Sharing Knowledge With a Real Estate Blog

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of the real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of using a real estate blog.

'K' is for Knowledgeable

Former Chief Economist for the NAR, John Tuccillo, recently said: "With the expansion of the number of Realtors, the level of competence has fallen to its lowest point ever."

This should worry real estate agents for several reasons, but primarily because it suggests a negative perception that could be applied in wholesale, stereotypical fashion to real estate professionals in general. If real estate industry experts think this way, what's to stop the public at large from developing unfavorable views of real estate agent competence?

Now, I'm not here to tell you that a real estate blog will magically transform the public's perception of you, as a real estate agent. For that matter, I'm not even telling you that you need to change public perception. But I will tell you this -- any real estate professional can benefit from showcasing knowledge and competence, and a real estate blog can help you do exactly that.

Let me offer an example from one of my new blogs. I am selling a new book on real estate SEO, entitled Top Ten Agent. This book reveals the exact process I use to drive real estate websites (like this one) up the search engine rankings. Like real estate, search engine optimization is a knowledge-based service. So I am using the website's accompanying blog to demonstrate my knowledge, and thus make people more inclined to purchase my book. Granted, the new blog is very young ... but you get the idea.

Now, most people who visit your real estate website will want to get straight to the good stuff -- viewing property photos, prices, virtual tours, etc. But when they get beyond that point, and they are deciding whether or not they want to contact you, wouldn't it help if they perceived you as being competent and knowledgeable? Use your real estate blog to create an ongoing base of expertise, and they will perceive you in this light.