While it was with every intention I planned on sharing this presentation at the RainStorm this past weekend, somehow my final decision to do so was influenced by the environment, the ambiance, and the folks I was fortunate to be surrounded by at the Ultra Heat Lounge in Anaheim. There was a great line-up of speakers and topics, but at the end when it was my turn to present, I felt moved to share something a bit different.
So for those of you who came to "RainStorm" to hear the presentation about "Building Blocks for Better Blogs" and didn't get to, I decided to share it here instead, where there is likely to be less distraction and excitement from all the real life and in person social networking that was taking place in the nite-club style environment. To those of you who couldn't or didn't make it, it was a great turn out and spectacular event.
Building Blocks for a Better Blog
Tips and Take-Away Overview
1. Make your Blog title, description, and URL Count. Be descriptive, direct, and short as possible.
2. K.I.S.S. - Keeping It Simple Sells - Less really can be more in many cases.
3. Be There. Allow Questions, Chat, and Live interaction. This is the best way to Capture contacts.
4. Content is always king. Give the greatest value possible to your readers and audience. Period.
5. Make sure you have some form of contact capture or what is the point of Blogging for Business.
6. Use a good CRM or contact mgmt program. To rely on your memory alone will cost you business.
7. Implement Inter-active value-added tools and widgets that update themselves and deliver content.
8. You're a consumer, so when building your Blog for Business, ask yourself what works best on you.
9. Some ideas and tools to provide a consumer that might be interested in buying or selling include:
(Various Samples of FREE widgets, tools, and content to consider)
a. Demographics and Local Real Estate data and information
b. All the newest listings in the neighborhood or community
c. Share the most expensive homes allowing your audience to dream
d. Provide all the recently sold homes keeping it real for your buyers and sellers
e. Give them tools to compare stats and areas, after-all they're going to live there
f. Let your readers search your area for "All homes for sale"
g. Let them search other areas too so they don't leave your Blog to do so
h. Using home value estimation tools will create digital handshakes and opportunity
i. A virtual walk through the neighborhood with a "walk-score" makes an impression
j. Providing Loan and payment data with the ability to compare is valuable and useful
k. Provide a stream or feed of live and local news and your Blog will really kick butt
There's a sample Blog you can review at SFBayAreaBlog.com if you'd like to try these tools live and see how they work. You can create and do the same here on ActiveRain, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. The best part is that everything I've shared here is FREE and easy to do if you have the resources and knowledge. Now you have the knowledge, and you'll always have me as a resource. :-)
Footnote:
My presentation at RainStorm was very short and simple. All things are simply tools and a means to an end. Social media, the Internet, mobile technology, almost everything in your life online and off are just tools to help you cultivate and create relationships and build rapport and trust with people. The greatest and most memorable moments in your life are built on emotions, passions, and connections. You can always use tools with people, but never use people as tools.
"Learn More. Get More. Do More. Be More."
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. Wish I could be in Anaheim to see it live!
Excellent! Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
Brad,
Great information. I wish I could reblog it. Unfortunately it is saying that it is disabled at this time.
thanks for sharing , I bookmarked. Some of the words I have to google out LOL
Brad - thanks as always. Hope you are well. I look forward to implementing some of your ideas as we revamp the look and feel of our blogs in 2011.
Brad that is amazing I really like the K.I.S.S It was the way to go with advertising in newspapers and magazines ..I would imagine it works as well in our blogs ..beautifully presented ..Thank You
HelpfulHannah
Hi Brad, Terrific presentation. Need some time to see how Ican apply it. Well done !
Great way to just lay it out in order.
This is the type of information we all look for in helping our own cause. I found this as interested as a paid presentation at a conference.
Love your banner photo at the top!
Thank you for the great information! Now how did you embed the slide show?
Branding is such an important feature that every agent needs to keep in mind. YOur style, your keywords, even your picture. IT all makes for one kick a** branding recognition! Find something you like and market the heck out of it. At least until everyone knows you... then you can change... but not till your as big as say.... McDonalds... HA!
Brad,
Very nice information you are sharing with us. Thanks!
Robert - thanks.
Dawn - wish you could have been there, it was awesome! I love the people, that's what it's all about!!
Kathryn - I felt bad I didn't share it at RainStorm, but it felt good to share what I did. :-)
Jason - I too hope they get that reblog feature fixed soon, those one-way links are awesome for the SEO.
Anna - that was funny, you made me re-read my post. haha~
Christianne - revamps and remodeling can be fun, just keep your prospects needs in mind.
Hannah - advertising and marketing just means finding the tools and using them effectively to connect.
(You do that well already)
Bill - best tip of all is to just be you, and always think of others needs first, then yours will be met.
Raiza - yup. Just put it out there... I like that, thanks. :)
Bob - that is one fine compliment and I thank you sincerely for that. Very very nice of you.
Tammy - I never laugh at you, but I do share that with quite a few others. xoxoxo
Gerry - excellent point, one I need to continue working on myself. Thanks.
Jon - slideshare.net includes the embed code on their site just like Youtube.com. Same process.
Tammy - McDonalds? Is that a social networking site? lol~
Hi Brad,
Thank you for the informative post. Another great suggestion!
Cheers from Lake Tahoe,
~Grace Yee
Brad,
My favorite thing in this whole post is your footnote. Very well said written.
Very very nice presentation, Brad
Thanks so much for a very informative post! As a newbie to AR, this helps me with the basics!
I see a few things I can implement to improve my blog--Thanks.
Brad,
Thanks for posting. It's always nice to be privy to information that we aren't able to get first hand. Information like this is always valuable to have in our "vault".
Great tips to improve my blog. As always thanks for sharing.
Great post and I have bookmarked this one so I can come back to it later and make sure I don't miss any important information.
Great post so rich with content I book marked for future reference. I hope that have another Rainstorm event. i missed it last weekend.
Thanks for the info Brad. It's bookmarked and I will come back and read this more carefully soon.
Thanks for this post, Brad. The point that stood out to me was KISS. A lot of us tend to forget to keep things simple. 80/20!
Hey Brad,
As always great info from you and well presented. I always learn from you my friend!
Brad, I always look forward to reading your posts. Inevitably I learn a thing or two along the way. I especially liked the last sentence in your footnote, because it follows the Golden Rule - You can always use tools with people, but never use people as tools.
Thanks Rick - I thought is was a clever statement but more importantly, it's 100% true!
Glad you enjoyed the post. :-)
Good stuff. I like that suggestion for a local news feed, thanks - as usual!
I just got word that we launched a few new surprises at Zillow that will really come in handy for building better blogs and adding even more value, I'll be doing a post shortly to make the announcement. Very exciting for sure....stay tuned!! :-))
Thank you Brad for another great post! I always learn new things from you :-)
Thanks Ann - glad you enjoyed this. :-)