Here is a list of some great blogs about blogging regarding rules and tips of blogging:

Six Rules of Blogging (That Also Apply to Twitter) – DailyBlogTips.com

Five Blogging Rules to Make a Great First Impression – ProBlogger.com

10 Blogging Tips for 2009 to Make It Your Most Successful Blogging Year Ever – BloggingTips.com

Top 10 Blog Tips – TopTenBlogTips.com

Of course, there are a million versions to what is acceptable and not acceptable in the blogosphere, but these are a great collection of links to reference … when in doubt.

As a Colorado Springs real estate agent, we want to make sure that we advertise our listings everywhere possible. Here are 10 of the sites that we advertise on:

1. Realtor.com (enhanced listings)
2. Flickr.com
3. Postlets.com
4. VFlyer.com
5. SpringsRealtyScoopListings.com
6. ActiveRain.com
7. RealEstateShows.com
8. Trulia.com
9. Zillow.com
10. Craigslist

From here, our listings get pushed out to many, many other real estate websites …

If you are a real estate agent and are using your blog as a facet of your Internet Lead Generation plan, then this blog post is for you.

The number ONE thing that online home buying consumers are wanting is – HOMES FOR SALE.

I just spent the better half of the last hour on Google searching for real estate blogs across the country. MANY real estate blogs are on page one for MANY awesome terms.

BUT…

BUT…

BUT…

When I click through to the blogsites, all I see (for the most part) is a blog post and a sidebar with categories and other NON-SEARCH-FOR-HOMES links and words.

If I were a consumer and I searched for a common real estate search term, I would want the options to SEARCH FOR HOMES when I clicked on the site that popped up on Google.

Awesome blog posts are what will get you ranking in the search engines, but being FOUND is only PART of the plan, right? What are you doing once they find you??? You need…

Properly Worded Calls to Action

… in the Right Places.

You need to make sure that you are giving potential clients WHAT THEY WANT at whatever point they decide they want it.

Since most online real estate consumers are HOME BUYERS, a “Search for Homes” link/button should be readily visible when someone clicks to your site.

Examples of Real Estate Blogs that are doing it right:

Miamism
(Location: Upper Left Column)

Blog By the Bay
(Location: Upper Left Column)

Long Beach Real Estate Home
(Location: Upper Menu)

Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection
(Location: Upper Menu)

Some of MOST “popular” blogs out there (and some of my favorites) do not have any readily visible “Calls to Action” on their blogs … Which makes me wonder how much MORE SUCCESSFUL these blogs would be if they did.

Other great places to add “Calls to Action”:

• Appropriately inside a post – Talking about a specific neighborhood, about halfway through, have a link “Search all Homes for Sale in [Neighborhood]“
• At the end of the post - Maybe in a signature? You never know at WHAT point a potential consumer will be ready to “Search for Homes” … Maybe your post is what made them ready to start looking.

The WORST thing you could do is make your potential client have to SEARCH for a SEARCH function.

They are more likely to [X] out of your site and trot on over to Realtor.com to find homes, than scour your site for that same option.

So? Give them what they want. Give them the easily-findable ability to “Search for Homes” on YOUR site.

2 Other Great Calls to Action:

• What is My Home Worth?
• Search All Foreclosures

By adding properly worded calls to action in the right places, you are saving your potential clients the trouble of bouncing around looking at homes on all different sites … and giving YOU the opportunity to get more clients form your blog.

Keller Williams Realty is now the 3rd largest real estate franchise in the U.S..

Here is what has been said across the media:

“Keller Williams® Realty Inc., announced last week at its annual convention in Orlando, Fla. that it is now the third-largest real estate franchise in the United States, surpassing RE/MAX® International. According to Steve Murray of REAL Trends, a leading source of analysis and information in the residential real estate industry, the Austin, Texas-based company claimed the number three spot with 72,794 U.S. associates at the end of 2008.” – RISMedia: http://rismedia.com/2009-03-03/keller-williams-realty-climbs-to-third-largest-real-estate-franchise/

“ … The company has been gaining ground for the last three years, outpacing pervasive downward trends in the real estate industry.  … The company also shared more than $30 million in profits with its associates in 2008 through its company-wide profit sharing program.” – Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS188216+02-Mar-2009+BW20090302

“Keller Williams had 72,794 agents at the end of 2008, according to Real Trends, a trade publication. That pulled it ahead of Re/Max International, which had been third.” – Austin-American Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/other/03/03/0303cbriefs.html

“From 2006 to 2008, Keller Williams increased its associate count by 52 percent, while market share for its offices increased 83 percent and agent gross commission income went up 35 percent, the company said. Currently, the company has 679 offices operating in the United States. In Austin, Keller Williams has more than 1,800 employees.” – Austin Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/03/02/daily9.html

“Company Outpaces Market with Financial Model, Agent-Centric Initiative…” – MarketWatch: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/keller-williams-realty-climbs-third-largest/story.aspx?guid={2E5A6EA1-C83D-4777-AE3A-CFE07A817117}&dist=msr_1

Read the Full Report over on the MAPS Coaching Blog:
Keller Williams is Now 3rd Largest Real Estate Franchise in the US

Keller Williams Can Help.

I almost died laughing at this new Keller Williams video …

If you are thinking about starting a brand new blog … ProBlogger offers an excellent resource for you:

Crawl before you walk: 6 Step-by-step Instructions for Starting your First Blog

The most important part of this article (IMHO) is the importance of knowing WHY you want to blog. You MUST have a clearly defined PURPOSE for your blog, if you ever want it to be successful.

Posted By: Mariana

Don’t worry about stupid people…

Just find the humor in their idiocy and then laugh AT them.

I have often seen this cartoon floating around the internet, and finally decided that it needed a home, here on the Random Real Estate Blog Idea Blog:

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

@sk Mizzle is the opportunity to ask Mizzle (me) questions about consumer-focused real estate blogging. I will do my best to answer (find answers to) each question and post them, here on Random Real Estate Blog Info.

Brian Shroyer, a North Atlanta real estate agent with Keller Williams Platinum Partners sent me an email about defining his geographic real estate blog niche.

Brian Asks:
“I’ve been following you on twitter lately and connected with you a while back (on a KW call I think) and I really like ya’lls style.  I am in the process of revamping my website and starting to blog, but I am stuck on one factor.  So I was hoping I could explain my dilemma and get your opinion.

I service the North Atlanta Suburbs and my real issue is selecting an area to really focus on to start heading toward dominating the web for that area.  I totally believe in being hyper local,  and that is where my problem lies.  The N. Atlanta Suburbs are so spread out.  For examples a few areas I work in (East Cobb, Marietta, Roswell, Woodstock, Alpharetta) are all cities within themselves?!?  The area that you service, Colorado springs seems pretty defined geographically.  How would you suggest choosing an area if its not defined geographically?  If I was to blog about all of these areas I would be dealing with thousands of neighborhoods, schools, etc?”

Awesome Question, Brian!

If you really DO work all 5 cities, then I recommend beginning with the end in mind. Here are the steps I would take to dominate:

• Create a North Atlanta Real Estate Blog
• Create main categories for each of your 5 cities
• Pick ONE city, and spend a couple months building content specifically for that city.
  • 3-5 Neighborhood Reports
  • Schools
  • Walk-ability (*note: my comment in the video was regarding Colorado Springs – not all of Colorado)
  • Jobs
  • History
  • General Area Information
• Once you have a good foundation of content for that city, spend the next couple months building content for the next city, and so on.
• In addition to the city-specific content, continually add more general content (foreclosure info, buyer info, seller info) to all 5 city categories, and use more general keywords like “North Atlanta real estate” “North Atlanta suburbs” etc…
• Once you have a good base of content for each city, add something (specific to the city) to each category at least 1-2x a month:
  • Add a new neighborhood report
  • Monthly or quarterly market reports

This outline should enable you to approach your blog with: a) the end in mind (dominating all 5 cities) and b) breaking it down into small enough chunks so that it will not be too overwhelming.

Real Estate Blog Questions: AskMizzle@gmail.com

[Mizzle is a licensed real estate agent in Colorado - AKA Mariana Wagner with the Wagner iTeam. She is a real estate blogger and a real estate technology (blog) trainer. She maintains the Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection Blog and a writer for AgentGenius - Real Estate News Magazine.]

Seth Godin just wrote an excellent post about GETTING TO THE POINT, when you are writing.

Read: The Power of Smart Copywriting

In the internet world where people click PAST your stuff faster than you can say nothing, it is imperative that you are writing things that not only CATCHES people’s attention, but KEEPS their attention.

One way to do this is by NOT being redundant and by ALWAYS offering something of value.

In real estate blogging, the best way to do this is to:

1. Create Titles/Headlines that Address Your Target Audience’s Questions and Concerns, and
2. Offer Solutions to These Questions and Concerns

… and get to the point as quickly as possible. Because, quite frankly, hardly anyone (if anyone at all) is going to read through 14 paragraphs of term paper fluff to get their answers.

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Real Estate Blogger