First I want to encourage all of you out there to read this book - Whether a new blogger or a seasoned veteran - Realty Blogging will have something for everyone - from explaining techie terms to helping you with your marketing and even SEO (search engine optimization). This book simplifies the concept of blogging and guides you on how to do it successfully.
These are the items that popped out at me with regards to Blogging and Branding:
- "Integrating blogs into your mainstream marketing strategies is a successful branding technique for the small business owner"?
- "BRANDING IS MORE THAN JUST A BUSINESS BUZZWORD"
- "Blogs enable you to establish your brand as the trusted source for local real estate"
- "Build a partnership with Your Customers: be transparent and personal, speak clearly and with a high degree of relevancy and speak passionately"
Think about it, the reason a lot of us are blogging is to increase our business. But we need to have a strategy in order to achieve this. We understand that people don't want to do business with a business but with an individual - we understand that we don't want to sell a product, but sell ourselves. So what do we need to do to achieve this?
Mariana already talked about finding your voice Your Blogging Voice... Where is it? (Realty Blogging Review #2) - And it is the most important concept when blogging. Make blogs entertaining - engage in conversation - encourage personal interaction where consumers get to know you, like you and trust you.
- Blogs enable you to establish your brand as the trusted source for local real estate
- When faced with a large number of agents from which to choose, consumers will select the agent who has the strongest personal brand presence in the area.
- Most agent sites on the Web have similar claims. So how can you build your personal brand and separate yourself from the competition? One sure-fire way is through a blog!
Once you establish a blog and internet presence, you need to start setting yourself apart from other bloggers - because face it - there are a lot of us out there! The authors, Natch and Chaney suggest making sure your blogs are "reader-focused".
"Your blog has to provide value if you expect readers to engage in conversation" - always stay focused on the interests of readers."
One very fun concept in Chapter 4 is "blogs are word of mouth supercharged!" How much more fun can this get? We write what's on our mind, we don't have to worry about formal and stiff - we invite our customers to know us on a very personal basis and join in the conversation. And by the way, WOM (word-of-mouth) is the best marketing ever!
Finally I will end with a quote from a blog post found at http://www.smallbusinessbranding.com/
Small business branding is not a good logo, a rhyming name, or special font. Small business branding is the owner. It's what the owner does, says and how the owner's traits come through in every aspect of the business. It's the way relationships are built and maintained, the way a person does business and treats other people. It's how rapport is established at an individual level, where trust and comfort exist as human characteristics, not from theme music, models or slogans.
AS BLOGGERS - WE ARE AT THE TOP OF OUR INDUSTRY, APPLYING THE BEST MARKETING TECHNIQUES BY BEING OURSELVES! Can this get any better?
Ines Hegedus-Garcia - RICK & INES
Don't forget to read the other blog posts about this book including:
Carole Cohen's I Think Therefore I Blog: Realty Blogging Says Be a Groundbreaker...Blog Now!
Ann Cummings' So Far to Go, So Much to Learn........ (Realty Blogging Review #3)
Awesome review Ines...Your summery is right on and just helps reinforce what I have already read!!! Thank You...great job!!!
Monika
Mariana - you were right - I changed it to number 4 - we are WOMING right now
Marti - thanks for checking in - you need to read the book - especially with your marketing efforts - did you read my post on Art Basel?
Monika - thanks for the comment - it's not easy picking a few things when the whole book is so helpful.
TLW - It's all because of you TLW - did you hear Mariana is playing your part in the movie?
Carole - the question that this chapter raises is for the quality of your Internet presence - as great as Active Rain is - should we have an outside blog that reinforces your community knowlege and makes you the expert? Just food for thought
Bryant - Do I know your wife better than you? Just send her to the mall and you borrow her book!
I have an outside blog that I created as a "newsletter" for Miami Shores events - but never really took off with it and never received any comments, so I got discouraged - I linked it to my website, I include the link to my e-mail signature and does not get any exposure. It is a blogger.com blog and the book does say that you get what you pay for. I really don't have the time to create a great new blog right now, but it is something I will seriously consider.
The book even mentions having your blog as your only internet presence (no additional website) - that would be really interesting - but there needs to be ease of use with regards to listings and property info.
I did hear about the Movie. A Butterfly whispered it to me. She looks quite a bit like me so I vote for her too.
Broker Bryant will never get his hands on my book. I'll take it with me when I shop!
TLW...ROAR!
LOLOL og I go away for a few minutes and you guys are sure to crack me up; btw, I have to tell you, we have The Crockett Team with our Company; they are the ones referred to in several chapters of the book, including this one (Lake County blog etc). They are the nicest people and are phenomenal. If you want to see a fabulous website presentation go to The Crockett Team website.
And what I find interesting, is no icon (unless I'm tired, the other times I've been on the site I wasn't looking for this) to connect people to their blog.
OK, I am wrong; now I'm mentioning them, because they are so prominent in this book with their community blog concept.
When you go to the top of their website, a drop down says "About Our Community' and then on THAT page is a cute icon directing people to their blog; they are very clever marketers
TLW - ((same gene pool))
Carole- I will check it out...
Ines, I have an AA website too. Looking to get a Mary McKnight one before Spring... Right now I have a framed-in link to my AR blog. But- I am also building a WordPress (free) blog. I have heard that you should not expect the comments that you get, here - out there. HOWEVER ... I DID get a comment on my WordPress Generation X blog from an "outsider" ... How did I do it? Well, I went to my MySpace account (personal one) and Bulletin'd all my "friends" with a link to my blog and wha-La! I got a comment. My theory is to BLAST everyone with a link to your blog. I am going to have it printed on my business cards. (Whoa! Way off track! Sorry...)
You're not way off track - I think this is great discussion. I also have a link into my AR blog and put a counter on my blogger blog to see how many hits I get, but nothing! I do blast out the blog address.
About printing the blog address on your business card: there is a lot of information that already needs to be included in our darn cards (I have a 2 sided one) - we have our team logo, plus the brokerage logo - the brokerage address and all our phone numbers - direct, fax and mobile - our full names- website address - e-mail address........might as well hand out a pamphlet. And you are going to add a blog address too?
So I keep thinking about the concept of consolidating website and blog
Yeah- Hopefully I will have the whole website and blog marraige soon ... There shall be a grand ceremony!
Back to this post- I want to brand my blog, as well, maybe put "home of the XXXXX Blog" or whatever I call my blog on the back of my card...?
We will be working with Mary this Spring to get a whole new site w/ blog ... but not yet.
Ines, I promise I'll come back tomorrow and read through the comments. The book sounds intriguing. I've been meaning to pick up a copy. I will most definitely do that soon. Thanks!
Just to chime in- there really isn't anything that a blog can't have that your regular site has. Blogs are just the "the step" in web site design.
A lot of companies originally kept individual blogs and site since blogging technology hadn't "matured" at the start. Currently however most blogging platforms are robust and fully featured systems. I have personally done several sites (for both real estate and other industries) where the blog completely replaced what they were doing with a regular site.
As far as getting your blog name out there- I have a couple of blogs for different projects. For $8 a year I setup my personal name to go to it to- www.barryhurd.com
Sometimes having really easy and obvious ways of finding you online makes a world of difference. Everyone knows my name after an introduction, and it helps find me in google too. :)
(One of my side projects for years was www.namereality.com a domain registration service aimed at people using their real names)
Ines, thanks for a great summary on this Chapter. Now I just need to read this chapter to catch up with you ladies. This book is just TERRIFIC and I am SO thankful to have heard about here on AR!
Nice post,
Ann
Rich - I really recommend it - you will not be dissapointed
Barry - I'm really starting to believe that, it's a matter of finding your look after you find your voice. I love the feel of your blog, the colors, it's clean and the graphics are great too. As for the name, I think you are right: Barry Hurd is an easy name to spell, but try Ines Hegedus-Garcia, or Enrique Garcia - Rick and I bought RickandInes.com which is forwarded to our www.YourPropertyPros.com website, but have thought of doing each of our names as well.
Ann - go ahead and catch up and get back to us.
Ines- The project manager in me has an easy solution for you...
Change your name! Haha. Just think how much time you would save in your life= If you sign your name twice a day, a short name like Tina Jones would shave off five seconds a day.
Thats 5 seconds x 365 days x 20 years = 609 hours of signatures!
;)
Ines,
I read the post then I went directly to Amazon.com and ordered the book. Very timely post for me to stuble across, as I just started my own private blog yesterday. Thanks for the lead.
I look forward to box chatting with you more. I hear you're on of the "good ones".
Barry,
A little off topic, but in regards to one of your comments (Ines please excuse me for a minute, I am using your blog)
I checked out your barryhurd.com My question is. I notice you have wordpress on there. Is that a software that you just put in the html of the blog. I am confused as to how you make it just a blog and not a website...Do you still have to ftp everything you say? I guess what I'm asking is how to get my own website say karenhurst.net to instant publish like a blog???? What is the difference?
Ines, Thanks. Very well written review, but wouldn't expect anything less from you!
Ines...I also have a mouth full for a name and one that is easy to spell wrong...
Monika McGillicuddy.... most people think it's spelled monica maybe I should buy Monica as well as Monika... I'm working on worldpress...but haven't figured it out fully yet.
Right now my monikamcgillicuddy.com points to my RealTown blog but I want to send it to wordpress as soon as I can get that ready...
I wish I had an easy name.
Barry - you just cracked me up! I guess changing my name would really simplify things.
Sara - So nice to finally meet you!! I have heard so many great things about you and wish you best of luck with your private blog. But please don't give me the credit....this is the 4th of many reviews - idea c/o TLW and Monika and the rest of the girls are just following suit. Welcome Back, I look forward to seeing you around the rain.
Karen - you can use my blog anytime -- plus, your question is relevant and this is what this blog is for.
Monika - I am so glad I am not alone - the positive aspect of a complicated name (and I do have to find a positive) is that people remember our strange names - maybe they can't spell them, but they remember them.
I know EXACTLY how you feel Steve - thanks for visiting and check back with us if you have any questions. Barry has set up a post to ask questions related to the book. Realty Blogging Questions
Ines
Karen-
Wordpress is actually and installed piece of software that controls the layout and structure of the blog. There is a back-end adminstration section just like here on AR that gives you a very similar word editing area.
To get the software, you can visit http://wordpress.org/download/. It is an entirely free piece of software. It then gets installed on your server or host.
Sharon- I suggest switching off the double ss. You can still keep that domain active and have it forwarded to a new one, but people will consistently mispell it. You could be missing a lot of business that people try passing to you.
Karen- you do have to install it on their server. It is a fairly easy process that someone should be able to do with a standard hosting package. You can also subscribe to a hosted service like www.wordpress.com or www.typepad.com for a few dollars a month and they will maintain it for you. Then all you have to do is have a link added on your main realty site.
Sharon - I would do exactly what Barry says, redirect your existing website and think of something easier to spell. Could it be SharonS? SharonSimms? StPeteSimms? - I've given up on mine because they misspell my first name with a Z instead of an S. good luck with that.
Ines
Alright Jeff!!! You won't regret it - great book and you get so many ideas and pointers in every single chapter. Look out for the review #5 - should come out in the next couple of days.
Ines
Hey thanks for including my quote in your article - I had forgotten I have even written that article - it's getting old now!
Cheers,
Yaro Starak
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
Yaro - thanks for coming by and comenting - my pleasure.
It's a really powerful statement. I commend you for seeing the power of blogging so early on.
Ines
Thank you Dave - you always have the sweetest comment. Thanks for the compliments and for stopping by. I will try my hardest to maintain that reputation.
Ines
Jeff- you should buy the book for your employees. It has great pointers on how to blog, but most importantly, why blog.
Thanks for expanding Mariana - anyone reading this might think we have a vested interest in this book and the answer is "NO" - we have no relation to the Publisher, authors and will make no money on this book. Just recommend it....plain and simple.
Great review, Ines. While I have reading the posts I have not been commenting. However, now that the book is MINE and I am in the midst of reading THIS CHAPTER, I wanted to go back through this terrific series as I read. While the series has been great, I am amazed at how powerful and informative this book actually is. This post has been bookmarked so I can go back, again and again, to review it once I finish the book - there is just too much to absorb in 1 reading.
Jeff
Thank you Jeff - my comment notification must be broken - sorry for not coming by sooner.
I felt the same way you do - I heard about the book and thought it would be interesting, but once I began reading, I realized how informative it really is. In addition, it's a really easy read, which definitely helps....I get lost with all the techie stuff. The last review will have links to the rest of the reviews, that may help you find them a little better.