August 8, 2008
You need a blog to get ahead in real estate marketing - part three - blogs worth reading
I have talked before about the need and or usefulness of having a blog as part of your real estate marketing strategy:
But, setting up the technical aspect is easy. By far the easiest part in fact. A lack of technical skills should in no way prevent you from starting a blog. If you can use a mouse and keyboard, you can set up a blog. But that is where the work begins.
Once you have a blog, the next step is deciding what to write about and promoting that blog. if you are reading this, you have managed to find this blog and if you have read this far, I have done my job correctly.
Most real estate blogs I see either fill their pages with property for sale, or cut and paste articles taken from other sources. Whilst this is OK in small doses, filling your blog with nothing but this is a mistake.
So, here are a few blogs that I consider to be good real estate blogs. Some very different in tone and content, but that is one of the great things about blogging - it allows your own style and personality to be reflected on the page. Obviously your blog should reflect you and your ideas, but these are a good starting point.
I like this one. Nice, clean layout: short, to-the-point posts with enough detail to warrant reading and regularly updated. I especially like their “about us” section which offers some stellar advice:
For legal information, consult a lawyer. For mortgage information consult a mortgage professional. For tax information consult an accountant.
The Edmonton real estate blog has two authors, both Coldwell Banker associates, Sara MacLennan and Sheldon Johnston.
This one is a blog for real estate bloggers. Once again, a nice simple layout, regular updates and a great selection of advice for real estate bloggers.
Having a large market to discuss is obviously a bonus, but some bloggers manage just fine with a smaller segment. There are several good New York blogs that cover the Luxury market.
Peter is an agent with the Corcoran group in New York and runs a tight ship.
Curbed is a multi author blog covering New York real estate. Lots of gossip and arguments with a lot of references to “Die, Yuppie Scum.” 
A lot of reader input makes for some entertaining reading.
Then there are the newspapers muscling in on the blogosphere. Mostly boring, but a few of them do a good job, and this one “Raising the Roof,” at the International Herald Tribune is better than average.
Filed under Luxury Real Estate Marketing by Mark Knowles
