By now I’ve lost track of the amount of times I’ve heard a client tell me “I’m not a blogger” or “can we remove the blog from my site?” Whenever I allude to the blog feature found on the dashboard. To that my reply is this: You don’t have to be a devote writer in order to blog and you most definitely need to have a blog on your site. The key ingredients for starting a blog is genuine interest in your field, the motivation to learn and subsequently share what you what you learn with your audience. Blogging for your real estate business (or any business) is time well spent and it will pay off I promise!

Here are a couple personal tips for first-time bloggers. Get organized and get informed. The best way to be a successful content writer is to plan your posts. Jot down 3-6 ideas for blogs that you would want to publish in a month’s time and schedule them. This will give you the time to do your research and gather any required media. Avoid writing a blog on the same day you will publish it, taking a second look at your work on a different day is always helpful. Struggling to find a topic to write about? Get inspired. Find blogs and publications that you like and read them religiously, once you make a habit of it you’ll see that ideas just come to you! Some of my personal favourites are Sorry For Marketing, Inman Real Estate News, and BetaKit.

If you’re still not convinced that blogging is for you, I hope to change your mind with the following points on how blogging can positively impact your business.

1. SEO!— I knew that would catch you attention. In the last couple of years SEO has become increasingly more difficult than it ever was. Search engines want you to work for and earn that first page placement and nothing accomplishes this better than blogging.  One thing Google loves is original content, write new content and you will see the fruits of your labour displayed on the pages of Google.

2. Connect with your audience and cultivate relationships. Engage your audience with blogs and start up conversations. It’s also a great way to ask for feedback and who knows you might even get a testimonial or referral out of it.

3. Become an industry leader. Share your knowledge about real estate, your community or even a particular hobby you have and gain legitimacy as an expert. Once you’ve established yourself as a reliable source of information people will flock to your site.

4.  Blogging is easy, especially on the Übertor platform, yes we do generate automated blogs, but please don’t settle with that, write your own, get your ideas out there it could even be about an interesting article you read.

5.  Blast your blogs on social media channels and get relevant/wanted traffic onto your site, blogging is a great way to generate new leads.

6. Real Estate agents can sometimes have a reputation of being cold , sales-driven and impersonal. A blog is a great way to give your online persona a voice, become as approachable and likeable online as you are offline.

7. It’s a great way to showcase your accomplishments and milestones! You work hard and are passionate about what you do. Home buyers are looking for success stories and “social proof” that you’re as good as you claim to be. Broadcast your sales, awards, events, or even a new team member on your blog.

If you wish to have more information about blogging using the Übertor control panel, or simply want to bounce off ideas for a next post, give me a shout!

Also, according to Postling’s infographic posted by Mashable, last year, 84% of Real Estate professionals have already started using social media and it was found out that 45% walked through a home viewed online, an action taken as a result of an Internet Home Search.

So, agents, are you living in the digital era and getting the most out of it?

If not, then you might want to reconsider and not get left behind. Technology is now a part of our daily lives and social media is fast becoming a crucial part as well. Take a step and ante up your business.

Feel free to poke our team with any questions – we’re always happy to help.

It was a great time and allowed us to learn more about what Inman News has in store for next year. Sounds like things are really going well for the crew at Inman and they are bringing back the Agent Reboot events that run across North America, both Connect Conferences (New York and San Francisco) and even adding a new Connect Conference, this time in Paris. Lots happening! If you have not been to a Connect Conference, check it out, always a good time with a fantastic line up of speakers.

(more photos at https://www.facebook.com/Ubertor)

(L – R: Michael Stephenson (co-founder of Ubertor), Tim Smith (CEO of Inman News) and Stephen Jagger (co-founder of Ubertor)

Mike showing Tim a peek through the “window” into Manila

Tim Smith chatting live with Tin in Manila

This years event was fantastic with an awesome line up of speakers and of course, a great group of attendees from all over the globe. It is always great to run into friends that you normally only communicate with online.

LobbyCon
LobbyCon (hanging out in the lobby of a conference) was a fantastic portion of this conference as usual. There were lots of familiar faces to catch up with.

Panel
I had the honor of being on a panel, moderated by Sherry Chris, who is the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens, along with Brian Clark, CEO of CopyBlogger.com and Walter Schild, CEO of Genex. Our panel was all about business of tomorrow and where things are going. My portion of the panel was to speak on how our operations work in 3 countries and how our culture has become so important in our Philippines operations. The crowd was filled with over 1000 agents and brokers from all over the world. It was a privilege being a part of the panel and it was great to learn more about the other panelests as they told their stories.

(Panelists ~ L – R: Stephen Jagger, Sherry Chris, Walter Schild, Brian Clark) (photo by: Chad Johnson)

(On Stage ~ L – R: Walter Schild, Brian Clark, Stephen Jagger) (photo by: Chad Johnson)

(photo by: Chad Johnson)

(View from the back of the room)

Parties
With any good conference there are always a few parties organized for the evenings. This conference was no exception.

(Trulia.com party at the top of the Clift Hotel downtown San Francisco)

(Better Homes and Gardens Cocktail Party in the Residences at the St. Regis Hotel ~ L – R: Stephen Jagger, Nicole Nicolay) (photo by: Chad Johnson)

Never been to an Inman Real Estate Connect event? Maybe next year is your year… check out the details for New York 2012 or San Francisco 2012.

(L – R: Gary Chambers, Stephen Jagger) (photo by: Chad Johnson)

Here are a few of the pictures:

(L – R) Debra Trappen from Seattle WA, Tod Lansing, Nicole Nicolay from Pleasanton CA

(L – R) Marty Pospischil, Kevin Jagger (the Long Track Long Shot)

(L – R) Glenn Sanford from Bellingham WA, Gabe Hoggarth from Seattle WA

(L – R) Tod Lansing, Nicole Nicolay from Pleasanton CA, Stephen Jagger

(L – R) Debra Trappen from Seattle WA, Kelley Skar from Calgary AB

(L – R) Sherry Chris from Morristown NJ, Dale Chumbley from Vancouver WA, Jerry Mcnamara, Bill Wassmer

You can see the complete list here.

And in Ian Watt style, Ian recorded a video about the nomination:

“Ubertor, which simplifies the process of Web site design for real estate professionals with a powerful and easy-to-use online platform, won the Most Innovative Web Service award”

(via Inman News)

Thanks Inman! I wish I was able to have been there this year but had prior engagements in Toronto. A big thanks to Ian Watt who ran up on stage to collect the award!

Congrats to the all of the winners:

2009 INMAN INNOVATOR AWARD WINNERS
Innovator of the Year: Frank Borges LLosa
Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise: Nest Realty Group
Most Innovative Technology: Closing.com
Most Innovative Web Service: Ubertor
Most Innovative Blog: The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
Most Innovative Media Site: Breaking News Network (Domus Consulting Group)

If you are interested in finding out what Ubertor is all about, feel free to setup a website. There is no setup fee, no contract and your first 30 days are free. Let us earn your business! You can signup here to take it for a test drive.

Winners of the 12th annual awards — which honor companies that use technology and innovation to enhance the real estate transaction process and improve the overall experience for consumers and real estate professionals — will be announced during the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, which runs from August 5th – 7th 2009.” (via Inman News)

Thanks to Inman for recognizing our efforts! Good luck to all of the other finalist including Ubertor client Ian Watt who is a finalist for “Most innovative blog”.

Are you interested in trying out the Ubertor product? You can signup online at www.ubertor.com for a 30 day free trial with no contract, no setup fee and no obligation. Let us show you what you can do with an Ubertor website.