Taking the ‘Hype’ out of Hyper-Local Blogging

I’ve thought about this issue a lot. I think that it can be a major mistake to assume that good content will automatically produce business. I think that at some point, you have to make it known to the consumer that you are willing to work with them, that you want to work with them, encourage them to reach out to you. I’m not saying that you have to hard sell them, or that you have to be obnoxious about it.

I do think that opportunities can be missed if you don’t mention the fact that you are, in fact, in business. I love writing, creating what I think is interesting content, and blogging, but “art for art’s sake” it ain’t. It must be done with a specific purpose in mind, and that purpose SHOULD match whatever your overall goal is.

I always figure if it bores the living hell out of me, it’s probably going to bore the living hell out of my readers.

Keep in mind that a site like AR is naturally going to attract many folks who “don’t get it.” There’s no real investment. Somebody invites you in, you don’t pay anything, so any return is a good return on your investment.
Trying to search a site like AR for the top local blogs is a mistake. There are some great ones on there, but common sense says there’s going to be some bad ones on there as well. There’s over 90,000 members, of course it’s not all going to be good.
Sites such as AgentGenius and others that are invitation-only are naturally going to produce better blogs, as are independent blogs in which the blogger has invested some $ and energy into the blog.
AR serves a lot of great purposes (getting bloggers started, networking, etc), but to find great content you’ll have to search a little harder as the haystack is deeper.

Matt, You mention that siteslike AG are naturally going to produce better content. My question is content for who? The consumer? AG, from what I’ve seen, is a peer to peer site.There is very little here for the consumer at all. There is far more consumer content on AR. Next trip over there just be sure you are not logged in so you can view it through the eyes of a consumer.

By the way I think AG is a great site. It’s just not consumer content.

Uh Oh…It might snow in Florida And Arizona..I agree with Broker Bryant, Jonathan Dalton And Bill Lublin in the same thread. OMG!

IMO, blog content , like that of a magazine, needs to be tailored towards your expected audience. Those who read Sports Illustrated may not necessarily be the same who read Good Housekeeping.

A good blogger has to know or at a minimum needs to try and learn who their audience is. What I find too often on AR is that too many of the bloggers there feel their audience is each other. I had one AR blogger email me and was ticked off to the point of anger becasue she said we did not know that AR was for networking with each other. When I told her she wasn’t my audience, she freaked.

I remember that happening here to a small degree as well. I take great care in crafting the posts on our real estate blog to laser target those clientele that I am seeking to reach.

Bill, a multi author blog certainly could be more effective but again it depends on who you are writing for and who the co-authors are. I guess it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. I agree with this statement completely: “I think the whole process for our industry is still relatively undeveloped, so it is tough to know the “formula” if such exists”. In my opinion, there are way to many blogging “experts” when the reality is we all still learning and tweaking.

Barry, The magazine comparison is spot on. In my opinion, a blog needs to have an over all theme if you want folks to come back. I have read some folks who are very good writers but their articles are all over board. I want to know what to expect when I click on. I also agree that many bloggers on AR are using it to talk amongst themselves, including me, on occassion. My goal on AR has always been to help my peers in their business. That’s what I enjoy doing. BUT….most of my posts are geared towards my peers AND the consumer. Even my posts about “justifying our commission” are kept public for a reason. I want the consumer to see how I interact with my peers while at the same time seeing how I conduct my business.

Barry,

I’ve tried posting on a few “events” and they have pretty much bombed in terms of the overall number of reads.

We now focus on local real estate and often discuss provincial and national real estate stories. We also post on economic stories (job growth, wage growth, migration, etc.) but they are pretty much always tied to the real estate market in some way. People who are interested in the economy are usually interested in the real estate market and we’re happy to have them around, even if they’re not in the market right now.

I do think that there is probably some good potential in covering “neighborhoods” and “what’s available in this community” but I can see it being terribly time consuming.

Barry, That’s a good question and, for me personally, I don’t post about events and the such. One reason is that there just ain’t much going on in Poinciana. I guess I could write about 2 for 1 chuck steak at the Winn Dixie:) Poinciana is one of the largest PUDs in the Country. 72,000 people and 20,000 “track” homes. You’d think they’d have a lot going on but the reality is there isn’t. It’s a residential community.

Now from what I understand, Localism is being designed to really focus down on the local communities. I too am concerned how restaurant reviews and the such are going to drive buyers and sellers who are ready, willing and able to purchase or sell now. BUT….in real estate, everybody is a potential buyer, seller, renter, at some point. So I guess even if they are driven to Localism by “Joe’s Pool Hall’s 8 Ball Tournament” they may see something or someone they like and come back when they are ready to buy, sell or rent.

My biggest concern, that I touched on earlier, is how the editor(s) are going to pick and choose what articles are relevant for Localism. Will they realize that a post I write about dealing with a short sale is actually information that a Seller will be interested in? Or will they be more interested in listings, market reports, community news etc.? Those things, with the exception of market reports, have no value to a potential seller. Sellers want to know what I do and how I do it. They’re not interested in listings in the least bit.

Now having said all of that. I have been a member on AR since the beginning. There were only about 600 members when I joined. The AR guys have built trust with me. I have seen how they listen and make changes when warranted. They are excellent at taking AR where it needs to go and I have no doubt that they will do the same for Localism.

Having started on AR and not knowing what the heck I was doing, I only wrote neighborhood posts about a specific city. I included stats and data about each neighborhood I could find. It paid off in 5 closed transactions last year. Those posts are still found and I have closed three transactions this year and have had four listings from AR/Localism.

I expanded on that in my current blog and have to say, I would rather be found for the content about a local neighborhood with “real estate” key words than one for “how long do appliances last” which was also a post I wrote.

I don’t contribute to AR much anymore because I found the time factor too much to do additional blogging beyond my current blog. I do post my listings because I like Localism.

Rich, I agree a long “this is who I am and this is what I do” is too much. Some of the signatures take up a fourth of a page. But….those people who have and are doing it are getting listings. So IMO a little how to contact me is good, and a lot is overkill.

I am gearing my outside blog on AR to localism and my original AR blog to agents and the industry. I’m glad there is a way to make a clear difference.

I wonder how long it will take those blogs to stake over SE, like my AR blog did and helps my other web sites.

Hey rich..read the AR post…sure if it works for an agent then fine. Obviously a number of ways to get the job done. Following Mary’s we were able to take a new site to page one in google in 50 days. Some “community stuff” sprinkled in..mostly about the market.

I wish you and the guys at AR the best with Localism.

I agree with Broker Bryant. The transactional visitor is the one who puts checks in the bank.

I believe in the value of local events but it need not be a focal point. Try using a local events calendar or other sidebar widget or just link to a local events site in your sidebar or maybe a page for local events– the events are usually the same and you’ll only need to change the dates yr to yr. The value may come from including a signup for free email updates on local events & combine it with free blog updates– this will build your subscriber base. If you write a post about a neighborhood, just add the link to see local events, get free updates. Perhaps you contact event organizers and get some discounts/freebies and offer them to your readers— get an interview while you’re at it and create a connection. Like most of these questions, I think anything can work if packaged & marketed correctly– it just takes creativity.

Rather than just posting on local events, you might do better attending them — or starting your own.

My opinion on multi-author blogs– better for the transactional visitor if local– Rain City Guide is the perfect example. If you want to be a “national” blog– good writers from anywhere does the trick for readers but I’m not convinced of the efficacy for getting checks.

You got that right, Barry C. Nothing better than swimming in a blue ocean 😉