Category Archives: Blogging

Content is King. You have heard it before. If you don’t have good content on your blog, then who will want to read it? My biggest concern when I decided to start a real estate blog was that no one would care. I didn’t want to invest my time in writing only to be the sole reader. When writing a Real Estate blog, there are many different directions you can take. “Turning Your Clients into Celebrities” happens to be my blog theme of choice. Let’s start with exactly what … Read More »

Well all, it is time to move away from my basic as can be WordPress site, with a theme from StudioPress (which I love BTW!) to a new platform for my real estate website. I’ve learned a ton along the way in creating my own website but I am finding that I spend way too much personal time fidgeting with it and trying to make it perfect, and not enough time doing what it is supposed to help with, selling real estate. My current IDX … Read More »

MY WIFE WILL VIOLENTLY PROTEST, but is building and marketing a successful site not unlike half of the pain and time of a full term pregnancy?  It starts with euphoria (not always well thought out), it starts growing on you, it becomes a reality, you eagerly wait for any spark of life, you look at it every morning and evening, then… there it is…*gasps*..a very young offspring that needs further care, diaper-changing and baby talk. (I had client share her life story just before signing … Read More »

I’ve been using the Roost App to pre-plan my Facebook business page posts for a few weeks and I must say that I’m impressed with the ease, convenience and supplied content. My personal real estate fan page has been around for about a year, and while engagement is still a little slow, my goal is to post frequently in an attempt to stay “top of mind” with those in my circles. The Roost app makes this simple. Their claim that you can spend only 20 … Read More »

Another question from Jason Richards: How do you determine whether or not to target common search phrases vs uncommon search phrases? How do you find a happy medium? As a general rule of thumb, specifically targeting uncommon search phrases is not a good use of time. It only makes sense to “target” and “optimize for” keywords with a decent amount of traffic since targeting and optimizing a website takes time. If ranking #1 instead of #5 or 6 for the keyword “ballard street fair dates … Read More »

Your First At Bat – The Technology Pitches In 2004 I found myself successfully working in the San Diego North County real estate market.  My clients, and my sales, were generated through referrals and mailings.  My initiation into utilizing the internet to get leads was just beginning.  As it turns out, my broker at the time had entered into an agreement with Yahoo to collect real estate leads and sell them to our broker.  I was in the first group of agents selected to work … Read More »

It’s not a secret that blogging is a long term commitment. If you are expecting to start blogging today and start receiving leads tomorrow — well, you better think again and you should not even start the process. Blogging is a marathon, and you’ve got to be committed to the long term in order to be successful. Remember, you don’t have to write every single day — you just have to remain consistent. This is geared toward new agents who are just beginning, but maybe … Read More »

Everyone is always looking for the silver bullet of blogging. You know…leads on a daily basis with zero effort. But I have news – that never JUST happens. Don’t get me wrong, blogging CAN BE the greatest thing on the planet for lead generation in the real estate vertical. But there’s a slight problem — to get to a point where your lead generation is consistent and sustainable involves “work”. Jay Thompson got to where he is today over the course of 5-6 years of blogging; he … Read More »

I’ve been thinking more about the content problem lately. One of the best ways to generate traffic is to create great content. But content is everywhere on the web — how is your content differentiated among the hundreds or thousands of others who are writing about similar topics? “My content is unique” you say. Wrong. The proper response in my book would be “Your content – with a strong flavor of YOU sprinkled throughout – is unique”. When you really think about it, pretty much everything … Read More »

If I look at the very top agents in the company most aren’t using WP for main site, why should I? I received this question from John Ziemba on Twitter last week and wanted to address it here. It’s a question that I can’t answer in 140 characters on Twitter (yes, there are still some questions that Twitter can’t answer). First, there are multiple ways to become a high producing agent. And you don’t NEED WordPress to do it. Traditional marketing and sphere building is … Read More »