Business Blogging in Black and White
Jason McCormick, a Sacramento area wealth consultant, has been
considering implementing the business blog into his arsenal of online
marketing tools. He is relatively new to using the internet for his
marketing, and is wide-eyed and open-minded about his options. Jason
and I have been talking about the importance of unique content in his
website and how blogging forces you to create it on a regular basis.
Time and topic always seem to be the hurdle, but it is the potential of
broad search engine exposure that is the carrot. Ever vigilant and a
sponge for learning as he takes the blogging plunge, this Monday, Jason
sent me an article by Mehul Srivastava from the Sacramento Bee.
The article, entitled "Going to the blogs," is a look in to the effect of the business world embracing the technologies of a younger generation; blogging.
The star of the article, local Realtor John Lockwood, has been blogging since late 2003. His recurrent articles about the conditions of the Sacramento area real estate market, sprinkled with his accounts of expertise in his field, have paid great dividends. His website now graces the top of many relevant real estate searches in Google (and the like) including "Sacramento real estate."
From the Bee:
It was 2003, and most folks hadn't heard of a blog. But every day or
so, he put up a new post, talking about the intricacies of real estate.
Before long, he had cornered the market on some pretty spectacular real estate -- of the virtual kind. Now, when anyone Googles "Sacramento Real Estate" on the Web, it's Lockwood's Web site that typically pops up first. "My take on it is that a blog is not a money-making tool in itself, but is a way to push content to the Web site and attract search engines," he said. Lockwood said he now gets most of his prospective clients through the Internet, and sometimes has so many that he's able to pass on -- or sell -- the referrals to colleagues.
The article continues with some interesting observations from industry experts.
Gopan Madathil, head of the local tech networking group TechCoire states:
They're still only a blip on the blogging scene, however. Of the estimated 25 million to 35 million blogs in the United States, only 5 percent are business-related, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Tony Perkins, founder and editor in chief of AlwaysOn Network "has a basic mantra:"
If businesses want
to reach young people as customers, or keep them as motivated
employees, they need to reach them in the media they're accustomed to
for communicating. Young people, he notes, have grown up addicted to
Instant Messaging, to social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and to
blogs -- all of which share and circulate information in ways unknown
to previous generations. "No matter what product or service you
have, you have got to understand that there is this whole new
generation," Perkins said in a phone call. "You've got to market your
product in these new media -- blogs, social networks, etc. You've just
got to start layering these things into your existing Web sites."
Ted Demopoulos, a co-author of "Blogging for Busines:"
"More and more people are finding local businesses using the Internet," he said. "Blogs make your search engine popularity so high that you are suddenly ahead of your competition. "That sense of community keeps people engaged in what it is that you do," he said. "And it helps educate an audience."
I don't know that there was anything groundbreaking mentioned in the article, but it is nice to see the local rag tip their hat to the emergence and obvious benefit of the phenomena that is the business blog.
Thanks for keeping us informed, Jason. We're looking forward to reading your insight in the very near future.
Related Articles:
Am I Singing To The Choir? - actually mentions John Lockwood's SE success through blogging.
If You Write It They Will Come - examines the effect of blogging and search engines success using the Long Tail concept.
The Real Power Of Blogging - the search engines are up for grabs.
Wow, thanks for the kind write-up, Jim. Got your email as well and sent you a response.
I didn't realize I was targeting a "young people demographic" or anything like that, by the way.
Also as far as sense of community goes I think that nice folks like you have it well over on me. I'm a bit too much of a curmudgeon, so my blog tends to create a sense of community in the same sense as the fight scenes of West side story.
But anyway, thanks again for the kind words!
Posted by: John Lockwood | Oct 3, 2006 3:48:17 PM
Great post. One thng I think is important to point out is that Realtors need to be careful of the fatal pitfall of hosting a blog and a website on seperate servers. That strategy will generally not drive a whole bunch of traffic back to the website and will never help your website with search engines. The most successful strategy is to make sure you keep your bolg and website on the same domain/server. Ideally, you would use a full featured blog that can function as both your website and your blog which I tend to think is the future of blogging.
Posted by: REBlogGirl | Oct 8, 2006 5:28:19 PM
I completely agree about the evolution of the real estate online presence being a blogging platform, with all the bells and whistles of standard RE website.
However, for those that may find themselves in the position of owning a website and a weblog, I don't think the news is all bad. Although the blog content will not directly affect the standard website's success in the search engines, one can still use the blog as a sort of landing page (read: bait) for the standard website. Expose the traffic that your blog generates to your standard website's tools such as MLS search, home value reports etc... As long as your site is set up to capture leads, then the job is getting done. In the end however, the seemless, blog/website evolution will be the best option.
Posted by: Jim Cronin | Oct 12, 2006 1:51:17 AM