Creating your Strategy for Writing for your Real Estate Business

What exactly makes a successful strategy for writing for the Real Estate consumer? I can sum it up with one concept – Current Information that is Relevant to the Reader. Each reader will be different. You will have a mixture of personalities, people looking for different things, dealing with Buyers and Sellers, and your fellow Real Estate Professionals.

There are many ways you may want to approach this. But what you should do is break it down into manageable chunks. Here is what I think that the successful Real Estate Writer should be writing about to capture the Consumer they want to serve.

Remember this is my ideal, you might find a totally different criteria or breakdown. That is good! Make it work for you!

60% Real Estate Related – Well that is a big chunk, what do I mean?

• Real Estate Educational Pieces
• Real Estate Success Stories/Client Testimonials
• Market Reports
• Real Estate Opinion
• Buyer Articles
• Seller Articles
• Mortgage Related Articles – this might mean you have a relationship with a Mortgage Professional that writes for you
• Title, Legal, Inspection, Staging and Escrow Related Articles
• Posts about your listings
  
  

30% Community Related – These are about the area you serve

• Articles about Schools, Community Centers, Special Places, Shopping and Restaurants
• Articles about your community’s history
• Community Calendars of upcoming events (which just happen to link to your past articles. Hey they are quick and easy and you give yourself link love)
• Fun Community Stuff
• Why you should live in your city
• Spotlight on specific areas
  
  10% Free For all.
• Just for Fun
• When in doubt to a recap post of your favorite posts
• Special Interests you have – Perhaps you volunteer for Special Olympics or The American Cancer Society. Your favorite sports Team or perhaps your hobby…
• Just being a good Citizen of the World
• News events from your area
• About you and your family. A special note, those that live with small children may not want to do this. Each parent can make the decision. There are pros and cons doing so.
• Neat Resources (cleaning gagets, car stuff, great service from a local vendor, etc.)
• Holidays and special world events
  

This is a great list of ideas, but how do I decide what to write? So how does one decide the order?

Let’s say that you work in groups of 10 articles. You could approach this weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly. And you can change your posting schedule. It is suggested that you write at least 5 times a week to get the results you desire.

I understand that some of you might be struggling, so if I were to follow this formula this week and I were to write 10 articles in a week, I might do the following:

1. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article – Importance of Prequalification
2. Community Related - Community Calendar of Upcoming Events
3. Community Related - Spotlight on an area that I am going after FSBO
4. Real Estate Related - Area Market Report for the area I am going after for FSBO
5. Community Related - Why you should live in my community
6. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article – Things to ask a home inspector
7. Real Estate Related - Seller Article – Tips for preparing your home for sale or Facts about a 1031 Exchange
8. Real Estate Related - For Sale By Owner – linking to #3 & #4
9. Real Estate Related - Title, Legal or Escrow Related
10. Free For All - Ways to prepare ahead of time to make thanksgiving less stressful

Week Two might look like this:

1. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article – Things you need to apply for a mortgage
2. Real Estate Related - Seller Article – Should you have your home professionally staged
3. Community Related – Something fun about your community
4. Real Estate Related – Client Testimonial
5. Community Related – Write about a local School
6. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article – Packing Ideas
7. Community Related – History of a local important building
8. Real Estate Related – How about writing a profile on a local builder
9. Real Estate Related – Write an article about why you feel now is the time to buy a home in your community.
10. Free For All – Neat tool or resource that members of your community might find useful.

So creating your strategy for writing for your Real Estate Business doesn't have to be so difficult!

Go for it!

Start today! You will be glad that you did!

Holiday Military Support Idea

With the holidays fast approaching a care package from home gives them the knowledge that people are thinking about them - that's a huge pick-me-up. There are also several organizations that send care packages and send support to our troops overseas:

Treats for Troops
Books for Soldiers
Military Care Packages
Operation Military Pride
Operation Uplink
Any Soldier
Operation Phone Home

This is a great time of the year! Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner! While you are filling out your Christmas Cards this Christmas, why not add one more to the list -- A Recovering American Soldier.

Mail to:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

It only takes a few moments to make a difference in one of our Military personnel's lives! Perhaps in each of your Christmas cards you too can encourage others to support the troops!

Or better yet, spread the word and tell your readers about this idea!

Your Blog is a Form of Advertising -- How Effective is it?

Like it or not, your posts are a form of advertising. I am not passing judgment and I am not directing this to any one person. Sit down for a moment and think about it. What each of us puts up here reflects on the writer. I want you to be successful.

Why is it that I can see posts that are just thrown up in an effort to just do it? Is it because they felt they have to do it because this is the latest and greatest way to market oneself? And a lot of it shows that way. Keep writing that way, don't change.

If you are here to improve and learn then take a few moments and think about it. Yes what we post is advertising. Even if it is something for our fellow professionals. And with all Marketing it is not how much you put out there as:

• Who is your audience?
• What is your intention?
• What are you trying to convey?
  

With all great marketing pieces (yes your BLOG is a marketing piece) you have a few basic rules to be successful:

• KISS -- Keep it simple stupid
• White space -- don't be afraid of it
• Keep to the maximum of two fonts (multiple sizes of them ok, but no more than two!)
• Society is visual -- graphics will enhance text and don't use so much that it distracts from the message.
• Spelling and Grammar count

So I leave you with two examples on the same post -- which author would you rather work with? Which one better conveys the message?

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Example 1

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Title: Networking Opportunity

Post Body: Anyone attending the XYZ conference in April in Arlington Texas? If so let me know perhaps we can get together for a drink.

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Example 2
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Title: Networking Opportunity - April 12-15, 2007 - Arlington, Texas

Post Body: XYZ Conference (link to conference web page) is coming up April 12-15 in Arlington, Texas at the Luxury Hotel This conference is going to bring together the top minds in Real Estate Appraisers.

Featured speakers are:

Fred Flintstone head of Quarry Industries

Wonder Woman of Golden Lasso Technologies (with links to speaker's company websites)

Breakout sessions will include topics: Websites, Measuring Technologies, Insurance issues, Mold and many others. To find out more about this exciting conference, visit the conference website at website address link.

If any other fellow members are planning on attending, please let me know. I would love an opportunity to network with you. I will be arriving April 11th and am leaving on the 16th. I am staying at the Luxury Hotel. My Contact information is ...

Do you see the difference?