I would like for all of my new Active Rainers to see this blog, so I am going to re-blog. I think it is great. Thanks. Lisa
I have been getting some emails from some "newbies" much like myself. They all have the same
question, how are you doing so well with your blogging so quickly?
Wait, What? Who said I was doing so well??
I decided to take a look at some of these blogs from my fellow newbies. Guess what I found? Boring hyper local content, statistics, stories about their cats, no associations, no subscriptions, very few comments and the list goes on.
Let's start with the basics that I have found to work for me. (Keep in mind I am a newbie, and I am not an expert by any means.)
The best thing I came up with is: BALANCE
Don't write only about your local area, don't write statistics every other day, don't talk about how your cat fluffy caught a mouse yesterday (we all love fluffy but he is not front page news), and stop copying what everyone else is writing!
If you were to pick up the newspaper and read a story about how "grandma's" cat fluffy had a bad hair ball problem, would you pay the $0.50 to read the full article? Or would you pick it up, look at the headline, "Fluffy puked up another fur ball" and puke yourself?
You need some balance in your blogging. For every statistical, hyperlocal, me me me blog post, write something fun, new, exciting, controversial, funny, ANYTHING. You get what you put in. If you copy and paste local stats from your MLS, and wonder why no one wants to comment on your blog, reach up, open the lid, and stick your head OUT-SIDE THE BOX!
My first ten posts or so were about my listings, and my life, and me me me. You know what this produced? A big fat ZERO!
So I started reading about other bloggers, I started subscribing to top bloggers on Active Rain, I started subscribing to other top blogs in other industries. (If you need help with finding these blogs, type Good-
Cool-Awesome: blogs in Google, you will find a plethora of ideas.)
Comment on the top blogs, ask for tips, ask what they think of your blog, do something else for a change. SEO is awesome, don't get me wrong, but if all of your blogs are for SEO purposes to drive yourself to the frontpage of Google, what is going to happen when you get there and your content is boring? People are going to come, look, puke, and look for something else!
Be innovative, be opinionated, be yourself, but don't be all about yourself! Get off your blog, go find someone else's blog, and start interacting.
Now get out there you newbies and become the best blogger you can be!
Lisa Udy
Youngblood Real Estate
Lisa@LisaUdy.com
