RealTown's RealTalk

I am stumped.

More than 25 years in real estate, at least 15 in real estate technology, several years in real estate technology training, many years in real estate management. . . and I feel about as clueless as a rock when it comes to the subject of blogging.

Brad Inman gave special honors to Bloggers - even calling part of his "REALTOR-fest by the Bay " Bloggers Connect. There were any number of meetings on how to have  great blog, how to use your blog for fresh content, how blogs are going to rule the world. . . Indeed, it seems even here in RealTown blogging has a special place in everyone's hearts. There is even a community here called BlogTalk (I refuse to join until I rise above the level of moron on the subject).

So I blog. You blog, we all blog for the sake of blogging - whatever the reason. That is where I come apart. What IS the reason? Sure, there are many who blog to REALTORS to try to sell us something (SEO, Coaching, E-Leads, and more). There are those REALTORS who blog to other REALTORS - kind of a miniature RealTalk, I guess.  And then there are those who blog to consumers. Or, from what I see, they sometimes blog to consumers.

So, as a consumer of goods in my given area, I have tried to think of any time or any reason I would ever browse the web looking for blogs to help me find my way. Can't say I ever searched for a CPA blog, a Medical Blog (DocTalk - hey that even has a ring to it), never saw a reason to even look for web-ified mechanical talk when the scary red light came on the dashboard a few weeks ago. Real estate consumers only use the Internet - I think - for two very specific purposes:

1. They want to keep tabs on their house value

2. They might be looking to buy or sell a home soon

Neither of these activities are long-term - yet blogs seem to be built with the thought that we will build a long-term following through our blog.

When I want to buy or sell something - especially a high-ticket item - I am going to do it with a "right now" mentality.

Now, if I am typical, or even a little typical, I am left to wonder the value of a blog that offers endless streams of information about this neighborhood, that town, this neck of the woods and the real estate scene. I suspect very few if any people not in this industry would find ANY reason to search the Web for any blogs about real estate. Do we have blogs because everyone else does? Is it just another form of "gotta do what everyone else does?" Or do you really have potential clients who frequent your blog?

So, now that I have spewed forth my very fixed and not too well thought out opinion, I will ask for your collective help. I really need to understand why we have blogs to consumers. Am I missing some important fact here? I really want to be a good blogger - even did it for a few years before there was such a thing as blogging (I really think RETechTrax was an early form of blog for thsoe with long memories).

But I want to do it well. I want to know the HOW, but first I need to know the WHY. Are these blogs just there to provide a place to show off our writing prowess? Are they ego-feed? Or are blogs truly a valuable business tool?

To help me, please tell me how your consumer-facing  blog works and how it has actually made you some money. That would really get my attention.

I hope this message has not been too long or sounded at all arrogant. I am simply trying to understand this phenomenon.

Best to all

Jack

Okay, Jack, remember you started it. If this turns into one of those topics where people get  flamed, dismembered, disowned and thrown into internet hell, it will be on your shoulders for even talking about the big stinky elephant in the room

It is very refreshing to see someone talk about "not getting it" when it comes to blogs. The ONLY upside of blogging that I can see is SEO.. I have NEVER seen any quantified data indicating that blogs are useful for much of anything. I'm aware of agents who claim to have had great success in creating leads from their blogs and I accept their claims as such. But they are very few and far between. My personal opinion at this point is that blogs were fun, cute, interesting and new but today they are over hyped, time consuming and idea whose time has come and gone.

I maintain one blog today and that one is very specific to a class that I teach. I maintain it because it is a convenient forum for answering questions about the product so that anyone/everyone can find the answer. If I could figure out how, I would make my other 8 blogs go away.

Buddy

Jack,

I appreciate your frustration.  I think there are reasons to blog.

First, SEO is a consideration.  Adding fresh content to a blog associated with your main site helps with the search engines.  Or, if you use another platform like RealTalk or ActiveRain blogs, you can use interlinking to improve the strength of your main site.

Traffic is another consideration.  I agree with you that people don't search for blogs, but search engines love blogs.  So, if your post on YourTargetMarket Real Estate ends up ranking well in the search engines, you will get traffic to your blog, and then hopefully to your main site.

I think another benefit of blogging is difficult to measure.  Blogging gives you a chance to reinforce your expertise.  I'm not sure that any prospect will ever tell you that they called because of your blog (although I've heard people say that it happens), but the combination of your main site, plus your blog, gives potential clients a chance to get to know you and your expertise better.

I started blogging because I got tired of updating my main site everytime something changed in the industry.  Blogging gives me a quick way to communicate without messing with the main site all the time.  And, I have a weekly email that goes out through Feedblitz that effectively replaced the newsletter I was doing monthly prior to starting the blog.

I will admit that keeping up a blog can be painful, and sometimes I wish I could whole-heartedly agree with others, like Mike Parker from Blackwater, who think the whole social networking thing is overrated, and just stop cold turkey.  But, for the reasons above, I can't really bring myself to do that.  I should start asking prospects if they've read the blog.  That would give me some idea if prospects are using the blog as part of their reason for contacting me.

Do I think you have to have a blog to be successful?  I don't.  I know there are some like the folks at Bloggers Connect and elsewhere who really do believe that blogs will take over the world.  I'm not ready to take any bets yet.

I would like to bend the rules in regard to the protocol called "blogging etiquette"  Jack Harper has blogged a rather interesting and thought provoking comment that doesn't need to be copied and pasted.  Basically What is BLOGGING????

Basically Blogging is nothing different than Jiving.  When people have something to jive about they blog.  Blogging is a 21st Century way of saying what you feel or think, it's just done over the web.  We are told if you set up a blog people respond.  Yea right!  I do not have the bloggiest clue as to whether blogs work or not.  People basically come to the Internet because they want (((((information)))) and they think or feel they can get it for free.  Free is what lures people to the Internet.  People post to the Internet because they think or feel (((((information))))) sells.  Meanwhile the agent is waiting for the LEAD to respond to the blog.  The more blogs the more information your website produces.  Anyway that is what we are told.  Maybe that's why Websites are FREE????  I have my own website that NOBODY can access unless they contact me directly.  The key to making my website produce is the yard sign and a call.  People are finding that all Realtors have websites, they all offer the same nonsense, sign in please and tell me all about what you want.  The mission statements are all the same, 99% offer IDX/MLS search fields.  Everybody claims they are only here to help with no obligation to buy or sell anything.  Everything is offered with the attitude ((((free information)))) at your disposal.  Actually nothing is any different than it's always been.  It's drummed into our heads that EXPOSURE and ACCESS are the keys to success.  We are told that FREE exposure and access produces sales.  OK if that's true why are there fewer sales at lower prices for the past 3 years?  Oh yea Economy stupid!  The only thing that is different is the JIVE.  Blogging is nothing more than what jiving used to be.  Basically what I'm doing right now, JIVING or am I Blogging.  I hope this critical way of think is helpful.  Maybe we should have a critical thinking hour.  A place where we can actually tryout Critically thinking skills.  You know what I'm talking about,  those Non-Polarizing blogs that impress the impressed!   BTW, my spell check doesn't have a clue to the definition or spelling of BLOG. 

Catherine,

Peter Miller said:

I started several blogs last summer and they have shown some progress. While the numbers and positions can change, during the past few days the results from my mortgage blogs have looked like this:
 

Jack Says:

Who can argue with OurBroker :-)

Great to hear from an old friend. Peter is the original online expert, for those who don't know. I will not pretend to offer his credentials up here, but when Peter speaks - I listen.

Jack

I love to blog,  I think it is great to exchange ideas about real estate or any subject.  I have never gotten a referral, but I know people who have. 

Many REALTORS' web sites are way behind the curve in terms of meeting consumer expectations for a Web 2.0 experience -- interactivity and a chance to communicate. Blogging offers REALTORS an easy way to embrace technology that consumers are looking for in growing numbers.

I have been blogging since January, 2005, and I will share some thoughts based upon personal experiences as well as countless discussions with bloggers online and offline EVERY DAY.

SEO is certainly an advantage to blogging. More important than SEO is the opportunity for REALTORS to attract their ideal clients. Bloggers who are "transparent" in their approach are attracting persons of similar mindsets and philosophy, creating special niches for themselves, and completing transactions that find them having a better quality of life. They are finding better matches for their professional talents. That's the big payoff.

One does not have to look beyond RealTown Blogs' own Mary Pope-Handy for a blogging success story. Mary was the winning Blog Apprentice in last year's Inman News/ActiveRain Project Blogger competition for her Live in Los Gatos real estate blog. I had the good fortune of being Mary's Blog Coach. Mary attaches some serious $$$ income to her blogging efforts. She publishes four blogs (that I know about). She has enjoyed considerable attention with local and not-so-local newspapers and she has appeared on television in her local market.

Here's another good reason to blog: REALTORS are constantly on a bandwagon about negative press. They can become members of the press and tell their own market stories with their blogs. Blanche Evans (former Realty Times editor) and Hilary Marsh (Realtor.org) recently joined me and Joeann Fossland for a discussion about this every topic. You can review those details here.

There is some exciting new talent coming out of our No Blogger Left Behind ranks right here at RealTown. The final question is: Do you want to watch and take notes as new bloggers become successful, or do you want to write your own success story about the fruits of good blogging?

Frances Flynn Thorsen wrote -

"Many REALTORS' web sites are way behind the curve in terms of meeting consumer expectations for a Web 2.0 experience -- interactivity and a chance to communicate. Blogging offers REALTORS an easy way to embrace technology that consumers are looking for in growing numbers."

Wikipedia shows, "Web 2.0 has numerous definitions. Basically, the term encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and social interactions on the Web." It goes on, " Stephen Fry who writes a column about technology in the British Guardian newspaper, describes Web 2.0 as: "…an idea in people's heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what's emphasised. In other words, genuine interactivity, if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download."

So I'm not so sure that consumers are looking for or even expecting a Web 2.0 experience in growing numbers when it comes to purchasing something, especially when buying or selling a house! This seems to be another "myth". Rather than real estate being a "social" interaction, it is what we have always referred to as a "sales" situation.

Think about it. When buying new tires, are you really going to read a blog at GoodYear? No! You came to look at replacing your tires... and GoodYear hopes to make a sale today with the price information they display on their site instead of you going to Bridgestone instead. If you want a new Lexus, do you plan on interacting on a blog with the local dealer? No. And once the "sale" has been made, will the consumer really plan on coming back often to see their sites again... even if they have a blog? Probably not for many months or even years! If you just bought a Kenmore washer & dryer at Sears, do you keep coming back over and over to look at washers & dryers again? (If so, then you need a life!) It was only important to you while you needed to replace your current ones. So why do real estate agents think we're so different that people are just dying to not only read what we have to say, but want to interact back with us? We, as real estate agents, are only upper most in the consumers' minds for a short period of time - just prior to making a decision about buying or selling... during the listing or buying period... during the contract to closing process... and maybe for a few weeks or months after. Then they are off living their lives concentrating on new, important events that they face in their world. They are finished with our "real estate" world for some time to come.

Web 2.0 (social interaction and interconnectivity) works well between peers - whether they are professional peers - like trading tips and ideas here at Real Talk, teens or "20 Somethings" socializing on MySpace or Facebook about the joys and trials of growing up, or other emerging networking web sites between people of like minds. But real estate, like almost any business, is about making sales, not necessarily about "making friends".

This isn't a West Coast "thing" vs. East Coast as Monica McNamara mentioned. The main reason many, many agents don't "blog" is because very few can actually "write"! I'm not being sarcastic when I say this, but all you have to do is visit lots of real estate agent sites and read their content to confirm this. Very few of us would be considered "authors" by others. As real estate agents, we make our living by making oral presentations - not by submitting written proposals or papers. We have become skilled at talking... using our words to persuade, reading the client's body language to see how our words are perceived, and utlizing our communications skills to try to listen. As we all know, many of our peers can't even figure out how to write a good, clean sales contract... and that is just filling in blanks in a pre-printed form! Ha! Many of our peers just don't possess good writing skills.

Blogging certainly has a place - it can be effective for SEO and it can be a place to help to establish an agent's expertise. But unless you possess very good writing skills, it should not be seen as a replacement for having a good, informational web site or other forms of "tried and true" real estate prospecting techniques. For some of you, that means turn off the computer and get out and meet some people in person. Formally called "prospecting". :-)

Win

************************
Win Singleton, CRB, e-PRO
Summit Web Design
(703) 536-7631
wins@summitweb.com
http://Summitweb.InternetCrusade.com
an Internet Crusade Approved Vendor
"Custom web site design that gets results!"
************************

Editor's Note
Note that Win is a longtime RealTalk member and a RealTown Approved Vendor. Check out his Web design firm -- Summit Web -- and let us know what  you think.

On Aug 21, 2008, at 6:17 PM, Monica McNamara wrote:
> I couldn't agree more. It's amazing to me that many agents that I
> have encountered still do not have a web presence. I have definitely
> noticed a trend. Real estate agents on the west coast seem to have
> embraced the internet with more fervor then their counterparts in
> other locales of our nation.
>
> In other areas it appears that blogging is not happening with the
> frequency as it is in California. It would be interesting to see if
> a poll was taken of real estate agents in New York versus
> California, which area would have a larger demographic of agents
> with a) a web site, and b) a blog.
>
> As with many other trends, the west coast always seems to be ahead
> of the east coast.
>
 

Back in 1998-1999, I was designing templates for a couple of real
estate site developers; both were located in California (LA and San
Jose) and both had integrated IDX data. At that time, there were very
few real estate web sites anywhere in the U.S., and they were almost
exclusively amateurish do-it-yourself sites. If I remember correctly,
there were only maybe 3 real estate site developers back then and at
least 2, possibly all 3 were in California. The developers'
salespeople had to go out to sell real estate sites and train users
how to use them, so naturally they began selling locally to California
real estate agents.
 

Also, any time a company needed to move into a new MLS territory,
someone had to go negotiate with the MLS board in the new territory to
get the right to download the MLS board's data. The whole concept was
so new that negotiating these deals could be time-consuming and
challenging. Once again, negotiating with local California boards was
easier than going elsewhere to get access to data.
 

Another factor was the availability of Web database programmers. Back
then they were in very short supply, incredibly expensive, and mostly
based around Silicon Valley.
 

So, it makes sense to me that real estate agents on the West Coast
adapted Web site marketing early: they were among the first to be
offered "canned" web sites.
 

Outside the realm of real estate site design, several of those few of
us that were doing Web site design in the earliest years ('94-'95)
also happened to be on the West Coast. I was in Oregon, while two
other pioneering Web designers, Lynda Weinman (Lynda.com) and David
Siegel, a Palo Alto graphic designer and font designer, were also in
California. A few others were scattered around: a guy in Seattle, a
woman in NC, another designer in the UK and another in Germany.
(Undoubtedly there were others, but these are some of those with whom
I networked when I first began doing Web site design.)
 

Another peculiarity of those very early years: a large majority of Web
sites were developed on Macs using BBEdit and Photoshop. That's
probably because many of us were print designers experimenting with
Web site design.
 

Suzanne
 

Suzanne Hathcock Stephens
Point2Agent Design Partner
http://www.SuzStephens.com
360-666-0881