Comments on: Blogging is over-rated

By: Jon Griffith

Jon Griffith — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:29:15 +0000

The word “blogging” needs to find a quick death and permanent burial. This fad word drives me nuts as it is a word that represents the evolution of publishing as we know it. The problem we have is that people who aren’t writers are caught spending time doing the last task they should be spending their time doing.

If everyone who writes about anything on the internet was an expert at the art of writing, then perhaps they would have started a newspaper prior to the advent of simple content publishing systems that we have irresponsibly called “blogs.”

Why didn’t they start a newspaper? Because that’s not what they’re good at. So why then would someone who isn’t designed to write and publish even think about starting a publication…on their own, that is.

Farm it out.

By: Dru Bloomfield

Dru Bloomfield — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:48:40 +0000

I agree that blogging is not for everyone, takes considerable time, and has made me a better REALTOR®. I have an audience of real and imagined, past and future clients that I write for and to. The challenge, as others have indicated, is continuing on a regular basis, providing some consistency of content.

For me, blogging is not the magic bullet, but yet another way to connect with today’s increasingly sophisticated real estate consumer.

By: Julie Emery

Julie Emery — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:41:07 +0000

My blog is and always has been targeted at educating consumers. Some days it would be more fun to write for my peers (i.e. vent) but that will have to be a different blog!
And, yes, I think you need to have a love of writing and reading (you can’t write what you don’t know!) I also think you need some passion, or in your words, opinions.

By: Who ya blogging at! at Center for REALTOR® Technology Web Log

Who ya blogging at! at Center for REALTOR® Technology Web Log — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:15:40 +0000

[...] a follow-up to how blogging is over-rated, I am curious who your targeted audiences are. Please take a moment to answer who you are blogging [...]

By: Mike Farmer

Mike Farmer — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:08:05 +0000

I do both — talking to realtors and a business blog. The business blog is informational, the realtor blog is because I love to write and I like making connections around the country — you never know how those connections will be beneficial — not just referrals, but plain old knowledge sharing.

I agree that blogging for placement, or blogging just to have a blog is futile. The thing about placement is that even if you draw traffic to your blog and it’s subpar or hardly ever used — what’s the point?

By: Blogging is over-rated | The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:36:01 +0000

[...] Blogging is over-rated, by Chris McKeever. [...]

By: Chris McKeever

Chris McKeever — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:56:34 +0000

thanks Matt

By: Matt Cohen

Matt Cohen — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:55:22 +0000

Chris,

I’d just like to put context around the Clareity comment you were responding to - specifically that “blogs are over-hyped”. The contents of the slide were as follows:

Some people:
* have something to say,
* are good writers,
* benefit from the interactivity of blogs, and
* are good at marketing those blogs

Most do/are not.

Will Joe Agent be left behind and be unable to compete in the industry if he doesn’t have a blog? NO WAY!

By: Chris McKeever

Chris McKeever — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:11:51 +0000

Jay - great point about the abandoned blogs. Turn those suckers off!!!! Especially if you still have an internet presence. No need to make a potential clients first impression that you may be in a coma somewhere in mid-america!!!

Next time you get that question - just point them to CRT!

By: Jay Thompson

Jay Thompson — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:07:05 +0000

Fabulous post Chris! I get questions from agents all the time about what it takes to make a blog “successful”. That’s a hard question to answer as a lot of it depends on ones definition of “success”.

But it does take time. And effort. It is clearly not for everyone (as witnessed in part by the number of abandoned blogs out there).

I do think blogging is one of the best ways to display your personality on the internet. Given that this is very much a people-oriented business, that can be a good thing — assuming you have a personality
It never ceases to amaze me how often will get a new client that already knows a great deal about who we are, and how we think. All because of the blog. But the work that goes into making that happen is not insignificant.