After five years of late-night typing, I feel like the time has come to make a blog change. This is a bittersweet move, to be sure, but I think it's the right call.
In 2007, "blogging" was a relatively new thing, especially for the real estate industry. As far as I know, this is the oldest real estate blog in the Midlands. Five years ago, I decided to give it a try. Amy customized it and I started typing, adding widgets and gadgets along the way. Has it been worth it? I think so.
Of all the marketing that goes into this job, blogging is probably the most laborious of them all. The trick to blogging is to keep "posts" short, frequent, and in some sort of rhythm. This is no easy task, especially when I don't open the laptop until midnight.
Enter Facebook and Twitter, which made blogging more difficult. Even though I pounced on both big-time (remember "Late to bed, early to rise, work like hell and socialize."?); as effective as that Facebook ad was, the entrance of Fbook and Twitter made everyone aware of everything, which made blogging more challenging.
I can't quantify how many sales the blog is responsible for, but it's pretty heavy. While most real estate websites sit around stagnant, this blog shows folks who I am and brands what we're doing. Again, I can't completely quantify it, but two of my largest sales of the year are directly related to this blog. The owners of Delano ($675,000) and Martha's Glen ($589,000) didn't know me, but enjoyed the blog and learned how we do things through my late night posts. Kinda cool!
You may ask, "If it's working, why mess with a good thing?" It's just time. As awesome as "Blogger" has been, I don't own any of my content. Making the move to WordPress will change this. Further, even though Google owns Blogger, switching to WordPress will boost my search engine optimization (SEO) options. Further, I think it will be easier and less intrusive for readers to leave comments. We'll see.
As a rule, I usually don't reveal what I'm doing next. The blog is different, however, as I know full well most Realtors aren't going to have the time to emulate this facet of the business. After all, right now it's 2:24AM... and there's only so much time in the day.
I just looked up and saw a bunch of text. It seems as though I need to take my own advice in regards to keeping posts short. That said, in the next few days we'll be changing the look, feel, and vibe of our web presence.
In short, given that Facebook and Twitter are easier outlets to self-promote and blurt out real estate tidbits, most Realtors continue to abandon their web/blog efforts. Conversely, I'm stepping it up a notch.
It's bittersweet, but I'm excited to move forward with our new blog and WordPress theme. It's Graduation Day for www.TeamFranklin.com .
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