I have a friend, a real estate agent. My friend spent a ton of money on a website and hasn’t seen any return on investment. Sound familiar? Well, let me give you some advice my friend. Last week I said there are three fundamental things to make your site useful. They are, identity, listings and contact information. Today let’s talk about your online identity and why you should be investing in it.
Did you know there are online communities? They’ve been around as long just as long as the Internet. Everyday millions of people are getting together online and building strong trusting relationships. Isn’t that what your business is all about? A business relationship built on trust? And identity is at the center of that relationship. Your photo is on your business card so people can identify you by your smile; it has a lot more impact than print.
Unfortunately those familiar offline marketing techniques don’t get the same milage online. The Internet is a big place. Hundreds of millions of people are browing billions of web pages everyday and you’re just another website to them. Fortunately marketing yourself online is simple. All you gotta do is start participating in those online communities. There are millions of them out there so just find one that you’re interested in and start sharing your opinions and thoughts.
One of the best ways to start building your online identity is by blogging. What’s a blog? In the early days people kept online journals also known as weblogs. Some clever person took weblogs and split it into “we blog” and ‘blog’ became both a verb and a noun. When you start blogging keep in mind that the more you share the higher the return. Stay professional, polite and precise. Write about what you know and what you are passionate about. Choose a niche and specialize in it.
What’s my niche? Well I’m a PHP/MySQL/BSD/Linux geek turned IT manager at Sutton Group Realty Services, Ltd. I have a strong technical background with an inside view of the Canadian real estate industry.
These are a few real estate blogs I frequently read:
These are good examples of how individuals and companies using blogs to increase their exposure.
I bet you’re thinking that blogging sounds like a lot of work. It is. It is an investment in your business and in yourself. If you’re still interested Troy Angrignon has written one of best articles on why you should or shouldn’t start blogging. You really should read it to see if blogging fits you.
I really hope you do start blogging. I’m getting pretty tired of seeing all those cookie cutter real estate agent websites. Don’t try to compete with MLS.ca for listings and with everybody else with the same static ‘for buyers’ or ‘for sellers’ information. Most of us stopped reading those a long time ago. However, a good article on why you think Vancouver condos are still a great buy, why the East Side is the new West Side or whatever you think is interesting will get you a lot more leads from your website.
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Ben, I couldn’t agree more. Both, it is a lot of work AND it is an investment. Tom Peters is right…quit procrastinating and get to blogging!
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i think i have understood and i agree
One of the best ways to start building your online identity is by blogging. In the early days people kept online journals also known as weblogs. network Some clever person took weblogs and split it into “we blog†and ‘blog’ became both a verb and a noun. When you start blogging keep in mind that the more you share the higher the return. Stay professional, polite and precise. Write about what you know and what you are passionate about. Choose a niche and specialize in it.