7 Reasons Why Your Local Real Estate Blogging Peers Are Not Your Competition

Because the clients we work with have such a positive experience with their blogging, they commonly express the concern that they would prefer us to not educate others in their geographic areas of focus.  Sometimes they ask in jest, other times they are actually dead serious and willing to pay for exclusivity. 

As unwise as this is from a business growth standpoint for us, this is not the reason I discourage this manner of thinking.  Below are 7 arguments in favor of the growth of the real estate blogging community, in your town.  And, selling more custom blogs and training is not one of them.

1. Coke Needs Pepsi.  McDonalds Needs Burger King.

Why?  Because the consumer should not be discouraged to get more of what they want, just because they can't have their preferred product.  Coke can't be in all places at all times.  So Pepsi is there to provide the thirst quench.  Just as McDonalds can't be on every corner, BK is there is fill the void.  This keeps the consumer perpetually satisfied.

The consumer still prefers Coke over Pepsi (or vice-versa), but in a time of need, is at least able to get more-or-less what they are looking for. 

Your Blogging Audience will react in the same manner.  If you get their attention with relevant, interesting and regular content, you will earn a fan.  For those days when you are not there, the consumer wants to be able to continue to satisfy the their need for local real estate blog content, at the same time, wishing it was yours.

Sure you risk losing them to another neighborly blogger, but only if you put out an inferior product.  Trust your fans.  Let them go, and be confident that they will come back to you when you publish again.

2. Build Win-Win Relationships

Show an interest in your neighbors real estate blog, and they and their audience will show an interest in yours. 

This is such a foreign concept for many agents that have been fighting for client loyalty for so many years.  But the truth of the matter is that it is precisely this reciprocating effort that will be the difference between a good blogger and a great blogger.

Initiating conversations in emails and in the comments of your peers' blogs will both establish the recognition of your name and your blog as well as help you earn their trust and their visit.

Bringing local Realtors and their audience to your site to contribute to the discussions on your platform is the reward.  But, you'll need to make the first (or many) effort(s) by playing nice on theirs.

This is certainly another instance of:
Keep your friends close, and your enemies competition even closer.

Pay it forward.  It will come back to you.

3. Blogging Is Not For Everyone. 

Although there may always be more agents then ready-to-act buyers and sellers at any given time, there will always be fewer bloggers.
I can't imagine more than 1% of agents in an area becoming truly active bloggers.  In an area like Chico where there are no more than 500 active agents, it would surprise me if there were ever to be more that 5 very active bloggers.

So, if that's the case, you'll have to admit that the arena is quite small.  It would be best to acknowledge and encourage each other, as opposed to making the effort to deny that they exist.

4. People Gravitate Towards The Unselfish. 

Acknowledging the resource that others offer shows confidence in your own message and service.
The air with which you treat others is a huge part of your personality.  People gravitate towards the unselfish.  Your worth grows in your acknowledgment of others’ worth.  Being the central connector has all roads leading back to you.

5. You Are Delusional To Think That Your Audience Is Only Reading You.

Have you not noticed that once you uncover the world of blogging, you immediately look for more and more writing to consume that meets your interests and needs?  For some it even gets to the point where you get information overload and need to shed all the noise and just get back to the best and preferred messages. 

Aim to be a preferred messenger.

6. Larry Bird Needed Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson Needed Larry Bird.

..and the NBA needed them both.

Competition keeps you sharp and keeps you driven. 
But, most importantly, it keeps the audience interested.
Imagine running a race, by yourself.  
Now imagine that same race with a few others breathing down your neck. 
You run harder, they run harder, and the crowd shares in the emotion.

7. Learn From Them.  Be Inspired By them.  Disagree With Them.  Compliment Them.

I'm certainly no plagiarist... but I can tell you that if my posts aren't inspired by the questions from, and conversations with, our clients, then it is a safe bet they were inspired (at least in part) by a blogger I respect.

Observe the ideas that you see your peers blogging about and improve on them. 
Find the holes in arguments and then bring the more refined message to your audience.
Help yourself stay on top of local topics by tuning in to your peers.
Acknowledge a great article, then add your two cents.

Traditionally, real estate is a dog-eat-dog industry.  Blogging can be and should be a refreshing divergence from this attitude.  Embrace your neighbor, and it will only make you better.

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Related Must Reads:
The Secret To Successful Comments
Running Into Oncoming Traffic
Why Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor

Tags: Blogging+competition, Real+Estate+Blog, Blogging+Advice

Comments

[Mariana Wagner]

My only "real" immediate local competition is Brian Wilson of Zolve, which is a respectable Blog-Partner to have, IMHO ...

[Sandi Bauman]

Hmmm... is this your subtle way of telling me you are training more Chico bloggers?! :) By my count, 5 VERY active Chico bloggers would be a lot.

[Heather Adams]

I am new to blogging and have put Google Reader on my homepage so that I can keep up with the blogs that I find really interesting. I have gained so much insight into why not only is blogging so important, but to why making sure there is particpation from other bloggers and community participants. I am nervous about jumping into the "action" so to speak, but the more I read your blog and The Phoenix Real Estate Guy and others, I am sold as to the value of it. I agree that our clients are reading other blogs anyways and I think that if they see your name in other community forums and realize that you are knowledgable and do know your "stuff" the liklier they are of staying with you as a client and not jumping ship.

I am intimidated but hitting the post button anyway. Thanks!

[Eric Bouler]

You arecorrect in the numbers. They get smaller as you move East towards the East. I see few fellow realtor bloggers in my area. Few keep up their websites. But by the same token having less is fine in the beginning while I build content. My market is a niche market and tends to get less competition because of that. Eric

[Hilary Shantz, TheOakvilleBuzz.com]

In real estate, even more than for certain consumer products, it seems to me that the public needs to have a number of options to choose from. No two realtors are the same, and the consumer will make choices based on a number of different compatibility factors.

I like the fact that the blog helps a propspect to make a choice based on quite a bit of information about me as a realtor, so when he or she contacts it is likely to be a good fit.

[John Lockwood]

Fair enough. So if you're not competing with me, any special reason you emailed me to let me know you thought a local competitor you coach was "catching up" to me on the SERPs? Sounds pretty danged competitive to me.

My official policy is that I LOVE helping out local bloggers, as long as they're Purva or someone else hanging their license in the right place. :)

Oh, by the way, if you have a minute, I'd love to hear your opinion as to my comment policy. Too complex / Draconian? Just right? Email or on the blog -- either one works.

Thanks.

And thanks again for the mention the other day.

[Jim Cronin]

John,

The email was sent frivolously. You're the top dog (Larry Bird, only more handsome, but that's not hard too difficult) in the SERPs for Sacramento Real Estate and at least a dozen other coveted terms in the Greater Sacrament market. I was just letting you know you now had another blogger joining the ranks.

Off to see your comment policy.

[Scott Rogers]

I started blogging a few months ago, and in the process, built a blogging platform that integrates with the IDX web sites that all 65 agents in my company use. Thus, I've been encouraging our agents to blog --- for many of the reasons mentioned in this post (though I wouldn't have been able to delineate and articulate them as well). :)

Now we've also started using the posts from agent blogs on front of our company web site (www.cbfunkhouser.com), which makes the company site more dynamic, and drives traffic to the web sites of the agents who blog.

[Jim Cronin]

Scott, that is very progressive for your company.
Was this your doing?

We have some very exciting news to make soon that will be right up your alley... hang tight.

[Scott Rogers]

Yes --- since agents sell real estate, not companies, I have long had the vision of every agent in our company having a fantastically easy to use IDX web site on which to build their business. We launched that system 12 months ago (though we still have a lot of upgrades to make), and we added in the blogging platform 4 months ago. So far so good!

I look forward to hearing of your news.

[Jim Cronin]

Nicely done. And yes, stay tuned.

[Jim Cronin]

"...is this your subtle way of telling me you are training more Chico bloggers?! :) By my count, 5 VERY active Chico bloggers would be a lot."

Sandi,

My math is off. Seems the recent RE woes in Chico has the number closer to 400 than 500. I just spared you 20% less bloggers by estimating 4 rather than 5 VERY active Chico area bloggers :)

You should be thrilled I don't prospect in my own town. LOL

[Sharon Simms]

In the difficult real estate market that Florida has now, having good relations with some great colleagues really makes a difference in being successful.

[Sean Purcell]

Jim,
Saying this is an interesting post feels hollow, as just about all of your posts are interesting. What I should say is I agree with many of your points but they lead me to a different conclusion. Local bloggers, if they are campaigning anywhere near your community (long tail niche), are competition by definition! The recognition of which should do nothing to lessen our encouragement of them for many of the reasons you laid out, but we cannot close our eyes to their nature.

”Coke Needs Pepsi. (but)…Coke can't be in all places at all times. So Pepsi is there to provide the thirst quench” is exactly why other bloggers are competition. Do you agree that Coke would prefer Pepsi not exist: that their consumers drive a little further or go a little longer to reach their product over buying the competition out of convenience? ”Trust your fans. Let them go, and be confident that they will come back to you…” makes perfect sense and is great advice in that it furthers point #6: “Competition keeps you sharp and keeps you driven.” We must continuously sharpen our skills, not only to attract new clients but to retain them once they have landed. This is one of the things that make competition so important. Of course, we must first recognize the competition.

Your point that “you are delusional to think that your audience is only reading you” rings loud and true; as does: “people gravitate towards the unselfish.” Both salient points but both eclipsed, once we recognize the competition for being exactly that, when you said “initiating conversations in emails and in the comments of your peers' blogs will both establish the recognition of your name and your blog as well as help you earn their trust and their visit.” Yes, yes, yes! Here is the crux of the matter. When our common customer is looking at your blog (drinking Pepsi) I want to still have name recognition and (hopefully) raise my perceived level of expertise. I want them to read my comments (sip Coke) and be impressed with my trenchant analysis, difference of opinion or magnanimity in recognizing something the poster has said. Bottom line, however, is that I want the customer to recognize ME and see a reason to go back to me for their business (keep buying Coke).

Finally, you point out that “blogging is not for everyone” and imagine there won’t be “… more than 1% of agents in an area becoming truly active bloggers.” To which I respond: GREAT! This is, in the end, a form of marketing and the less people doing it the better. Imagine Coke’s ecstatic response to learning that Pepsi has decided to forgo television as a medium for advertising.

I appreciate your posts for exactly the reason I appreciate all great posts: they make me think. Embracing and encouraging blogging among competitors is a healthy and rewarding endeavor, just as you suggest. Real estate is a peculiar business: the practitioners spend their time in competition with one another until, from time to time, they join together as a team to help two clients reach their needs and achieve their goals. Blogging is a great way to exercise the competitive nature while building the necessary bridges for teamwork. I do not know if I “added (my) two cents” but I sure hope I “acknowledged a great article.”

[Jim Cronin]

Sean,

Comment of the week!

We walk in stride. I know that I weaved in an out of the sentiment of what I meant by Competition. What I meant to say, but knew would have less impact is that "A Little Friendly Blogging Competition In The Local Real Estate Blogosphere Is Not Such A Bad Thing". But how lame does that sound?

Thanks for the great comment.

[Joseph Bridges]

Jim,

Most cities only have a handful of agents doing real estate period. Of those that do any significant business most will see blogging as a chore and will refuse to do it. Bloggers who care, meaning the produce relevant consumer driven posts, will compliment eachother as the great athletes did that you mention in your article. My brother(James Bridges) and I are always surprise when agents ask us why we teach agents how to improve their web presence as they say we will only take business from ourselves. There is enough for all to share.

[Gena Riede]

Jim,
How true. Comments are always welcome on Sacramento Real Estate Voice and when I am not working with clients, I love to comment on other blogs.

Can you do something about increasing the 24 hr thing?
Need a few more hours in the day.

Oh, just in case you forgot, I too blog about Sacramento...where's my email? ha, ha

Great comments.

[Jamey Bridges]

Jim,
I like the aspects you point out. I think prospective buyers and sellers often gravitate to voices in the blogosphere that they can relate with. I always tell real estate professionals to write the information (whether it be BLOG or their website) from their perspective because that is what people are attracted to. Some people want the cagy veteran helping them and others want the agent who is up to date on the latest tools for buying or selling. :)
So whatever the angle that people succeed with, go with that online! Have no fear of hitting the post button as not everyone has to be perfect, just has to get the voice out there so people can hear it.
Thanks Jim.

[Toronto real estate agent]

Jim, Thank you for these advice. I came over your article while looking for something completely different and I am happy that I opened your site. I work as a Toronto real estate agent and I have been thinking about writing my own blog for a long time now. Your article pointed out the things I should avoid and helped me to make a final decision. I am positive that real estate agents should write their own blogs and contribute to the real estate community.

[morocco property]

very useful suggeston. The last one is very important, not even for real estate but for all business. I am going to implement them for my own company.

[Bonnie Erickson]

When one shares the market with the likes of Teresa Boardman, one has to remember daily that there are plenty of fish in the sea and there's enough work to go around for both of us! ;-) Not to mention the other talented real estate bloggers in the greater Twin Cities area. My take on blogging is that we attract people who like the personality we expose in our writing. We each are different and blogging is actually a way to distribute the clients to the agents they fit best with!

[Dee Copeland]

I agree wholeheartedly. I love having so many great bloggers in my area. We have Lani, Sam Chapman, Steve Crossland, Eric, etc. We comment on each others' blogs and help each other in any way.

I'd actually suggest that bloggers find out who their respective client bases are. Sam works lake areas, Eric works North, I work with investors for South/Central and Steve works rental investors. We totally have a referral network that doesn't overlap much, so can send deals to each other all day long, only maximizing our business.

Had I not reached out to all of those bloggers, I'd have not realized how we can help each other.