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 have mixed feelings about the value of blogging. I feel its primary benefit is for people who really enjoy writing and who have time to write. If writing is an odious, painful chore, as it is for many of my clients, I advise them not to even get started. To me, a blog that hasn't been updated in months presents a worse impression than the absence of a blog. It simply looks very unprofessional. I would rather my clients invest in conventional SEO work or hire someone to write their blog posts for them unless they passionately enjoy writing and are absolutely committed to blogging regularly.

Keith said:

I'm not here to tell you how you need to implement a blog or website. All I know is that I've spent a lot of time on my blog over the past 5 years and I know it's bringing me business. If you're interested in what I do, just look at my blog. You don't need to go to a conference to hear people talk about what they do, just look at their blogs and see if it's something that you'd want to come back to if you were looking to buy/sell in that area. Also look to see how well the blog leads you to a lead generator. I will say what I believe your primary goals should be with any website: 1) get them to come to your website, and 2) keep them coming back until they use one of your lead generators.

Jack says:

Thanks for the input, Keith. I have visited your very comprehensive blog and it is very clear that you do put a tremendous amount of time and effort into it.

With all due respect, your statements, however, are not unlike so many responses I have seen over the years, vague and unquantified: "I know it's bringing me business." How do you know? What business is it bringing that you can absolutely identify with a blog. Do people actually read your blog when they want to find or sell a house? Even more relevant, do they read it when they are NOT looking to buy or sell? Are you able to build NEW long-term relationships through blogging?

I do hope it is real quantifiable business. That would give some credence to the blogger mindset. How does it work? When do you actually start engaging people and why do they come to your blog. What keeps them coming? How can we learn from this? I still suspect the majority (overwhelming) of buyers and sellers search for listings. Blogs are not a destination for them. Do you feel they will come back to you just for the content of your blog? I am still a non-believer, but I hope you can change that.

Best regards,

Jack

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.