Why Should I Write My Own Blog Posts?

Maybe she’s boring….and probably better that she doesn’t write! 🙂

seriously…..I don’t see why you couldn’t have other people writing for your blog, I do have a problem with those other people writing under your name as if they were you. There’s a j’nais c’est qua….we can call it deceiving factor behind it?

M-
I think Ghost writing – No.

However I do see your point and perhaps a twice weekly interview would be fine.

“Yesterday I sat down with Mariana and we discussed how to properly price a home to sell. Here’s what she says…“

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with buying content that may be of value to your readers. Where I object is when someone tries to represent it as their content. As if they wrote it.

As Todd pointed out, buying some valuable content once in a while is OK, especially if it’s content you weren’t aware of or that might be breaking news that no one else has heard before. But, I’m a big believer in self-sufficiency and in doing things myself. If I’m gonna have a blog, I’m gonna write the stuff that goes in it, whether it’s good or bad. If it’s gonna fail, I want to know the responsibility rests with me, and likewise if it thrives. I guess it’s pride of ownership and a sense of accomplishment that makes it worthwhile. My lowly little blog just got a PR2 in the recent update, and I know it’s because of MY hardwork, not somebody else’s. I know that’s nothing compared to some of the heavy hitters, but to me and my newborn blog, it’s a BIG DEAL.

Is it ok if the President has speech writers? The idea is to engage the audience and distribute meaningful content.

There’s also an element of “writing for the press/media” which is important for some people. I’m not suggesting that everyone hire a spin doctor, insomuchas being able to author content that is meaningful enough for a reporter to pick it up.

One other thing I’ve done in the past…..I’ve turned blogs into press releases and vise versa and blasted them out through PR Web and 247pressrelease.com. There’s nothing wrong with that is there?

BTW…I like Dan Greens writing style. It’s not bias or controversial. Just right down the middle facts. For lots of people it’s good, relavant content which mixes nicely with some originally authored ideas.

Interesting topic.

I really hope I never get to the point where I have someone else write a blog post in my name — that would defeat the purpose of blogging for me. I’ve always said voice and personality are a huge reason I read blogs — without them, there’s no real reason to read a blog when I can go to the main stream media to get my news instead.

I struggle with this when trying to answer the question for students. My typical response is: Marketing about you and your services only works if you believe in it, do it consistently and reflects YOU. The issue with most agents is that they do what works for someone else. If someone hires you about a particular article that you wrote, and then asks you questions about it that you can’t answer… they’ll know that you didn’t write it and now you’ve started a relationship with a known lie, from a client who assumed that since you’re an agent you lie anyways.

I think it’s problematic and has a simple fix. The blog can be all about “John Smith”, and the articles that are written can be authored by “The John Smith Team”. I think the “team” approach in this instance may have the added benefit of telling the consumer that your group has a philosophy; but perhaps you’re too busy to write it out because you work with clients. Your assistants or team members write your thoughts out as a benefit to consumers.

That’s one approach…. I happen to ghost write for certain folks, but only on specific issues where the client needs help with ONE issue and usually I only do this if it’s an attorney who has asked for help. Mainly because I am not an attorney and do not directly work for their office. However, I think that any ‘ghost writer’ must insist that the person hiring them to do so, pre-reads and approves post before it’s made public. The “name” on the blog is the one who is ultimately responsible for the content and the liability and accuracy. I am sure that Dan Green is an exceptional writer and very knowledgeable, but there are caveats to Virginia that make us unique in a short-bus kinda way. I wouldn’t want to have those issues / laws violated by a well intentioned writer…

Writing a blog is not just about providing information to your market, it also offers you opportunity to keep up on what you need to know to keep your professional edge. Where that dividing line is between what has to come directly from you and what you can extract from someone or something else is the age-old question every CEO, large or small, has to deal with. What can you use that will reflect you, not someone else. It takes time, it takes thought, but when you give to others, you’re also getting the benefit. I think readers ultimately know the difference.

Talking about adding a little “umph” to market reports – here’s an example of what I did to my last market report:

So if you have some pocket change laying around (like $24,000 worth), remember you will be able to afford a parking space at The Venture in sought after Aventura.

Mariana, I agree with adding a lil sumptin to the market reports and do when I can, which is why I still write them myself.

Rob, I couldn’t agree with you more. Bloggers who don’t know enough about real estate and hire ghost bloggers to write are presenting themselves as competent Realtors, which is what the consumer believes they are getting when they work with them. The reality is more than a little scary. If a blogger has to hire a ghost writer because they don’t have the basic knowledge they either should educate themselves in a hurry or get the hell out of the business.

Marianna;
You’ve been making the real point all along in this discussion. Whether you add content personally, or purchase content to reprint, the final product will determine what the consumer sees, and therefore how the consumer interacts with the owner of the blog.

Having a service like Bring the Blog does give you those days off, and still populates the blog with information that may not have been what you would have chosen. Or they might provide you with the start of a blog you generate yourself.

I don’t disagree with Laurie that you shouldn’t be representing yourself as more educated or experienced then you are, but that may not be the issue of using another writer. It may be time, or it may be a lack of comfort with the writing process. Bottom line is I think you’ll get out what you put in –

Wouldn’t having someone else write your blog posts be like buying links. It’s just not right. I am not opposed to a guest writer, just passing off someone else’s work as your own.

Mack – The interesting part about buying links or having a full-time ghost writer is that both of those are viable ways of doing business …

@ #31 LOL

@ #29 The only reason to blog is to generate new business — just like anything else in marketing. The difference is that every other type of marketing a “throw-dollars-at-it” solution and blogging is a “spend-time-on-it” solution. Time, of course, is our only inventory as salespeople so there comes a point at which blogging is no longer cost-effective. This is the point that Bill, Todd and others are making.

Some people generate a lot of new business from their blog(s) and other people generate none. I would argue that the blog as a marketing medium, however, is equally important to both because if you’re not blogging every day, your clients will get their information from somebody that is.

Real estate markets changes daily and so should your content. And if you don’t have time to blog every day, make like the major newspapers and use third-party sources — ghost writers, Inman news feeds, Bring the Blog or otherwise. The key is to attract eyeballs, keep them, and convert them.

@ #31 Still LOL

By writing one’s own material there are some benefits that can be achieved – learning more about the subject matter via research and improving your own personal writing skills.

A ghost writer used in a manner where the ideas and major points come from the blogger is fine if there is a lack of time available. I do agree with others that the post should be read over and approved prior to going public.

One item not discussed about writing content is the use of an editor to edit the article.

Does anyone use an editor to review their articles prior to posting?

Mariana – it is not a new concept so there should be an individual that does editting. Just need to find someone that is good. 🙂 Preferably one that has a journalistic editor background. Without the real estate background may have a different perspective more towards the readers/public.

Well, I was thinking an editor would be helpful for structure and grammar more than voice and attitude.

Jessica Sweesey was my editor while I blogged at Inman. I gave her carte blanche to change the wording my posts, fix the grammar & spelling, and change the titles. I would love to have an editor for every post I write. Indeed Mariana, ideas and attitude is all that I care about.

Ben – I looks like others have defined the difference between a writer and editor.

Ruthmarie – if someone does use “canned stuff” which some do – it should be limited to a set number of the article (limited) and the ultimate user should still massage the article to make it somewhat unique.

“Ghost written material by itself has little SEO benefit.”

Bob – are you saying Google can tell who is pressing the keys???

Assuming the content is unique, how can a search engine possibly know if the blogger or a ghost writer wrote the post?

I am a real estate agent and write my own material. I often have people tell me they love my articles and ask me follow-up questions, so I think that would create an awkward moment if I didn’t write them myself. I honestly think that people that use ghost writers are committing fraud. They’re passing off other peoples thoughts as their own. Now that’s fine for the person who wrote it, because they were well aware and getting paid to do so, but what about the public who may be basing some of their decision to use you on a particular post?

Fortunately, most of the so called ghost writers in real estate are really just copying and pasting articles from newspapers and other media sources. Unfortunately, I’ve had several of my articles plagiarized and found that when I contacted the agents, they tell me that they had no idea because the articles are written by someone else. The agent/webmaster is still responsible for any content though, so you may want to consider your source if using a ghost writer and the liability they are getting you into.

If you grow your real estate practice to a team and have a lot of buyers or sellers in escrow, then you hire a transaction coordinator to set in to assist you with your clients.

Would ghost writing be like hiring an assistant or coordinator? Perhaps you delegate your topics and categories to them to research and write a post that represents your beliefs about real estate….while it does not take up a tremendous amount of time to write a post for a blog, what else could you or someone be doing during that time?

I don’t think having a ghost writer for your blog is a smart idea, especially if you’re trying to develop your own ‘voice’ in the marketplace. Basically your blog sells you – but with a ghost, they’re getting someone else’s voice. I can see the need to save time, but that’s where you get an assistant to setup google alerts, surf other blogs, you dictate ideas you have for posts and have your assistant dig up some research…then YOU write the post in your own voice. That’s the best of both worlds IMHO.

Cheryl – I like the “blog assistant” title. I am going to figure out how to fit that into my new business plan. Who’d a thought that THAT would be a job description ever? LOL!

Right…that’s what I thought. If you have a professional who is VERY busy and they hire a writer to help them “get their ideas out there” I don’t think its a bad thing. This doesn’t come cheaply, but for those who are busy with buyers and sellers, it is well worth the outlay.

When someone hawks $1.00 a blog – then that can really hurt the blog. How many times have they sold that “content”? Once? Twice, 500, 5000 times????

I think there may be certain industries or businesses where ghost writing would be acceptable. Real estate, however, has such a strong relational element to it, I personally would find it misleading and disingenuous to my potential clients to convey one thing in my writing and be something else in person. That’s the true beauty of blogging – it removes the mystery dating period between agent and client. When you finally meet, it’s as though they’ve known you for ages, and the comfort level is established much more earlier on in the process.

Marianna, when I first came to THIS blog I was on the verge of “chucking” it all in, and killing of the blog…

After I was “talked” out of it by you guys, I revamped the blog, tried a couple of things, borrowed (with permission) a thing or two from you guys, (especially Jay Thompson, thanks!), and now htp://www.massrealestateguy.com is the result.

I could never imagine having someone “ghost write” my posts; where would my personality be?

I don’t want my blog to be boring. The only way I am finding this to shape up is to be more “liberal” with my posts, and to post daily or as often as possible if I have something to say.

I am now averaging 1 sign up a week in the mls portion of my blog, and I think it’s due to the “BuyWorcesterNow” posts I am making. The informative local posts seem to do the trick..

I just can’t see someone GhostWriting my posts; it would be a wierd feeling.

Yes a blog can be a lot of work, but after a while, when it settles, then the post writing becomes easier and hopefully takes a little less time..

Blogging is a lot of work but learning the process makes writing it easier. I know a lot of local Realtors that use writers for their content pages on the old static websites.

It isn’t for me. I really enjoy keeping up to date and I can honestly say spending the time to do the market reports on my own has helpped me more than once when on a listing appt. or out at a party and a friend asks me a question about a neighborhood I cover. I can spout information like a pro.

Steven – I can’t even COUNT the times I have been able to spout off a bunch of great information that I learned while blogging. That is an awesome benefit IMHO.

Sue – (The “comment” comment was just me being a bit snarky at comment #27.)

Jay – I know … snarky is just so NOT me.

You know, I would wage a good bet that the people who “pay commenters” do not know they are “paying for [spam] comments” … it is just part of the lovely package that people get when they purchase services from “I-will-get-your-site-to-rank-on-Google” SEO “experts”.

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Weather you an Artist, fashion designer, architect, student etc this is a very good start for your business & projects.make your blog, your website do any thing you want, their experts are always for you.