Read the title of this post one more time…
"If blog visitors aren't being treated as leads, then blogging is really a waste."
So says Rusty Lindquist, vice president of broker and agent products for a la mode, Inc. (a la mode supplies real estate agent web sites, marketing systems and other such "realty tech".)
Blanche Evans, the editor of Realty Times and author of multiple best selling real estate books, quotes Mr. Lindquist extensively in her recent article, Turn Blogging Into a Lead Generation Tool.
Now don't get me wrong. I respect Blanche Evans. And a la mode seems to produce a pretty nice product.
But Ms. Evans and Mr Lindquist are completely wrong about this.
First (and foremost) a blog visitor is a person — a living, breathing human being. I'm not sure what exactly "treating them like leads" means. From the article, it sounds like I'm supposed to capture visitor's email addresses and personal info and begin assaulting them with all my glossy marketing material. So I should be throwing all the visitors to this blog on an email drip and sending them emails and postcards featuring my smiling face–all the while extolling the virtues of working with us.
Well, that ain't happening here folks.
Of course an agent needs prospects. Without them, it's difficult to gain clients and pay for clothes for the children. But I'll be damned if I'm going to turn this blog into nothing more than a tool to add people to a prospect database. We already have a "standard real estate web site" that does a fine job of that (though many would say it's under utilized for prospect generation — more on that another day).
We've gotten plenty of business from this blog, without treating our "visitors as leads". As with our main site, we strive to provide quality information in a hopefully interesting and sometimes entertaining format. I don't feel compelled to grab an email address and shove marketing into someone's face. The way I figure it, if I can provide good info, display my expertise and a little bit of "who I am" then I can safely treat my visitors like the human beings that they are. All while making a reasonable living.
I have to admit that I was a bit surprised with the "clinical" aspects of this article. I don't think that either Ms. Evans or Mr. Lindquist truly "get it" when it comes to real estate blogging. Granted, there are no rules — and that's a good thing — but both of these people, who are well placed in the real estate technology world, seem to show a remarkable lack of understanding with regard to real estate blogging.
Ms. Evans demonstrates this lack of understanding at the beginning of the article when she says:
So how widespread is the real estate blogging phenomena? Even Donald Trump has jumped on the blogwagon. Other noteworthy real estate blogs include: activerain.com, dailypundit.com, and walkthrough.nytimes.com to name just a few.
Um, The Walk Through officially closed its doors almost eight months ago. There are thousands of real estate blogs out there and she names this as one that is "noteworthy"?!? No offense Ms. Evans, but that makes it difficult to put much credibility into anything else in the article… Interestingly another "noteworthy" blog — The Daily Pundit (and she's right on this one, it IS quite excellent) — has this to say about the article.
Real estate blogging — It's not about trolling for prospects…
More RE Bloggers opine: Merv Forney
[tags]real estate blogging, Blanche Evans, Realty Times, Rusty Lindquist, a la mode[/tags]
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Jay- way to stick to your guns! Look, in an ideal world, a blog is a lead generator and we don't have to produce anything other than templated, canned Realtor jargon, right? How sweet would it be to be able to be lazy, stagnant and still successful?
But we're not in the "ideal world." Instead we're in a changing world where the more intelligent are surviving while the innovatively geriatric folks don't even know there is a boat to miss. We're in a MORE than ideal world called the blogosphere where we can provide honest and interesting content for consumers and peers that contributes to the "transparent real estate" concept we're all promoting. "Leads" are humans, like you said- and if they pick up what you're throwin' down (our son gets credit for that phrase), they'll contact you on their own time.
Realtor magazines continue to promote "high tech tools" like the "Internet" while anyone reading here surpassed that newsflash 10 years (OR MORE) ago. Larry Cragun writes a great article about the Skyhook Theory and believing in something bigger than your bank account. I think your philosophy of putting people, NOT LEADS first fits Larry's Skyhook Theory quite well and it is exactly why you are so successful!
I think Lindquist's real point is, "If you aren't using my blogging product, then blogging is really a waste."
He's just trying to differentiate his blogging product by dissing blogs that lack the features of his product, and Blanche Evans played right along.
It's no secret that a key to successful blogging for business isn't lead capture technology but rather search engine rankings and PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com has them in spades. Until I see some of Lindquist's blogs ranking worth a damn, his blogs aren't going to have many leads to capture period.
Jay, I gotta tell you – you're headline scared me. Thankfully, you get it.
As you say, blogging can create business – but the people (relationships, conversations, networking potential) should always come first. Otherwise, we might as welll dot our "I's" with dollar signs, hmm?
I can see why "THE" appears in your banner. Stay contagious!
I would add to John's comment that the key to a successful real estate blog is the trust and relationships developed with the readers over time. I know that buyers and sellers tell each other about my blog, and that is gratifying. I write for myself and my readers; if I wrote to "capture" anything other than knowledge and good discussions, they would perceive that and not return.
Outstanding points by all!
ARW – Pirate worthy comment and thanks for the linkage to Larry's article. I'm a little behind in my reader and Lar's a great blogger that indeed "gets it".
John – You're right, it's all advertising spin by Lindquist. I'm surprised Blanche bought into it and used Realty Times space to in effect promo a product. The sad fact is, her endorsement will lead many down that path. I haven't seen the a la mode blog platform — maybe it's a dandy, maybe not. I just don't know. If anyone knows of one out there, a link would be great.
Mike – thanks for stopping by. What a fabulous blog you've got! Dash over there and check it out folks!
Jim – "I write for myself and my readers". Bingo. And those readers are smart. You're spot on when you say they would perceive any other intentions.
Jay,
This post should be required reading for every agent who considers to blog. I see it all the time that blogs are being "sold" to Realtors at conventions, magazines and many other places; and agents jump on the "blog waggon" thinking it is a quick fix to having no leads or little business. It is not!
I agree completely, there have been a couple magazines recently that have been publishing real estate-related blogs, Ret2 just did recently. Also, since this is a real estate website I wanted to ask have you ever heard or seen Bought & Sold on HGTV? It’s a show about the inner workings of the real estate business. It basically shows 12 different agents trying to show houses and close the deal. It gives you huge insight into the way homes are marketed and how price levels are decided upon in the Northern New Jersey market – which is one of the toughest in the country. You can check out a preview – http://web.hgtv.com/webhgtv/images/pac/59889/star… – It’s on Sundays at 10PM e/p time on HGTV. I work with them so that’s how I know all of this info. You guys should definitely check it out if you have the time.
Sheese HGTV, how about laying off the spammy comments for your shows? (I know, they'll never see this, but it makes me feel better.)
The next one gets deleted and hgtv.com gets the old domain blacklist treatment in my SpamKarma plug in…. I hate doing that, but it's getting quite tiresome.
OK I think I got it. Commercial sites are commercial sites and blogs are rarified places of high-minded thought about the deep wonders of the real estate business. I love this wonderful world where the best marketing is pretending not to be marketing at all. (Let's try to keep that a secret, shall we?) It's good that in this separate, alternate universe visitors will not be subjected to the dastardly practice of "selling" and the heinous act of "advertising". All we have to do is adopt the mentalities of those who think all commercialism is evil and we'll be fine. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet and the quality and popularity of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy is sweet indeed.
Come on Matthew! Move the discussion forward.
John – perhaps if you can tell me how "Come on Matthew! Move the discussion forward" moves the discussion forward I'd be happy to comply. Thanks!
Matthew –
I don't think commercialism is evil. Let's face it, without marketing, advertising and "selling", it would be difficult to make a living in this business.
I just don't think my blog is the place to *blatantly* market and advertise. That's just my opinion. Don't get me wrong, one real benefit of blogging is it allows you to demonstrate expertise, it is fabulous (if done correctly) at building a "web presence" and it may be the single best way to get ranked very well in search engines for very relevant real estate related search terms. All of those things are a tremendous asset in any marketing/prospecting plan.
So yes, there is some marketing going on here. But *no one* visiting this blog has been put on a drip email, no postcards have been mailed, and no phone calls have been made (unless a contact from the blog has expressly requested such things — and some have). I suppose you could call it "passive marketing" vs. "active marketing".
The beauty of blogging is there are no rules. *I* don't like real estate blogs that are nothing more than a vanity site — promoting self, services and listings. Others may feel differently, and that's perfectly fine. If it works for them, more power to them.
However, it is abundantly clear (to me) that saying, "If blog visitors aren't being treated as leads, then blogging is really a waste" is patently false. I don't "treat my blog visitors like leads" (as that term is generally accepted and outlined in the Realty Times article) and blogging has certainly not been a waste for me, either personally or professionally.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I've popped into your site and will certainly take a closer look to see if you have anything I can use. Hopefully others will too!
Jay –
Yesterday, on a pleasant hike in the Phoenix desert with iPod (and water), I listened again to Gladwell's "The Tipping Point". An included example (roughly) is of shoe company promoters hanging around "the street" to spot organically sprouting trends and styles for the purpose of producing cool new shoes. Some may argue these new methods are old methods with new words but the point I'm making is that this cultural shift to disabuse ourselves of the classic notions of marketing are still based on the fundamentals of: here we are, here is why you should be interested, please buy. I think you are exactly correct in not "forcibly" converting visitors into leads but allowing that conversion to happen by visitor request only. I also agree that “If blog visitors aren’t being treated as leads, then blogging is really a waste” is patently false. The principals of Ries & Trout's "Positioning" still hold true today and blogging that results in listings is a good thing. Communicating our value proposition is something a business must do. To not be blatant is a matter of style and I think you're hitting just the right balance.
Thank you for your kind comments and for the *visit*.
Jay's note: I edited Matthew's comment *only* to add a link to "The Tipping Point".
I believe there are 5 types of Real Estate Blogs:
1. Entertaining List Blogs (Top 7 lists, Relocating Info Lists)
2. Peer Blogs (Marketing Tips, Best Practices Ideas)
3. ListINGS Blogs (strictly blogs about each home they are listing)
4. News Blogs (locally outlining happenings around town, OR nationally)
5. Rant/Social Blogs (funny happenings, gripes about grubby websites, etc).
I would argue that numbers 2, 4 and sometimes 5 lends to long-term readers while 3 produces short term "I'm shopping today" readers. And 1 is just fun!
Lead generation comes inadvertently from any of these blogs but the intention of a GOOD blog (Jay, I would list yours as such) gives information about real estate practices and outlines news (local and national), thus blending two types. The fact that you don't require a password to learn more indicates that your blog is for HUMAN consumption and if a human becomes a "lead," then great!
Long live transparency!
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I'm proud to order now? WTH- you're attracting the wackos, Jay…
Great job. I'm going to enjoy reading your blogs. What sunk in the most was your comment, "*I* don’t like real estate blogs that are nothing more than a vanity site — promoting self, services and listings." I have been getting my training in blogging from Jim C.
There is a competitor who suddenly sprung up in Tucson on Active Rain who has blah, blah, blah self promotion blogs. Its bad enough seeing the TV comercial all the time. The significant other did the same and balsted to the top of the ratings. Where's the intellect? Where's the interaction? Its all self promotion. I could fill Lake Mead with this subject.
Back on track, I like what you say about simply blogging for leads. I am not ashamed to say I hope to pick up a few clients along the way. I like the interaction with my peers from all over. It kinda keeps the ole brain alive.
The beauty of blogging is that anyone has the freedom to do whatever the hell they want.
RE blogging is a big topic now in our industry and there are some that look to capitalize on it and sell a product or service to a Realtor to generate leads. I personally don't have a problem with it.
I have received many emails from fellow Realtor Members from all over the country that ask my opinion on how to run a blog. My answer is always, do what you want to do with it.
I wanted to simply share market data when I first started blogging because there was no market data — make that current market data — available to me as a Realtor or for the public.
The real bonus of actively blogging for me has been the education factor. Simply sharing ideas about other business practices by other Realtors has been invaluable to me.
My quest is to reach local readers in the small population of Mohave County or to anyone thinking about moving to the area. I assume that some leads will come from it, but I don't expect it. I do have a little widget thingy that shows information about some my listings about half way down the sidebar on my blog. I do write about the various real estate related services that I offer my clients, but beyond that the marketing that is done on that blog is very little. In fact my more traditional marketing costs haven't decreased at all. I don't look at the blog as a marketing tool in the same manner I do with my sales website.
The blog is what the author makes it…
Why didn't I know about your blog before? I'm in Mesa and a blogging addict / professional blogger.
"People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I think that goes along with your post's main thrust.
Doug – welcome to the real estate blogiverse! Your trainer is one of the best! The URL you're leaving here is redirecting to the Tomato…
Todd – spot on commentary, no surprise there! I couldn't agree more about the education side being a huge, HUGE benefit. Can't really put a price on it, but it's worth a whole lot…
Easton – I thought everyone on the planet knew about this blog! 🙂 I wasn't aware of yours either, but it's in my feedreader now! Thanks for stopping by, don't be a stranger.
Thank you for your welcome.
Thanks for letting me know about where my URL is pointing. I asked JC to check it out. It should have pointed to http://tucsonrealestateblogs.com which is what I changed to with this comment.
Excellent post Jay. I echo much of it and the commentors speak.
Regarding Doug's URL… seems he added an extra 'w' to his 'www' – therefor, we get the link as a catch all.
Nothing gets past that Tomato.. I edited the link.
I'm late to the conversation so I'll just say that I stumbled into blogging quite by accident in January of '06. I blogged very irratically (sp?) and it wasn't until January of '07 that I realized that I had sold 4 sides from leads that came from my blogs and had only had about 545 visitors over the course of the whole year.
So yes, I blog because I get leads. But yes, I also blog as a way to share my knowledge and experiences with those that are interested or care.
I do not necessarily solit leads. But I don't hide from asking people to contact me if they need an expert in my field, either. I share knowledge that has taken me years to learn and refine and I do it because it shows my expertise in the field and I believe it helps the consumers out there to make better decisions.
I love your blog, Jay. Keep up the good work. The interest in this topic proves, once again, you know what you are doing.
I was tempted to express my feelings about Realty Times, but I thought better of it.
I wanted to let this conversation pass a little to the wayside so as not to completely disrupt the conversation, but this has to be said. I happen to use Lindy's weblogging software and he really has designed it exclusively to capture leads. It sucks.
NO TRACKBACKS,
No rss feeds,
no buttons,
no blogroll,
no tagging,
no contributors,
no live feed,
no word verification option
etc…
He is right, he truly designed a la mode's blog functionality to be only that- lead capturing. We're soon to dump this feature all together and go live on our own w/ WordPress. I just wanted to say thank you for writing this piece. It simply demonstrates the old fashioned thinking that anything and everything is an opportunity to sell something- whatever. If he truly believes that trapping a reader in a box only to read your material will result in a comment and a capture, he is insane. Allowing a reader to see what you read and go other places you recommend builds loyalty. To be honest, Im suprised- a la mode is normally a progressive thinker. What a bummer.
The sad part is that I have called Lindquist's company repeatedly, asking for this functionality and the response is always the same, "we'll send the suggestions to our tech department" and the timeframe is never released due to some stupid policy. So, in the meantime, you guys are participating in the transparent blogosphere with the equivalent of Photoshop, and I'm in timeout blogging with Crayolas so I can "capture leads" per Lindquist's envisioned blogosphere. 🙁
BR – thanks SO much for commenting. I was hoping a user of the platform would stop by. (I was *really* hoping that Evans or Lindquist would stop by, but I certainly wasn't counting on it.)
It's not a bad looking blog, but without some of the basic (very) functionality that's missing, it doesn't look like an a la mode blog could ever hope to truly compete in the transparent blogiverse.
Photoshop vs. Crayolas — that was a *great* analogy!
I absolutely agree with you Jay. If you start thinking that every visitor to your blog needs to be sold something, you will inevitably kill your blog.
I have an a la mode website. I'm trying to get some market related comments on my new blog. Please help a girl out? http://www.pamortgagepros.com/Blog
As for a la mode, I've had a lot of problems with their support and service. It doesnt seem they want suggestions from customers. For example I wanted to add a favitar (that little icon on the browser bar next to the URL). They won't help me out and add it since their program won't allow it. I just want to keep up with the times. I dont want to bad mouth them but they are just having growing pains.
I am guilty of commercializing myself on my blog, although I typically do it at the end of a post. Although I'm newly committed to blogging as part of my routine, I'm not new to having an online presence. While I've been fortunate that my web site has generated significant traffic to my blog, I understand that if I don't give the reader something compelling then they won't be making a repeat visit. But I also believe in taking the opportunity to tell the visitor who I am, what I do and where they can go to learn more.