#1 Do *not* over-think yourself!
It's been too long since I updated my AR blog, so my initial reaction is to do a massive everything-under-the-sun post that "perfectly" encapsulates everything I've been working in the year+ since I've been active...
However, I know myself well enough to know that ain't gonna happen... Whenever I start to write a HUGE post, I end up over-thinking myself, writing piece, saving drafts and never hitting the publish button. That's gotta be the #1 reason I really like micro-blogging sites is that it forces me to hit "publish" on an idea even if I told have time to complete it in full.
With that in mind, I'm *not* going to go deep here... but rather, I thought I'd give a brief update on some of the things that have been top-of-mind for me lately. If one of these topics is of particular interest to you, let me know and I'll happily dive into more detail in a future post!
- Social Media Speaking Engagements. In the last year, I've been so fortunate to speak at dozens of real estate events on using blogs and social media to generate business. I've been asked to travel as far as Burmuda and Toronto, at events as large as the National Association of REALTORS annual conference in Orlando Florida and Inman events in both San Francisco and New York. You can see a ton more on my real estate speaker's page, but if you want to see me live, then consider heading to Tempe, AZ on April 22 for Technopalooza where I'll be keynoting a talk on using social media to generate business.
- Facebook Pages. I'm loving the new Facebook Pages as a way to market yourself. I've written a bunch of posts recently on 4realz about Pages (note: these are a VERY different beast than your standard FB profile and actually a very different beast than the FB Pages that existed a year ago when the NYTimes features me for one of the real estate marketing pages I had built), the most relevant of which is "Why bother with Facebook Pages." Check it out, and if you have a Facebook Page, let me know. I've fascinated to see how REALTORS are using Facebook Pages to market their business.
- Eating my own Dogfood. I've been using my Facebook Page as a way to help educate folks on social media and real estate marketing. You can see what I've been up to by becoming a fan of my page here.
- Affiliate Marketing. I've been having a blast building affiliate marketing programs for some of my clients and recently worked with one real estate client to release a product that can help real estate professionals get paid for including a moving widget on their site (I've got it up on the sidepanel of every blog post on Rain City Guide right now). If you'd like to learn more about this affiliate program and other ways you can make money off of your blog with complementary products, let me know and we can explore this area as well! And if you want to see the main place I play with affiliate programs for real estate professionals, check out the 4realz Toolshed where I list a bunch of real estate marketing tools for real estate professionals.
- Promoting Your Blog Posts. One of the things I think a lot of new bloggers expect is that if they write interesting stuff, the readers will come. Reality is that if you're not spending 2X as much time "promoting" your posts as "writing" your posts then don't expect to get the traffic and leads that the big boys get. There's all kinds of ways to promote your posts and I summarized a few of them on this presentation on getting SEO value out of your Social Media efforts. This is something I've been doing for 4+ years with Rain City Guide posts and I think is an under-appreciated how much additional traffic, leads, clients it can drive.
- Using Social Media Tools to get SEO benefits. Related to the previous item, it's possible to get some ridiculously great SEO value out of the time you spend playing in social networks, but you've got to think strategically. I'm so immersed in this world with a few of my non-real estate clients that I'd like to step back and bit and bring this conversations to real estate professionals. If you have any questions on how SEO (i.e. optimizing your website/blog posts so they rank better in search engines), let me know. That might be the best place to start!
- Listing Syndication for SEO. If you're ready to "rethink" the value of listing syndication, then HomeSyn maybe appropriate for you. HomeSyn thinks about listing syndication *not* from the perspective of "how do I get my listings on as many sites as possible?", but rather, "how do I use my listings to get my website and neighborhood pages to rank better in the search engines so I can drive more search engine traffic". It's a bit of a leap of faith for many agents getting into website design, but the tool is ridiculously simple out-of-the-box and can do wonders for driving relevant traffic to your site. You can learn more by becoming a fan of my listing syndication page on Facebook and watching the video below.
Hopefully, you can see that things have been crazy-busy for me, so obviously there's tons more I could talk about... but before I start over-thinking myself, I want to turn things back around to to the AR community and say if you'd like a bit more detail on any of these things that have been top-of-mind, let me know. I've love to dive a bit deeper on any of these topics, so let's start exploring!
Dustin....glad you're back with Active Rain! You've had me running all over the Internet the last few minutes with your tips! Sometimes, all this SMM drives me crazy...how to master it and get business from it.
I already feel like I spend quite a bit of time here, but not much in the way of results. I'm hoping to launch a new blog/website this year, but the real estate market is going to have to pick up a bit here first!
But I'll keep my eyes out for more info from you!
Thanks!
Thanks Thom and Ray! Glad I had you inspired enough to run around the web a bit. :)
It's kinda hard returning to a conversation after a while because there are so many darn stories to tell. The fact that you're starting a new webstie is really interesting. I'd love to hear what tools/platforms/etc. you're finding more compelling and why. Definitely let me know how the development goes!
Best!
It also looks like I need to work on my bling a bit considering I only have one star below my avatar! ;)
Good stuff, I just became a fan and will be looking forward to your update.
I am so strong at everything as far as content, look, and action on the web, but my biggest weakness right now is SEO.
Looking forward to networking with you and building a solid relationship!
Have a Profitable Day!
Harrison Painter
Dustin, This is a pretty content-rich and dense post. Glad you didn't get too deep. I think I counted about 10 things to look into based just on your short post.
Thanks.
Thanks for reaching out Harrison.
A great place to get strarted with learning about blogging SEO is a post I write in 2005 called Linkation, Linkation, Linkation. Although I've learned a ton regarding strategy, the fundementals of SEO haven't changed one bit since then: The best thing you can do for yourself in terms of SEO is get as many quality inbound links as you possibly can.
What's a "quality inbound link" and how do you get them? I think you've just inspired my next AR post! :) I'll put something together on getting started with SEO in the next few days!
Best!
Thanks for all the tips on facebook pages. I need to do that soon.
Great post. Also, I'd like to hear more about your next topic "quality inbound links and how to get them.
Wayne: More to come! ;) I really do get a kick out of exploring interesitng ways to market online. There's only so much time & energy any of us have, so it's obviously important to focus on a few areas we can find success, but, at least for me, I normally have to emmerse myself in some of these tools before i start seeing the really interesting ways to play! If there's something in particular you'd like me to follow up with, just let me know!
Thanks Wendy! Never knew there was a city called "Destin"... but I have had a few folks misspell my name that well over the years. ;)
David: I realy did enjoy Orlando! and so glad you made it out there. It's always such an honor, not to mention so much fun, to take part in anything NAR is organizing. Nothing is confirmed yet, but I'm also hoping to have a fun roll in San Diego later this year! Hope to see you there!
Russ: A real turning moment on Facebook came about a month ago when they rolled out the new layout and allowed people with Pages to be included in the "news feed". I'm finding it is not so much easier to get interest and buzz around updates with my FB Page... as well as really separate the people I want to engage for business reasons with the updates I reserve for close family and friends. It's still early enough with Facebook Pages that if you're early it can be a great way to build some buzz!
S.A.: I'll get working on it soon!
I'm not sure I want to be on Face Book. I think this is more for teens to stay in touch with friends. Not for professional Realtors I don't think....Maybe I'm missing something though. If so please let me know what it is.
I have all I can do to keep up with AR and my life is busy with many things. I am very much interested in "quality inbound leads" please let me know about this . I do have a website www.patricia4realestate.com that has been out there for 7 years or so and has been good to me. However, I'm always looking for new worthwhile ways to go on my site.
Thank you for you post today.
Patricia Aulson/Portsmouth NH Real Estate from "The Live Free or Die State of NH"
Patricia: I agree that there's no reason to be on a social network with a bunch of teens. I was just having this conversation (via email) with Ardell the other day, but you might be surprised just who is using Facebook these days. A recent study showed that the number of users over 35 doubled over a recent 2-month period. The reach of Facebook into the general population has become truly staggering! And the tools that Facebook offers you to bypass the usual filters to communicate with those people is quite interesting. Add on the fact that they allow you to create a business page (for free) and then use that to engage with "fans" in a very twitter-like way, and I'm finding it quite easy to use Facebook to help me get interesting blog posts to go viral! Anyway, I'm completely gung-ho on using Facebook for marketing even though (or maybe "because") not a lot of real estate professionals are using it effectively (yet!).
In terms of "quality inbound links", I have an idea for an "anatomy of SEO" post that's bouncing around my head. When I get a bit more clarity, I'll hit publish! ;)
Hi Mayra: Among other things, I'm glad to hear you're interested in affiliate marketing. I've used to be against having any ads whatsoever on my blog sites figuring that I should only focus on driving real estate conversions over time. However, I'm finding that with so many people coming to my sites and for so many different reasons, I'm often not able to help them unless I send them to a complementary product. There's lots more to explore there as well! ;)
(your writing is great by the way... I wouldn't have known english wasn't your first language unless you mentioned it!)
Dustin,
Glad to have you back here... I read you elsewhere, but when it gets busy I get sucked in here... I have a Facebook fan page, but I know I need to tweak it some more. I have been working over my blog... and there is a LOT more working over it to do, yet. And I can't kill this post after commenting because of all of the links I have to follow up with now...
And Destin is down on the Redneck Riviera, near Panama City Beach. It is a pretty place.
Dustin,
I find that getting a feel for maximizing the time spent to not only use Scial Media, but to make it work is very hard to do. I am always looking for a short cut I guess.
Your post was helpful and I will try to follow some of your tips. Is there such thing as a "strategic planning coach" to help develop a specific strategy for Realtors who are aggressive and progressive marketers?
Thanks!
Lane, AR has a pretty darn active community, so I can totally see why you play here when busy! ;) Pass us a link to your Facebook Page. I'd be curious to see what you're up to!
It was a new concept to hear "if you're not spending 2X as much time "promoting" your posts as "writing" your posts then don't expect to get the traffic and leads that the big boys get. " I'm obviously doing something wrong. Is there a training class somewhere?
Vito,
Whenever I'm giving a talk on benefiting from blogs, it's the "short-cuts" that gets everyone's attention. Getting the most out of blogging, and social media in general, takes time. And while I don't know of any real "short-cuts", there are tons of things you can do to make the time you spend more effective.
In terms of strategic planning coaching, I've been doing a lot of social media strategy consulting lately, but almost exclusively with companies since they tend to have bigger budgets. There's plenty of social media "experts" who would happily coach you, but finding someone who can get you a decent ROI is definitely going to be your challenge.
You picked up on an interesting concept Vickie... That's something I've been doing/saying for years, but I think often gets overlooked. And, yet, I don't think I've ever written a blog post specifically on all the ways you can promote your posts... Ideas, ideas, ideas! thx!
Dustin - this is chock full of great ideas and suggestions improving our blogs. It seems the landscape continues to change, although some things remain much the same - keep it simple, and don't focus on yourself for one. Goota bookmark this baby.
BTW Sorry I had to leave the "fun" room at #REBCLA. Got asked to shared a little wisdom in another session - sorry I had to miss you and Pat. Next time...
Jeff
Thanks for the information on Facebook's business page. I recently signed up for Facebook and have not taken advantage of this feature!
I'm completely gung-ho on using Facebook for marketing even though (or maybe "because") not a lot of real estate professionals are using it effectively (yet!).
Hey there again!! Back from Facebook and I couldn't figure out how to set up the business page. PLEASE SHARE...I need a "help" button on facebook!! :) THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!
Thanks a bunch Jeff! I really enjoyed the talk Morgan Brown and I gave on Affiliate Marketing at #REBCLA and got a ton of great feedback. It was a fun topic that I'm just not starting to explore with gusto, so I expect to write a lot more with affiliate marketing stuff in the near future! ;)
Nicky: Thanks so much! I got your feedback on the page and everything! Lots of fun ahead... although another idea for a post would be simply explaining various sites where and I'm most active and the type of information I like to share on each of those sites... hmmmm...
Sonja: no problem at all... the easiest way that I know to create a new page is to start from an existing page. If you go to mine, then on the very bottom of the left-sidepanel, you should see the text that says "create a page" and/or "create a page for your business" (I've seen both). Does that help?
I am going to be reading a lot more regarding how to use facebook. I have just started down that path and I havae a lot to learn. Glad you returned to Active Rain to bring light to FB and continued success to you!
A great post! Lots to think about and some further investigation will be required. Thanks for the information.
Joan: Thank you much! And continued success to you as well! ;) Feel free to reach out with questions any time!
Brian: Always glad to inspire some investigation! Let me know if you end up playing with any of the tools/websites I mentioned!
Mark: No doubt about the promotion angle. Like just about any good marketing effort, the right promotion targeted at the right people can make a huge difference!
Waht a great post... I feel you just have to think about what is best for the subjet you are blogging about... And just be yourself
Dustin, Great post, great info.
Hi Dustin -- Great advice, and your bit on the listing syndication and Facebook is powerful, I've not heard anyone link these. Great idea.
Danny: Thanks so much! "Being yourself" is definitely one critical element... and one of the reasons that few people find success when they hire folks to write posts for them!
Jean: thanks!
Katerina: I was just checking out some of your stuff... I'm gonna have to follow you a bit closer to learn more about the SEO advice your giving, but either way and anyway, I congratulate you on your success!
Thanks Chris: I think both concepts: 1) listing syndication for SEO and 2) advanced marketing with Facebook Pages deserve separate blog posts (or even entire blogs!) dedicated to them! I look forward to going into a bit more detail in the future.
Dustin - You clearly have a lot on your mind lately! So much food for thought here - I would be interested in exploring more on the topic of affiliate marketing.
Dustin,
There's a lot of food for thought here. I've bookmarked to review it again later.
I'm interested in learning more about the affiliate marketing and the listing syndication.
Thanks for the link, I will study it and start putting it into action!
I am VERY excited for your next blog post!!!!
Did I mention I was LOVING the AR?
Have a Profitable Day!
Jason: I'd definitely like to talk with you more about affiliate marketing opportunities. The biggest issue for most agents (I think) is finding programs that are complementary and don't compete at all with their core business. I haven't written a formal post anywhere (yet!), but if you want to take part in getting paid for leads to movers (and pre-vetted quality movers from the relocation.com database), check out the affiliate program I built with the relocation.com team: http://www.relocation.com/realtors_signup.html . I'm going to write a post about this at some point (probably on 4realz.net), but thought I'd give you a head's up here! By the way, this is the same thing I mentioned in the post that's currently on the right-sidepanel of EVERY Rain City Guide post! Best!
Christine: I remember when you wrote to me after attending one of the 4realzEd courses and were excited to watch your site get ranked. It looks like you're still ranked #5 or 6 for Costa Mesa Real Estate! Very cool!
Marianne: As I just mentioned to Jason, more information on affiliate programs to come, but you might want to check out the link from my previous comment for starters! Thanks so much for your interest.
Harrison: Stop by any time! I haven't always been active here on ActiveRain, but I've always enjoyed watching what the AR team has been able to put together!
Dustin, great to find you here. I will be checking back to enjoy the enormous wealth of information that you have to share. I am also going to link with you on facebook. You are now on my solid follow list.
Thanks so much Sabrina! I'm now following you as well! ;)
And for everyone who showed interest in the affiliate program information, I decided to stay up late and complete my post on the Mover's widget by relocation.com. There's other programs out there (and I fully plan to explore some more of those soon!), but thought I'd start with this program since it was specifically designed for real estate agents blogs! I look forward to your feedback!
Dustin - WOW what a lot of GREAT information! I've bookmarked to read in depth later. Will look for you on FaceBook too. I've just started with that and obviously just don't 'get it' yet. Would love more step by step info on how to utilize it. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Dustin for great information on Social Networking. I will be joining a group of REALTORS today as we launch a new Technology/Networking Group (NO FEE membership) and the focus of our first meeting is Social Networking. I am making up handouts for reference on the main sites we need a presence on today and this is a perfect post.
Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.
Catherine in NY.
Dustin - great post and information. Thanks for sharing some great advice!
Good tips Dustin- thanks!
Also, if you are on Linked In, you can change your links that normally read "My Website" etc into text links using your keywords (from keyword research of course). You can get 3 text links this way that are clean links on your public profile. Building your network on Linked In will make your profile page more powerful and thus, your links more powerful.
Betty: thanks a bunch! It seems like every day there's something new, so I'm not sure that any of us "get it." ;)
Catherine: Glad I could be helpful. It's always great to see people take online social networking into offline environments. There's some real power there!
Fran: You already know I think you rock! Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica: I'm just getting started! ;)
Norman: You make a great point... optimizing your LinkedIn profile can be a great way to share some SEO love. There are some other great sites like BusinessWeeks' Business Exchange that give you four great inbound links after setting up a profile. You can see my profile as an example...
Dustin - Wow ! You have a lot of great info consolidated here and some great links ! I saved the blog post to come back and check them all out, especially the Facebook strategies to generate more business. Great blog post and welcome back !
Here you go...
Lane Bailey's Page
Lilburn, GA Page
They are there, but they need serious attention and work... And thanks for stopping by my blog. It has a LOT more info on what I am up to.
Dustin, this is a very compelling post. I'm bookmarking this to come back and understand all the great things you mention here. Facebook has actually been accused of being for 'old fogies' - we wrote a post referencing the article. ~ Sharon
Dustin, I started on Lenn's blog and have bounced around so much that my head hurts. I REALLY want to understand the basic steps of what I need to be doing with my listiings, like you mentioned above and linking my blog a website to where they need to be linked.
Thanks to everyone who joined in this conversation! Based on your feedback, I ran a few follow up posts including:
Blogging SEO: Begin at the Beginning!
7 Things Every Real Estate Agents Should Love about Facebook's Business Pages?
Are you leaving affiliate money on the table?
Thanks again!
No.5 is very interesting. I never thought of promoting a post but I now think it is a nice thing to do.