Here’s the Thing – We All Want Credibility

Image courtesy of The Big Picture

Staying Power

I was looking for an excuse to highlight the above ad, and its staying power. This post is just that excuse.

Friday at the NAR Convention in Orlando, Ines Hededus-Garcia, Ginger Wilcox, Teresa Boardman  and I will be speaking to several hundred Realtors about how to drive business with blogs. This panel will be different from many others for at least one reason – the audience.

As Dustin Luther, the moderator of the panel said in an email –

For better or worse (and I think better!), we’re not going to be speaking to the usual RE.net crowd here. When I did a social media presentation last year, I recognized all of three people in the audience (out of a room for 500 that was so crowded they were turning people away!). In my mind, this is great news in that we really will be speaking to a new audience but it also means almost no one will know our inside jokes and/or terminology. Don’t be surprised if I ask you to explain some piece of terminology in more detail!

Demonstrating Credibility

When faced with the image above, blogs give us the opportunity to demonstrate the credibility and the market comprehension that our clients and potential clients want (and should be able to reasonably expect). They also give us – the individual Realtors and brokers – the means by which to distinguish ourselves from the messages that our Association has been putting forth on “our” behalf. The internet never forgets.

Blog for credibility and business will follow. This concept is neither rocket surgery nor brain science, and the execution of said concept eludes many in this profession – both at the “boots on the ground” and the “30,000 foot” levels, respectively.

Use the blog to demonstrate one’s expertise, knowledge, personality and yes, even opinions. (I recognize that this is old-hat for most of the authors here)

Here’s an example. I was contacted last night via IM by an American currently living overseas (eventually I’ll write about the conversation in detail, but without his permission, I’m keeping this necessarily vague). He’s been reading my blog (I had no idea) for a year; he’s moving back in six months and trusts me.

Consistent Advice

My advice has remained constant since I started blogging and since I started being asked for advice – understand the landscape and your audience, and be patient, persistent and candid.

Real estate blogs can absolutely drive business, but just like a drip campaign or farming a neighborhood, they cannot guarantee success in and of themselves. It’s the execution of that plan by the author that provides the guarantee.

In all honesty, I’m looking forward to listening and learning from my fellow panelists more than than I am to speaking.