Clarifying My View on the Content Problem
Generating content is hard work. No doubt about it.
I think we all understand that in order to get leads and clients from your web efforts, you have to attract traffic to your site. As I’ve said before, the best converting websites on the planet are useless without traffic. No traffic = no conversion. In my mind, content creation is one of three primary ways to bring traffic to your site.
Until I started working at Zillow in 2005, writing a bunch of content on Zillow Blog (my archive), and watching a brilliant writer like Diane Tuman at work, I didn’t really think about how much work goes into great content. All those essays I wrote going through school — I kind of forgot the hours spent laboring in front of the computer refining words and phrases one by one.
It’s hard work. With no true shortcut.
When I wrote about the content problem, I mentioned two options for those who don’t want to create their own content. The fact that Kris Berg (yes Kris, that’s another link pointing to you), who I’ve known a long time and knows me fairly well, misread my opinion (per our #retechchat discussion last week) made me realize I wanted to clarify my prior post a bit.
I’m not recommending everyone outsource their content. Far from it. Personally, I’m more of a purist than most when it comes to content creation any my online voice. I’ll never (dare I say that “never” word – it may come back to bite me in a decade) let someone else write content in my name. Coming from a strong branding environment at Zillow, I’m pretty particular when it comes to my personal brand. My brand and voice is ME; no one else. And I intend to keep it that way.
But I’m not everyone. I enjoy writing and have a wealth of experience in that area. That is a different scenario than many agents and brokers. Content ideas come naturally to me; not so much with the majority of agents I speak with.
To clarify:
- IF I chose to hire a freelance writer, I would have them create content in their own name on my site. But I can tell you that many people don’t mind “ghost” writing, and it does work for some people (we have multiple clients taking that approach). It’s just not the approach I’d take personally take. I’d spend the time to generate my own content instead.
- And IF I decided to use a service such as Bring the Blog, I would make all the content come from “IssyREBuzz Beat” (if my blog name was IssyREBuzz) rather than put it in my own name.
However, that’s just me.
What is your approach to tackling the content problem? We’re discussing that exact topic on Monday for #retechchat, so feel free to tune in to get some more ideas.
Ashley
Posted at 21:10h, 06 MayIn my experience, I’ve realized that the majority of agents are not great writers. While having some content is better than no content, having bad content is worse. I think if you don’t write well, don’t have the time, don’t want to find the time, or can’t think of topics to write about, hiring a freelance writer is completely acceptable. Hiring a freelance writer will keep your content fresh and updated, and you can generally ensure it will be good content that will drive traffic to your site. And you’re absolutely right – there are many people who don’t mind ghostwriting, so if that works for you, I think you should take advantage of it. I have personally written for a large number of agents who would otherwise have no content at all.
Ashley
Posted at 21:10h, 06 MayIn my experience, I’ve realized that the majority of agents are not great writers. While having some content is better than no content, having bad content is worse. I think if you don’t write well, don’t have the time, don’t want to find the time, or can’t think of topics to write about, hiring a freelance writer is completely acceptable. Hiring a freelance writer will keep your content fresh and updated, and you can generally ensure it will be good content that will drive traffic to your site. And you’re absolutely right – there are many people who don’t mind ghostwriting, so if that works for you, I think you should take advantage of it. I have personally written for a large number of agents who would otherwise have no content at all.
Sam DeBord, SeattleHome.com
Posted at 13:25h, 07 MayAshley makes a good point, but I’m with Drew on this issue. If you hire a “ghostwriter” or reuse someone else’s content, it should at least be labeled as so. Reposting titles and links on Twitter etc. is fine, or even having a generic “ten tips” kind of article that you repost on a blog, but I’m not a big fan of someone else writing a custom piece for you and signing your name. It’s certainly possible that it can help your web traffic, but it won’t help when a client asks you a question about the article that you supposedly wrote.
Agents who aren’t good writers can hire someone or ask someone to proofread their content after they’ve written their message. Posts about real estate don’t need to read like a novel. Short, factual information about the market works great for keyword-intensive content.
Joe Leadinglocksmith
Posted at 01:48h, 13 MayI don’t see the problem with hiring freelance writers if you don’t have the time or ability to come up with fresh, compelling content all the time. I’m somewhat ambivalent on hiring a ghostwriter and passing off their work as my own – I like to give credit where credit is due. While I personally would never go the ghostwriter route, I can’t begrudge someone else for doing it.
Susan, The Lore Group
Posted at 00:01h, 20 MayWe use a combination of ghostwritten content that has a lot of involvement from our team (helping to research, brainstorm and edit) and our own writing on our site. While we aren’t the greatest writers, we do know real estate better than paid writers, so we’ve created a fairly effective system where we provide writers with topics and bullet points, then they go in and do what they do best, which is write readable copy from our disorganized mess of “important points”. Mixed in with our own content, it’s a group effort that works well for us.
I think it’s okay to hire writers to do what they do best and make sure your content is polished: just make sure you stay involved, direct the content strategy, and leverage your real estate expertise.
Brendan from BayZest
Posted at 19:17h, 22 MayI wouldn’t say I have conquered all my content problems but my most recent problem I fixed was creating a new blog completely unrelated to real estate. I noticed I enjoyed writing more about local resturants, events, businesses, etc.
It is removing a lot of clutter from my real estate blog and forcing me to only write about things very closely related to real estate. While my new blog classified as a local lifestyle blog allows me to write about other things I enjoy. There is a real estate tab on the lifestyle blog which is nice – it makes it more of a warmer sale. Having it be a lifestyle blog should eventually allow for a wider range of people to get eyes on the site.
Hopefully many will follow suit – as I’m noticing this trend on many real estate blogs.
BlueRoof360
Posted at 03:24h, 23 May@93b8c69d6433add2512968d6e1b693c8:disqus I think that’s such a great idea. Local community blogging is still a developing industry, so if you’re doing it right now, and people in your community are searching for local topics, you’ll eventually be seen as an expert, which will help your credibility and reputation as an agent. People want to work with someone they can relate to, and a more personalized, local blog is the best way to earn trust and respect.
The Only Unique Content You Have -- Is YOU - GeekEstate Blog
Posted at 15:41h, 08 August[…] been thinking more about the content problem lately. One of the best ways to generate traffic is to create great content. But content is […]