Or perhaps we can call this one....
The Scourge of the Coffee Room Blogger
The 80 20 rule is alive and well.
Go to any real estate office or any sales office in the U.S. And you will find the producers talking on the phone or belly to belly. While the non-producers will be caught chatting in the break room, selling each other on why they are so smart. Now they very well may be smart, but they are not wise as they are more than likely broke.
Whilst the intelligent pontificate their smarts onto one another, the "wise" do deals. Online communities have emerged called blogs, forums and WEB 2.0 hybrids where the conversation humms.
A Business Blogger or Hobbiest?
Now let me say that I blog for one reason. To make money. I run my business to make money. Because that is not the goal of any business, then that business will soon be undone.
This is hard to "get" online when the publicized companies can survive without making any money. YouTube and MySpace are iconic success stories. But for every YouTube m(b)illionaire there are thousands of twenty somethings still "playing" in their parents garage.And by the way these two companies still make very little money.
Google in order to succeed, had to move away from its core success. Natural Organic search. It had to make money & it had to start selling spots in its organic search (AdWords). This has been a struggle to balance between the two. Now the company considers businesses that have little to do with natural search. In fact, one could even argue that today, they have little to do with Natural search.
So let's focus first on why we blog, comment, post, & publish online.
The following ideas should be kept in mind in whenever we publish anything with our business/public name.
Brand. What/who does your business represent? You know all that business 101 stuff. What is your objectives, your mission, values etc. What does your business stand for?
Write it out and tape it across your wall so you look at it daily and it reminds you as you publish.
If this stuff is not rock solid and laser focused you will soon be publishing inane blog posts like the one I mentioned earlier in the month.
Note: I got a response on that article and that the site mentioned is a for Realtor site, not the public. Well, if that is true then perhaps it should be behind a password, because anyone can see it. And if anyone can see it, then this is the message that the public is getting of that person who posted it.
So let's consider some rules.
Rules to Blog/Comment by:
- All rules are made to be broken! Hey, its the web for Pete's sake. However, rules keep a focus that help us lead the audience to a perception that builds brand.
- Don't get hung up on Style over Substance. Substance is what drives perception. This I think is a carry over of the real world where in some way or another we worry too much about arriving in that fancy car with that $2,000 suit and we haven't yet sold our fist house.
I know that personally that I can get full of myself on some neat trick I figured out online. And it is when you get the most arrogant online is when the roof falls in (Try losing 100,000 engine based visitors a month. Thia happened to me on a site I ran a few years back. That will humble anyone). Arrogance can blind one to your own success and the reasons for it.
In the end show me something that works, and I will be the first in line. Blogs, Websites, Forums. I am not married to anyone of these things. They are in the end just platforms to spread your brand by. - Where to Post. This I think is where the biggest sin is.
Two Types of Posts- Oooh I can just hear the purists and do gooders pontificating on this one......
A.Posts for SEO. This is where you can get links and attention on a national level for relevant issues.
Sources. Large vendor sites like this one. Regional (yours or others) that are relevant to real estate, or blogging,etc.Personally if I was to comment on others blogs I would spend much time on other Realtor blogs adding to their conversation. This will get you into blog rolls, posts, and trackbacks super fast.
B.Post For Clients. This should be the rule for every post comment. However the best way is to post where they are. Which funny enough is often not on a real estate site. - Know the difference of BtoB and BtoC. Following my style (or any other vendor) can confuse you and your reader because my business focus is on other businesses. If you are a Mortgage pro or Realtor then your future client is a consumer. As such this demands other strategies and tactics.
- Using the conversation to assess and then prescribe. There is a theme or vibe as us Californians call it. It is the talk of your future client. It often will reveal their pain and their needs.
a. assess their pain and discuss it.
b. heal their pain with helpful commentary.
c. lead them to your house of healing (your website or entry into your lead system)
