In the beginning I wanted Real Estate In Stilettos to be the voice of real estate in my city. But as the blog grew, the personality and direction of the blog changed. Blogging has changed my life and my business in so many different ways. Blogging can be amazing way for realtors to increase business and establish a positive image with both potential clients and other professionals – if done right.
You can’t just decide to call yourself a real estate blogger and start writing random posts whenever you want to and think that you will be successful. Like any busYou need to be smart and strategic about how you blog, what you blog about and the way you get your blog out to the world. The most successful bloggers write extremely well and know how to market their content.
These same content providers also understand the kind of information consumers are looking for. A great real estate blog will generally answer questions that people are searching for online.
Websites & Social Media Platforms
I created my blog myself and used SqaureSpace. I found it much easier to use than Wordpress – though I am sure others may beg to differ. With SquareSpace, there are so many different themes and design elements that can assist you throughout the way to creating a beautiful website and/or blog.
Once you have your website up, decide on what social media platforms you want to use. Social media is one subject that every real estate blogger needs to be familiar with. From linking your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+, the options are endless. I would suggest you only start with one or two and focus on their growth rather than trying to juggle managing more than that (in the beginning).
One thing to keep in mind as you start to work with social media – people are not participating in social media communities because they want to be sold to. They are there to connect with other people and to get information from companies and personalities they like. Avoid hard selling yourself, unless you want to be ignored or avoided. Instead, become a useful member of the community, offering knowledgeable advice and helpful information. Over time your efforts can yield big dividends.
Never underestimate the power of social media for your blog. This form of communication is getting stronger every year. More and more people are spending significant time using social channels!
Write about topics that you are knowledgeable about and that people want to read about.
Blogging is all about attracting an audience and building your brand. When choosing your topics to write about, you should write about what you know and what you think would attract the most attention.
Some topics to write about are the home inspection process, the buying process, how to get your home market ready, etc. Do your research and check into Facebook groups to see what the most asked questions are in terms of real estate. Sometimes what you may think is known knowledge, could be a question a potential client is looking to get answers to.
Don’t forget: Blogging Is Content Marketing
When blogging, you are trying to meet a need that people have, and ultimately become a trusted source of information on real estate. Essentially, it is marketing by giving away great material for free. You build your image or brand, and eventually people come to you for your services.
If you are a Realtor and you are thinking about blogging, please understand that a lot of time and care needs to be put into it. It’s not something to be taken lightly and as a fun project. People respect us and trust us to relay important information about the real estate market. Operate your blog with purpose and as a business to educate people while establishing trust within your community. At the end of the day, potential clients will not do business with a realtor they can’t relate to or trust completely.
With Love | Nikki xo