Article originally published 12/01/2007:
I don’t know if you know this but I was one of the apprentices for Project Blogger this past summer. I was lucky to have Paul Chaney, Mr. “Realty Blogging”, as my coach and we became friends and still keep in touch.
During the competition I became extremely frustrated with the judging (and so did the rest of the contestants) and decided to write a post in Spanish. I did this to make a bit of a sarcastic point that I might as well write in another language because the judges were just not getting it. Little did I know that this rebellious and insignificant post would lead to something important.
Rick and I are fluent in both English and Spanish. Our Miami Real Estate market is multi-lingual, and whoever does not know Spanish is either learning or hiring an assistant that speaks the language. If you work in a multi-cultural community, writing in a second and third language will open up doors that you did not even know existed.
A few weeks ago our Genius Colleague Lani e-mails me in Spanish! Did you guys know that she speaks Spanish? She goes on to tell me that she found my Spanish post and that I should continue posting in Spanish. Then, again, she subtly guides me (yes, Lani can be subtle) to Pat Kitano’s transparent cultural blogging post….and that was it! I was dragging my feet because it’s difficult enough to keep up with blogging in one language, much less 2. I have begun translating my posts and placing them in a separate category entitled “articles in Spanish”. It took a final push from Lani and Pat…..but know I’m taking it at full speed. Thanks Lani and Pat!
I have already been contacted by people relocating from Europe and South America to the Miami Area because they are reading my stuff in Spanish.
I have expanded my target audience by taking advantage of our second language. I urge everyone that knows another language to take advantage of it as well. Who knows, I may even start a Spanish Blog! Take a look at this link Twittered by John Novak about Hispanic social sites.
Asi que aprovechen y empiecen a escribir en Español y otros idiomas también!
(here’s Google Translate for those of you that are Spanish-challenged)
**I had taken the photo in Miami especially for this article and forgot to include it – better late than never or as they say……mas vale tarde que nunca **
