Blogging
Blogging is past being a buzzword and has moved mainstream, being a part of many agents marketing plan. I have to admit, at first, I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I managed to rack up some points over on AR; even had a few clients and closed transactions. All in all, the blogging life was good.
A few months into my blogging infancy, I hooked up with the Real Estate Tomato and set myself up with a custom Word Press blog. I had so much to learn. Through the process, I have mastered some of the difficult aspects of a Word Press blog while leaning on the pros to help with the rest. I have changed things I shouldn’t have and celebrated some successes. The stories they could tell about me and my lack of knowledge, but I know they won’t. They’re a really great bunch of Tomatos 🙂
A Time Drain
I decided early on my blog would represent not just Indianapolis, but the surrounding suburbs I wanted to work in. My experience at Active Rain left me feeling like there was only so much you could say about one small town, so I wanted to go bigger. In retrospect, that may not have been a well thought out plan. This blogging stuff takes time and when you’re doing market reports for many different areas, it becomes lots of hours. We all know you have to have a bit more than market reports to really make a blog interesting. But what to do, there are only so many hours in a day.
Several months ago, I heard people talk about having ghost writers (Yikes). Just the mention of the word or the implication someone may have another writing their posts brought the purists out in droves. I read others remarks about the concept and was sure anyone caught doing such a thing would be ostracized by the blogging community. I began a little research into the “blogger for hire” idea. I didn’t like having someone write about my area, my neighborhoods or communities. I felt I knew the information much better.
Get Some Help
Then, I was introduced to Bring The Blog, right here on Agent Genius. You only need to go back and read that post to realize I was not keen on the idea or the expense. Sorry Dan! After a few conversations with Dan, I decided I would give it a try. I like the way Dan writes and he writes about a subject I don’t want to write about, mortgages, money and finance. I pick and choose which posts I want to include in my blog. I make sure I have a good understanding of what the post is about. Sometimes I add my keywords in the post or change it to fit what is happening in my city; other times I don’t. Then I copy, paste and publish. It couldn’t be easier. Oh….and the expense, well…… let’s just say, the time I have freed up is well worth it.
If you find yourself challenged for time or content, I recommend Dan Green and Bring the Blog. His style is easy to read and the content timely and relevant.
One more thing – it has not affected my ranking at all.
