Recently I was contacted by an agent from half-way across the world. She had read about me in the RE/MAX article that I remarked on a while back which was distributed in September of 2007. In the article was I was interviewed about the large amount of online writing and blogging that I do and I provided tips to other agents on how to get started and what kinds of things to do, and items to avoid. I’ve had several people reach out to me from that article but this one is the furthest away – in South Africa. I’ve enjoyed the chat so much with Brenda that I’m posting it here to help out anyone else that might come to view the blog and to learn more about setting up a similar kind of online educational forum for real estate.Dear Rebecca
By way of introduction my name is Brenda and I work for RE/MAX Frontier in the small university town of Grahamstown in South Africa. I read your article in the RE/MAX Times about blogging and as I am technologically literate being a webdesigner as well as an Estate Agent I think that starting a blogg here would be an excellent idea. The Grahamstown market is slightly different to the rest of SA in that we are desperately short of affordable accommodation due to the large volume of students. Property is always a topic of conversation around dinner tables, in the supermarkets and at the work place.
I would appreciate your help on where to start and how to start. I don’t know a thing about blogging but I do have my own website which is more about webdesign than about property. Please have a look at www.brends.co.za so that you can find out more about me.
I recently featured in a glossy property publication that gets distributed in Cape Town’s more affluent areas and to read the article you can visit http://www.thepropertymag.co.za/pages/452774491/articles/2007/July/Articles/NW-Grahamstown.asp
I am currently being asked to comment on property for a magazine destined for the UK. http://www.brooklandsgroup.com:80/a-place-in-the-sun/index.html
I really look forward to chatting to you and hope that you will be able to find the time to help me take the initiative to get my blogg going.
Kind regards,
Brenda Cadle
My original response to her is as follows:
Hi Brenda,
It is nice to meet you ”“ I believe your email is the furthest away from Seattle that I have received as a RE/MAX agent. It is good that you have a technical background as blogging will seem quite simple for you. What are the types of questions that you have for me? I am happy to share what I can although I’m certainly not the only person/agent out there writing a blog.
Looking at the article that you were involved in it seems you have plenty of things to begin blogging about: Local market conditions; why the area you live in is so wonderful; the types of property in your area; transportation issues and more. I tend to listen closely to the questions my clients ask and the conversations we have regarding a home or investment property search to glean topics. I also keep a folder of articles that I can reference. It’s actually a good thing to use reference material so that you can add legitimacy to your own writing. If all you do is to write your own opinion it can bite you later depending on the readership you accumulate.
Anyhow, I am beginning to get ahead of myself in terms of advice. I should go back to my original question ”“ in what way can I help you?
All the best,
Rebecca “Reba” Haas
Team Reba of RE/MAX Metro Realty
My addtional questions are:
Which site is best to use for blogging? – start looking online and see who has the blog sites you like best and then research them to see what they cost, or what kind of technical background you might need to use them. I personally use WordPress as my blog site product of choice. Don’t be conned into the sites that are really expensive. The whole appeal of blogging is that it shouldn’t be expensive.
Is it as simple as registering and then having your say? I guess you mean if you reply to someone else’s blog posts. In that case, yes, it’s that simple. If you want to be the “star” of your own site you’ll need to begin your own.
How would I market my blog? emailing to clients, advertising it on my own website? You pretty much answered your own question here but I would add things like putting on your marketing materials, business cards, house flyers, etc.
How did people find out about your blog? The product you use to start up your own site should have a tool for you to track stats and track things such as this. Be sure to check for it as you shop for your own site.
What would you suggest to be a good introduction to my blog? Again, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “introduction” unless you mean as the content that will describe who you are and why you’re writing. This should match your business style and philosophy as well as your interests. Is there a particular market segment you work within? Well, writing something that ties you to that target market would be appropriate. If you already have some marketing materials that cover this kind of thing well for you it is possible you could just reproduce that or somehow tweak it to be more approachable via a blog.
