Why Blog for Biz

Why Blog For Biz

P3 [email protected]

I blog on

Wordpress

Patch

And Have Experience Blogging on

RealEstateTomato , Active Rain, Blogger.com

INTRODUCTION STACEY ALCORN

COACHING, TRAINING, AND MORE!

THANK YOU!

What is a Blog?Why Blog?

How to write a blog.Where do I submit my blog?

Marketing my blogBlog Topics

Your Blog Plan

WE WILL DISCUSS

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which is a term used to describe

web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog features

diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites, usually presented as a

list of entries in reverse chronological order. Blogs range from the personal to the

political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

WHAT IS A BLOG?

Many blogs focus on a particular topic, such as web design, home staging, sports,

or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of

other sites. And others are more like personal journals, presenting the author's

daily life and thoughts.

MANY BLOGS

A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the

articles are organized into categories. An archive of older articles.

A way for people to leave comments about the articles.

A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "blogroll".

One or more "feeds" like RSS, Atom or RDF files.

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

WHAT IS A BLOG?

WHAT IS A BLOG?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI

Sort of a website, but different.Quick, easy to submit

“Posts” are read “newest first” to “oldest”Readers can leave comments and

“converse” with youCan include text, pictures, videos, sound

and slide shows, widgets & gizmos.Updated more frequently than websitesIndexed and captured by search engines

quickly.

WHAT IS A BLOG?

Opportunity to learn & perfect your skillsYou get to share your personality, business

practices and knowledge.24/7 Exposure…. All year long

Network with other professionalsYou become a search engine search result.

Buyers and Sellers will FIND YOU!Gives you “credibility” and “authority status”

on your listing & buyer appointments.

WHY BLOG?

Want an interactive website? Wouldn't it be nice if the readers of a website could leave comments, tips or impressions about the site or a specific article? With blogs, they can! Posting comments is one of the most

exciting features of blogs. Most blogs have a method to allow visitors

to leave comments.

COMMENTS

A blog is also a good way to keep track of articles on a site. A lot of blogs feature an archive based on dates (like a monthly or yearly archive). The front page of a blog may feature a calendar of dates linked to daily archives. Archives can also be based on categories

featuring all the articles related to a specific category.

It does not stop there; you can also archive your posts by author or alphabetically. The possibilities are

endless. This ability to organize and present articles in a composed fashion is much of what makes blogging a

popular personal publishing tool.

(from Wordpress Help)

ARCHIVES

Active Rain

Word Press

SAMPLE BLOG SITES

http://activerain.com/marieepisale

http://marieepisale.wordpress.com/

Ask yourself why clients might connect with you.

Knowledge

Personality

Your background, education & experience

Your business philosophy

Community Expert

Your market savvyThe Internet is ALWAYS OPEN

MORE MARKETING & PROSPECTING

Start with these:

www.wordpress.com

www.Blogger.com

www.ActiveRaine.com

HOW TO START A BLOG

www.wordpress.comClick on Sign Up Now

Choose User Name and Password

Blog will be www.username.wordpress.com, so

choose user name purposely. Best bet: use your firstlastname as user name

WORD PRESS

Click on hyperlink:

join # professionals on the world’s largest real estate network

ACTIVE RAIN

Fill out form and continue to follow instructions

HINT:

Have your photo and bio ready ahead of time, so you can just “copy & paste”

Save to your “thumb drive”Create folder labeled “bio stuff for

websites and blog sites”Write your bio, philosophy, about you,

business experience, areas of expertise, testimonial quotes from your clients etc.

Read other blogs - “google search” real estate blog

(topic or no topic) - read www.activerain.com blogs - read www.realestatetomato.com

blogsGet ideas from your clients or colleagues

Blog about what is important to youBlog about what is timely in the market

WHAT TO BLOG ABOUT? BLOG TOPICS:

Put your blog site everywhere

Flyers

Business cards

Website

Advertising

E-mail signatures

Mailings

Sign riders

MARKETING YOUR BLOG

MARKETING YOUR BLOG

Once you have content in your blog, its time to tell the world. The challenge is – ‘How do you tell prospective readers that your blog has what they are looking for?’ Social networking sites like stumbleupon, orkut, twitter, facebook and a zillion other websites are breeding grounds for finding prospective readers. Building your network can be a time consuming, never ending task, but it doesn’t end there, you need to make the effort to make your network aware of your blog. The benefits can only be exponential. Getting them to post comments is a completely different ball game.

THE PLAN Blogging and Social Media sites are the 'must do' in real estate internet marketing. To be part of this, you must have a Plan.

Plan Your Strategy: •You need to make a commitment to consistently blog.•Identify your mission statement and stick to it•Determine what return you want from your blog, then blog for those reasons.

Post Articles:Write as often as you can.

Schedule fixed time to write articles.Start as many 'good idea drafts' as you can -

this ensures a reserve of good content.Stay on subject (no one cares about the

weather, or how busy you've been).Don't be wordy

Many short is way better than a few long.

NEXT STEPS AND OTHER THINGS

Allows readers the ability to easily find content that interests them:

BuyersSellers

By CommunityTestimonials

Restaurant ReviewsPlaces to Take the Kids

SET CATEGORIES

I always set my blogs so that comments are not automatically displayed to the world. I recommend setting up an approval process so that you receive an email when someone comments on your blog. You simply click on

the email and approve the comment.

MONITOR COMMENTS

POSTS VIA EMAIL

• Post often, at least 2 to 3 times a week.

• Keep your posts short and on topic. Blog readers have short attention spans.

• Write with keyword rich content. Mention the town, area and local market several times in your post. The search engines will pick up these keywords.

Tips to Success with a Blog

• Use hyperlinks that will give the reader excellent resources: Official town websites, your website, demographics, school information.

• Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer and write for them.

• Online consumers will not respond to posts that are not relevant to anything or that are obviously just to advertise you. Consumers read blogs for information, so that’s what you must give them.


• Use spell check. If you have a lot of spelling errors, the educated consumer may look over you when picking an agent.

• Be yourself in your posts. Be authentic to yourself. This is the forum for that. This is your time and your space to be you and to share “The Professional You” with the world!


PluginsPlugins are cool bits of programming scripts that add additional functionality to your blog. These are often features which either enhance already available features or add them to your site. WordPress offers simple and easy ways of adding Plugins to your blog. From the Administraton Panel, there is a Plugin Page. Once you have uploaded a Plugin to your WordPress plugin directory, activate it from the Plugins Management SubPanel, and sit back and watch your Plugin work. Not all Plugins are so easily installed, but WordPress Plugin authors and developers make the process as easy as possible.

Broken Link Checker

Cool Plugins For Your Blog

Why Blog for Biz

Real Estate

Transcript of Why Blog for Biz