The Real Estate Industry Does Not Understand Real Estate Blogs

The Real Estate Industry Does Not Understand Real Estate Blogs
By Teresa Boardman

Our industry is made up of over a million Realtors and some other people too.  When it comes to blogs our role models and industry experts seem to be a collection of technology and media companies that are some what removed from the business of buying and selling real estate.  They understand how blogs work and even have awards for innovative blogs like the Tomato.

Even though this tomato blog is not a real estate blog it is considered an industry leader.  I would agree, mainly because Jim is one of the few in our industry that understands real estate blogs and how they can help individual agents attract clients.  Jim attracts clients of his own through his blog because it is an excellent example of a business blog.  It is focused and never preachy and he provides us with the information we are searching for.  He has strong following but is also found through amazingly well in Google.

My own hyper local real estate blog is not an industry blog.  About 64% of my readers come in through search engines and many do not know that they are reading a blog, nor do they care.  It doesn't matter because they find the information they seek, right next to my phone number and email address.  When they contact me they say: "I some how found your web site"..  Like me, they don't care what my page rank is or my Technorati authority rating; they are just looking for information.  Some home owners and people who are relocating to St. Paul become regular readers.

The real estate industry has not yet embraced the idea of local blogs built by local agents.   Heck real estate is local but when it comes to technology many of our industry leaders are focused on national web sites, and blogs.  Agents need to understand that consumers have concerns of their own and are looking for information, advice, homes and Realtors on the internet.  They are a different audience than the audience that many in our industry are focused on.
 
It is all right to have a hyper local blog and it can work just fine even if no one from the real estate industry notices it or reads it. I guess I am getting tired of reading about how my own blog as some kind of an anomaly, especially when the commentary is being written by people who are not real estate practitioners and have never written to my clientele.  Writing a business blog is not about wining carnivals or industry awards.  In fact it is possible that if content is geared toward real estate carnival winning and national awards, the blog will not attract as many readers who may need real estate services, but rather, attracts others in the real estate industry. 

Do people who are looking for an agent care if we have posts that win carnivals?

The advice for agents who want to start blogs isn't very good either.  Most of it is written by people who do not have direct contact with the consumer, or who have never written a blog for the general public about but write for business owners and other bloggers. 

People who write blogs are more likely to read them so writing to other bloggers almost guarantees a larger audience.  Over the last few months I have concluded that I can do a better job with my blog by ignoring most real estate industry blogs and focusing on my own geographic area.  It isn't easy to go against the tide but I have to if I want to accomplish my own goals. 

Where are my role models?  To be honest they are in other industries, and are small business owners just like me.

Most of all I think it is important for agents who want to have real estate blogs to not get discouraged and to keep the focus on the audience and the goals of the blog. I will admit, I do get discouraged at times.  Use tools like google analyitics to determine how well your site is doing and use hittial to decide what type of content to write and read the Tomato. 

At the risk of  giving tomato man a big head, I  have to say that so far he is the only non real estate agent blogger that I have talked to that gets it.  He may or my not get it as well as I do, which is O.K. because he lets me write on his blog when I have something to say, and recognizes that even though he is the industry expert an actual real estate agent  might be able to add value to his blog.  Jim is someone who supports our efforts as individual real estate practitioners and bloggers: another first in the real estate industry.  

Thanks Jim, for your support and for having me on the vine.

Related Must Reads By Teresa
What Is The Biggest Barrier To Real Estate Blogging?
101 Real Estate Blog topics

Teresa Boardman is an exceptionally professional Realtor in the St. Paul, Minnesota area.  

Her website: www.TBoardman.com
Her blog: www.StPaulRealEstateBLOG.com
Voice: 651-216-4603

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Thank you Teresa.  As always, it’s a pleasure having you 'on the Vine'.

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Comments

[Sandy]

Great thoughts Teresa. I agree with you for the most part. For instance, I enjoy reading Greg Swann's thoughts at the Bloodhound, but it strikes me that it wouldn't be the place to go if a potential buyer wants to learn more about the Phoenix area and real estate industry. I guess as my blog has evolved I am moving more in the direction of wanting to make it more of a local resource like yours. Something for people in my area, or planning to move to my area. But, I think there should be a mix of general real estate topics and issues specific to your locality, or else there is the risk that you'll only end up with 5 readers.

I submit periodically to the Carnival and the only reason I do it is to get inbound links. I couldn't care less if I win, I just want the links. Very mercenary, but links increase my rank on Google, and better rank on google means page views, and if I get enough of those, someone is bound to call or email me!

[Jay Thompson]

Nice post T no H. A "real estate" blog can be many things, and certainly a RE Industry blog isn't the only viable option. I write some posts on the RE industry, because I find it interesting, and researching and writing on it helps me learn more about it. I write local posts because I also find that interesting. In my on and off line communication with my "consumer readers" I've found they appreciate both kinds of posts, and some even appreciate the completely off-topic posts that pop up occasionally.

If I submit to the Carnival of Real Estate, I typically submit a "consumer post". Of course it doesn't ever "win", nor do I really care. I submit a post if I think it's good, and deep down inside I wish more consumer focused material would be submitted and recognized. A lofty thought that will probably never be realized.

"I guess I am getting tired of reading about how my own blog as some kind of an anomaly..."

I feel your pain. I've been told by several well-intentioned "blogging experts" that I would "do much better" if my blog was more "focused and targeted". These "experts" are never real estate professionals. Personally, I think I "do just fine" and "focused and targeted" isn't what my blog is about. It's an eclectic hodge-podge of stuff that some people enjoy, and some do not. That it generates business is a fabulous side-effect. Could it generate more? I don't know, probably. But it's sole purpose isn't just to generate business. It is what it is.

[john]

Teresa - about 3 months ago, I started putting more thought and energy into trying to help small business owners establish a stronger online presence through blogging. I look at these relationships as the future of many, many transactions.

[Drew Meyers from Zillow]

Great post Teresa. Throughout project blogger, I have continually pointed Tisza to your blog for ideas. If I were an agent (which I'm not) -- I would be doing exactly what you are doing with your blog -- writing for a local audience by educating them about issues they care about. I think Tisza is taking that same approach, which seems to be working great for her.

[Joe Zekas]

Maintaining focus is the hardest task for anyone trying to build an audience for a blog.

A hyperlocal blog - which I'd contend is the best approach for a real estate practitioner - has to stay hyperlocal. Once it starts dishing out generic real estate advice or reporting on the author's trips, it's lost focus and can't build an audience.

It's by now an old saw, but attention is our most scarce commodity. People who are looking for the kind of real estate information they can't get anywhere else - the gritty on a small area - are unlikely to return to a place that dishes it up only occasionally.

[Ann Cummings]

Hi Teresa - I'm so glad to read what you've written here! I've read so much written about what real estate blogs SHOULD be, but every time I check out the author, they're never actual real estate practioners, and they just don't get what real estste consumers are really looking for.

I will never attain your stature in blogging, but I have discovered that consumers find me through the very local content I write about, and that tells me to stick to what my guy instinct tells me to write about and not what industry experts think we should write about.

I read some of the carnival winners from time to time, and they are great articles, but I'm not looking to be a carnival winner. I want to be a winner in my own local market - that means leads and closed transactions, which I'm already getting. That's what I'll keep writing to.

Love this post!

[Teresa Boardman]

Jay - you have a wonderful blog. If you enjoy it just keep going. :)
Drew - thanks. If I were to pick a winner for project blogger it would be Tisza, but who am I to judge, just a realtor. :)
Joe - I think the only thing that makes my blog work is that the content can not be found anywhere else. If I search google for general real estate information I get a lot of hits and would not know which one to choose, for my onw market area I come up first.
Sandy - I agree about the carnivals and in bound links. I have decided to start a carnival of my own, details to follow. :)
Ann - you have a great blog and it works.

[Tom]

Great post Theresa and even better comments.

Getting a real estate blog going is a two fold process. First you have to have traffic to achieve your goals on the site. If you do not have traffic then it is an time consuming hobby. So the question is, do you get the traffic by getting the word out in your area through advertising or do you try to grow it organically through Google and other search engines.

What has been found is that organically through links is the best bet and most cost efficient. So to do so you need links. Theresa did a great job for her site by playing in the real estate blogging pool and getting a ton of inbound links as she learned about real estate blogging.

After the links came in, everything she writes for her target market now appears at the top of Google and she is getting traffic that is converting to sales. But if she never played in the real estate blogosphere she never would have attained the position she is in for her farm area.

So my long winded advice to new real estate bloggers is this. Network and blog in the larger sphere, get you links but remember that it's focus is to get your rankings higher in your farm area. Once those rankings are set, then refocus you efforts to writing about your target markets and reap the rewards.

But always remember, it is a two step process.

[Marty Van Diest]

Thanks for the timely reminder Theresa. Yours is one that I read to keep me focused.

I feel like I have lost the focus a little lately and need to get back more to LOCAL real estate. That's what I enjoy anyway.

I appreciate your continued good example.

[Marg Scheben-Edey - RE/MAX four seasons]

Great post Teresa. As someone new to the blogoshpere, I've been struggling with this very issue but find that I instinctively come back to discussing local issues and news. Your post is reaffirming and as you already know, I need that!

[Kermit Johnson]

Hey, Teresa..

If I were in the market for buying St. Paul real estate, I would be reading your blog because I would be getting information and visuals about housing and the community. If I were a senior with real estate needs, I would be reading Lisa Dunn's 'Reak Sage Advice' blog to find solid information about that particular market niche.

I would be totally turned off by blogs that show photos of bloggers partying and mugging for the camera. I would be especially turned off by so-called real estate blogs that either whine about other agents or clients. I wouldn't be too interested in agents who talk about things like "unzillowable" or other esoteric insider jargon, either.

Would you want to retain an attorney or a brain surgeon if they posted blogs about their new goldfish or cutesy stories about potty training the new kitty? How about a picture of your brain surgeon drinking a beer with his arm draped around someone's neck? Or maybe your criminal defense attorney wearing a silly hat? I think you would lose confidence in them rather quickly.

My blog has been criticized for not being very accessible to the blogging community. This is probably a valid criticism. No doubt, the blogging community has things to offer. Perhaps this is something I need to work on, and maybe some nice "link bait" would even help my pr. However, I am more interested in finding clients than other bloggers.

[Mark Danforth Lomas]

Great article...amazing how an internet driven business is inherantly naive about blogging technology...if you'd like, visit www.marinrealestateblog.com for similar points of view!
All the best,
Mark
www.marklomas.com

[Teresa Boardman]

Kermit - I agree with much of what you are saying. Being part of the real estate blogging community can cause insanity and doesn't do much to help us gain traction in our local markets. But there is a social aspect to blogs that can not be overlooked.

Mark - will do.

[Brian Miller]

Teresa,
In my very limited blooging life, I've come to greatly respect your blog, and what you have to say. Your post here has once again got me to thinking. The term hyper local blog says tons. I have been thinking along these lines, yet have not move more into this....you have convinced me that I should be doing this and should be doing it starting yesterday... thanks for your post

[Brian Miller]

HA!...ok forgive me ..."blooging" life? blogging sounds better...

[Joanne Hanson]

Hi Teresa, I have been reading you for some time, mostly in the Tomato, but visiting your other site every now and then too. I went to Active Rain to learn how to blog, and have learned a lot from the people there. I find that if I put all my Realtor questions and comments there, and my Summit County Colorado real estate info on my "outside" blog, it works very well. I end up posting to both, but with a different focus on each. My main blog ends up being very local, and I like it that way, because in a second home market people are much more dependent on the internet than they are in a primary market. I have learned a lot from you, and I thank you for the time and energy you put into it.

[Ginger Wilcox]

Hi Teresa. Great post. It doesn't matter what awards you win if you don't get buyers and sellers to your site. It is hard not to get discouraged on those days when writers block kicks in, but it makes it all worthwhile when people say to me- "I read your blog and I loved your post on marin neighborhoods", or whatever it may be.

[Doug Trudeau]

Teresa - You said it well. I am reminded of the book Good To Great by Jim Collins. In which he speaks of getting the right people on the bus. In our case we could say getting the right blogs posted on the outside of the bus to get the right people on board. With the camaraderie I see growing in real estate blogging, there is enough support for each individual blogger to attract the right people to to fill their own bus and become great in our industry.

Even though I have been blogging for only a few months, I see the value of localizing. Which brings up another good book, Focus - The Future Of Your Company Depends On It by Al Ries. Where he describes that being everything to everyone does little for success. Focusing on one thing you do well is the road to success. Focusing on our local areas is what I have have felt from the beginning. Thank you for reinforcing that.

[Kristal]

Our industry has always been plagued by others telling us what to do. Sometimes our teachers are those who are expressing a theory that should work, because they have an item to sell. To heck with actually testing the theory...Gotta love those teacher/sales people! The credible ones are those in the trenches who are actually experiencing the benefits through real life successes.

There is no such thing as "one size fits all" in clothing or blogs.

[Johnpaul]

Hey, great article.

As owner of a real estate investing blog, I guess we'd be part of the "other" crowd you mentioned. But I'd say the investor crowd is in the same boat - they don't get it yet.

I'd love to hear some of your thoughts (I have a few of my own I'll write a post about sometime soon) about how a real estate investor (non-agent) would effectively use a blog to enhance his/her business (not just as a hobby). I personally think, as it is for agents, the opportunity for business enhancement through a well done blog is much more than most in the industry have any clue of.

Anyway thanks again for a good read. Glad I found and subscribed to your blog.

Respectfully,

...jp moses
CMO, Flipping Homes

[Bali Property]

new on blog will try to follow..this post is very informative..

[Karen Goodman]

Teresa - I've only been blogging for a few weeks, and knew nothing about blogs before I started. The industry blogs like The Tomato and Jay Thompson's posts have really helped me get up to speed on how this blogging thing works.

I'm taking in all of the information, but the goal of my blog totally mirrors the advice you set out here. I want my blog to be an education for my clients and potential clients. I want them to click on a Realtor.com listing and end up at my site, and then start reading. If they can find their way to my blog (which should be easy since my Point 2 site integrates the blog into my site), I'm hoping that they'll read enough to believe that I really am looking out for their best interests. I want them to know that I have the knowledge to get their house sold better than the agent that simply shows up at a listing presentation with some comps. Even if I never get a lead from a keyword Google search, my blog will have done it's job it if helps sell me to clients that are trying to decide between me & someone else.

So my posts are all about my local market, or things that buyers/sellers should know to protect their interests.

Of course, linking to other relavent content is good for my readers and my search rankings, so why not get both benefits.

[Clackamas Real Estate Guy]

I used to not understand blogs. Now I think there great. Im still trying to straighten out my site. Next goal is to set one up locally. I should probably put that on my new years resolution 2008.