Blogging is a Marathon. Not a Sprint. Here’s a 6 Month Real Estate Blogging Strategy
It’s not a secret that blogging is a long term commitment. If you are expecting to start blogging today and start receiving leads tomorrow — well, you better think again and you should not even start the process. Blogging is a marathon, and you’ve got to be committed to the long term in order to be successful. Remember, you don’t have to write every single day — you just have to remain consistent.
This is geared toward new agents who are just beginning, but maybe those that have been blogging awhile will gain a nugget or two as well.
Let’s get started (make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your blog before you start)..
Month 1
I’ve already written a 30 day strategy for those just starting their blog, so you should follow that for the first 30 days of your real estate blogging career.
Month 2
With month 2, the focus should be — surprise, surprise — more content. Additionally, start targeting a few local reporters to build relationships with.
Week 1: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], A must see, amazing listing in [city name], 5 Hole in the Walls You’ve Never Heard of in [city name]
Week 2: Spend two hours reading content written by local reporters. Leave at least 5 comments on articles they’ve written. Write a post on your own blog with your thoughts about a topic that one of the reporters you’ve targeted wrote about and link to their article in your post. Make sure to email the reporter a link to the post.
Week 3: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], Random article about whatever is on your mind, [business name] – Why it’s my choice for dry cleaning service in [city name].
Week 4: 5 most walkable homes in [city name], Listings between 300-500k in [city name], Random – pick any topic being discussed in the media and write a post with your opinion on the subject.
Month 3
Month 3’s focus is — more CONTENT. Try as you might, you can’t run away from this content thing.
Week 1: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], Try creating a video answering a question you have recently answered via email & upload the video to YouTube (& embed it into a blog post), My 3 favorite outdoor activities in [city name].
Week 2: 3 biggest price drops on listings in [city name], Current [city name] mortgage rates and what they mean to you
Week 3: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], [neighborhood name] – [city name] neighborhood of the week, 5 day care providers to interview in [city name]
Week 4: Most expensive listings in [city name], My 5 favorite coffee spots in [city name], Film another short video answering another question from your inbox and post it to YouTube & embed it into a blog post
Month 4
By now, you should have at least one decent relationship with a local journalist covering your market. And, oh yea, did I mention you’ve got to write more content this month?
Week 1: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], [store name] – the best hardware spot in [city name], The best 3 thai restaurants in [city name].
Week 2: Email your best media contact with three potential stories they may be interested in (hint, what are people in your area interested in?), Listings between 700-900k in [city name]
Week 3: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], [neighborhood name] – [city name] neighborhood of the week, Contact information and addresses of elementary schools in [city name]
Week 4: Spend 2-3 hours pouring through your Google Analytics data. Look at your most popular pages and what search terms visitors are finding those posts from and write another post about that topic (making sure to link back to your original post somewhere in your new article).
Month 5
You should start to see a decent amount of uptick in your traffic numbers if you’ve been blogging for 5 months.
Week 1: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], Current [city name] mortgage rates and what they mean to you.
Week 2: Spend 30 minutes a day each day this week and read other articles about your city. Make sure to leave comments on every article with an intelligent thought relating to the article (DON’T just say “Great post”).
Week 3: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], The 5 newest listings in [city name] for the week of [date range]
Week 4: [neighborhood name] – [city name] neighborhood of the week
Month 6
Week 1: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], The best outdoor festivals in [city name] for [year]
Week 2: [Restaurant name] – my favorite Sushi restaurant in [city name], [neighborhood name] – [city name] neighborhood of the week
Week 3: Real Estate Market Update for [city name], [restaurant name] – Why it’s the best Italian food in [city name].
Week 4: 5 most expensive listings in [city name], Random – write about whatever you want (does not have to be related to real estate), My favorite outdoor activities in [city name].
What are you waiting for? You’ve got a blogging marathon ahead of you. Get started.
And of course, it goes without saying that you should leave any ideas I missed in the comments here.
Note: There is a revised and updated 6 Month Blogging Strategy doc as part of Geek Estate Pro.
Connor MacIvor
Posted at 00:34h, 13 AugustGREAT POST! – jk(actually not kidding.. read the article 🙂 ), this one is worth printing even for those of us Realtors that are “one” with content and adding value. When you are sprinting, you sometimes forget the basics of form…. Great Reminders.
Sandrabundy
Posted at 01:30h, 13 AugustYou have certainly covered most of the bases here Drew. Finally a simple road map to tie video into my new blog and love the neighborhood of the week idea!
drewmeyers
Posted at 07:21h, 25 AugustYou can thank my good friend, mr dale chumbley, for the neighborhood of the week idea – I got it from his 365 things to do in Vancouver blog.
Jen Miller
Posted at 02:28h, 13 AugustUse your blog as your introduction tool! If you like to run, blog about races in YOUR communities. If you have a dog, write about dog-friendly areas in YOUR community. Blog about the things you do and the places you go in YOUR towns. Developing a personal connection as well as being a real estate expert can be the key to making the connection with your readers and future clients!
Dean Ouellette
Posted at 19:21h, 13 AugustVery good drew, very good. This and your 30 day plan is probably the best how to advice for re bloggers I have read. Here is a story that will help emphasize the time. In Sept of 2009 I stared video blogging about “short sales” wanting to build a short sale business. In May of 2010 I got my first call/email from someone who wanted to do a short sale, yes 8 months later. Since then, over the last 15 months we have had about 45 short sale listings of which 100% came from video blogging or referrals. And guess what, those referrals are almost exclusively people who we helped to short sale who had found our videos. I think 40 of the 45 came directly from the video blogging we did. So if you looked at our results after 6 months they were not impressive. Imagine if I had stopped then. Luckily I had built political blogs in the past and I knew things take time to take off so I stayed with it.
Mike Price
Posted at 20:25h, 13 AugustI refer my clients to these blogs to get inspiration for great local focused RE Blogging. http://www.locomusings.com and http://www.realcentralva.com – Heather and Jim get it right and they reap the reward of their hard work as a result.
Jim Duncan
Posted at 11:14h, 17 AugustThanks so much, Mike.
Don Reedy
Posted at 22:03h, 13 August“This above all; to thine own self be true….” was the Bard’s advice,and I SO agree that on top of bonding with reporters and writing general stuff about specific places…..being yourself is tops on the list. When I search for homes in Oceanside, read an article about a cool place by a funny guy, I’m all in. Thanks for the outline, and for the reminders.
M Squared Real Estate
Posted at 13:55h, 14 August“Blogging is a Marathon, Not a Sprint.” Truer words never spoken. In fact, your entire online marketing strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistency, Consistency, Consistency.
Susan
Posted at 16:22h, 15 AugustThese are some great strategies for getting your blog going. We struggle with the content part (yes, the main part). Content is a huge time investment! We’re ramping up a bit more slowly than you’ve laid out here, but we’re trying our best not to let our blog slip even when we get busy.
drewmeyers
Posted at 16:26h, 15 AugustHave you thought about hiring a freelance writer to write content for you?
Jim Duncan
Posted at 11:16h, 17 AugustThis is a fantastic plan. The media outreach parts are key, particularly in smaller markets (like mine) where young reporters filter through frequently. They are young, not informed on the market and often are looking to build contacts.
When you talk to the reporters, get their cell numbers, put the station’s main number in your cell phone so that when you see it come up, you answer. Like buyers/sellers, if you don’t pick up, they’re going to call someone else. These reporters are always on deadlines. In Charlottesville, they’re given their assignments in the late morning and have to be on air by 5 – being a dependable source for them is crucial.
Another tip that I would offer is to write about stuff that interests you. If you’re bored, your readers will e bored, too.
Anonymous
Posted at 17:03h, 17 AugustProfit in a Down real estate Bazaar Today, How to Identify Killer
Deals, and Getting a Ton of Very Motivated Buyers to Find You.
Judi Boad
Posted at 17:23h, 17 AugustGreat way to help newbie bloggers find their voice!
nha dat
Posted at 03:01h, 18 AugustThis is a great idea, thanks Mike.
rogers @ cash for houses
Posted at 07:34h, 22 AugustSpeechless….awesome tips, you have not left a single point untouched. I haven’t gone through your 30 days strategy yet, will read that article now. Looking forward to more such posts.
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