1. Charts. Barring one or two local blogs, most of what I can find is NAR released charts that are already outdated, or graphs from local papers. This doesn’t do much to capture readers (especially me). If I want stats, I will go to NAR, ABOR, TREC or any other resources available to me.
2. News Recaps. Another guilty indulgence of bloggers with nothing to say. If someone has nothing of value to say, they will simply copy and paste a local news story. This is not to say that news is not interesting. In fact, it’s crucial. Do you know what cows do? They eat grass, urp on the ground, lick up and swallow said urp as gourmet. More than 50% of the blogs I have found simply blog like cows, regurgitating local news headlines. Listen, news IS critical, but translating that and giving it a real world application is the job of a blogger; leave the unbiased (hahahah, laughing at cnn) reporting to journalists, and make that news make sense to your reader.
3. Listings. If a blog is a list of homes available through the blog’s author, it should not be called a blog. I LOVE looking at listings (in fact, about 10% of my day is devoted to doing this), especially across the nation, but the same goes for listings blogs as does the news recap blogs- give content to the listing. For example, “3 beds, 2 baths on pretty street,” is SO played out… if you do listings on a BLOG, at least note “the front beds have been professionally landscaped and feature a rare rose hybrid not usually found in the South, a new Italiano’s restaurant is opening up the street- go say hello to Giovanni, the best chef this side of town. The neighborhood layout is in a grid pattern, so it’s easy for your visitors to find you, and the pool has recently been redone with a modern arbor- the perfect backdrop for your Easter photos!” Don’t be a boring list of listings, pretty please.
4. Shamelessness. All business blogs have a purpose, a reason, a mission. Capturing readers (like me) is much more successfully done when an author gives context to whatever they are talking about with stories, anectdotes, etc. When someone comes out every day and says “I’m Austin’s best Realtor because I know Real Estate,” then the next day “Austin’s Real Estate Market survives because I am awesome,” then “I am the best salesperson this side of the Mississippi,” then… well, you get it. If you’re applying for a job of being a reader’s Realtor, FINE- do it. But please don’t hide or beat around the bush with wild claims you can’t back up or with canned bull with nothing more than self ego stroking.
5. No Pictures. This one is easy- I like pictures and shiny things. Give me graphics or I probably won’t read your site. This one might just be my gripe…
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2. News Recaps. Another guilty indulgence of bloggers with nothing to say. If someone has nothing of value to say, they will simply copy and paste a local news story. This is not to say that news is not interesting. In fact, it’s crucial. Do you know what cows do? They eat grass, urp on the ground, lick up and swallow said urp as gourmet. More than 50% of the blogs I have found simply blog like cows, regurgitating local news headlines. Listen, news IS critical, but translating that and giving it a real world application is the job of a blogger; leave the unbiased (hahahah, laughing at cnn) reporting to journalists, and make that news make sense to your reader.
3. Listings. If a blog is a list of homes available through the blog’s author, it should not be called a blog. I LOVE looking at listings (in fact, about 10% of my day is devoted to doing this), especially across the nation, but the same goes for listings blogs as does the news recap blogs- give content to the listing. For example, “3 beds, 2 baths on pretty street,” is SO played out… if you do listings on a BLOG, at least note “the front beds have been professionally landscaped and feature a rare rose hybrid not usually found in the South, a new Italiano’s restaurant is opening up the street- go say hello to Giovanni, the best chef this side of town. The neighborhood layout is in a grid pattern, so it’s easy for your visitors to find you, and the pool has recently been redone with a modern arbor- the perfect backdrop for your Easter photos!” Don’t be a boring list of listings, pretty please.
4. Shamelessness. All business blogs have a purpose, a reason, a mission. Capturing readers (like me) is much more successfully done when an author gives context to whatever they are talking about with stories, anectdotes, etc. When someone comes out every day and says “I’m Austin’s best Realtor because I know Real Estate,” then the next day “Austin’s Real Estate Market survives because I am awesome,” then “I am the best salesperson this side of the Mississippi,” then… well, you get it. If you’re applying for a job of being a reader’s Realtor, FINE- do it. But please don’t hide or beat around the bush with wild claims you can’t back up or with canned bull with nothing more than self ego stroking.
5. No Pictures. This one is easy- I like pictures and shiny things. Give me graphics or I probably won’t read your site. This one might just be my gripe…
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There are “big dogs” in the Real Estate Blogging world (and you know who you are) that are excellent at blogging and serve as an example to others. Due to Texas Association of Realtor ethics, I cannot call out the TERRIBLE bloggers (and you know who you are, too), but please be sure to visit my favorites: Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Bloodhound Blog, That Realtor Guy, Bawld Guy Talking, RE Agent in CT, and San Diego Homes.
3 comments:
Thanks for the kind association of a being a big dog Lani.
Yeah, what Athol said!
A very belated thank you, thank you, thank you for including our little blog in some big company! And a very great post, by the way. I am now headed back to delete all of my charts and graphs, and add a few pictures of babies and puppies. :)
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