Successful Real Estate Blogging

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Let’s begin with a basic truth. I have nothing whatsoever to add to any blogging conversation veering into technology. I don’t get it, don’t understand it. Did I say I don’t understand the technology of blogging? Hell, I don’t even understand much of the basic nomenclature. Most of us learned early on to take so-called technical advances with a truckload of salt, especially after watching most of them fizzle like a water soaked cherry bomb. It’s gotten so bad, some have viewed the geek crowd’s constant prophesying of website TechNirvana as the eighth plague of Egypt. I’m not nearly that harsh in my view, but their general credibility could use some R & R — Rest and Restoration. (badda boom)

I’m not talkin’ here about agent sites with an IDX for lead generation. That’s a whole different herd of cats. Not my bailiwick. When it comes to that subject, I ‘call the guy’, and have.

Can Real Estate Agents Generate Income From Blogs?

The short answer is yes. But most are horrific crash ‘n burns more suited to the next Jackass sequel. In fact, most agents don’t know an agent who blogs, successful or not. They’re told to blog cuz it’s online, and that’s where the industry is these days. Well, kinda sorta, but that’s another discussion.

Though I’m still an enthusiastic proponent for hyperlocal, most think it’s either A) Intrinsically worthless or B) WAY too much work. Too each their own. I’m all about content, though I promise not to mention the cliché about blog content that just entered your mind. 🙂 It’s all about what you bring to the table. Is it any different than all the other yawners out there? Or are you steppin’ up with real information, expertise, and superior knowledge?

Here’s the deal

Given your specific market, will readers of your blog come away thinking you’re the go-to agent? We all search the net about subjects in which we’re interested. When that interest becomes serious, we become more critical. In my opinion that’s pretty universal.

It’s at that point a blog’s author either wins ’em over or loses ’em.

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate Greg’s approach — he consistently demonstrates superiority where it counts, does it many times weekly, then waits for readers to raise their hands. What many agents considering a blog don’t consider though, is that Greg also produces real world results. He says what can be done — what and how he can do it — then makes it happen.

What a wonderful formula for blogging success.

The thing is, and this is a secret kept well by successful bloggers, it usually takes six months or more to get bankable results. It’s one thing to make a good first impression. It’s a whole different ballgame to get a homeowner to raise their hands for the privilege of paying you thousands of dollars to sell their home. Or, relying upon you to get their back WHILE gettin’ them into the most important financial transaction they’ll probably ever execute.

Google can recognize you cuz of all the brilliant SEO crappola you put into play. Your traffic might be better than mine. In fact, I can almost guarantee you your traffic will, and probably sooner than later, eclipse mine. Mine is wholly unimpressive by any objective standard. My traffic numbers don’t even impress Mom.

The point is, the number of readers you attract on a weekly basis isn’t even in the same conversation as the importance of what they find when they get there. All impressive numbers mean, given poor content, is that you’ll wind up disappointing more people.

Don’t appear to be an expert, be one. Same goes for being knowledgeable, and experienced. Case studies work wonders. The #1 thing real estate blog readers wanna know, is that you consistently produce results. There’s that most dreaded of all words in the real estate world’s nomenclature.

Riddle me this. Who makes more, the guy who closes 60 deals a year with 500 unique views weekly, OR, the guy who closes 60 deals a year with 5,000 unique weekly views? Take your time, but please show your work.

Unlike so many others, I don’t believe providing proof of results is a bad thing. How many times have we seen online conversations between agents deriding someone who claimed to be #1 in their area? Again, it’s only a baseless claim, one I’ve never made. However, when I was a house agent, back when only NASA had them there computin’ machines, the rubber often hit the road in a homeowner’s living room or kitchen table.

30-50 year old agents from nationally advertised firms would precede me with listing presentations. They were all Top Producers, all #1. The proof was inarguable, as it was not only mentioned in their glossy, multi-colored presentation notebooks, but their cards as well. Surely they wouldn’t make it up? Then it was time for my appointment.

Picture a blonde 24 year old Forrest Gump with a tie and a clipboard walkin’ up to the front door tryin’ his damnedest to look 29. We’d go through the obligatory walk-through, then sit down to talk business. What about my company? My experience? How would I sell their home? At what price and how quickly? You know the drill. Remember when I said,

“It’s at that point a blog’s author either wins ’em over or loses ’em”?

It’s at that point, the question and answer period. That’s when I turned my clipboard around so they could see it more clearly. It had a list of homes recently listed and sold within 2-3 hundred yards of their home. I’d listed and sold all but two. Game over. Elapsed time: 13 minutes.

Please press hard while signing, there are three copies.

Produce content of that nature on your blog consistently and you’ll get traction. The dead president kinda traction, the only kind that matters. It’s about them, and what you can do for them. Convey deeply rooted professional experience. Demonstrate expertise by way of examples. Show a profound knowledge on whatever topic you choose to write — your knowledge.

I promise you your readers will eventually raise their hands once they’re convinced you’re all those things AND trustworthy. Don’t worry about the competition. Just as there’s a seemingly endless supply of agents, most blogs aren’t worth the paper they’re not written on.