Years ago, the relationship between real estate agents and average consumers didn’t involve much sharing. Agents brought their industry expertise and market knowledge to the negotiating table, and clients didn’t ask many questions about their job, so long as they did it well. Today, however, consumers can get more of an inside look at the real estate industry through the web. More importantly, the wide use and availability of this kind of information means they want as much of it as they can get.
Blogging presents agents with an opportunity to give your site visitors that inside perspective, and at the same time, create the kind of trust and respect that turns leads into customers.
Blogging can also give you something incredibly important to achieving success in the real estate industry: visibility. In 2011, Forty-one percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member. As for the rest, they didn’t just choose any agent. People need to trust you before they’ll do business with you. That starts with simple name recognition, and ends with trust and respect. Blogging accomplishes all of this.
Whether you’re writing about the day-to-day life of a real estate professional or about trends and events in the market at large, your blog gives leads a way to separate you from the rest of the pack.
Furthermore, blogging isn’t just an “I talk, you listen” kind of arrangement. A good blogger allows for a certain amount of give and take. Cap off your posts with a call to action or a question. Encourage readers to ask questions and provide comments. By showing that you’re open to learning and discussing other perspectives, you’ll be presenting yourself as an agent who will work with a client to get them the price or home they want, rather than one who will work for a client to get them what she thinks is realistic.
Finally, it’s important to remember how important stories are to people in general. We make sense of the world and entertain ourselves through stories. A personal story has an emotional impact that a list of facts and figures can’t make, and making the decision to buy or sell a home is just as emotional as it is logical (if not more so).
Blogging will give you the opportunity to not only display your record of buying and selling homes, but also assure prospects that you can factor their feelings into the equation.
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