The unintended consequences of blogging
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, October 1, 2009.
Flickr photo by Banalities.A couple of years ago I was at a social event with a bunch of local bloggers -- most are in the real estate industry. I overheard a conversation that was going on behind me less than a foot away. They were talking about this woman who is relentless, ruthless and unstoppable; they said she is a machine.
When I turned around to listen, they all started laughing. They were talking about me and my blog. That was a little more than two years ago and nothing has changed. There is a post on my blog everyday. These days I get some help from a neighbor who likes to write and from a past client who works in the real estate industry. They write a post a week and I write the other five.
They used the word "ruthless" because they are what I call friendly competitors. I started the blog as an experiment in 2005 and by 2006 I started coming up No. 1 on page one of the major search engines under certain keywords. My competitors would like to have my position in the search engines, and I won't give it up without a fight.
I started another blog last winter when business was slow and I was bored. I have posted on it every day since. It is a photo blog. I started taking the photos for my real estate blog, and with all that practice I got pretty good at it. But I took more photos than I needed, and I wanted a place to post them.
The blog is doing very well. One of the by-products of that blog is a listing: the seller is a photographer.
The photos were never for sale, and it wasn't my intent to sell them, but more than a dozen have been purchased and I have a contract to shoot some more. It isn't what I set out to do but I have been taking a lot of photos and some of them were bound to turn out well.
The ability to take pictures is an unintended consequence, and the photos themselves are a by-product of my real estate blog.
My goal was to be found on the Internet by people who want to buy or sell real estate in my market area -- and to build integrity, provide value, and to show people the beautiful city I live in.
The unintended consequences of my Internet presence have taken on a life of their own. I generate revenue somewhat passively from these by-products of my blog, and the income grows a little each year. The content that I generated four years ago is still out there working for me. ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by Miamism (Ines Hegedus-Garcia) on October 1, 2009 - 12:02pm.
"Learning which by-products to ignore and which to embrace is an ongoing challenge" Ditto over here, the return on the investment is not always crystal clear, and doesn't always come right away - challenging for sure.
And my friendship to you I owe to social media - how can you even put a price on that? :)
Submitted by Cal Carter on October 1, 2009 - 12:21pm.
Hey Teresa,
The yapping dog generally doesn't have the bone. Keep up the good work! Like my friend Wayne Long says, the primary reason some do well on the internet can be summed up in one word - "effort". They majority of your competitors will never expend that word.
Submitted by Barry Noble on October 1, 2009 - 12:39pm.
Love it, Teresa: I was warned off, from blogging by Realtor and Appraisal peers, ever since it became the new, interesting thing to do - Blog.
I was predicting the current Real Estate downturn nearly three years before it happened, in my blogs, much to the chagrin of local Realtors and other peers, who said I was negative and didn't understand the prices will "always go up!" Boy, were they eating crow later.
I also blog for my local Desert Sun newspaper through www.MyDesert.com (and today was predicting the market again, there.) and I love to participate, on www.Appraisersforum.com.
I enjoy Twitter, Facebook and Plaxo, plus Linkedin and others. No, it doesn't take up all of my time, but it has served me well.
I am a born writer, a true grandson of my locally famous, English grandmother Medium/Seer, (oops) and am member of American Mensa and I just love my work as a Certified residential Appraiser (and Broker) in all of the desert resort cities of Southern California (in and around Palm Springs CA).
I have found a new lease on my appraisal work, after the tragic implementation of the poorly thought out and implemented HVCC regulations, through blogging, Tweeting and promotion of my website into other areas than purchase and refinancing appraisals, and I just make sure I feel sure of what I blog, can stand behind what I say - and won't be embarrassed at that post, five years from now, when someone quotes it back to me.
Enjoyed your post, Teresa. Keep 'em coming.
Barry Noble
http://www.MyPropertyIsWorth.com
Submitted by Jim Little on October 1, 2009 - 2:23pm.
Teresa, your articles are a must read for me everyday. I sometimes learn something that is immediately useful, sometimes the article is just entertaining, but always I read them.
Your blog is an excellent example of what to do.
Submitted by Jan Chilton - Myrtle Beach Web Design and SEO on October 1, 2009 - 2:54pm.
Hi Teresa,
Your blog is really really nice. I did want to point out one little thing that you are missing in all your hard work though.
I see you occasionally sprinkle a few links in some of the posts. As strong as that blog is (a PR 5 in Google - that's great for a blog!) you should be using every post to promote the inside pages of your website using the search terms.
If you work in a phrase like:
St Paul Condos for sale into your writing, and LINK THAT EXACT PHRASE to the page on your website about condos, you will eventually start ranking #1 for that phrase, too.
When you write about the different neighborhoods, put a little link in there with the phrase "homes for sale in Green Hills St Paul" (I made that up) and you'll start ranking for that term. With the strength of your blog and constant posting, you will eventually OWN every single search term for your city in real estate.
I didn't find enough volume with the usual terms for larger cities, but phrases like:
custom homes st paul
new homes in minneapolis st paul mn
st paul real estate brokers
rent to own homes saint paul mn
rent to own saint paul mn
condos for sale in st paul
homes for sale in st paul
home for sale with pool in st paul
home for sale near college in st paul
Again, I had to invent them because I don't know your area...but you get the point. If you constantly toss links to your website, both homepage and on the inside, to all the terms people will search for to find real estate there, you'll catch every customer that puts that term into Google's search. It makes a HUGE difference...and although you love to blog anyway, that's the biggest reward for any real estate blog!
Just wanted to toss that to you. I do SEO, and when I see opportunities like your blog that go untapped, it kills me. :-)
Great job, though!
Jan Chilton
Myrtle Beach Web Design
Submitted by Eliese Pivarnik on October 1, 2009 - 5:39pm.
Blogging definitely pays, but you have to do it consistently for a long time. Most people don't have the patience to stick with it and stop. Good for you for posting every day!
Eliese Pivarnik, Steamboat Springs Real Estate Broker Associate
www.SteamboatHomeSales.com
Submitted by Susie Blackmon on October 2, 2009 - 2:07am.
Meeting people like you along the blogging/RE/Social Media/photography path makes it ALL worthwhile. You set an esteemed example for all of us fledglings out here ... Very grateful .... ;-)
Susie Blackmon
http://www.google.com/profiles/Susie28751#about
Submitted by Teresa Boardman on October 2, 2009 - 6:39am.
Jan - I come up number one for a few terms that really matter. most of terms you searched are not phrases or keywords that I want to even come up under.
Submitted by Stefan Swanepoel on October 4, 2009 - 8:08am.
Another great example of a great post by a great blogger.
Teresa you are a jewel in online social networks and meeting people like you through social media is one of the large benefits of this new evolving medium.
Stefan Swanepoel
Author Swanepoel TRENDS Report
& Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report