One of the things I’ve always held to for CRT’s blog is “If we don’t have anything to say, let’s not make up something just so we can have a post.” The problem with this is sometimes we’re quiet for over a month.
However, its usually not because we have nothing to say, its because we have nothing LARGE to say. I find myself getting stuck where 1) it’ll take too much time to write up what I want and/or 2) I feel like everything I write has to be HUGE which leads back to number 1. In talking with Liz Luby from BurbFeeder a few weeks ago at the NSBAR meeting, one of the things she mentioned in both her and mine session on blogging is that it doesn’t always have be a giant manifesto or essay.
Recently, like others in the RE tech community, I’ve been playing with Twitter. Since you’re limited to 140 characters, I find myself leaving lots of tweets on there that just have a single thought (when not using it a high latency instant messenger.) In thinking about it, I find that I drop more on twitter because I don’t feel the pressure that I need to write the next great treatise on <insert subject here>.
So, my promise/threat to you, CRT Blog reader, is to post more often, even if its just a paragraph on a single item. (Beware, there will probably be another post within the next day.)
I am sorry but I just can’t allow this to go by without commenting.
Your excuse for not posting must have more to do with a very tough travel schedule leaving time to write a non priority.
The idea that you do not wish to “make something up” is a bit difficult to believe given the mountain of information about your industry being presented by traditional media as well as the blogosphere.
Realtors, brokers, and mortgage professionals are getting POUNDED in the media.
In a down market you should be writing about methods, tips, guides, or how to’s which add value to your industry.
The idea that you lack content material ideas to write about is unbelievable to me.
Two ideas:
1. If for no other sources go to http://therealestatebloggers.com as Tommy posts up to 4 times per day on real estate issues just hitting the wire.
2. Mine your email in box. How many questions do you get each day that you answer and satisfy a situation? Write about these stories.
Realtors should be blogging. If you are raising awareness about the powers of this marketing tool, then posting once per month makes your case rather weak.
And if you are not raising awareness of blogging in the biggest market slowdown in years, then Realtors will remain unaware of their next step in the technology revolution for marketing real estate.
In any case it is up to you to lead by example and one post per month aint gettin it.
Hi Keith,
It was very nice to meet you at NSBAR’s mini convention. I look forward to catching up with you again. In the meantime, I’ll be stopping by your blog. Happy Valentine’s Day, Liz
Still working on the shorter_posts_more_often thing. I need to make it a discipline. I just spent several days compiling a list of (not 10 as we originally planned) but 50 things to do in Barrington on Valentine’s Day at http://www.BurbFeeder.com. Now I need a break. I need to take my own advice
Dean,
I should have clarified what I meant by that statement better. However, I still hold by it.
You’re right, travel schedule fits into that, but when I said ‘if we don’t have anythign to say’ its not so much lack of potential content.
To me, its lack of things that fit into the following pressures: 1) what I feel would be interesting to the readership, 2) what I have a desire to write about, 3) other parts of my role as staff needing time dedicated to them. #3 contains the two points you brought up, but I’d really like to address #2.
If our heart is not into what we’re writing, you’ll get a less good product. I’d prefer that didn’t happen.
You’re right, there’s probably a mountain of content, but there’s other places covering some of it better than we could and more visible avenues for it. And I won’t lie, there are other parts of my job (see also: coding) that are far more interesting personally to me than just cranking out blog content all day long. In fact, I believe it would be a bigger disservice to our members if I dedicated all of CRT to just creating content.
I do like your suggestion of mining the inbox, but you need to understand that creating content for the blog and having a 4 post a day blog is not our goal. Our goal is to communicate with the industry, our members, and others, about topics that CRT is passionate about or that they should know about. I feel that even if we have infrequent content, as long as its high quality, we’re still meeting our goals.
If our goal was to raise awareness of blogging as a marketing tool, I’d agree with you on more of your points, but its not. I also disagree that “Realtors should be blogging.” For some Realtors, it just doesn’t fit into their business. Are some successful using blogging? Definitely! But its not for everybody.
Thanks for your comments, I will be thinking about them, especially the mining part.
Keith -
With regards to this -
Where are the other places you speak of?