I am sure that as Genius Buddies, you have been asked to talk about blogging at local offices. Only 4% of real estate agents are blogging!! I find that absolutely bizarre and at the same time awesome…..more for us.
Now, without sounding conceited or cocky (there is not a single ounce of that in my body…..although I have absolutely no lack of self-esteem), we have something here that a lot of others don’t. Some of us have not been blogging long but are taking full advantage of it for as long as it lasts and as my fellow genius Teresa Boardman said “There are marketing techniques that were never even dreamt of in the 80’s and I do my best to exploit them.”
So what am I getting at here? We use blogging to show what value we bring to the table, by blogging and sharing with each other we have become blogging experts. Our industry is looking to us to help them out and teach them to blog. Here’s the kicker…….if most agents are not even taking the time to read blogs, why would they even start blogging?
When I was asked 6 months ago to give a blogging class in the same market area I was honored but at the same time thought “what’s in it for me?”. Just last week I was asked by another broker to give a blogging class in my direct competing market.
……I’ll repeat that sentence to make a point…….
I was asked by another broker to give a blogging class in my direct competing market.
So I was supposed to jump for joy and share all my blood and tears with those same agents that stab me in the back share my farm area (not all are bad by the way…..just a couple). I politely declined.
Then I had a conversation with dear blogging friends and we discussed how we now have an added value to our services. This added value is that we blog, we are doing it and successfully. We COULD give it away (heck we do it at AG all day long), or we can actually get paid for it. Hmmmmm…..now that’s a concept.
So the purpose of this drawn out post was to make you think. Next time your local board, or another broker asks you to share your thoughts on blogging……will you say No, yes or how much?
***BONUS – whoever counts the correct number of times the word “blog, blogging or blogger” was written in the above post will get that delicious piece of Swiss Cheese***
Ricardo Bueno
November 27, 2007 at 4:13 am
Ines,
I’d count the words to win the bonus but I’m afraid that by the time you mail the cheese it will have spoiled 🙁
Speaking of blogging, Kathy McGraw and I held a class in Banning, CA. I suppose it was easier for me to host it given that I’m a Lender and not a Realtor so I wasn’t amongst competition. However, other Brokers in the local area were upset that we were giving away the “trade secrets.”
In any case, to those that ARE blogging…blog on! Relationships are all about conversations. And a blog is after all just that, a conversation. One that we can use 24/7 to manage and generate new relationships!
Great to see you here Ines.
Jim Duncan
November 27, 2007 at 8:42 am
I actually do these infrequently in my market, but don’t look at it necessarily as competition.
Eventually, they’re going to do it anyway, and I’d rather they do it right (or more right) from the start.
Helping others set the bar higher from the start benefits us all – bloggers and Realtors. And hopefully, I’ll be able to dissuade some from even starting (it’s a lot of work!)
ines
November 27, 2007 at 8:47 am
Ricardo – glad to see YOU here as well. I think for the lending industry is a bit different because you are not only targeting the consumer but other real estate agents as well. Look at what Brian Brady is doing….he’s all over the place and we love him for it.
Jim – I wrote this post to spark conversation because I agree with you. I don’t mind sharing at all and I constantly give it away and go out of my way to teach.
My question though, since we have been doing it longer and have learned a great deal along the way, is whether our “blogging knowledge” is worth something, monetarily speaking.
ines
November 27, 2007 at 8:47 am
Ricardo – it’s virtual cheese….never goes bad! : )
Jonathan Dalton
November 27, 2007 at 9:25 am
The same thought’s been on my mind for a bit … I have a title company who’d like me to teach a short version. I’m debating putting together a credit-hour version of a blogging class.
But for that, CTC will be in play.
Ines
November 27, 2007 at 10:29 am
Jonathan – a credit-hour version sounds like a great idea without a doubt. What’s CTC?
Benn Rosales
November 27, 2007 at 1:41 pm
agentgenius lends to your cred. which is why you’re here- you’re in the top tier. I’m so glad to read that you’re getting it.
Ines
November 27, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Benn – I appreciate that – I think more of us are getting it every day.
Jay Thompson
November 27, 2007 at 6:58 pm
One of the sadder facts of life is you can stand in front of 100 agents, GIVING AWAY the “secrets” and you’ll be lucky if 3 of them do anything with it.
Lani Anglin
November 27, 2007 at 7:11 pm
15 references to the word blog, 18 if you count the bonus instructions, now where’s my chiiz? 🙂
Ines
November 27, 2007 at 8:25 pm
[SIGH] @ Jay! you are right…but like I said….more for us!
Lani – the CHEESE QUEEN!! (I can’t believe you actually counted them)
mariana
November 27, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Ugh. I go back and forth with this.
First and foremost I agree w/ Jay. I train for our local offices and it is a rare time that I teach something and anything I say goes past, “Wow. Great idea.” which leads me to believe that I could pull money out of my armpit with the word “BLOG” all over it and I would not have anymore competition than I do now.
Ines
November 27, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Mariana – then why waste your time teaching?
I think we wear our hearts on our sleeves when we blog and anyone interested needs to at least start reading.
Benn Rosales
November 27, 2007 at 10:14 pm
… and commenting.
Mariana
November 28, 2007 at 9:43 am
I *heart* teaching. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy – even if no one listens (or almost no one). I feel like at least I have made an attempt to educate the agents of today … but I have yet to discuss blogging at any length. …still on teh fence…
Ines
November 28, 2007 at 8:16 pm
didn’t mean to ignore you Mariana – as long as you are teaching for you own reasons……although you SHOULD be getting paid IMHO.
Mariana
November 28, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I DO get paid, so it is all good!
Ines
November 28, 2007 at 9:53 pm
AHA!! So you make my point! It’s ALL Good!