Ask Yourself, Why Am I Blogging? The Most Difficult Part Is Having An Honest Answer.

Blogging is a big commitment.  By starting a real estate blog you are embarking on what could be a never ending writing adventure.  If you are going to go forward with it, shouldn’t you ask yourself “Why Do I Want To Blog?”

Blogging is a strategy.  Yet, in order for the strategy to be something that you can really get behind, you need to understand and define your goal.  You will defeat yourself, or rather blogging will defeat you, if there is no clear definition of what you want to achieve.

If you are unsure of your goal, how can you be sure of how much time to dedicate to blogging, or whether it is actually ‘working’ for you?

Do you want to be the most read blog in your city, community, niche?
Do you want to generate buyer leads? listing leads? 
Do you want to help educate past, current and future clients?
Do you want to remain relevant in these fast changing times?
Do you want to be like someone that you respect that blogs?
Or is it something completely different?

I’m bringing it up because if you can’t clearly define your reason for the effort, you’ll end up spending a lot of time on something that you don’t even comprehend.

To succeed at something that requires the commitment that blogging does, you will need to know, without any doubt, exactly why you are making the effort in the first place.

This is not to say it is futile to flounder around a bit as you find your voice.
To be honest, I did exactly that.  At the onset of the Real Estate Tomato, I knew I wanted to blog, and was very excited about the whole thing.  The mistake I was making however was that I had no clear goal other than to post as often as I could about whatever I thought y’all wanted to read. 

I remember thinking that I was blogging because I didn’t want to be left behind, that I wanted to be ‘heard’, that it would support my speaking engagements, and that it meshed well with my personality.  But those thoughts were not the real goal.

Soon it all became crystal clear and I have blogged with that clarity in mind ever since.  Education has always been at the center of my marketing strategy, and once I saw the impact that my Blogging Advice articles were having on my income, reputation, readership and participation in the comments there was no doubt as to what was my definition of Blogging Success.

The goal of the Real Estate Tomato Blog is to make an impact with every Blogging Advice article.

The impact is clear when the your comments are intelligent.
The impact is clear when we get mentioned and linked-to by other blogs. 
It is this impact that satisfies all the resulting rewards.

Now when I sit down to pound out an article, I consider the impact it will have, and I write for that goal alone.

So before you write another article, or before you make the decision to finally start a real estate blog, take a few minutes and drag the honest answer out of yourself.  Write down all the reasons for which you think you are blogging, and uncover the real goal.  Now drive.

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Related Must Reads:

Why Should I Blog? - It's About the Value of Being Seen as the Expert in Your Niche
He Asked Me, "Why Am I Blogging?"
Why Real Estate Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 1 of 3

Tags: real+estate+blogging, blogging+advice, why+am+i+blogging?

Comments

[Julia Fishel]

Jim,

Thought-provoking post, indeed! I think I'll go sit on the porch with a cervesa and a notepad to contemplate this exercise. Right now, I'd say that it's 1) to get leads, 2)to validate my expertise with both buyers and sellers, and 3) because I always dreamed of being a writer but am not great at it, nor is it a life path I 100% wanted, and this is the best vehicle I could have ever imagined to make that dream come true.

Look forward to finding "my truth". Might get back to you on that one!

Julia

[Heather Rankin]

Thanks!

I may have gone about this a wee bit backwards. I had wanted to get into real estate for 20 or so years but, well... you know, life got in the way. About 2 years ago, maybe a wee bit longer, I was Googling Real Estate info for a friend in a different state, when I found my first ever real estate blog. I was captivated!

At the time, I was doing website management for a few sites. The instant I saw the blog the direction to head in was clear. It took a few months, but I got licensed in two states, started my blog and have never looked back.

I don't always enjoy it and, yes, it is a huge commitment. However, every goal you listed above was on my mind when I started. Initially I was afraid to move away from straight real estate info and get in to the local scene, but those days are gone. Almost all of my business is now coming off my blog and I LOVE it.

[Daniel Bates]

Is it alright if my reasons have changed? I still want leads, but it's less of a focus today than when I started two years ago. Most of the posts I write now are simply to fill a void in the media and provide information to the community and those interested in it. I'm also basically holding my top SE position until I decide if I want to go full-time.

[Heather Rankin]

Daniel

After I started my blog, had maybe had it up for a couple of weeks, I found yours. I love your blog, your writing style, and the local pictures. I showed your blog to all my kids and used it as an inspiration. Guess you never know who you're reaching out there :) Cheers!

[Roberta Murphy]

Sometimes I blog to start a conversation or controversy. Sometime I blog to troll for buyers and sellers of San Diego real estate. And there are times when I blog as a community service, simply hoping to help those seeking arcane services or recreation in San Diego County.

More recently, I discovered that I cannot blog when I am absorbed with personal pain--as with the recent death of my father (and best friend) in late April. For six weeks, this loss stood as a huge boulder that blocked writing and blogging for me.

Relatively healed and put back together, I'll go back to blogging for:

1) Attracting clients, readers and the curious;

2) Being among the first to share new discoveries;

3) SEO rankings for desired search terms;

4) Figuring out how to rank well with Bing. Suggestions appreciated!

[Jim Cronin]

Roberta,

The exercise is to determine the main goal of your blogging efforts. What is the true, singular reason you make the time to put in the effort? Think about it. Zero in on what matters most to you about blogging. I would love to hear it.

[Prince William Homes for Sale]

Thank you for putting this all together. As a avid Blogger, I can say you are right on the money here! You did a wonderful job, and your points are well taken.

[Roberta Murphy]

Jim,

A singular reason for blogging? I guess you might say it's whatever has bitten my butt on a particular morning.

I tend to be a morning blogger, and if I awaken in a competitive mood, I may go on a jag to write blogs laden with Google juice and SEO--and pray that I don't bore readers over to a competitor's blog. G-Page One is the goal, but this is routine blogging, and these mornings tend to repeat themselves until...

I awaken really pissed or inspired by something going on in our business. The resulting articles will usually be a catharsis that warrant second and third readings and careful editing prior to hitting the "publish" button. Though not intended, these are the blogs that are most likely to result in potential client calls--or contact from reporters seeking to develop their own related stories.

Some mornings I awaken feeling generous, and inspired to provide pages of information about San Diego. Those are perfect times to write the the obligatory information blogs/pages about our communities that are meant to inform readers--and perhaps indirectly convince someone seeking information about Holiday Parades that they should use me as a Realtor. That rarely happens, but occasionally garners phone calls from readers asking about other venues and parking for described events.

I don't have a singular reason for blogging--other than the self-imposed obligation to feed and sustain this creation and extension of my professional self.

And now that I think of it, blogging isn't terribly different from cooking. Sometimes that task is routine and performed at the sustenance level. Sometimes it is planned in detail--and meant to entertain and impress guests. And on rare occasion, the culinary efforts are sheer creative genius that might WOW even Alice Waters or Wolfgang Puck. Then , there are times that the only thing I want for dinner are...reservations (where someone else does the cooking).

Jim, I think you would like me to provide a singular reason or goal for blogging: Leads, relevance, writer's catharsis, creative needs, public service, or recognition.

It's probably all of these things--and more, depending on what prods me (or doesn't) on a given morning. And that may explain the variance (and occasional absences) in my blogging--as well as the evolution of two business blogs.

[Portland Real Estate]

I like the SEO benefit that I get, but the reason that I started was to provide valuable information to my clients and potential clients. There is an awful lot of cloudy unclear and just plain bad information out there, I wanted a place for people to come for the real deal.

[Deb Dahlberg Rowland]

This was really helpful for me to readjust my thinking on my blogging goals. Thanks for sharing.

[Clinton, UT]

I often ask myself the same question, but I've been told hundreds of times and have learned from personal experience that the best way to become a better writer is to simply write. So I do :) It also helps with professional development, like you say: since I started writing I have observed that I am a lot tidier in my thoughts about real estate.

[teresa boardman]

You are right about having a goal. I like to think of it as a picture. I have a picture in my head of the area that my blog focuses on and even a picture of the readers. I look at that picture when I write my blog. They call it "hyper local" I would argue that it is very focused and designed to attract the kind of business that I seek. If I didn't have that kind of vision I am not sure what would keep me on track, or motivated for that matter.

[Alexandria VA Homes]

Great post. I Blog regularly, but to be honest I still get a better return on my web sites.