Ardell is right though – the rules are minimal right now. Thats part of the cool.

Well said Ardell—I can’t improve on your words.

Just wanted to second that.

We write the way we write and post what we think is interesting, helpful, newsworthy or entertaining. In the beginning, none of us had readers. We got them because they liked what they read and came back. Besides, if you asked me to only write for consumers, I could do it but then blogging wouldn’t be as rewarding. Be yourself, it’s the easiest way to go.

Real estate,thankfully, is a relationship business. As in any relationship people need to trust you. You need to show them you are honest, knowledgeable and willing to help them. Blogging gives all of us the opportunity to show these qualities over time. Whether your reader is a consumer or professional may not matter.

Thank you for visiting and commenting.

I disagree with you (in part) that the consumer doesn’t want to go to a blog for information. I think that a certain segment of the market does in fact want to visit blogs for that information simply because there is such a broad base of information. Also, with the fact that blogs tend to rank so high in the search engines, consumers may in fact come to blogs unintentionally.

Those blogs that are “look at my new listing” won’t last. Those who read blogs are, in my opinion, among the most discerning consumers out these, if only due to the fact that they have figured out how to weed out the good from bad blogs.

Interesting that you mix up the content based on your audience. I hadn’t consciously thought about the fact that more real estate folks are reading on the weekends. I might have to think about that tactic a bit more.

My thought is this – because of the sheer volume of blogs, no one blog is going to appeal to everybody. Blogs are “the” niche marketing tool. I didn’t start blogging with the intent of generating business, although I have. Those who are beginning to blog now are entering a different world than I did almost two years ago (almost a lifetime!)

Write for who you want your audience to be, and they will come. My mindset is perhaps less lofty, but I enjoy what I do, so it’s good enough for me.

I find this topic quite interesting. But, I am leaning Greg’s way. First, let me admit that I am an industry insider and what Greg would call a fanatic. On the other hand, geez, if we cannot use blogs as a marketing tool, why bother?

However, most real estate blogs are of the “Hey, look at my new listing” variety, and I am sure that is a total waste. And, we have all seen much worse. Teresa Boardman’s idea of topics like “Second Hand Smoke” and “Common Walls” might be an excellent middle ground, interesting enough to consumers to attract interest and readers.

But to my mind, blogging may not be the best medium for that – I don’t think a consumer wants to go to a recently updated web log to view the latest topic, which they probably don’t care about. I mean, for example, if the topic of the day is “Second Hand Smoke” and the consumer is really interested in “Common Walls”….well, I don’t know – will the consumer actually search backwards looking for posts that interest them? They would have to really like the blogger and really be interested in his or her opinion on the topic.

So, I guess the blogger could set up something like a “library” of topics. But, isn’t that what a website is for? My point is: Must we use the newest medium simply because it is the newest? Or, do we look for the best tool for the job? We need to view blogging like we have come to understand email – Great tool, but the telephone is not going away anytime soon.

It’s like everything else in this business. The more a new agent asks others how they should do something, the more likely they will be one of those agents that can’t be differentiated from their peers.

There is so much advice out there about blogging, but bottom line is that each of us makes our own rules as we go.

What we do today, becomes the “rule” for those who follow, as we are still in an area being pioneered by the few. The “rules” for personal blogs vs. business blogs really can’t be the same, can they?

Clearly people who read my writings are not fanatics. Maybe that’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Who you write to becomes who reads you. If you write to fanantics, then you get fanatics. If you write to industry insiders, you get industry insiders. If you write to everyday consumers in your marketplace…

I try to mix it up by writing to consumers during the week, particularly on Monday, and writing to insiders on the weekend. Just seems that is the way the traffic flows.

Thanks for visiting and commenting.

I don’t disagree with you at all. I am interested to see which one brings a greater ROI. I liken it to this recent story in a California Association of Realtors magazine. It’s great exposure, I guess, and I am grateful fort that, but will it really bring me more business from potential clients?

I like to think that I straddle the line between the camps, although I have to focus more on local matters, as that is what I live and breathe every day.

And now, I have another blog to read every day!

One blogs for the curious consumer and/or pleasure-reader; the other for industry insiders.

I liken the former to a newsletter and the latter to a “water cooler”. Both are good sources of information, but the information is of a different “type”.

It’s pretty clear in which camp you are in, Jim.

I have written before about how I think that all real estate is local. When I look at my traffic stats, about 40% of my traffic is local; by local I mean Virginia.

I feel that I have a better chance of building brand/name loyalty locally than I would (or even might want to) nationally. Besides, I know my local market a lot more.

That said, he seems to have put together a pretty powerful team there. Look out, RCG!