We’ve heard all the arguments about lead generation companies. It’s been debated on blogs, in real estate forums and at office meetings. I recently read a blog comment which likened a certain lead generation company to a drug dealer.

Pretty strong stuff.

I’m the little guy with a little office. Even though I work for a franchise, I can’t personally compete in my area with the big franchises or the public MLS when it comes to driving traffic to my IDX website. If you do a search using the most sought after search terms in my area, all the big franchises are right there on the top of the first page, along with HomeGain and a few other lead aggregators. They can afford to outspend me to get there.

Blogging does keep me competitive with the big guys. As far as long tail searches, my blog is all I need, and I can outmaneuver the best of them on that playing field. But being the competitive person that I am, I wanted anther tool in my arsenal. In 2005 I signed on to HomeGain’s BuyerLink. At that time I had 3 buyer’s agents and needed to keep them fed with a good supply of leads. HomeGain generated about 30% of our team income that first year by driving traffic to our IDX site. Continue reading this post

In the past two weeks since I’ve posted The Case Against Blogging and The Failed Promise of Real Estate 2.0, I’ve learned that I don’t know too much about blogging and that many bloggers don’t know too much about HomeGain.

I’d like to thank the many bloggers who are assisting HomeGain and myself in our education about blogging, including:

• Our Guest Bloggers: Brian B., Joe F., Mary M., Pat K., Nicole N., Jay T., Kevin B., and Diane C.

• Our HomeGain Agent contributors:
  Brian K., Eric P., Jeffrey B., Mark J., Barry K., Jerry R., Joe C. and Mitch R.

• Comment contributors to the HomeGain Blog: : Todd C, Brian Bl. Sara B., Missy C., Mitch R., Tony V., Anne Marie C., Rebecca L., Ken S., Laurie M., John F., Steve M., John M. Jerry R., Bob M., Rudy B. and Rich J.

• ActiveRain’ers: Rich J and Laurie M.

• Sellsius Real Estate Blog: Greg T. and Teresa B.

• Rain City Guide: Ardell D., Dustin L. and Kevin T.

• Bloodhound Blog: Jason L., Mike F. Morgan B., Thomas J. ,Lane B., Sean P. and Benn from Agent Genius

• The Notorious R.O.B., Rob H.

• 1000 Watt Consulting: Marc D. and Brian B.

I look forward to our continued conversations.

Thanks again.

Louis Cammarosano

Continue reading this post

Blogging for Business in a Nut Shell

There are over 100 million blogs with a new one being created every 1.4 seconds. You may think that the last thing you have time for at the end of the day is to blog. But I’m sure it wasn’t that long ago when you may have thought the same about email.

If you have a Web site for your real estate business already, is it an efficient marketer? Blogs are becoming far more popular because they can help you and your business be found on the Internet.

Google and search engines alike, love blogs for the dynamic and regularly updated content and reward them with higher page rankings. This means that your prospective clients will have a better chance of finding you.

Give a blog the proper attention it deserves and soon you’ll have all the online exposure you desire. And, Internet buyers and sellers will identify you as the market expert for your area. That being said, creating and maintaining a blog can entail quite a bit of work.

Are you in? Continue reading this post

Bloggers often universally praise their craft and encourage others to do so with evangelical zeal.

Is blogging a good thing? I’d say it depends on why you blog. There are a lot of good reasons to blog. For example, Mitch Ribak advocates blogging as a means of staying in touch with existing customers.

There are many reasons, however, NOT to blog.

This is the case against blogging for business:

I know that blogging against blogging is a bit like dancing against architecture but here are some questions to ask before you start blogging:

1. Are you a Realtor or a writer?

The concept of Realtors as bloggers reminds me of the cliché of waiters as actors. “I don’t really sell houses; I am working on my screen play.” Unless you like writing, don’t bother.

2. Who cares?

Potential customers want to see listings, find out what their homes are worth, know how many houses you sold in the last year and what your commission rate might be. Of less interest to consumers when selecting a Realtor probably is Continue reading this post

Welcome to world of online marketing. Everybody’s doing it! I recognized that Web 2.0 had legs when I watched a model leverage a Myspace profile into a TV show. I choose to wrangle the herd by blogging.

While I’ve had some success, it didn’t come easy. Many real estate agents and mortgage originators believe that blogging is the “little purple pill”, prescribed to cure all their marketing woes. Others subscribe to business models like HomeGain, in hopes that it has the “magic tonic”.

I believe that real estate agents should have marketing systems to generate enough interest to meet their annual business goals. I think you should use the Millionaire Real Estate Agent model. That model, perfected by Gary Keller, is, without reservation, the finest way to market a real estate practice to would-be buyers and sellers.

It’s simple. You’ll close one transaction for every twelve “mets” you have in your database. If you’re practicing the principle of “buying brain cells”, through systematic multi-media marketing, you can Continue reading this post

Blogging can help your real estate business! It’s true.

The benefits of real estate blogging are fast becoming more apparent and agreed upon in the industry.

Starting and maintaining a blog can help you create an online presence, become the niche expert for your market area, connect with your sphere, grow your online network, initiate community interaction, and make you a better real estate agent overall.

But don’t blog because I said so, do it because you are excited about sharing your expertise and putting forth the required effort. Understand that you’re not just making a time and money commitment, but a commitment to a blog’s life.

Think long and hard about your niche or concept before just jumping into the blogosphere without direction. Trust me: it’s much easier with a roadmap. Continue reading this post