Quick – name a marketing tool that can drive traffic to your site, generate word of mouth and potentially help you sell more properties. If you said a Web site, you’re only half right. The magical tool I’m referring to is a blog.
Short for “Web log,” a blog is like an online business journal, a regularly updated collection of short, practical articles that give the reader something of value: a tip, an insight or perhaps just a link to another site. Getting started is easy and inexpensive (very often free, in fact), requiring little more than a bit of your time and expertise. Let’s take a look at the secrets of a successful blog.
Share Your Wisdom
You’ve got years of experience under your belt, so put your thoughts on paper (digitally speaking). If you’ve learned a killer way to improve curb appeal, write a post about it. The same goes for mortgage tricks, tips on working with moving companies and everything else you know. It may seem old hat to you, but to a prospective buyer or seller, it comes across as pure gold.
Update it Often
The best blogs are updated at least a few times per week so that readers get accustomed to a regular helping of fresh content. If a customer hits your blog and sees that the most recent post is two months old, he may assume it is a “dead” site and move on. Fortunately, regular blogging doesn’t have to involve a major investment of time.
Keep it Short
Many bloggers make the mistake of writing posts that look like magazine features, thinking that longer must equal better. If anything, the opposite is true. People have limited time and short attention spans, so limit your posts to two or three paragraphs at the most. Even a single paragraph is sufficient, as long as it contains useful information.
Link to Useful Resources
Speaking of short and useful, a post does not need to be anything more than a quick description of something you found on another site, for example, “Ever wish you could try out paint colors before heading to the hardware store? Better Homes & Gardens has a great tool that lets you decorate virtual rooms using a wide selection of paints – and fabrics, too.” Then just add the link and maybe a thought or two about how different colors can influence buyers. Presto: you’ve churned out a short, easy, genuinely useful post – one that readers are sure to appreciate. Remember, not everything on your site has to be original. Though it’s great to provide unique content, steering readers to useful resources can be just as valuable.
Provide Value
Your opinions on interest rates, FSBO sites and other real estate matters are all well and good – but nobody wants to hear them. If you want readers to return to your blog, each and every post needs to offer something of value: a tip, a resource, a way to save money, and so on.
For a great example of a blog that is all about value, check out Business Hacks (www.bnet.com/businesstips). Though not real estate-specific, its sole goal is to help readers become more productive. (Mea culpa: I’m one of the contributors.)
Write Compelling Headlines
Boring headlines equal bored readers. Good headlines are short, to the point and action-packed. For example, using the aforementioned paint-color post, here is a typical boring headline: “Better Homes & Gardens Offers Virtual Paint Tool.” Now here is a much better one: “Paint Your Room – Before You Buy Paint.” Anything that starts with “How to” or “Tip of the Day” is good, too.
Get Started!
If you don’t already have a blog, creating one is easy – and it won’t cost you a cent, at least not at first. Good places to start include Blogger (www.blogger.com) and WordPress (www.wordpress.com), both of which offer free blogs with varying degrees of customization. You may also want to try RealTown (www.realtown.com/blogs), which caters to real estate professionals. Wherever you hang your blog hat, you’ll receive a unique Web address (such as isellhomes.realtownblogs.com) that you can link to from your site. Or, depending on how you decide to leverage your blog, you may want to use it as your primary site. There’s no law that says a post can’t be a listing – just so long as long as it’s short, value-packed, and topped with a terrific headline.
Tech guru Rick Broida writes for CNET, PC Magazine, and Lifehacker.com. He is the author of over a dozen books, including How to Do Everything with Your Palm Powered Handheld, 6th Edition.
Published: 6/11/2008
