Why blogging is like owning a SUN for some real estate agents and a time suck-vortex for others

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These are notes from the 10 minute presentation I will share at Xplode Austin. If you have any
thoughts or suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks.
When blogging Might Be A Time-Sucking-Vortex - When You Have A Smart And
Modern Business Plan. You're Working And It's Working. Yea!
Congratulations if this is you. If you're connecting and conversing, sharing, solving, serving and
successful; rock on with what you're doing. Don't distract yourself with the additional commitment a
profitable blogging business strategy requires. Do keep blogging on your personal radar for the
reasons I'll share in a minute. Again, if this is you, well done, keep going.
When blogging Might Be A Time-Sucking-Vortex - When You're Retiring Soon.
If you've enjoyed a fruitful career and you plan to retire in the next couple of years, blogging might be a
waste of your time. Smart, disciplined and interesting online sharing, aka blogging, can
attract serendipitous opportunity right from the get-go - but the benefits of smartly blogging accrue and
accelerate overtime with every blog post. Blogging successfully is kinda like growing a garden, you
can't pluck-up a salad on day one . Like I said, if you're retiring soon, good for you, I wouldn't sweat
starting a blog. Focus on the good things you've been doing.
When blogging Might Be A Time-Sucking-Vortex - When You're Career Might
Need Immediate Defibrillation.

2. [caption id="attachment_4734" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Maybe blogging isn't the best
idea if your real estate career might need the paddles."]
[/caption]
I've been in the real estate business since December of 1979. I've enjoyed three booms and three
busts in the past 30 years. These past two years have been the hardest, most painful and most
sobering of them all. Congratulations to all of us for surviving. Having said that,
most everyone believes that our economy is clawing it's way out and up, 2011 is going to be better.
If you're hanging tough by a few worn threads, investing your attention on starting a blog would not be
a wise use of your resources. Keep blogging on your radar, but don't take your eyes and your
attention off the smart things you can do today to create an immediate impact.
Now let's talk about why blogging for some is like owning a SUN.
Authoring a blog is like owning a Sun. Sharing and becoming “sharable” is sunlight for your online
solar system.
Think of everything you do to attract, uncover and discover listing and selling opportunities as your
personal real estate solar system. You and your blog are at the center of your business solar system
and the planets in your solar system would be the networks, tribes, niches and online communities that
orbit around you. I'm talking about your In-Real-Life (IRL) spheres, Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com,
Youtube.com, SlideShare.com, Twitter.com, Flickr.com, your neighborhood and all the places you

3. Youtube.com, SlideShare.com, Twitter.com, Flickr.com, your neighborhood and all the places you
prospect for business.
In todays modern and moving online real estate universe, authoring a blog is like owning the Sun for
your real estate solar system. Like our real Sun beams sunlight to all the planets, your blog beams
sunlight to all your important prospecting communities, tribes and networks. The intensity, illumination
and warmth of your sunlight is determined by the quality and frequency of the things you share on your
blog.
Your blog is where you can show-instead-of-tell others who you really are. What you're about . What
you stand for and against. How knowledgeable and helpful you are and the emotional and logical
reasons why someone should choose you to help them with their real estate need. You doing this by
sharing stuff on your blog. When you hear people talk about creating content for your blog they're
talking about the things, information and opinions you share on your blog. It's that simple, content is
simply the stuff you share on your blog. Specifically, stuff like neighborhood news, photos of the park,
Catfish Festival, market updates, local restaurant reviews, answers to commonly asked questions and
the like. Blogging is one of the best ways to share and beam your persona throughout your solar
system.
In addition to beaming sunlight, once you hit the "Publish" button on a blog post, your "Share"
becomes part of the online information ocean and becomes sharable via perma-web-link. Once you've
shared (published) something on your blog you and your friends and friends of friends can now
broadcast share your stuff around the inter-webs and within your/their social circles, using your perma-
web-links. For example you and others can share and cross-post your permalinks with your/their
tribes on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, etc.. Also your blog provides you with a powerful
opportunity to showcase and further enhance your online presence by including share-tools like
Flickr.com for photos, SlideShare.com for presentations and Youtube.com for video - all for free.
Your blogs sharing power also provides a friction free and convenient way for your friends and friends
of your friends to re-share your valued/interesting/relevant "shares" with the friends of their friends.
This is what ReTweets, Facebook Likes, Shares and Comments is all about.
Bottom line, blogging beams your personal shade of sunlight stuff to your IRL spheres, networks and
tribes - as a bonus, it makes your stuff sharable by others. Which is a beautiful thing. But there's
more...
Blogging Pours Your Online Shares Into The Information Ocean.
[caption id="attachment_4736" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Blogging pours your sharing
into the Ocean Of Online Information"]

4. [/caption]
Every blog post is catalogued, indexed and ranked by Google, Bing, Yahoo and others. The more
frequently you share and are shared by others, the greater your presence within the Information
Ocean. This is supremely important today, even more so tomorrow because. . .
Your Blogging "Shares" Make You More Findable and Discoverable
[caption id="attachment_4737" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Your blogging shares add to
the Ocean Of Information. The more you share the more findable and discoverable you become."]
[/caption]
Let me ask you a question. If you're single and you meet an interesting someone new or a friend sets
you up, what do you do? Do you Google or Facebook them? When a foodie friend recommends a
hot new restaurant, do you Yelp or Google it before you book it? Of course we do. Everyone uses
their favorite search engine, like Google, to find answers to their questions, check things and people
out, confirm character, eliminate pretenders and avoid time wasters.
If you're not blogging what you're adding to the Online Information Ocean maybe slight. In contrast, if
you are blogging, your presence grows mightier by the "Share". Your's, your friends and the friends of
their friends.
Adding information water (your "Shares") to the Online Information Ocean make you . . .
Discoverable

5. Because your blogging "Shares" across the inter-webs are catalogued and indexed according the
subject matter of your blog post, the things you "Share" are discoverable by complete strangers across
planet earth. If you share information (text, pictures, video) about the Clover Park neighborhood, when
someone types a question about the Clover Park neighborhood in their Google Search Bar, there's
a possibility your "Share" may be served up. You've created a virtual-introduction. Who knows what
can happen next. Being discoverable is a blessing.
Findable
The easier it is to find what we're looking for online, especially when we like what we find, the easier,
faster and more likely we are to make contact or choice. When civilians consider who to hire as a real
estate agent, do you think they go online for a little research and character confirmation? I do and if
you do to, you're right.
In addition to becoming Discoverable and Findable, equally important, a well-tended blog will make
you Visible and Choosable.
Blogging Is An Anti-Secret-Agent Strategy. "Shares" Make You Known, Liked and Trusted
Personal experience and observation, plus survey results published in the NAR 2009 Homebuyer and
Seller Survey reveals that 70+% of the sellers and buyers only contact one or two agents when they
are ready to act. That's an eye-opening reality. If someone wants to make contact with you or
compare you to a competitor and they do this online by entering your name in the Google Search Box -
are you happy with what they find? If you're absent online, the harsh reality is you're a Secret-Agent.
When given a choice, would a seller or a buyer choose an agent who appears interesting and online-
omni-present or invisible? If there are hundreds of agents to choose from and they don't think of you
first or second or can't find you, you're sunk. Right?
Blogging is an Anti-Secret-Agent Strategy and most important of all, when done smartly, blogging
creates Top-Of-Mind-Awareness and makes you Choosable and Referable.

6. creates Top-Of-Mind-Awareness and makes you Choosable and Referable.
Blogging Creates Top-Of-Mind-Awareness, Making You Attractive, Choosable
and Referable
Top-Of-Mind-Awareness is
the most valuable possession and aspiration for a real estate agent. Top-Of-Mind-Awareness works
the same way with all products and services, Top-Of-Mind-Awareness is the object/person/brand that
has first mental recall in a particular category. With all the real estate agent competition in your market
place, creating indelible Top-Of-Mind-Awareness is supremely important.
Top-Of-Mind-Awareness is created by making Relevant, Remarkable and Repetitious contact,
interaction and impression. Consistent sharing on your blog accomplishes this important task.
Another important factor included in the NAR Homebuyer and Seller Survey is the answer to why
homebuyers and sellers choose to contact the agent they did. The reasons make total sense, they
choose agents they believed to be trustworthy, reputable and knowledgeable. This begs the question,
how do you currently make Relevant, Remarkable and Repetitious contact, impressions and
interaction that demonstrates that you are supremely trustworthy, reputable and knowledgable? A
blog is the perfect tool to showcase yourself; your talents, your personality, your character and your
knowledge - this makes you attractive, choosable and referable.
In conclusion. . .
If you're working a smart modern plan, getting ready to retire or creating I-Need-A-Deal-Right-Now is a

7. If you're working a smart modern plan, getting ready to retire or creating I-Need-A-Deal-Right-Now is a
priority, don't sweat blogging.
Everyone else, if you're In-It-To-Win-It long-term, then Blogging Is Brilliant - it makes your stuff sharable
and you findable, discoverable, attractive, choosable and referable.
If you've started blogging, but you've been slacking, consider a rededication.
If you're not blogging, consider it. To get started, I'd recommend that you observe what others are
doing. A convenient way to do this is visit the AgentGenius.com blog. The AgentGenius.com blog is
powered by the collective contributions or real estate agent guest writers. You'll find the articles
interesting and informative, but what I want you to do is visit the individual blog sites of the authors. At
the top of each article you'll find a By Line and the author's name hyper-link. Click on the author's
name and you'll be whisked to their profile page. There you will find links to their individual blogs.
Visit those and observe what they share, how they share and everything else you can learn.
Then pull the trigger and Be Brilliant.
Thanks for reading.
©2011 Ken Brand - BrandCandid.com | Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors - 9000 Forest Crossing, The Woodlands,
TX 77381
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