Real estate agents should value blogging if they want to develop a perpetual business model based on a specific type of client that is well informed, loyal and trusting.

While it has already been proven that a real estate company can be established solely around a successful Internet presence, most agents new to the web get caught up chasing social media shiny objects before they clarify their true purpose for getting online.

One of the first misconceptions agents make about blogging is that they approach their business blog like it’s an all-encompassing forum to journal their personal thoughts about life or evolution through social media technology.

However, the business-minded industry professionals that are able to keep their online content focused on providing valuable information for clients are actually quite successful at integrating an Internet presence into their daily office routine.

Quick Overview Of The Basics:

Simply put, a blog is just a type of website platform that is designed for the purpose of quickly publishing content to the Internet.

Categories, Tags, RSS Feeds, Page / Post structure, Widgets, Sidebar / Footer Areas and Custom Menus are some of the technical components of a blog that allow a publisher to easily organize their content in whatever manner best suites the needs of their target audience. Continue reading this post

One of the shows that my kids and I watch together is The Deadliest Catch about crab fishermen up in the Bering Sea near Alaska. In their lives, their financial success is tied directly to their ability to find large “biomasses” of crab in the midst of a vast and forbidden ocean. They use charts and graph to guide their efforts, but in the end, they must set some “test pots” to determine where the best fishing is. And it changes from year to year.

Lately I have thought of online marketing (and more especially blogging) in the same vein. So often, the biggest question that real estate bloggers have for me is: “What do I write about?”

When you write, you are sending a hook line and sinker into the vast unknown of the internet. So many time folks choose their blogging subjects based on how they feel at the moment, when they would be better served to purposefully cast a line in the water with the intention for catching something or knowing that the fish are not there and simply moving to different grounds.

That is the secret of finding your direction magentically.

Write about the subjects that your target audience is drawn to. Utilize Google Analytics and other tools to test the conversion rates of those readers… Continue reading this post

This video features Brian Kinkade of Cherry Creek Professionals Realty who presented at the August 2009 HomeGain Nation Live Real Estate Forum in San Francisco.

Brian focuses on the value proposition of HomeGain’s online marketing system, AgentView — Internet exposure, blogging and home listings — all of which are key marketing components to REALTORS’ success.

Learn why these are important and how to effectively implement them into your business.

Get ready to take some notes because this experienced REALTOR packs in a lot of powerful information about marketing that you may never have heard!

Watch the AgentView session video: “Exposure, Blog, Listings”

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos!

Watch more session videos

Also see more HomeGain Nation real estate videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel, on the HomeGain Nation Blog. and in the HomeGain Media Center. Continue reading this post

A Realtor’s story about how he went from being a skeptic to a raving fan of blogging, online marketing and HomeGain’s AgentView program

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Brian Kinkade of Cherry Creek Professionals Realty in Colorado to get his insight about the AgentView real estate marketing program and how it has increased his ability to connect with new clients and expand his business.

Hear our brief HomeGain Radio Clip:

Highlights: Continue reading this post

When I was just a young pup in the real estate business, a mentor of mine spoke a few words that I’ve kept tucked away in the back of my head to pull out when I need to. 

He wisely spoke, “no matter how you attempt to generate business, it always gets down to going nose to nose and belly to belly with people.”

I can’t help but think about his words many years later as social media has taken a big bite out of my day. Five years ago neither blogging nor tweeting was in my vocabulary and posting photos on Facebook or Flickr wasn’t in the picture (excuse my pun). 

In the last two years, I’ve been to more than a few conferences and attended a whole bunch of technology panels. Heck, I’ve even been a panelist several times myself. What I found is that many of the “experts” may be whizzes at social media but they aren’t experts in real estate.

Don’t get me wrong, I learn a lot from these folks about technology. I take good notes and put what they have to say into practice. But it suddenly occurred to me that something is missing from the resume of many real estate social media speakers and panelists: real estate experience. (As in selling a whole bunch of houses kind of experience.) I worry that newcomers to the business think that social media is the magic bullet when it really should only be a part (maybe a small part) of their prospecting efforts.  Continue reading this post

Bad advice number 1

“Dont pay for leads.” “You are crazy if you pay for leads.” “The leads you receive are worthless.” “You can generate your own leads if you are worth your salt in real estate.” 

I listened to this one for awhile. It did make sense, at first. I was working day and night to try to generate my own leads and I got plain burned out. So, I decided to give HomeGain a try. Technically, yes, I am paying for leads. Oh it is so nice to have leads come to me instead of spinning my wheels. Now I have time for other things like, meeting people!

Bad advice number 2

This one is very controversial. “Don’t pay for enhanced listings on Realtor.com.”

I listened to this one from some very well respected folks in the industry. Well, I got a really nice listing and I gave in and got the enhanced listing package. I grew very tired of trying to explain to sellers why their listings aren’t showing multiple pictures. “Suzy Seller down the street has an enhanced listing.” Sellers don’t care about the politics of Realtor.com. They just want to ooh and aah over the listing on Realtor.com. They will go there to check on it. Even if you give them a hundred other websites to look at, they WILL check Realtor.com. And I do get leads from Realtor.com. Good ones.

Bad advice number 3

“Blogging is a waste of time.” “You are a Realtor not a blogger.”

Ok, I admit I am not a blogger. I try to blog. I am a real estate broker who happens to blog. I blog my listings and real estate news. Maybe a few jokes and community news now and again. It is very eclectic. It is MY blog. I can do whatever I want, darn it. Now I am even blogging on multiple sites. And the sweet majic is…..SEO! Can you say number one on Google? Continue reading this post