Blogging real estate

Shortly after the investment by Ebay -Craigslist had reversed their policy allowing Posters to include Website Addresses on any "Services" related posts - because of Spam or SEO purposed posts.


Those that abused the priveleged were banned from future postings using the same email address.

It is surprising that this blogger did not face any repurcussions - it is a very picturesque Website. The images are high quality.

He *advertises* properties on Craig's List? I think you mean 'spams' properties on Craigslist.

Considering he does sell real estate and is a professional in the business, his stuff is probably more worthwhile than a lot of the other junk on Craig's list. Not sure I see what your problem here is.

Has the additional traffic resulted in additional sales/listings?

Mark: not yet. But he doesn't yet have enough data and hasn't been doing it long enough.
I've gotta believe that it'll affect things soon, though, since he sells a lot of homes to geeks.

Robert, I visited the blog but I am disappointed to see that he does not even post once a week. So, I guess he will find it difficult to use his blog as an effective tool for business. Advice him to post more often. He is an experienced man. Many people can get benfited from his advice.

I think Craigslist is great. I am in the process of creating a better solution myncre.com

Phil

I started my blog The Future of Real Estate Marketing just over a month ago and have seen well over 10,000 unique visitors and my traffic is growing every day. There's no doubt there is a huge hunger for information in this space and it's nice to see blogging making a lateral jump into other industries (other than tech) and having a measurable impact. Congrats to Stan.

For me it was really obvious to take blogs from my previous IT work and all the insight I'd gained from them as a resource - and to use that same tool as an extension of word of mouth advertising for my new business. People often ask how I'm going to get the word out about the new business I'm starting (4x4 Weekend). Blogs will definitely be a giant way that I'll be getting the word out, and I can see lots more new companies thinking similar (huge companies and small companies like mine).

Yes Robert, blogs do change the way business communicates. I think I read that in a book somewhere. ;)

Our company provides a system by which Realtors create not just blogs, but blog communities which they oversee and sponsor. One such client, a broker in Lake county Ohio, testifies that he has seen a 23% jump in business this year and credits it soley to his blog community site, called the Lake County Blog.

To Christopher Coulter's point:
Real estate agents as well as many other professionals do "spam" craigslist in one sense. When I shop for furniture, I know that there are furniture stores I can go to, but if I go on craigslist it is to find used/new items being sold by individuals. Search for "sofa" on Craigslist these days though, and half of the listings will be by furniture stores hawking their wares. In that sense, craigslist ceases to be a tool for the non-pro individual seller, and becomes just another media channel for advertisers. What's more, the pros have a lot of time on their hands and many of them repeat their messages even more than once a day - that is pure spam.

I've been wondering when you were going to start sharing some link love with real estate blogs... :)

The real estate corner of the blogosphere is changing and evolving daily; there are more entries every day, but fewer that seem to not understand that blogs are relationship tools as well as marketing tools. The goal of most many quality real estate blogs is to develop a community of trust and familiarity - blogging solely to gain market share will inevitably be discerned by the readers. There are a couple of real estate blogs in my market, for instance (all real estate is local) that do nothing but post their listings and occasionally will copy and paste some story from Inman or Rismedia or some other national real estate news site.

Blogging will grow more traffic organically, but the relationship aspect must not be underestimated.

--Jim

Jim - As is so often the case, a good many REALTOR's have no clue as to what a BLOG is and isn't supposed to be. Those flogging themselves by simply posting listings, their "services", and copying/pasting real estate articles from Inman and the like are doing nothing but wasting their own time (as there won't be any organic increase in traffic on account of their efforts). A small percentage of agents do have blogs that offer unique content - those are the ones who'll see the fruits of their labours grow.

Robert,

First, loved your book!

Stan's results are not unusual. Dustin Luther (of Rain City Guide fame) and I have created a Bloginar designed to educate real estate agents about the power of blogging.

Without getting into a long-winded post, it is becoming ever more important for individual agents to be the "local" expert. Blogging is a wonderful way to demonstrate this role.

If you are interested, check out http://realtyobjectives.com/blog/speaking-oppor...

Our next event will be July 19 in LA.

-Cheers

Russ

p.s. Best wishes on the move!

I see more blogs from Realtors every day. Some are excellent (the afore mentioned Rain City Guide for one), and some are down right horrid (just regurgitating listings).

I've gained clients from my blog, but that's not why I blog. I do it because... well, I'm not sure why! I just do it. I enjoy it. If I can pass on a little knowledge or humor, then all the better.

There's no question that having a real estate blog can make you appear to be an "expert" whether you are or not. Strictly because of my blog I've been contacted by local (Phoenix) reporters, a reporter from the LA Times and a VP at Trulia.com. Locals and out of town investors have all called and asked me real estate related questions. Will this turn into business? It already has, and will continue to do so more than likely. But I don't recommend any Realtor start a blog just to gain business or display listings. It's too much work, there are easier ways...

I think that the real advantage that blogging can provide for a realtor (or any "celebrity" occupation) is that ability to connect a name, a face and a personality together in a potential client's mind.

Yes, realtor's are a "celebrity" business, look in the paper in the real estate section. They waste as much space printing their own pictures as they do showing the properties they are hawking.

So if you try to use your blog space to try to sell things (listing your properties, for example) you are just wasting your time. But if you use it to provide interesting and insightful information, then when a reader is thinking of buying or selling a house, how can your name NOT be at the top of his list?

The following is a great idea ..Thanks...
"Craig's List. And includes his blog's address. He says that since starting his blog on May 3rd he's already seeing about 65% of his traffic comes through his blog"

I think that blogging is going to be the next step. I just started one and it seems like it will take some time to get it going. If anyone has any input of info they can provide me please let me know.

Thanks
Keith

http://www.tk2blog.blogspot.com/

Hey, I just wanted to say Happy New Year and thanks for an excellent real estate blog. Please don't stop writing this stuff it is excellent. By the way, there is an excellent article on real estate at the New York Times here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/realestate/index.html

God Bless!
Real Estate Professional Websites and Marketing