can initially find from sources like Inman News, Inman Next, American Genius and Keeping Current Matters.   Other sources of blogging content can include:

  • Reactions to local news and/or real estate stories
  • Answers to questions that real estate clients have posed to you in the past
  • Seasonal content
  • Listings (not just the basic MLS information, but the actual story of the home)
  • Your hobbies/interests – you DO have a life outside of real estate, don’t you?
  • Teaser posts with links to outside articles

How to Start Your Blog

First, decide who you’re writing for.  Know who your audience is.  Know their basic demographics, neighborhood they’re interested in, motivation about why they’re buying/selling/investing.  Think about what questions they might ask you.  Model your audience after your ideal client.  Once you’ve identified who you’re writing for, create a list of thoughts and ideas for content for that audience.  These can include topics like: listings, taxes, new construction, renovation, local inventory, latest real estate developments, new laws, buyer questions, seller questions, and your past experiences (good and bad).

Once you’ve got your audience and your list, it’s time to put some structure to your blogging content.  Create a content calendar or content plan.  You can use anything from an Evernote note to an Excel spreadsheet to actually marking the blog posts down on your calendar.  Some ideas for a content calendar can be found from Nicole Nicolay of Agent Evolution here and from Christina Etheridge who wrote this article about content calendars for Inman Next.

Then, start writing.  Keep your posts short.  Have about three to four posts published before the final step, which is…

Market Your Blog

Make sure the URL (address) for your blog is on everything: email signatures, offline marketing, business cards, social media profiles, etc.  Invite friends, family and clients to follow along.  When clients ask real estate questions, write a blog post in response and then send them a link to the post!  Post links to each blog post several times a week on social media (however, make sure that’s not the only content you’re pushing out on social media).

If you’re looking for examples of some agent blogs, take a look at:

Miamism

St Paul Real Estate Blog

LocoMusings

The Real Estate Bakery

Coral Gundlach

 

 

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