The Real Estate Tomato: Blogging Advice

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April 30, 2008: Finding Time To Blog As A Real Estate Professional
Comments: 32 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

This might just be the most ironic post we’ll ever publish here on the Vine. Teresa Boardman, the real estate blogging goddess from St. Paul, sent over this post to help us get some fresh content on our pages. It couldn’t have come at a better time. With all of my time spent on the recent growth of our company and the development of some very exciting projects, including an entire Tomato Makeover, it’s nice to have a few reliable contributors. Finding Time To Blog As A Real Estate Professional By Teresa Boardman I am contacted by people from all over the country who would like to start a business blog or who already have one but are struggling with it. People make the same type of comment about not having enough time, not understanding how I find the time or saying that is takes too much time. Marketing and...

April 15, 2008: Exactly Why You Should Bore Blog Readers With Real Estate Statistics
Comments: 33 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

Things have been a bit quiet here at the Vine for the last couple of weeks, and that only ever means one thing: We’re Growing Again. We’ve recently brought on 3 additional members to our team in order to bolster our strengths in design, service, and training. Our publishing pace always suffers when I have to be so “hands on” in training and transistion. Look for a surge next week! Fortunately, we have the support of guest bloggers. This week, Margaret Woda (FocusOnCrofton.com) makes her Real Estate Tomato debut with an excellent post on her person experience with blogging about her local real estate statistics. Take it away Margaret! Why Bore Blog Readers With Statistics? By Margaret Woda My community real estate blog “for and about Crofton, Maryland” is picking up steam with more hits and page views each month. Creative, articulate, helpful – these are adjectives I’ve read or...

March 30, 2008: Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity.
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blog SEO Advice , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

Thanks to the recent frequency and quality of guest posts, I’ve had the pleasure of taking a little time off from shouldering the content on the Tomato. Keeping in stride, we have another treat for you. Todd Carpenter, ubiquitous RE.net participant, and owner and author of the globally appreciated mariah.com (a web 2.0 real estate network of websites), just emailed over this solid piece weighing the value of blogging for Search Engine exposure. Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity. By Todd Carpenter What’s the difference between a blogging expert and a real estate expert? Blogging experts may or may not understand how the real estate industry operates. Take, for example the theory forwarded that, for the sake of superior Google search results, bloggers should not write about their community. That instead, they should stick to posts that are only about real estate itself. You’ll...

March 26, 2008: Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman?
Comments: 27 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

John Coley, still my favorite Lake Martin, Alabama blogger, sent over this gem, and I couldn’t wait to post it for your enjoyment. Can My Real Estate Blog Help Me Talk Like a Woman? By John Coley I recently got rejected on a listing presentation, and it hurt. Unless you're a realtor that signs up 100% of your listing presentations, you know what I mean. This one was particularly painful because it was to list a couple's lake home and help them buy another. The combination of the two homes would have been about $2 million in gross sales, which buys a lot of groceries in Alabama. It also hurt because I felt I had a really good relationship with the husband. He contacted me out of the blue. We talked a lot. He liked the way I marketed other homes in the area. So I was surprised to hear...

March 26, 2008: All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So.
Comments: 20 | Categories: Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging , Search Engines

I know what you are thinking…”not another SEO article, please…” SEO focused companies have secrets. They want you to think that you need them to get you to the top of the search engines. They want you to think that you need to learn the complex details or you will fail. They want you to think that there is so much that goes into it, that you'd be a fool to not put your faith in them. They want you to think that your success depends on their knowledge and tools. They want you to think that their advice will make "all the difference". Well folks, the truth is, when it comes to blogging, SEO consulting is a lot like cold medicine. When you catch a cold, if you don't take medicine you are going to be sick for seven days. However, if you do take cold medicine it is...

March 20, 2008: Blogging on a Saturday - How Rewarding It Can Be
Comments: 10 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Blogging everyday is not easy. I know. At best, I’ve got a pace of 3–4 times a week. However, Teresa Boardman, our resident real estate blogging goddess, is pretty darn consistent. Looking back through her archives it’s rare to find a day left unblogged. So how does she find the motivation and creativity to keep it up? Here’s a peek into the history behind Teresa’s Saturday offerings (to the gods). Blogging on a Saturday - How Rewarding It Can Be Jim and I have both said this a million times, well now a million and one times: it is content that makes our blogs work. It is nice to have a pretty blog, and a blog that wins awards but if the intent is to meet people who have real estate needs then content should be a priority. Saturday's are my lowest readership day. At one point I considered not...

March 6, 2008: Real Estate Blogging Business Plan For 2008 - Boots On the Ground Will Help You Find and Service Buyers
Comments: 17 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

The growth of Real Estate Blogging, although steady and noticeable, still has not lived up to the hype, and it never will. That’s not to say that it is being rejected as a competent means to the end: as an effective lead generation tool. In fact, we’re finding that blogging is not only keeping people in business, saving them marketing spend, and changing their outlook on real estate, but it is actually improving the industry. Anytime that you force an industry to establish, present, and defend opinion and insight, you’re heading in the right direction. The reason I feel that a rush to blogging as a marketing tool will never catch fire is because of a major deterrent called: Work. Writing for most is work. Sitting alone at a computer, being asked to pave the way to your marketing success through writing, is just not a reasonable endeavor for most....

March 4, 2008: Starting A Real Estate Blog? Grab That Email Database, Let's Get You Read
Comments: 18 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blog Syndication , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

When I started the Real Estate Tomato, in June of 2006, I had one reader, me. Before the first month was over, I was averaging 30 unique visitors a day. Within 2 months it was 135 unique visitors a day. How did we get out of the gates so quickly? We did it in part, with an old friend: The Email Database. To make a business blog a successful marketing strategy, you need to have an audience of potential clients. Having been a consultant for online real estate marketing for 6 years before starting the Tomato, I had a mighty database of real estate agents, lenders, industry professionals and friends. If I was going to regularly write articles about leveraging the internet as a marketing tool for real estate, then this was the audience I would want to be paying attention. So I shoved it down their throat. Well, not...

February 28, 2008: The Real Estate Business Is Content, Not Home Selling
Comments: 7 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

The above might seem like an odd statement, but it couldn’t be more true. Let me use some examples of other industries to illustrate the point. The Music Industry The business is content creation; melodies, lyrics, videos, live presentations, etc. The product comes in the form of CD’s, DVD’s, downloads, posters, T-shirts, tickets etc. The Baseball Industry The business is content in the form of the actual game, the play-by-play, the TV broadcast, the reporting, etc. The product is tickets, jerseys and caps, hot dogs and beer, etc. The Restaurant Industry The business is content in atmosphere, presentation, description, expertise, service, etc. The product is meat, vegetables and alcohol, etc. You get the idea. The real estate industry is even more obviously tied to content, so much so that it is difficult to pin down the actual product. Some may argue it’s the service, but that’s actually the crux of...

February 20, 2008: Is Your Website Working Against Your Real Estate Career?
Comments: 37 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging , Topics and Opinions

No one is denying that there has been a shake-up in the real estate industry. Empty cubicles, where there once was a waiting list, tell the story better than I could. A thinning of the herd is always a positive thing for those staying put, but the bottom line is that there will always be more agents in the field than ready-to-act buyers and sellers. So we ask, what are you doing to ensure that you are a 'stayer' in 2008? There is common saying that I can't see being much more appropriate than now: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Along with this national 'shift in the market', that has many agents looking for a new career, there is another 'shift' that will certainly lead to the frustration and demise of many seasoned and novice agents alike. The Digital Divide. In 1997, an agent having an online identity was...

February 8, 2008: Why Worrying About SEO Is Detrimental to Your Real Estate Blog
Comments: 28 | Categories: Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Last year I wrote a post called 96% of All Real Estate Blogs Will Fail. It has become more and more clear that I failed to mention another clear reason why real estate bloggers are bound to abandon their blogging efforts. S.E.O. Search Engine Optimization Realtors help buyers buy property. Realtors help sellers sell property. If this is going to their business model for success, it needs to be a full-time job. Business Blogging is a marketing effort. However, it is a marketing effort that, as we've pointed out countless times, needs to be a discipline in order for it to work. In order for a full-time REALTOR to install a demanding discipline such as blogging as a piece of their marketing puzzle, it needs to be something that is not a challenge to embrace. The more challenging that it becomes, the less likely it is going to work into...

February 5, 2008: Blogging Etiquette - The Blog Comment Policy - Do You Need One?
Comments: 23 | Categories: Blog Participation , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Blogs are meant to be a two-way street. We are blogging for an audience. Engaging that audience to participate is a huge part of the the motivation and an element that can define a blog’s success. So where do you draw the line? What do you consider acceptable behavior by the audience, on your real estate blog? For a lot of real estate bloggers, their blog is an extension of their business. This means that their reputation, credibility, personality, works, message and even their career are potentially on the line with every article published. What are you doing to protect the above? The following are a number of items that range from mildly unacceptable to extremely offensive when it comes to the behavior of those leaving comments on your site. Setting a proper comment policy for your real estate blog can be used as a deterrent and for piece of...

January 31, 2008: Are You IN or OUT With Real Estate Blogging?
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Marc Grayson , Real Estate Blogging

Our resident Internet Marketing Specialist, Marc Grayson of Webographers fame, has just sent over his first Tomato contribution of 2008, and it couldn’t have been more timely. I hadn’t told him when he submitted the idea, but I have been meaning to write on this topic for the last week. You snooze, you lose. Perhaps I’ll save my banter for the comments along with y’all. Are You IN or OUT With Real Estate Blogging? By Marc Grayson You may have thought I was referring to, "are you in with blogging or out with blogging". Actually, what we seeing today are differentiations in blogging and communicating online given: your peers (Inside) and to consumers (Outside). Should real estate professionals stick to one audience...having more than 1 blog? Why is this important? Let's take a look at what service providers are up to. What were seeing today in Web 2.0 are lines...

January 29, 2008: Recycle to Get The Most Out of Your Real Estate Blog Articles and Pictures
Comments: 11 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Because of the global exposure Teresa Boardman receives, and the fact that she is a regular contributor here, I am regularly asked how she is able to continually keep up the vigorous posting pace on her real estate blog. I can’t speak for her, but I can say that the article she just sent over give us some tips on how to get more than one life out of your blog articles and the pictures that you snap for them. I Already Said That By Teresa Boardman My blog has a lot of words in it. There are almost 1000 posts. Posts that I wrote a couple of years ago are still out there marketing for me. They work hard and people contact me because of them. Last week I got two inquires from posts I wrote in October of 2006. Writing words and taking pictures does take time. I...

January 27, 2008: 3 Reasons Your Real Estate Blog Loads So Darn Slow, and the Solutions
Comments: 11 | Categories: Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Want to lose the interest of a new visitor to your blog? Ensure that it takes more than a few seconds for your blogsite to load. Not only will you lose their attention, but your site will give the impression that it is not user-friendly. Both are the kiss of death. The challenge is that many of the offenders have no idea that their site is taking so long to load. By regularly visiting their own blog, Temporary Internet Files get collected onto the site owner’s computer, facilitating the speedy display of their site, keeping them oblivious to the ugly reality. A new visitor to your site has no 'build up' of temporary files, so their first experience entails loading all the files on your site upon visit. If you have any of the following challenges, your site may be guilty of turning off new visitors. 1. Image Size. It's...

January 24, 2008: How Has Blogging Changed Your Real Estate Career? - Uncle Jack LeVine
Comments: 7 | Categories: Blogging Advice , Interviews , Marketing Solutions , Real Estate Blogging

This article is the second in a series of interviews that we've conducted with a handful of our Tomato Blogger Clients. The theme throughout these interviews is to learn how their blogging efforts have made huge differences in their real estate career. Today we meet "Uncle Jack". Jack Levine is the author of Very Vintage Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jack originally began blogging way back in October of 2005. He may even have been the very first real estate blogger in Las Vegas. After a break from blogging in late 2006, Jack reemerged with the official launch Very Vintage Vegas in March of 2007. A few months later, Jack hired us to take his blog and blogging skills to the next level. The following is how it has changed his life. Tomato- I know that you blog quite regularly. How often do you post and what's the secret to...

January 23, 2008: Finding Your Voice as a Writer of a Real Estate Blog
Comments: 3 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blog Discipline , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

Former real estate blogger Derek Burress who left blogging nearly four months ago to devote time to writing novels has kindly dropped by the Tomato to offer his advice on helping others find their writing voice. Writing at the Crossroads: Finding Your Voice as a Writer By Derek Burress Toni Morrison once said, "If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Have you ever found yourself wanting to write a book or blog but found yourself not knowing what to write? If so, I have some good news for you. What should I write about? The answer to this question is simple; you should write about what?s been in front of you the entire time: the same stuff you enjoy reading. Write about the things you enjoy: If you enjoy reading romance novels, you should write romance novels....

January 22, 2008: Three Letters I Don't Think About When Writing A Post For My Real Estate Blog
Comments: 23 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman , Topics and Opinions

Our favorite “Tell-it-like-it-is” correspondent from the real estate blogosphere, Teresa Boardman, is back with her first Tomato contribution of 2008. Recently there has been some discussion as to what approach we should take when it comes to considering the search engines with a real estate blog article writing style. Teresa, a proven success with her straight forward approach, serves up a spoonful of perspective, keeping us all in check: The Three Letters I Don’t Think About When Writing a Post For My Real Estate BlogBy Teresa Boardman There are three letters that I don’t think about when I write a blog post, they are S, E and O. I consider my posts and photographs to be a kind of creative endeavor and I can’t be creative if I am thinking about Google. I do need to attract search engines but my main goal is to attract the people who are...

January 18, 2008: The Before and After - A Real Estate Blog Article Extreme Makeover
Comments: 5 | Categories: Blog Organization , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

A year and a half ago I wrote a blog article called the Starbucks Mistake. The article was based on a Talk that I used to give regularly during the e-marketing seminars which I organized before I got into blogging. My blogging style, voice, format and content have noticeably developed since The Starbucks Mistake. I thought it would be fun to make-over the original article to illustrate the changes my blogging has gone through as well as how effective certain formatting techniques can be. Because of the attention that I am drawing to this ancient article, I can't resist making a few changes to the content... call it "freshening it up a bit". But for the most part, I am looking to leave the original text alone and focus on improving its presentation, organization, and optimization. (Disclaimer – Things may have changed on the Starbucks marketing front since I originally...

January 17, 2008: Dichotomy of the Real Estate Blog - Do You Please the Readers or Search Engines?
Comments: 13 | Categories: Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging , Search Engines

A little knowledge is dangerous thing, as can be a lot of it The Challenge: How to be found in Valley of Search and write Compelling Content that has you building relationships with your readers. This article is not about helping you be more compelling of an author, but rather an effort to keep you from overstepping the comfort level with your readers and the search engines. There are two very different concerns that people discuss, with all sorts of conflicting opinions. What is the tipping point of including relevant keywords that will a. Have you being found, but not enjoyed? b. Have you punished for over stuffing? They are not the same. What your audience may find bothersome, can still be acceptable under the Google Guidelines to creating a Google friendly site. That said, the understanding I have gained in order to stay within the comfort levels of both...

January 15, 2008: How Has Blogging Changed Your Real Estate Career? - Jackie Colson-Miller
Comments: 19 | Categories: Blogging Advice , Interviews , Marketing Solutions , Real Estate Blogging

This is the first in a series of interviews we’ve conducted with some of our clients that have completely made-over their marketing strategies since the launch of their real estate blog. Our goal is to illustrate just how much the Internet has become a part of their client acquisition process now that the blog has become the center of that strategy. Our first interview is with the author of Real Estate Sizzle, Jackie Colson-Miller of Tampa, Florida. She launched her site and training with us in March last year (2007). During arguably the worst year in recent real estate history, Jackie finds herself thinking outside the box, embracing new tools, philosophies and efforts. With a focus on real estate blogging, internet savvy clients, and increasing productivity, Jackie is reaping the benefits. As of Jan 2008, she has 13 concurrent Tampa area listings for the first time in her real estate...

January 12, 2008: Another Easter Egg Hidden in the Real Estate Blog
Comments: 8 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Entertaining , Real Estate Blogging

Recently we did a post on the Art of Easter Egging in blog articles to help gain subscribers. Since that post, I have also been including other sneakier easter eggs into our articles using HTML. Today's post is to satisfy the requests that have come in for a brief tutorial on how it's done. The bad news: We need to dig into the HTML of the blog article to apply this easter egg. The good news: It couldn't be simpler The Easter Egg effect we are learning here can be seen in the image below. When a reader of your blog article 'rolls' their mouse over the word that has been 'enhanced' a hidden message appears. The display before 'rolling over' is dramatically different in Firefox than it is in Internet Explorer. You will see that the hidden message is much harder to locate in Internet Explorer. The Firefox egg...

January 10, 2008: How A Strong Finish Has A Real Estate Blog Article Generating Leads
Comments: 16 | Categories: Blog Lead Generation , Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Just as the dot at the bottom of the exclamation point signals to the reader that there is an emphasis on the statement that it completes, what you choose to complete your blog articles with can drive home a message with more impact than you may realize. Once you have gained interest through a compelling headline, formatting makes all the difference as to whether or not a visitor actually invests the the time to read your blog. One place that has traditionally been a popular landing area for the eyes is the end of any written piece. Take for example: The Sales Letter, it has a Bottom Line. And that's what we're all after anyhow, right? The Love Letter. It's all about the strong finish... Those 3 words make the whole thing so much sweeter. Speaking of letters... PS, anyone? What thoughtful communication could be thoughtful without an extra thought?...

November 22, 2007: 40 Observations By Teresa Boardman Regarding Her 2 Year Old Real Estate Blog
Comments: 39 | Categories: Blog Participation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

I was thrilled to find the following post in my inbox yesterday. It being Thanksgiving today, it makes for an appropriate time to say that I am thankful for Teresa Boardman, and all the other generous guest authors that have contributed to the Real Estate Tomato this year. 2 Years Later… By Teresa Boardman My business blog is now two years old. Not the oldest blog out there by any stretch but older than many of them. This is a kind of short re-cap of experiences I have had because of the blog. My blog is my business, or my business is my blog. My blog is my number one and most valuable business asset, and prospecting tool. My marketing costs have gone way down, but I have less free time. The amount of time I spend on the keyboard has gone up, and my neck hurts. The amount of...

November 9, 2007: What Is The Future Of The Real Estate Blog?
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Collaborative Articles , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Topics and Opinions

This past week’s Collaborative Article topic has been focused on the Future of the Real Estate Blog. Inside the Tomato Forum, the gang hashed out 2 specific questions: 1. What do you see as the future of the real estate blog? 2. What do you fear about the future of the real estate blog? Before we jump into the article that is the highlights of the Tomato Forum discussion, I just wanted to paint a picture of the very near future of real estate blogging I see: Imagine for a moment you are sitting on your couch, feet up, remote in hand. You scroll through your Tivo’d favorites looking for updates from your favorite topics… San Diego Luxury Real Estate being one of them. The console that sits 10 feet away is tomorrow’s television, an all-in-one entertainment center merging Internet, TV, Computer and Game Console. Tivo has selected and recorded...

October 29, 2007: The 7 Reasons Why Your (Future) Clients Should Care That You Are a Real Estate Blogger
Comments: 26 | Categories: Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Collaborative Articles , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

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...

October 28, 2007: The Art of Easter Egging To Gain Subscribers To Your Real Estate Blog
Comments: 19 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

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...

October 15, 2007: Looking For Ready To Act Buyers? Blog These Proven To Succeed Real Estate Topics
Comments: 25 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Collaborative Articles , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

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...

October 7, 2007: Kick the Pay Per Click Habit: 7 Reasons Why Real Estate Blogging Is Better For Your Business
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blogging Advice , Collaborative Articles , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

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...

September 25, 2007: Why Real Estate Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor - Part 3 of 3
Comments: 8 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blog Organization , Blog Participation , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Today’s article is the final installment of a series called “Why Real Estate Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor” that has been inspired by conversations I have had with the hundreds of real estate blogging clients we train and ourselves learn from. The idea is that the act of blogging as a Realtor actually has the unintended, yet beneficial consequence of improving your skills as a Realtor in addition to improving the perception of you by your current, past and future clients. Click for Part 1 Click for Part 2 This final installment is focused on how there are certain disciplines required of a successful blog, and how the development of these disciplines will improve your personal skills and the perception of these traits by your audience. Dedication Blogging is a Marathon, not a Sprint. This point becomes all that much more clear the more you look around the real...

September 23, 2007: Why Real Estate Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 2 of 3
Comments: 7 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, there are many unintended, yet beneficial consequences of real estate blogging. The one that continues to reveal itself to our clients is how their blogging efforts continue to improve their skills as a Realtor. It is said that good salespeople use their words, while great salespeople use their ears. While blogging is wordsmithing, great business bloggers use their ears. We train our clients to learn to wear a "bloggers hat" - to recognize that nearly every daily interaction with their clients and the community offers an opportunity for a blog article. How many questions are you typically asked to field during a real estate transaction? From 'A to Close'… is it 20, 40, 80? How many times have you had to answer these same questions? Wearing your blogging hat has you hearing your client's questions more clearly as an opportunity to...

September 22, 2007: Why Real Estate Blogging Makes You A Better Realtor, Part 1 of 3
Comments: 18 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

There are many unintended, yet beneficial consequences of real estate blogging. One that continues to reveal itself to our clients is how their blogging efforts continue to improve their skills as a Realtor. Blogging to an audience, for your business, forces you to approach topics much differently than a business conversation in person. A sound blog article is one that has been: Researched Had it facts checked Considered from all angles and Well organized. Take for example how one might explain, in person, the complete understanding of Closing Costs to a buyer, or the even the role Zillow plays in the perceived value of a client's home. Face-to-face, on your feet, these concerns may not be handled to the best of one's knowledge or ability. However, with the blog, you have time to research, consider and present your understanding of these topics in a clear and organized manner. You may...

August 30, 2007: Photos and Real Estate Blogging, It's What Makes This Fun and Easy
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Before going up on stage in front of 3500 Realtors last week, I was speaking with Teresa Boardman about what she enjoys to most when it comes to posting on her St. Paul Real Estate Blog and her ActiveRain blog. “Photos I shoot and my Fridays Are For Fun posts,” she quickly responded. “I know that I need to be posting about the local real estate market and other topics around that subject, but I really enjoy the pictures and the fun stuff.” “I also know that my audience enjoys them a ton too.” So when I got back from the big event, to an over-stuffed, under-managed inbox, I wasn’t surprised to find the following article from Teresa, ready for the Tomato. Photos and Real Estate Blogging, It’s What Makes This Fun and Easy By Teresa Boardman It has been fairly well established that through our business blogs we build...

August 28, 2007: The Real Estate Broker Blog - Bigger, Badder, Better and Beyond
Comments: 31 | Categories: Announcements , Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Real Estate Blogging , Web 2.0

Are you are real estate broker seeing the power that individual agents possess through blogging, thinking, we could own the search engines for this area if we could just harness the efforts of our agents? …Then suddenly, you realize that you have the following challenges holding you back? - Can't risk the liability of agents posting freely. - Don't have the resources to get the team to see the value and embrace the effort. - Don't have the tool for agents to post content into the current company site. - Recognize the nightmare in organizing the presentation of so much content. - Don't have the IT team to support such a project. - Don't have the resources to train the agents to blog effectively and consistently. Making announcements about our company's product is not the normal M.O. here at the Tomato, but when you're about to make history, you need...

August 13, 2007: How Many Hits Does It Take To Get To The Center Of Real Estate Blog Lead?
Comments: 21 | Categories: Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

As I attempted to bring clarity to the commonly asked question: How many hits should I expect to my real estate blog? the theme that has percolated to the top of the discussion both here and on ActiveRain was all too clear. "It's business, not hits that I want from my blogging." "What correlation is there between traffic and leads through blogging?" Teresa Boardman is passionate about the subject, knowing too well that it is the business that she garners from her blogging efforts, not the readership, that makes it so worth it. So, after a quick email exchange with her, we aimed to tackle the topic together. My point of view comes from hundreds of hours of blogging, geared to be enjoyed by Realtors, and Teresa’s, from twice as many hours of real estate blogging directed towards the consumer. Jim’s Perspective What we learned from the last article: #1....

August 10, 2007: Real Estate Blog Traffic, How Many Hits Should I Expect ?
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Marketing Solutions , Real Estate Blogging

Blog Visitor Statistics - Don't Drink The Kool-Aid At Bloggers Connect 2007, a woman from the audience during the panel I spoke on (Show Me The Leads) asked a great question. A question that I hear everyday. A question that I know every new and soon to be blogger is asking: “How many hits should I expect to get to my blog?” I was surprised to hear the answer by one of the panelists: “After a couple of months, you should be getting a couple of thousand a day.” As far as I know, based on most statistic metric counters, there are only a handful of blogs in the real estate blogosphere that can boast that they are generating visits in the thousands per day. Statements like these are reckless and misleading. There is a need for a common measure of traffic to a website, and that measure should be...

August 8, 2007: What Copyblogger Hasn't Told You About Writing Real Estate Blog Headlines
Comments: 11 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

Many bloggers are under the false impression that it is what their posts contain that will attract readers. Although this is true to some degree, it is really the headline that is most effective in the search engines and in the minds of your next visitor. Bloggers are in the business of headline writing - fail to understand that, and fail to attract the readership your hard work deserves. Consider the audience you are reaching. Internet users are scanning large amounts of content, looking for something that either meets their needs, or catches their attention. Your articles will appear in the following locations: Inbox (email RSS subscribers) RSS Feed Reader (Bloglines, Netvibes, GoogleReader, etc.) Social Bookmarking Sites (Digg, reddit, RealEstateVoices.com) Social Networks (ActiveRain, MySpace, WannaNetwork) Search Engines (Google, Google and Goolge) Is all cases, you are competing to be noticed. A poor headline will render your article invisible. Brian Clark...

August 1, 2007: How Does Real Estate Blogging Actually Generate Leads?
Comments: 19 | Categories: Blog Lead Generation , Blogging Advice , Marketing Solutions , Real Estate Blogging , Web 2.0

I am here in San Francisco at the Inman Bloggers Connect Conference, about to go on stage to discuss the topic of lead generation through real estate blogging. The most important question, that I know we are about to be asked is: What makes a real estate blog generated lead different from a website generated lead? This article, which was written weeks ago, was saved specifically for today. How Does Real Estate Blogging Actually Generate Leads? Here on the Tomato, we've already pointed out a few times how ensuring that you have a clearly visible call to action (read: Home Search, Home Value Report) is a necessary element to acquiring leads through your real estate blogsite. 1. How To Generate Leads Through Real Estate Blogging 2. Your Real Estate Blog Is Bait 3. The Starbucks Mistake All this is emarketing 101, and something that I have been helping agents understand...

July 29, 2007: Real Estate Blogging And Search Engines - The News Source Theory
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging , Search Engines , Topics and Opinions

I have a theory about the effectiveness of our blogging that is supported as I look for its effect in the search engines (read: Google). Regular Blogging + Core Focus + Ping = News Source Recognition in Google. I have to maintain that this is a theory, because I am not in anyway claiming to have inside knowledge on Google's handling of blog content. However, I can say that from personal experience, and from that of my clients, this theory consistently proves to be a convenient phenomenon. So much so, that I know it can happen for you as well. There is a dichotomy in the the world of real estate websites: There are Real Estate websites that are generating natural traffic from the search engines and Real Estate websites that aren’t. With blogging, there is an opportunity to be the former, if executed properly. I refer to the successful...

July 17, 2007: What Can Real Estate Bloggers Learn From Betty Crocker and Oprah?
Comments: 11 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

You don’t have to have a household name to ensure that your article will be read from top to bottom. The internet has created impatient speed readers out of us. Regardless of the value of the content, it seems skimming the article before delving in for details is the approach. Blog reading is different from newspaper reading, book reading, letter reading, and essay reading. Therefore, blog writing and formatting needs to be different as well. The approach to reading online is more akin to reading magazines and cooking recipes. A tasty headline. A compelling picture. Clear, accentuated points. Brief enough to follow, detailed enough to enlighten. Magazines have changed their own formatting over the last few years and in turn have experienced huge growth in readership and subscription. The one page, bite-sized, snack of an article is now king. The days of the New Yorker's 15 page articles are gone....

July 14, 2007: Dear Apprentices Of Project Blogger
Comments: 11 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Some thoughts from our Real Estate Blogging Goddess, Teresa Boardman, on Project Blogger. I have been wanting to write this for some time and I hope that the apprentices see it. I want to say that I admire you all and I mean that sincerely. There is not one of you in the group that could not have a successful blog if you don't already. If I had been an apprentice I would not have made it through the project. You all did and I admire you for it. I have read the critiques from various judges about your blogs and about your posts. If I had been critiqued as much I am not sure that I would have had the passion for my blog that I have today. I am not sure that I would have found my voice either. There is more to it than a voice, after...

July 11, 2007: The Real Estate Blogsite Myth
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blog Marketing , Blogging Advice , Marketing Solutions , Real Estate Blogging

Every client we work with has different real estate blog development needs. Often the concern is, “Do I need to replace the real estate website I already have in order to incorporate a blog into my marketing?” The answer: “It depends.” First, a quick look at the difference between the website, blog and blogsite: Website: Standard online presence; homepage, secondary pages, forms, listings etc. Blog: Database of articles appearing in reverse chronological order, sortable by category, keyword and date. Blogsite: The combination of the above. Let is be known, that I am a fan of the real estate blogsite. There are many obvious benefits: A single root domain (yourrealestateblogsite.com) for the website and blog. One branded look and feel. One hosting service. One development company. But it needs be explained that dumping your current real estate website to replace it with a real estate blogsite is not always the best...

July 9, 2007: Why Real Estate Blogging Is Like Golf - The Back Nine
Comments: 4 | Categories: Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

We've had our lunch, made the turn and re-stocked our coolers. We're ready for the back 9. Today's post is the second part in a two part series observing how publishing your real estate mind is like mastering a game of patience and grace. Miss the 1st installment? Click the link for the Front Nine. 1. It is an addiction. Once you've caught the 'golf bug' it becomes obvious to those closest to you. You practice your swing in the living room and your putting in the office. You actually start watching golf on TV and, you're unsuccessfully convincing your spouse that you need to plan your next vacation around a dream course. With blogging, your loved ones know you have lost your mind. You blog in bed, from your cell phone, before anyone else is up, on vacation… and in the bathroom? 2. It is therapeutic. A long walk,...

July 5, 2007: Food For Fodder – 101 Real Estate Blog Topics
Comments: 29 | Categories: Blog Content Creation , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Teresa Boardman, in response to comments in her most recent article, has whipped up a tasty treat for all real estate bloggers. Grab a fork, and enjoy. Food For Fodder – 101 Real Estate Blog Topics By Teresa Boardman In my last post on the Tomato I wrote about writing being the biggest obstacle for real estate professionals who want to have a blog. Some of our readers commented that figuring out what to write about poses the greatest challenge. It is hard for many to come up with topics so I wrote a list of 101 topic ideas for real estate professionals who want to have a blog to expand their internet presence and to meet the home buyers and sellers who live inside their computer. Potential clients are in your computer right now and are looking for great agents and lenders to work with. The idea is to...

June 29, 2007: What Is The Biggest Barrier To Real Estate Blogging?
Comments: 22 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Teresa Boardman, our resident Real Estate Blogging Goddess, is back with some personal insight on what she has uncovered as the biggest roadblock to blogging. What Is The Biggest Barrier To Real Estate Blogging? By Teresa Boardman Earlier this week I conducted a kind of survey, and asked 25 real estate bloggers, which I defined as practicing real estate agents, mortgage, title and staging pros who blog, what they see as the biggest barrier to real estate blogging for agents. The answer was writing, and it was almost unanimous. What to write about and how to write it. That came as a surprise to me because so many agents believe that blogs require technical skills. This myth is perpetuated here and in other places on the internet as blog writers discuss SEO and merits of various blog platforms, and the rules of blogging. I would have guessed that they found...

June 18, 2007: White Hat SEO for Real Estate Blogging and the Reciprocal Link
Comments: 21 | Categories: Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Chris Hotz , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Search Engines

Chris Hotz, the director of our education division is back with some insight on a topic that has turning up quite regularly lately: Reciprocal Linking and it’s effect on Search Engine results. White Hat SEO For Real Estate Blogging By Chris Hotz I never played on a baseball team growing up, but I loved when the little league baseball season started. I loved baseball games because of the easy access to candy. Every year when baseball season arrived I would hop on my bike, ride to the fields for the opening day pitch and dart straight for the club house to use up all my allowance on Big League Chew, Bottle Caps and Fun Dips. I loved the sugar candy! But by the last pitch of the season I was so sick (sometimes literally) of candy that I could not look at another Fun Dip bag full of red sugar....

June 15, 2007: Why Real Estate Blogging Is Like Golf.
Comments: 15 | Categories: Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

9 observations of how publishing your real estate mind is like mastering a game of patience and grace. 1. You are competing against yourself. In golf there is no other responsible for your successes failures. Blogging is no different. Your search engine presence, traffic and leads are all dependent on your performance. The more you play, embrace your strengths, improve on your weaknesses and learn from those that are better, the more effective you will become. 2. It’s not how you get the ball in the hole, it’s if you do. It's not how you generate leads and business through blogging, it's if you do. There are a lot of 'right' ways to to get business from your site. Listen when you are attracted to what you see as sound advice. Recognize what’s working for you, and duplicate that. 3. The better you are, the less important the equipment becomes....

June 14, 2007: How Google Reads Your Real Estate Blog
Comments: 6 | Categories: Blog SEO Advice , Blogging Advice , Chris Hotz , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Search Engines

This article has been provided by our Director Of Education & Training, Chris Hotz. Thanks, Chris! Everyone wants their real estate blog to appear on the first page of a Google's SERP. Why not? You're the best real estate agent in your area on the web, right? Of course you are... Yet when you consider that a search of "real estate" in Google currently brings up 312,000,000 results you must realize that you will have to do a little more than just throw your site into the mix. The Oompa Loompas in the mysterious Google factory work hard everyday to make sure users are returned the most relevant search results when a query is created. Much like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, few outsiders are allowed within the confounds where Google engineers are constantly strategizing better methods to organize data and spit out the best results for your queries. Until now......

June 9, 2007: Two Blogging Widgets That A Real Estate Blogging Goddess Can't Live Without
Comments: 7 | Categories: Blog Syndication , Blogging Advice , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman

Jim is not a fan of putting a lot of bling on the blog. I agree with him but would like to mention two widgets that I can't live without. One of them is the MyBlogLog widget. To get this widget sign up for an account, follow the instructions, grab the code and paste in in your sidebar. It is a bit more complicated if you have a self hosted word press blog but the MyBlogLog site has instructions for those too. Why do I like the MYBlogLog widget? Because it shows me the faces of my friends. I can see that they have stopped by. I know people read my blog I can tell by the number of visits it gets. Yet it makes me smile when I see a familiar face on the widget. Seeing those faces encourages me to do my best. When I see an avatar...

June 8, 2007: Real Estate Blogging Tips From A Rural Real Estate Blogger
Comments: 8 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

One of the biggest advantages to breeding A-List Real Estate Bloggers, is that now I have an army of talented and savvy bloggers willing to contribute incredibly useful content to the Tomato. Our newest contributor, Daniel Bates of MyMcClellanville.net, has had to take the load less traveled in the real estate blogosphere. Rather than spoil it, I’ll let him tell it: Real Estate Blogging Tips From A Rural Real Estate Blogger By Daniel Bates Bright Lights, Big City The 2000 census reports that 94.6% of the US is rural open space, yet 79% of the population live in that remaining 5.4% (Don’t you guys feel cramped?). We can’t all live in the big city, and I gladly represent the 21% that said “thanks, but no thanks”. My home town of McClellanville has a population hovering below 500 and relies on shrimping as it’s main source of income. We draw a...

June 8, 2007: What Happens When You Take Two Weeks Off From Blogging?
Comments: 15 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

It (fortunately) hasn’t gone unnoticed that there have been no published blog posts to the Tomato in over two weeks. Have you ever wondered what the effects of not writing for two weeks on a regularly updated blog will have? We can’t speak for you, but this is what has happened to us. Missing Person (Blogger) Alert The very thoughtful concern for my well-being has been the most notable reaction to the absence of blogging here on Tomato. Thanks to all of you whom expressed your sincere concern. It is comforting to know that the friends I have made through blogging are just that, friends.Traffic Slump The daily traffic that is generated by the Tomato has taken a significant hit. What was regularly 330-350 daily unique visitors is now hovering around 185. That's a drop of nearly half. At a quick glance, it appears that the traffic source that is...

May 14, 2007: How F Street Will Have Readers Returning To Your Blog
Comments: 9 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Chris Hotz , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

The methodical organization of your blog content can make all the difference when engaging a reader to entirely consume your articles. Today’s article is the introduction of yet another Tomato author. Chris Hotz, our very own Director Of Education, steps up on to the soapbox to deliver his first piece of blogging advice. Chris plays a very important role for our team, and we’re thrilled to have him on the Vine. How F Street Will Have Readers Returning To Your Blog By Chris Hotz Rules of the Road There are certain rules of the road that we all learn when looking to pass our driver's exam. The rules help us anticipate the direction others are going to take, preventing us from crashing into one another. Without rules, the road most traveled would quickly turn into chaos. The destination, never reached. Three rules that I learned in driving school are: Read...

May 3, 2007: Real Estate Blogging: The 80/20 Rule Applied
Comments: 9 | Categories: Blog Writing Tips , Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Guest Author , Jonathan Greene , Topics and Opinions

Jonathan Greene is back with a very insightful look at defining the growing success he is experiencing with his Real Estate Blog: Real Opinionated. Real Estate Blogging: The 80/20 Rule Applied By Jonathan Green You've probably heard of the 80/20 rule. It's a contemporary theory related to management, economics, and many other applications that states "20 percent of actions/causes/inputs, etc. will lead to 80 percent of consequences/effects/outputs." The idea is sometimes attributed to Italian economist Pareto who developed the theory in 1906 after observing the unequal wealth distribution is his country. Here are some examples: 20% of Realtors make 80% of the sales. 20% of Families hold 80% of the nations wealth. 20% of your daily tasks net 80% of your best results. You get the point. The theory is surprisingly pervasive. I wondered if the idea applied to blogging, so I set out to make some observations about the...

May 1, 2007: 10 Misconceptions About Real Estate Blogging
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging , Teresa Boardman , Topics and Opinions

Recently, both Teresa Boardman and I took a stab at what we saw as mistakes on real estate blogs. You may have noticed, we don't always agree on what we feel is the best of advice for the Tomato audience, and neither does Kris Berg. This is what makes it such a pleasure to have active participation in the blogosphere. Below is an example of Teresa and I taking the same above headline and having our way with it for your enjoyment. We alternated our items to mix it up a bit. Who’s who? 1. High Traffic = Success Why: Having people come to your site is always a positive thing, certainly. Large numbers should mean large success. Why it's not: Quick success with a blog generally indicates that you have either: 1. Uncovered a popular topic or 2. Piqued the interest of the mob.Popular topics are softballs when it...

April 20, 2007: Young Blogs Be Free Tonight
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blogging Advice , Blogging Peers , Guest Author , Real Estate Blogging

John Coley, my favorite real estate blogger in Alabama, has been making strides since his blog launched earlier this year. His strategy has been simple: Write about local topics to attract local interest traffic; Uncover an audience searching for the content he delivers. John’s blogsite content focuses on the interests of a somewhat small community around beautiful Lake Martin. His commitment and consistency to that aim inspired me to invite him to take a stab at calling it like he sees it when it comes to real estate blogging technique. Young Blogs Be Free Tonight By John Coley Are you considering starting your own blog, but think that you have to be a huge national player to make an impact? Wrong. One of the great things about web 2.0 is that anyone with good content can make a difference. Anyone that is willing to work hard and play fair can...

April 18, 2007: The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made By Real Estate Bloggers
Comments: 10 | Categories: Blog Discipline , Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blogging Advice , Real Estate Blogging

10. Poor Headline Writing There is a dichotomy on the blogosphere. Headlines that have you feeling like they are worth clicking on, and others overlooked. You clicked on this one. Why? Answer that question and you will stop making the mistake that has your articles being overlooked. - 7 Crucial Tips To Developing Real Estate Blog Copy That Gets Read 9. Rants Business Blogging is about building trust with your audience. Would you trust someone like Howard Stern's to help you buy a home? A rant here and again to stir the pot keeps you and your readers on you toes. Ranting to have your audience 'wondering what you're going to say next' is not always good business. Blog like it is your next listing appointment. 8. Burn-Out This one's easy. Blogging is a marathon. It's 100 marathons. It is not a sprint. Whatever you are blogging for, set the...

April 12, 2007: Microsoft Word Is Like Gum In Your Blog's Hair
Comments: 27 | Categories: Blog Dos and Don'ts , Blog Writing Tips ,

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