I’ve been streamlining my feed reader this month and unsubscribing to dead blogs. Not blogs that were consolidated or moved to another project, but real estate blogs that have simply been abandoned. I got to thinking why and I have a bevy of answers, but they all trace back to one theme…
Benn recently wrote about our conversations with real estate tech conference attendees’ sentiment but what he didn’t mention is that they were all disappointed. I asked one attendee who their favorite speaker was or what they learned and they couldn’t come up with an answer for either. People continue going to conferences however, because of the fallacy that there is a magic bullet or maybe like on the Oprah show, their dreams will come true if they just look under their seats.
But no. Real estate professionals hire coaches and go to conferences and are pitched, they get excited to spend money on that next class, but that class is just a carrot on a string to get them to the next class. “Be memorable,” or “be yourself” is not a digital marketing strategy but rooms fill with people being filled with this fluff.
This all brings me to my theory… the reason that so many real estate blogs fail is the same reason so many boutique brokerages fail- someone got it into their head that this [insert real estate or blogging here] thing is easy, so why not go for it? Go for it? This isn’t a reality tv audition, you guys, this is business and the big boys are not playing around.
Real estate and real estate blogging aren’t easy. There’s no solution in a box and “being genuine” or “using Twitter” is NOT a business plan. That is why so many have and will continue to fail.
Jim Duncan
February 20, 2011 at 8:30 am
Real estate blogging is work. Work is anathema to many (most?) people.
Grant Hammond via Facebook
February 20, 2011 at 8:37 am
It’s hard for a lot of agents to commit to such a time consuming project when the results are not there in the beginning.
Drew Meyers - Virtual Results
February 20, 2011 at 11:43 pm
True, but this is no different than starting any other business. You’ve gotta put either time or money toward making something work for you, and blogging is no different. Not sure why real estate agents don’t understand this.
Vance Shutes
February 20, 2011 at 10:04 am
Lani,
The internet is permanent. Any potential client who searches on an agent’s name and finds a “dead” blog will wonder “will this agent give up on me, too?”
Be careful what you start, and be certain what you finish.
Fred Light
February 20, 2011 at 11:30 am
Most people, but especially Realtors, are always looking for the ‘magic bullet’. They jump on the bandwagon with the latest and greatest thing with all good intentions, but most fail as they don’t understand there IS no magic! It all takes a LOT of work… quality work and consistent work. It just can’t be done when you’re bored or business is in the crapper… It has to be worked on for a long time, consistently and regularly.
Whether it’s blogs, Twitter, Facebook, a web site…. I see it all the time. They go to some convention and get motivated and excited… and it’s only a very few who actually follow through with the actual commitment necessary that’s needed to make ANYTHING effective. Most of it falls by the wayside, especially once they get busy!
That’s why some people are successful and most are not. If everything was as easy as just signing up for an account somewhere, we’d all be rich!
INews by Real Estate Radio USA via Facebook
February 20, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Lani you wrote “This isn’t a reality tv audition, you guys, this is business” …most realtors aren’t business people and as such they lack in the skills to manage a business. But they’re not alone. Most Internet Marketers aren’t business people either. Running a business is very tough and you either have to have the experience or a good partnet. Otherwise you are indeed chasing the next big thing over and over again.
BawldGuy
February 20, 2011 at 4:11 pm
It’s occurred to me, over the years I’ve blogged, a reason why most real estate blogs fail. IMO, it’s a direct consequence of overrated knowledge/expertise/experience. After roughly 5-10 posts they’re outa things to say, teach, etc. Look at most of ’em and ask yourself if a recent high school grad with relatively high intelligence could research and write higher quality posts than the local real estate blog?
I see some of the stuff my friends/acquaintances here in San Diego put on their sites, and am embarrassed for them. Most of ’em can be aptly described as “Dick & Jane get their real estate licenses”. Pass on useable knowledge. Show you know more than a high school senior.
Am I missin’ something?
Jason
February 20, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Many real estate professionals don’t understand the strategy behind using social media mediums like blogs to promote their brand. Rather than having a plan of action to specifically target audience for specific results some companies aimless post interesting facts. Having a team of professionals really helps.
A great company to look into is Sylvan Media (https://sylvanmedia.com/portfolio/)
Thanks for the post,
Jason
Dave Kinkade
February 20, 2011 at 9:02 pm
The reason so many people attend those conferences is they are hoping to find an easy solution to a complex set of problems. That almost never works unless you are truly over accepting the same old daily grind and get off your butt and do something about it. BawldGuy nailed it; there are so few folks who have more than 10 posts in them. Two simple truths: All that glitters ain’t gold and blogging isn’t for everyone.
Jeff Belonger
February 20, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Lani… first off, Jeff Brown’s comment made me laugh in regards to his reference with “Dick & Jane”… lol But seriously… you, jeff, and a few others hit the nail on the head… “work”.. it takes work… thought, creative thought, dedication, and good content. Hence why I am seeing more and more plagiarize now. Sad, but so true. I have to be honest, I am glad that not many blog, especially loan officers. And many of the lender sites that I see, a lot of the info is bought and paid for… yet they can get away with it, because it is legal. Sad, but legal. Or how some pay to be on top. But many that search, see that.. and for the fact, I want to be found by the long tail, something that someone is searching for in detail, a specific search.
Drew Meyers - Virtual Results
February 20, 2011 at 11:48 pm
“Work”
What’s that? I thought dollar bills were to be placed under my pillow each and every night for simply living through the day and drinking beers on the beach? Is that not true? 🙂
Greg Lyles
February 21, 2011 at 8:23 am
Why do so many fail? There are several reasons;
First, most people buy or sell a house every 7-10 years. When they’re not selling or buying they really don’t care all that much about real estate. Let’s say you buy a new washer and dryer every 10 years. Do you want to read about them in the interim? If you do, put down your coffee and get a life.
Second, the leading source of leads continues to be referrals – not blogs. Spending more time with your friends and past clients ( who already know that you are a professional with a great track record ) can produce better results than attempting to compete with hundreds, or thousands, of other agents who are hoping to snag clients who don’t know them, trust them or probably even like them by writing articles.
If you’re going to blog, blog about something with on-going relevancy to the peoples lives who you are attempting to reach – kind of like the guy who did the 365 Things to Do in Vancouver. If your specialty is golf communities, blog about golf courses in the area, equipment, the latest tips on improving your game, etc. People will visit these blogs much more often than a real estate blog and when they see that the blogmaster (is that even a word?) is a realtor, you’ve already established trust and common ground with them.
BawldGuy
February 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Greg — Folks getting the majority of their business via referral want to believe it’s the #1 source for leads, but that’s clearly not the case. My friends in the house side of the biz who prospect strangers do more business by the end of the first quarter than those living on referrals. I love referrals, and believe they show how effective that agent must be, but it’s not the ‘leading source of leads’ by any stretch, unless you’re talkin’ about the ‘B’ list producers in any large brokerage.
Greg Lyles
February 21, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Bawld Guy
I’m just reiterating what the NAR reports in their annual survey of buyers and sellers. My own experience is that one-third of my business comes from referrals, one third from direct mail and one-third from internet/social media.
Matthew Hardy
February 21, 2011 at 12:22 pm
@ BawldGuy “a direct consequence of overrated knowledge/expertise/experience
Well, of course, that’s true. And more volume (i.e. number of posts) that blogs produce only serve to highlight this. The thing I’m becoming increasingly bored with is the “daily filler” on even the largest blog sites. I recall getting a couple of weekly news magazines years ago and felt I was getting a thorough, well thought-out analysis of the news. It seems now you have to work to filter out writers’ (supposedly) interesting-thought-of-the-day that, were they to bring up such in a verbal conversation would have them saying minutes later, “oh, I guess that doesn’t make sense”… (Perhaps an iPad subscription to weekly ‘zines will be my answer again.)
@ Greg Lyles “the leading source of leads continues to be referrals – not blogs”
This argues that the most important structural effort agents should spend their time on is CRM.
BawldGuy
February 21, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Hey Greg — Makes sense. NAR’s survey shows me they still don’t understand how to find the stats that matter, the empirical, documentable truth. If they wish to learn what’s producing more business for agents, survey the dang agents, right? Geez.
Also, Matthew Hardy makes an excellent point re: CRM. Disclosure: I use his firm’s CRM software and it’s the best I’ve had since the word software was coined.
Matthew Hardy
February 21, 2011 at 7:01 pm
@ BawldGuy Thanks for the kind words Jeff – high praise from a man who’s hard to overrate! All the best to you sir!