1000watt blog

Brokers ask us about blogging all the time. Most have no
idea what to do, where to start, or how it could possibly bring them business.

For a while, we’d offer long answers about consumer
engagement, transparency, the web 2.0 ethic and whatnot.

Frankly, these answers were useless.

Now we tell brokers blogging is about showing rather than telling consumers
you’re worthy of their business.

Consumers want to pull back the veil of hype and see what
you’re really made of. A blog is a tool that makes that possible.

Period. End of story. No lectures on WordPress templates, explanation
of RSS. No grand vision. That comes later.  

Real estate companies have always been good about telling consumers how expert, honest,
effective or sympathetic they are – and expecting them to take their word for
it. That’s not really flying anymore, especially considering most real estate
brands, while often recognized, are seldom loved.

How does one do this? Take the intellectual capital in your
company and put it on the internet.

Don’t just tell consumers you know their community. Show
them by having your agents – people who live in and farm the neighborhoods –
write about the small details and goings on that all the data in the world will
never convey. Don’t just tell them your company has integrity, show them it
does by writing honestly about the market and some of the more suspect facets
of real estate brokerage (e.g., compensation, agency).

Our course, the one fundamental requirement is that you have
people in your organization that can a.) Write, and b.) Actually deliver on
everything you’ve been telling consumers to date.

If you don’t have those things ” well, let’s just say you
can worry about blogging later.

– Brian Boero