The Real Estate Tomato

The 7 Reasons Why Your (Future) Clients Should Care That You Are a Real Estate Blogger

Our Monday Collaborative Posts are back (we were on vacation last week) with a topic that proved as interesting as it was slippery:

Why Should Your Clients and Potential Clients Care That You Blog?

In the collective discussion that took place on this topic, there was lots of writing on why blogging helps you gain the trust of your audience, and how blogging helps you connect to your potential clients, but pinning down why they should care took some time to uncover.

Paula Henry from IndyRealEstateTalk.com broke through with the concept that a well executed real estate blog gives clients a sense of the agent “beyond the slogan.”

Many real estate agents use slogans such as:
“Knowledge Is Power”
“Service You Deserve. People You Trust”
“Experience Is The Difference”
“Always There For You”
“We Care”
“Your Local Expert”
…and so on.

Without the substance to back up these slogans, they are nothing more than sentences.  Your clients and potential clients are in fact looking for an agent that has superior knowledge, rich experience, is trustworthy, offers excellent service, knows the area and cares about them.

It is through blogging that your audience is able to recognize that you are the embodiment of the aspects they are looking for in the agent that will guide them through the most important financial decision of their lives.

Knowledge:

Your ability to cover relevant subjects in well organized and rich articles reflects your knowledge first-hand. 
This should matter to them.

Experience:

You deliver inexhaustible content around the topics that are relevant to your audience’s interests and concerns. 
This should matter to them.

Care:

The act of regular blogging itself shows your interest, passion, and commitment to your clients’ education and understanding of their needs.  In addition, it shows that same commitment to the development of your own education and business. 
This should matter to them.

Local Expertise:

Delivering the scoop on local real estate trends – and – reporting on the community, one photo and one article at a time illustrates your roots.  
This should matter to them.

Visibility/Accessibility:

The blog that is regularly updated illustrates an environment that is approachable.  Dialogue involving the author in the comments illustrates participation and attention. 
This should matter to them.

Internet Marketing Savvy:

Chances are, your current and potential clients do not blog.  Your management and mastery of your broad online presence is impressive, and is the difference when they are judging your skills to embrace the internet as a marketing tool – the #1 most important tool in 21^st century real estate. 
This should matter to them.

If your (potential) clients do blog… well, now you have more in common than you could ever hope for: You’re both crazy.

Trust:

Of course, the above list clearly works towards building your clients’ trust.  However, there are other avenues to streamlining that trust through blogging.  Our next post will cover it in depth, but here’s a taste based on the banter in the Tomato Forum.
Courage To Expose
   Publishing your thoughts online for the world to read and criticize.
The Effort to Demonstrate Reliability & Integrity
   Bringing the facts, and boosting your accountability
Transparency of Personality
   Your readers ‘get to know you’

Home buyers and sellers have a choice when selecting an agent to represent them during the purchase or sale of their most valuable financial asset.  Rather than relying on static branding and ubiquitous online tools, seasoned real estate bloggers are able to illustrate their value to their potential clients through focused daily writing.  Once a potential client has uncovered your blog, you have set the stage for winning them over.

Related Must Reads:
How Does Real Estate Blogging Actually Generate Leads?
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 1
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 2
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 3

Tomato Co-Authors

Paula Henry - Indy Real Estate Talk
Cyndee Haydon - Sandbars To Sunsets
Sandi Bauman – Chico Home Search
Karl Burger – Pensalcola Real Estate News
Terry McDonald – Charlotte Communities
Chad Lariscy - The Front Porch View
Daniel Bates - My McClellanville
Mary De Luca - Beltway Ramblings
John Coley - Lake Martin Voice
Joe Peffer - Columbus Homes Blog
Charles Woodall - Dothan Home Search
Daniel Bates - My McClellanville
Eric Ransom - Real Estate Laundry

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Tags: real+estate+blogging, blogging+advice, collective+collaboration

The Art of Easter Egging To Gain Subscribers To Your Real Estate Blog

When it comes to readership on your real estate blog, Visitors are not nearly as important as Subscribers.

A subscriber is someone who recognizes the need to be notified as new content published to your real estate blog. 

Traffic to your site that is generated by search engines and inbound links certainly has its value, but a returning visitor that is already convinced that they are impressed with your message, is a relationship.

Getting a visitor to make the decision to subscribe does not always happen in the context of the message of the blog’s articles.  Often, your message is not unique, and it takes more than the article itself to convert visitors to subscribers.

Introducing the Blogging Easter Egg.

The Blogging Easter Egg is a hidden reward that adds extra dimension to the article.  The dimension can be something such as humor, entertainment, innuendo, incentive, support or reference.

A little history…

The origin of the term Easter Egg is said to have come from an actual Easter Egg Hunt that took place on the set of the cult favorite movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Some of the eggs were left on the sets, and as a result, appeared in a few of the scenes.

Virtual Easter Eggs are hidden messages or treasures found in books, movies, video games, programs, songs, CDs, DVDs and now blogs and websites.

The intended effect of Easter Egging is to engage your audience to look beyond the obvious. 

Nintendo’s Mario Bros. had me from the first discovery of their cleverly hidden rewards.  Instead of growing bored with routine play, my friends and I invested 100’s of hours looking for secret levels, hidden power-ups and extra lives.  We were hooked.

By including rewards and extras to your blog articles, you are engaging your audience beyond the obvious message, and enhancing their experience on your blog.  It’s these details that can make or break a visitor’s decision to subscribe to your blog.

I have a saying: “In marketing, it’s overlooking the little things that gets you overlooked.” 
Easter Egging is a perfect example of how to leverage the little things to make all the difference.

Adding Easter Eggs to your real estate blog is as easy as having something interesting and relevant to link to and something to engaging to say about it.

When you make the hyperlink in your blog’s text editor (WYSIWYG), you will have the option to add a ‘title’ to the link.  There are SEO benefits by adding keyword rich text in the title, and as an Easter Egg, it’s your opportunity to be clever.

The enjoyment is in both the hidden message and the destination.  To view the hidden message, you simply need to roll your mouse arrow over the link, and if there is a title tag added to the link, it will pop-up for you to read.  You visitor will not always ‘find’ your eggs, but once they do, they will look for all of them.

Similarly, you can also add title tags to your images (rollover the images in this article).  When your visitor rolls their mouse over the image, a similar pop-up, text message will appear. **Advanced Note: In most cases, when adding the “title tag” to your images, the HTML writes this as an “alt” tag and unfortunately, this does display on images in Firefox.  In order to make the Easter Egg message appear in Firefox you will need to manually add the “title tag” to the anchor in the HTML. 

Ask if you need help. – Click for some video from Matt Cutts on this topic and its SEO value.

How does this help your blog develop subscribers from your visits? 
When you are engaging your audience with a dimension of entertainment beyond the blog article’s obvious message, you are illustrating to your readers that you care about their experience on your real estate blog, and in turn, they will see the value of this effort.  These clever details can make your site stand out among those competing for the same audience.

This post was inspired by my addiction to reading Soxaholix.com.  Hart Brachen (Heart Breaking), the site’s author is a master of weaving Easter Eggs into his strip: pop entertainment, literature, history, and of course Red Sox columns.  I look forward to his characters dialogues as much as the destinations that his links send us.

Related Must Read
Another Easter Egg Hidden In The Real Estate Blog

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Tags: Easter+Eggs, Real+estate+blogging, blogging+advice, blog+subscribers

Looking For Ready To Act Buyers? Blog These Proven To Succeed Real Estate Topics

As promised last week, Monday Real Estate Blogging Advice Posts will now be the result of the collective collaboration from our own Clients, the Tomato Bloggers.

This Week’s Collaborative Blogging Advice Topic:
What Should Realtors Be Blogging About In Order To Attract Ready To Act Home Buyers?

As a disclaimer, I don’t know that there is an objectively correct answer to the question, given that every target market is different, be it urban or rural, or beach front or mountain living.  Nonetheless, it made for a fascinating conversation in the Tomato Forum.  Here’s what we made of it:

The Internet Lead is generally considered to be a lead that is going to take some time to incubate. 
The length of time thrown around is usually 6–18 months.
Can real estate blogging help a lead develop more quickly, or rather can blogging attract leads that are further along in their own incubation?

Blogging about the Neighborhoods is an obvious choice, but it is how and where you choose to write about that brings the quality of leads.

 As Cyndee Haydon Described:

“Neighborhood Posts

I have found that when I write about the area, for example Tampa Bay (2 million+ people)- I get prospects that are 12-24 months out;

When I blog about a local City - like Clearwater (100,000 people) I get more 12 month and under buyers;

When I blog about a neighborhood / condo complex like Sandpearl (100 to 1000 residences):
I get what I call NOW buyers 1-6 months out.

Why? My experience has been that if they have drilled down to where they "know the neighborhood they want to live", they appreciate and value finding a real local expert. [I find this] especially true with relocating buyers.”

Blogging for the Relocation Buyers and Tourists also proves worthy.

Relocation Buyers most commonly come from two sources: Career Transfer or Tourist.

This has the topic of relocation represented broadly across 2 elements:
      Things To Do While In Town
             Dining
             Entertainment
             Lodging
             Events
             Local Business Highlights
             Recreation and Parks
             Shopping
             And on and on…
And
      Things To Consider To When Moving To Town
             School Systems and Scores
             Job Opportunities and Big Employers
             Religious Services
             Civic Groups and Clubs
             Sports Facilities and Gyms
             Local Political Issues (tread carefully)
             And on and on….

And most importantly for both groups: Lots and Lots and Lots of Pictures.
Take them yourself – Never leave home without your camera – Shoot everything!

HOWEVER:

The point with the most impact of the conversation was revealed in a question:
“What Do Buyers Dream About in Your Market?” 
If we are Selling the Dream, would not blogging about the dream in your market be a winner?

Again, I quote this weeks MVB (Most Valuable Blogger): Cyndee Haydon

“Lifestyle Posts

I have found if I can start a dialogue that includes lifestyle and hobbies - I am on an "emotional level" and can help sell the dream versus being seen on a commodity level - (for example: Ever see buyers not value your MLS feed? - They think the computer did all the work…what's your value?)

Because of where I live (Florida, Beaches, Golf, Boating, Biking, Birding), if I can offer info or get a dialogue around these things I totally differentiate myself.  [These topics] create "rapport" since we found a common interest/expertise.

I am using local experts to bring unique info to my blogs not found easily anywhere else.
For example – I just interviewed a local kayak company about kayaking here in the Clearwater area.

Audience Impression – It’s How You Are Blogging, Not What You Are Blogging.

It used to be that when Buyers were ready to buy a home or condo they drove the neighborhood and called the agent with the sign in the yard. Now buyers are driving the internet to do their research and they're contacting the real estate agent with the most knowledge and expertise in that neighborhood and/or lifestyle.

Showcase Expertise and Understanding

Write from the Buyer’s Perspective:
Illustrate that you understand what is in it for them.

Provide Social Proof:
Links to Written and Video Testimonials at the end of articles. 

Blog What You Know: – Be seen as an expert, because you are the expert.
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 1
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 2
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 3

Stay On Top Of Local Issues:
Your local rag as well as the real estate sections of the newspaper are topics buyers will be discussing.

Develop Useful Calls To Action

Appear Approachable:
Asking open ended questions invites the dialogue

Provide FREE Value:
MLS Searches, Home Value Reports, Real Estate Reports, etc.

The Downloadable eBook:
Compile useful posts into downloadable guides: Dining, Park Review, Market Trends, Neighborhood Breakdowns etc.

Be Positive

Buying A Home Is A Very Exciting, Happy Time
Blogging about the positive and the awesome opportunity is going to gel well with this audience

Handle Objections
Regularly bringing clarity to common concerns keeps buyers on track, and avoids issues that can linger.

and finally…

Beware

If you blog it they will come… So don't blog about markets or neighborhoods or issues that you don’t want to develop inquiries about.

—  —

Related Must Read Articles:
How Does Blogging Actually Generate Leads?
9 Examples of How Blogging Will Have You Overcoming Real Estate Objections
Of Blogs and Bricks

Tomato Co-Authors

Cyndee Haydon - Sandbars To Sunsets
Terry McDonald – Charlotte Communities
Paula Henry - Indy Real Estate Talk
Chad Lariscy - The Front Porch View
Daniel Bates - My McClellanville
Kevin Warmath - Live In Alpharetta
Tracy Thomas - Blog Calabasas
Gena Riede - Sacramento Real Estate Voice
Marty Van Diest – Valley Market
Mary De Luca - Beltway Ramblings
Janis Gagliardi – Port Orange Juice
Maggie Dokic – The Blog That Ate Miami

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Tags: real+estate+blogging, blogging+advice, blogging+for+buyers, blog+lead+generation

Sellsius Real Estate Blog Announces Their Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers For 2007

The list from 2006 has grown from 10 to 12…
Now there are enough to fill a Women of Real Estate Blogging Calendar.

In order of appearance in the list from Sellsius:

Teresa Boardman
Kris Berg
Missy Caulk
Diane Cohn
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
Maureen Francis
Kristal Kraft
Laurie Manny
Roberta Murphy
Sharon Simms
Rhonda Porter
Frances Flynn Thorsen

Congratulations Ladies!

*Update (10–16–07)
Our good friend, and master blogger, Oliver Muoto over at VFlyer has taken the time to interview the Dynamic Dozen. Listen in.

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Tags: women+in+real+estate+blogging, sellsius+real+estate

Kick the Pay Per Click Habit: 7 Reasons Why Real Estate Blogging Is Better For Your Business

Our goal here at the Tomato is to educate Real Estate Professionals on the fine art of successful business blogging.

Now that our Active Vine of Blogging Clients has grown well past the 100 mark, it's obvious we have an army of savvy real estate bloggers.

In an effort to bring real, first hand knowledge to our readers, we will be collaborating with the Tomato Bloggers in the form of a weekly post.  Monday's articles are now the result of the collective writings of our clients around a Blogging Advice Topic that we discuss in a private forum.

This weeks topic:
What Makes Real Estate Blogging Better Than Pay-Per-Click Campaigns?

1. Longevity
Online Presence and Self Preservation

Pay-Per-Click advertising is an effective traffic generator while you are paying, but as soon as you stop paying, the traffic ceases, as does your increased presence online.  There is a direct correlation between money spent and traffic to your site.  This creates an addiction that is hard to break.

By developing a collection of news worthy blog articles, and in turn, establishing yourself as an authority in the search engines, you will retain search engine traffic for as long as the topics you have blogged about remain relevant. 

With Pay-Per-Click, the only writing you get to do is checks.  With blogging  you are actually creating a chronicle of your career in real estate.  What were you thinking about back in February 2007?

2. Long Tail
The Strategy of Being Found for the Less Common Terms and Phrases

Every article you write is not only a deposit into the bank of longevity, but also a deposit into the bank of keyword combinations for which you will continue to be found in the Search Engines. 

Taking the time to develop an article around a topic generates combinations of keywords far beyond the scope of a pay-per-click campaign.  One article might be written around one set of keywords, and yet generates dozens of combinations because of the association of terms throughout the text.

With PPC, you are limited to your imagination, foresight, term suggestion tools and your budget.

3. Clickability
Where Do You Look for the Best Results to Your Searches?

Studies show that more people are clicking as much as 6 times more on the organic sites rather than the PPC results. Bottom line, if you are not achieving organic placement, and stuck paying for sponsored placement, you are missing out on the majority of your potential traffic.

4. Trust
Transparency vs. Anonymity and the Perception of Value

Your audience understands the difference between an advertised placement and an organic result in the search engines.  This audience is bound to trust you more upon visit to your site if they feel that you have earned your way to the tops of the charts through hard work, dedication and focus.

The experience your visitor receives upon the visit only adds to the trust factor.  A well organized, passionate blog, dedicated to the education of your visitor accelerates the "Speed of Trust" in building a relationship with a potential client.

Pay-Per-Click leads are most commonly generated by sending a visitor to a landing page or a lead generation form.  The fast acquisition of a lead this way, although efficient, usually has you dealing with someone who still wants to maintain their anonymity.  Because there was no relationship before the contact, it can take months of forced incubation to get develop the trust you'll need to convert the lead.

Blogging is the relationship, and the relationship is the lead generator.

5. Relevance
Did Your Audience Find You to be the Result They Were Looking For?

Google Ad Words is becoming more proficient at posting ads in search results pages (SERPs) where the purchased campaigns are marginally relevant.  The idea is to create more exposure, generating more clicks for their clients.  The only challenge is that the ads that are appearing in the sidebars of search results pages are less and less relevant to the actual search.

When you blog about a topic, you are writing ‘around’ the subject.  When a less popular search is performed and your articles are a top result, it is generally because you are ‘spot on’ relevant.

6. Cost
Time vs. Money

The act of blogging is free.  Sure, an investment is generally made for any site’s design and functionality, as well as for the hosting and service.  But the future investment is strictly made in time.  The longer you blog and the more articles you create, the more valuable your site becomes.

The cost of a Pay-Per-Click campaigns depends on your budget  Minimum budgets start in the $100s per month, heavy campaigns run into the tens of thousands.  However, this cost is never ending, and in most cases always climbing per keyword phrase.

7. Internet Marketing Skills
What Does Your Online Presence Tell Your Potential Client?

A Pay-Per-Click campaign is an easy way into the search engines.  Anyone with a budget can swing it.

Blogging takes discipline, skill, focus, dedication, and savvy.  The huge reach your blog has in the search engines is a testament to your current and future clients that you understand and have what it takes to be a master online marketer.  If you have successfully marketed yourself, the impression is that you can do the same for their home.

Lead Quality was one of the topics that came up again and again in our forum discussion, and I feel that it was weaved into the above nicely, but it would be a shame to have left out this quote by Tracey Thomas:

A pay per click lead is like finding a wallet in the parking lot; just a name and contact info.

A blogging lead is like a referral. The customer feels like they already know you. Its almost as good (maybe even better) than third party validation; I control the information feed.

If someone reads my blog and calls me, they know more about me than if I was referred to them by a past client.

A recent relocation client found my via my blog/vlog. When we finally met, she had a familiarity with me that was similar to knowing me for a long time. I almost felt like I was at a bit of a disadvantage at first. I had to ask a lot of questions to get the same sense of comfort with her as she had obtained "virtually" with me.

And finally, my favorite One-Liner in the discussion:

“Blogging gives you a voice, while pay-per-click just gives you a link.” – Mary De Luca

Related Must Reads:
7 Compelling Reasons Google AdSense Will Ruin Your Real Estate Blog

Thank you everybody for your participation.  I look forward to this week’s discussion, see you in the Forum.

Tomato Co-Authors

Mary De Luca - Beltway Ramblings
Paula Henry - Indy Real Estate Talk
Char Lariscy - The Front Porch View
Cyndee Haydon - Sandbars To Sunsets
Kevin Warmath - Live In Alpharetta
John Coley - Lake Martin Voice
Doug Aegerter - St Louis Real Estate Voice
Tracy Thomas - Blog Calabasas
Gena Riede - Sacramento Real Estate Voice
Joe Peffer - Columbus Homes Blog
Charles Woodall - Dothan Home Search
Daniel Bates - My McClellanville
Eric Ransom - Real Estate Laundry

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Inman News Ranks Real Estate Tomato A Top 25 Most Influential Real Estate Blogger

Flattered.
Honored.
Thrilled.

Proud to be listed among such heavyweights on the RE Blogos.

Here are Inman's Top 25 Real Estate Bloggers:

— Broker and Agent Blogs

Teresa Boardman
St. Paul Real Estate Blog

Ardell Della Loggia
Founder, SearchingSeattleBlog

Marlow Harris
Founder, 360Digest

Doug Heddings
Founder, TrueGotham

Noah Rosenblatt
Founder, Urbandigs.com

— Community/ Multi-Author Blogs

Dustin Luther
Founder, Rain City Guide

Greg Swann
Founder, Bloodhound Blog

— Mortgage Blogs

Morgan Brown
Founder, Blown Mortgage

Todd Carpenter
Founder, LenderamaCR and Tanta
Bloggers, Calculated Risk

Paul Jackson
Founder, Housing Wire

— Housing Economics

Jonathan Miller
Founder, Matrix

— Industry Commentary

Kevin Boer
Founder, 3Oceans Real Estate

Joel Burslem
Founder, Future of Real Estate Marketing

Patrick Kitano
Founder, Transparent Real Estate

— Marketing and How-To

Jim Cronin
Founder, Real Estate Tomato

Joseph Ferrara, Rudolph D. Bachraty III
Co-Founders, Sellsius Real Estate Blog

— Local Blogging

Jonathan Butler
Founder, Brownstoner

Adam Koval
Founder, SocketSite

— Company Bloggers

David Gibbons
Director of Community Relations, Zillow

Glenn Kelman
CEO, Redfin

— Journalist Blogs

John Cook
Reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Writer, John Cook's Venture Blog

Peter Coy, Dean Foust, Chris Palmeri, Maya Roney
Reporters, BusinessWeek
Bloggers, BusinessWeek's Hot Property blog

— Bubble Bloggers

Keith
Founder, Housing Panic

Patrick Killelea
Founder, Patrick.net
Blogger, Reality Parser

 Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!

 If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

Tags: inman+real+estate, real+estate+bloggers, blogging+pros