Top 10 Reasons You NEED To Have A Blog in Real Estate

Top 10 Reasons You NEED To Have A Blog in Real Estate


10 Reasons You Need A Blog

Think of blogging as a daily journal. I go into more detail on each reason below.

  1. Web Traffic
  2. SEO
  3. Authority
  4. Social Proof
  5. Speaking Opportunities
  6. Guest Writer
  7. Publish a Book
  8. Evergreen Content Longevity
  9. Legacy (children)
  10. Therapeutic

You been told many times you should blog.

Let me start out by saying – 

I don’t like writing. I see it more as a chore than as a pastime or as a hobby, but I recognize and understand how important blogging is to my business and to my personal life.

If you don’t know it yet, blogging is a big business. If you don’t believe me take a look at The Huffington Post. On February 7, 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for $315 million. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Mashable sold in November 2017 for $50 million. In October 2015 Zooey Deschanel’s startup Hello Giggles got bought out by Time Inc. for $30 million. Still not convinced? It is reported that Perez Hilton’s blog earns $575,000 per month!

Blogging, like Vlogging (video), is a long term investment that pays when you stay committed to it. Most people give up too early in the game to see the results. Mashable’s founder, Pete Cashmore, was reported to have been putting in 20 hour days for the first 2 years of his websites existence writing blogs and content on tech.

You need a blog. Sorry. Not sorry. Stop making excuses about not being able to write, not having the time, and not having the content. Everyone has the content-even if you are just starting out in your profession. Your content is your journey.  Whatever stage you find yourself in on your journey, there is always someone else in that exact same spot, or further behind, who will benefit from what you have learned up until this point. Congratulations, you’ve survived your worst days. It is your responsibility and your duty, to help others succeed by sharing your content.

Aside from my speech on your moral obligation to have a blog, I’m also going to give you 10 practical reasons to have a blog that will make your business or profession more successful and make you more money.

Reason #1 – Web Traffic

Much like SEO, web traffic is going to be directly attributed to the quality of your content, how many people are visiting your blog posts, how long they stay reading or watching your posts, and how many people are sharing your content. We all want web traffic on our site. Blogging is one key strategy to getting there. Take a look at Zillow. It’s site was originally designed just to give users the value of their home. As the site has developed it has added millions of lines of content to its site. There are blogs on celebrity homes, interior design, real estate agent entries, etc. Zillow understands the value of blogging and the web traffic it generates from it. You should too.

Reason #2 – SEO

Search Engine Optimization is really just a simple way to describe where you rank on the search engine results page(s). We all know that most people don’t go beyond page of Google or whatever search engine they are using. The key is appearing on the fist page. Now look, blogging doesn’t guarantee that you’ll show up on the first page, but it does increase your chances-especially when the content is good. The better the content, the more people will stay on the page, the longer people stay on the page, the more valuable the page is deemed by Google, and the higher it ranks. It isn’t fast, and it isn’t guaranteed, but it works.

Reason #3 – Authority

It goes without saying that the more content you shell out on a topic, the more well versed you will become on it, and the more authority you will have in your field, which will lead to all the other wonderful opportunities we’ve referenced earlier in this blog post. I won’t spend too much time on this point as I think it’s pretty self explanatory.

Reason #4 – Social Proof

People copy of the actions of others. I do it. You do it. We all do it. Then after copying said action, we justify it by saying that everyone else is “doing it”. This is known as social proof. This why street performers ask people to come closer so as to draw a crowd. As more people are drawn in, the crowd grows larger and larger. Ever stand in a long line outside a nightclub, only to discover that it was empty once inside?  Ever put your own money in your own tip jar? These are all examples of social proof.

When you have people who can vouch for your product or service, and share your content, your social proof grows, and with the power of the internet, it may grow exponentially. People will know more about you or your business before they ever speak to you. Some will already be sold on your service, all you have to do is show up.

Did you know that over 70% of Americans say they look at product reviews before making a purchase? Yup. Did you know that nearly 63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews? Good content will eventually be shared especially if you 1) use social share buttons on your post, and 2) frequently ask for your readers to comment on the post and/or share it. Don’t be too proud to ask people to spread the word about your content or for them to comment either. The more you ask, the more likely they are to participate. Blogs are an excellent platform for social proof.

Reason #5 – Speaking Opportunities

Much as like guest blog posting or being a guest on a podcast, public speaking opportunities will present themselves the more consistent your content is and the larger your audience gets.  Initially, these speaking opportunities will be pro bono-you’re speaking for free. Do enough free speaking, and you will eventually turn it into fee speaking, should that be something you’d like to pursue in the future.

Reason #6 – Guest Blogger

As you get better at writing blog posts and then sharing your content, you will get recognized. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not after 6 months. Maybe not even after a year or 2 years. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because no one is looking at your content that you should quit. This is where we lose most people. They give during the “no feedback” zone. You are planting seeds of greatness and like a farmer who plants the seeds, you have to wait for the harvest to come in. A farmer doesn’t plant and nurture seeds only to stop tending them because they didn’t sprout after one day. Neither should you.

You will be approached by other sites to either guest write for them, be interviewed by them, or even be on a podcast with them. The more authority you have in your field as demonstrated by the content you share, the more likely you’ll be discovered.

Pro Tip : If you want to speed up the process, use an outbound strategy where you are reaching out to bloggers, podcasters, and other sites in your field to see if they’d be open to you interviewing them or writing content for them. Let me prepare you, there will be a lot of emails unanswered and a lot of “No Thank You’s,” but I believe that every business needs an outbound marketing strategy in addition to passive strategies. Sometimes you can’t just wait for good things to happen to you-you have to go out and reach for them.

Reason #7 – Publishing A Book is Easier

Don’t twist my words. I didn’t say publishing a book is easy. I said it was easier. Mark Cuban’s book “How To Win At The Sport of Business – If I Can Do It You Can Do It” is a compilation of Mark’s blog posts from his site, Blog Maverick. Don’t think people would buy a book of short stories? Think, Chicken Soup For The Soul. Again, after 3-5 years of diligent blogging, you’d have quite the collection of content that you could easily self publish as an e-book and sell on Amazon!

Additionally, once you’ve gotten used to writing blog entries for a few weeks, then months, then years, you’ll discover how proficient you will have become at writing, making the probability and possibility of you writing a book a reality. You can do it! We all can!

Reason #8 – Evergreen Content

There is some content that will stand the test of time for one of two reasons: it is either 1) educating or it is 2) entertaining. The best blog posts do both.

Some educational content will stand the test of time, while others, might not last more than 6 months.

Depending on what you share, there is a good chance that some of it will be of value for years to come. Not everything in life changes at the speed of tech.

Likewise, great content that entertains will never go out of style, and don’t confuse entertainment with comedy. Comedy is just one element that entertains. Think Perez Hilton. His posts are designed to entertain and satisfy a readers thirst for celebrity gossip. What topic can you blog about that others would deem entertaining? Food? Travel? Interior Design? Cars? Truth is, the possibilities are endless.

Reason #9 – Your Legacy

I have often wondered what my contribution to this world was going to be. My children will always be my greatest contribution, but outside of them, what else am I leaving? Think of your journal, diary, blog, whatever as your contribution to the world. Whats that? No one will care? Ever heard of Anne Frank or her diary? Now mind you, you nor I, will probably ever have to face the challenges she and her family did, but that doesn’t make your experience or your content any less valuable. The key is getting it out there.

Reason #10 – Therapeutic & Rewarding

Yes. You read right. Blogging is therapeutic. There is something to be said about leaving your worries in writing behind, EVEN if you decide to not share the post and there is something very very reqarding about sharing your victories. Either way, you win. Think of blogging as an opportunity to get something off your chest and an opportunity to brag. It’s like the perfect husband 🙂

Photos are great, and videos are better, both however may not always depict how you truly feel or what you are thinking or going through, especially if you are filmed or photographed around other people. When you write, journal, blog, whatever you want to call it, it’s just you and your thoughts and there is certain sense of peace that can be attained when you are just alone with your thoughts.