Jan O'Brien - Real Estate Coach

Best Content Ideas for Real Estate Bloggers

Are you considering starting a blog in 2010 for your Real Estate Business?  Or maybe you have a blog and need a little inspiration, some new ideas to spark your writing. 

Researched and served up from me to you - Your Real Estate Coach - some of the best posts I've found on blog content ideas for real estate bloggers:

• Chris Brogan - If I were a Realtor  Read this right-to-the-point post as well as the comments. Its about connecting with the community, being a local source about your area.  It's not about you and selling.

• NikNik (My Tech Opinion) -  30 Blog Post Ideas To Keep Your Content On A Roll

Print this post out for great ideas and keep it with you. Use this list and the next one from the Real Estate Tomato to start your Blog Post Idea Notebook.  Carry this notebook around with you.  When you get ideas, ad them to the list.  If you pay attention, you will become aware of things to blog about daily. 

I absolutely agree with and recommend NikNik's technique - I keep a blog notebook, sorted by my different blogs/topics and schedule time in my calendar to blog.

I’ve found the best way to maintain regular blog posts and fight “blogger’s block” is by creating a content posting plan. This is really nothing more than making an on-going list of content or story ideas from which you can pick and choose to create posts from. If you want to take it a step further, you could schedule time to write, as well as “read & research”.

• Teresa Boardman - Real Estate Tomato - Food for Fodder - 101 Real Estate Blog Topics 
  

...the trick is to take every day experiences, based on these topics and weave them into a post.

Teresa is an excellent blogger who has mastered the art of blending photos, real estate and community in her St Paul Real Estate Blog. 

And two more good posts fom the RE Tomato:

• 7 Crucial Tips To Developing Real Estate Blog Copy That Gets Read
• 9 Examples Of How Blogging Will Have You Overcoming Real Estate Objections

Recommended  marketing, tech, social media blogs for the Real Estate Industry to bookmark, subscribe to and READ...

• My Tech Opinion
• Real Estate Tomato
• Transparent Real Estate
• Geek Estate
• Future of Real Estate Marketing
  
  

Blog & Social Media Training Class

Kathryn Bovard and I are teaching our 3 Hour Nevada CE class "Blogging & Social Networking for Business" on Friday, February 12, 2010.

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Next Class Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Download the class flyer:  Blog Class Flyer Feb 12, 2010

Location: Robb & Stucky Community Room, (Town Square Las Vegas • At I-15 and the 215 Beltway )

Address: 6521 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89119
View Mapquest

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at: http://business-blog-consultant.com/register/

FREE Virtual RE BarCamp is 1-4-10; Social Media & Tech All Day Mega-Webinar

I attended the first amazing REBarcamp in San Francisco, August 2008 - held prior to the Inman Connect.  REBarcamp is now Virtual and still FREE and it's TOMORROW - January 4, 2010.

If you want to seriously get a jump start on how to integrate Social Media into your Real Estate Business --- sign up now!

Educating Real Estate Agents On How To Use Modern Technologies To Better Their Business Will Never Be The Same!

On January 4th, 2010 dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry converge to host most exciting event of its kind, the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is a 1-Day Learning Extravaganza.
From 9am until 4pm PST, three concurrent webinar "rooms" will each host 7 different sessions, for a total of 28 different presentations.
There is something for everyone and everything for someone, and best of all, IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited!

Click below to:
Register.
Learn more.
See who is coming.
Check out the Session Calendar.
Get sponsorship info.

Attendance is projected to be at least 1000 agents, nationwide.
Do not miss out on being part of this ground-breaking event.

Potential Session Topics Include:

Facebook for Real Estate
Twitter 101
Driving Quality Traffic to Your Website
Beginning Search Engine Optimization
Advanced SEO
Getting Started with WordPress
Advanced WordPress Techniques
Using Flickr for Real Estate
Using YouTube for Real Estate
LinkedIn Business & Referral Strategies
Selecting an IDX Company
Single Property Websites
Getting the Most Out Of Your Mobile Devices
The iPhone and Real Estate
Photoshop for Real Estate
Video Blogging
Video Listings
Advanced Twitter Tips
Preparing to Start a Real Estate Blog
Google Analytics and Traffic Statistics

...and much more, with new sessions being added every day.

And if that wasn't cool enough, individuals from around the country are volunteering to host In-Real-Life MeetUps for after the event.
Learn all day, and then meet to have a beer with local participants. This is going to be a blast!

We hope to see you there!

Business Blog & Social Media Class - Nov 13 - Last CE Class for 2009!

Blogging & Social Networking for Business Class

Are you ready to embrace and adapt to the Social Media phenomenon for your business?

Don't miss the last class of 2009!

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Friday, November 13th, 1:00-4:00 pm

Mountain View Mortgage Training Room

215 & Durango (Sunset to Butler to Building)

Click here for a MAP - Street Address not on Mapquest

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at : http://careerrealty.com/contact_training.htm

Instructors: Jan O’Brien, 858-9191 and Kathryn Bovard, 348-7191
             
Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…

• What is a Blog? Who Is Blogging? Why should You Blog?
• The anatomy of a blog – understand all the components and how a blog differs from a conventional website
• 6 Questions to Consider before Launching a Blog
• Learn the 15 Top Tips for A Successful Blog
• How to generate leads using a blog and other social media
• How does Web 2.0/social networking impact the real estate industry?
• Learn how to use FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ACTIVE RAIN and LINKEDIN to optimize and drive traffic to your blog!

Bonus Materials - Receive a copy of:

• Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your FREE blog
• Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value) A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Register & reserve your seat online now!

Real Estate Widgets for Your Blog or Web Site

Are you a real estate agent and BLOGGER?  Are you searching for ways to add interesting and compelling content to your blog or web site?  How about adding a widget or two to your sidebar?

In case you are not yet familiar with the term “widget”…

What is a Widget?

According to Wordpress.com…
A Widget is a fancy word for tools or content that you can add, arrange, and remove from the sidebars of your blog. Widgets make it easy to customize the content of your blog sidebar – the part of your blog to the left, right or sometimes top or bottom of your main content. So long as you’re running a widget enabled theme, you can customize what goes into those sidebars.

Here are the best real estate-related widgets I have come across…so far:  (Do you know of a great RE widget to add to this list?  Tell us about it in the comments.)

Zillow

• New Local Market Explorer Wordpress Plugin – Creates “City Pages” based on a mashup of these services -  Zillow market stats and info, Yelp, Walk Score, Flickr, School Data from Education.com. The plugin does not support neighborhoods or ZIP codes – Zillow is working on that for next version.

• Here’s the LME widget in action – I just installed it on my Business Blog Consultant  Wordpress blog:
  
  

• Real Estate & Mortgage Widgets – Make sure you have a Zillow Profile and you can Co-Brand these widgets for your site.  Zillow has a myriad of widgets to choose from including:  Mortgage Calculators and rates, Your Listings, Recently Solds, and some new ones for Home Buyer Tax Credit and Loan Modification qualifiers.

vFlyer

• vFlyer has the best options for displaying your listings on your site. Slideshows, Galleries, Flyers and More

Trulia

• Trulia has several widgets to incorporate into your blog or website. Click here for the page with all the Trulia widgets, screenshots and downloads.

Or here they are listed individually:

• TruliaCarousel Add real estate listings to your web site in an interactive and easy to use property carousel.

• TruliaMap The TruliaMap widget shows listings from you, the real estate professional, on a colorful, interactive and easy-to-use map.

• Trulia Snapshot With the TruliaSnapshot widget, you can show off Snapshot on your own website for free.

• TruliaVoices Broadcast your real estate expertise with the TruliaVoices Q&A widget – an easy way to show off your answers from Trulia Voices on your own blog or website.

• TruliaCalculator. This mortgage calculator widget adds great real estate content to your own web site or blog.

• TruliaHomeroll The TruliaHomeroll widget shows the latest properties for sale on Trulia in your local area.

• TruliaMinistats The TruliaMinistats Widget is a great way to keep your website visitors up to date on how prices are trending in your market.

• TruliaStats This widget is a custom chart of the average listing price and available inventory for any city or neighborhood in the US.

• TruliaSearchbox Now you can give your users the ability to search homes for sale on Trulia directly from your website or blog.

• TruliaChart The TruliaChart widget is a free chart for your website or blog that gives your users helpful market trends for your local real estate market. You can show listing price, sales price, number of properties sold or number of properties for sale for any US city.

The Power of Social Media for Business

If you haven't seen this video - take a look...Very powerful and compelling stats and facts about how social media is impacting us on all levels. 

Are you ready to learn more about Business Blogging & Social Media?  Don't miss our next CE training Class:

Real Estate Blogging 101

Wednesday, September 23rd, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
First United Mortgage Building Do not mapquest - The street does not exist!
(215 - between S. Buffalo and S. Durango - off W. Sunset)  Here is a MAP

$45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at http://www.careerrealty.com/contact_training.htm

Blogging & Social Media for Business - CE Class on Sept 23, 2009 - Las Vegas

Real Estate Blogging 101

Sponsored by Lucky Katz Seminars

Wednesday, September 23, 2009,
1:00 to 4:00 pm

First United Mortgage Building
(215 - between S. Buffalo and S. Durango - off W. Sunset)
Not on Mapquest - Here is a MAP
   
$45 in advance; $55 at the door

Register online at http://www.careerrealty.com/contact_training.htm

Download  - Blog Class Flyer Sep2009

Jan O’Brien      858-9191, jan@janobrien.com
Kathryn Bovard 348-7191, www.KathrynBovard.com
             
Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…
o    What is a Blog? Who Is Blogging? Why should You Blog?
o    The anatomy of a blog – understand all the components
o    6 Questions to Consider before Launching a Blog
o    Learn the 15 Top Tips for A Successful Blog
o    How to generate leads using a blog and other social media
o    Learn how to use FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ACTIVE RAIN and LINKEDIN to optimize and drive traffic to your blog!
o    How does Web 2.0/social networking impact the real estate industry?
o    At the end of this class, you will be ready to know if you want to blog or not and the steps to take to be successful

Bonus Materials - Receive a copy of:
o    Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your blog
o    Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value)
A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission

3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Are You Ready to Learn How To Blog? Our Next CE Class is July 15 in Las Vegas

Real Estate Blogging 101 - How the Internet is Changing Business
Sponsored by Lucky Katz Seminars
Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission
3 hours (PD) Continuing Education CE.3706000-RE

Date:                     Wednesday, July 15, 2009

                                   

Class Time:            1:00 - 4:00 pm

Location:                First American Title
7201 W. Lake Mead Ave. Ste. 200 Las Vegas, NV 89144 
Click Here for MAP

                                  

Cost:                      $45 in advance; $55 at the door

Register online at www.CareerRealty.com 
 

Instructors:           Jan O’Brien   858-9191, www.JanOBrien.com

Kathryn Bovard 348-7191, www.KathrynBovard.com 
             

Download BlogClassFlyerJuly2009

Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…

• What is a Blog? Who Is Blogging? Why should You Blog?
• The anatomy of a blog – understand all the components and how a  blog differs from a conventional website
• 6 Questions to Consider before Launching a Blog
• Learn the 15 Top Tips for A Successful Blog
• How to generate leads using a blog and other social media
• How does Web 2.0/social networking impact the real estate industry?
• Learn how to use FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ACTIVE RAIN and LINKEDIN for Business!

Bonus Materials: Receive a copy of:

o        Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your FREE blog

o        Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value)

A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Seating is Limited.  Register & reserve your seat online:

www.careerrealty.com

Learn to Blog...Real Estate Blogging 101 Class set for April 17 in Las Vegas

Real Estate Blogging 101 - How the Internet is Changing Business

Approved by the Nevada Real Estate Commission
3 Hours Continuing Education (PD) CE.3706000-RE

Date:                  Friday, April 17, 2009
           
Class Time:        1:00 - 4:00 pm

Location:      MetLife Home Loans
1401 N. Green Valley Pkwy #250, Henderson 89074
From I-215, north on Green Valley Pkwy to 1401

Cost:  $45 in advance; $55 at the door
Register online at www.CareerRealty.com 

Instructors:       
Jan O’Brien     858-9191, www.JanOBrien.com
Kathryn Bovard 348-7191, www.KathrynBovard.com

Three hour (CE Approved) training seminar covering…
o    The State of the Internet – How Blogging can Generate Business
o    Blogging 101
o    What is a Blog? Who Is Blogging? Why should You Blog?
o    How to get started blogging. How & Where to Find Blogs
o    Lead Generation and Business Applications; Legal issues, Disclosures
o     How does Web 2.0/social networking impact the real estate industry?

Bonus Materials: Receive a copy of:
o    Wordpress.com Tutorial ($20 value) A step-by-step guide to launch your FREE blog
o    Real Estate Agents Internet Resource Guide ($10 value)
A comprehensive guide to online Listing Tools, Blogging and other Web 2.0 services, tools and technologies

Seating is Limited.  Register & reserve your seat online:
www.careerrealty.com

Download BlogClassFlyer2009

Technorati's State of the Blogosphere Report September 2008

Technorati has posted the State of the Blogosphere 2008 in a 5 part series packed with trends, stats and details about the who, what, why and how of blogging.  This year, as discussed by CEO Richard Jalichandra at the recent Blogworld & New Media Expo, Technorati conducted a random survey of the 1.2 million Technorati members (approx 1300 participants from 60 countries). 

• Introduction
• Day 1: Who Are the Bloggers?
• Day 2: The What And Why of Blogging
• Day 3: The How of Blogging
• Day 4: Blogging For Profit
• Day 5: Brands Enter The Blogosphere

 

Previous reports:       2007,       Index

   

Some of the highlights of the report and from the Blogworld 2008 presentation:

• Technorati has indexed 133 million blogs since 2002
• 76,000 blogs have an authority of 50+ (Technorati assigns an authority rating based on the number of sites linking ot the blog - the more links the higher the authority rank)
• Two-thirds of bloggers are male
• 50% of bloggers are between the ages of 18-34
• 70% of bloggers have college degree
• One in four have an annual household income of $100k
• The top 10% of blogs producing income blog multiple times daily and use multimedia formats
• Bloggers are also active Web 2.0 participants (social networks, Twitter, Videos, podcasts, social bookmarking)
• Bloggers are self-identified as Personal, Professional or Corporate

Blogworld 2008 - Dave Taylor on Search Engines and Findability

 Dave Taylor -  Ten Things Your Need to Know about Search Engines and Findability

It all starts with good content - interesting, compelling and relevant.

Search Engines use semantic (what are you saying) and contextual analysis (who links to you and how they link) to figure themes and topics.

Here are Dave's 10 Things (plus a Bonus Tip) to Know About Search Engine Optimization:

1. Importance of titles- is title good enough to draw attention? Does is contain a keyword or concept about the post?
2. Keyword Density - think keywords when writing - use the keyword several times in the post and not "it" or other pronouns.  Don't use click here - make the keyword text a link.
3. Smart image filenames - Rename your images with relevant keywords for the particular post
4. The alt and title attributes -Take the time to fill out the alt and title tags for your uploaded images and files - again with relevant keywords/concept.
5. "More..." is definitely less" - Reconsider the use of the Read More  in the post.  Change the link from more to the keyword heavy title for example.  Consider not using "Home" but the name of your Website in Navigation.
6. Use savvy permalinks -  Each blog post has it's own unique URL - choose the most powerful words to describe the content of your post.  Wordpress has plugins to customize your URL.
7. Use HTML too, not just CSS - Search engines like HTML - All blog platforms have easy HTML editors. (header tags <h1> <h2> for example)
8. Minimize exit links - scrutinize who and how many links are in your blogroll.  The more outgoing links you have increases possibility of visitors leaving your site
9. Use internal links to cross-promote content - Use Related/Similar Posts at the end of your post (Use Wordpress plugin); Title of the blog post is the link.
10. Encourage easy commenting - Don't require login or registering in order to post comments.
11. Bonus Tip:  Use Keyword Research Tools to see what combination of words and word phrases people use and how often people search for certain keywords.