Real Estate Blogging for a Better Image

What does the general public think of those in the real estate profession? Ask 50 different people this question, and you'll probably get 50 different answers. In truth, it's hard to roll the perceptions of so many into such a simple assessment.

But it's not hard to find the negativity:

John Tuccillo, former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors(r), was quoted as saying: "With the expansion of the number of Realtors, the level of competence has fallen to its lowest point ever."

In 2006, a consumer poll by the global research company Harris Interactive ranked various occupations by how prestigious consumers thought they were. Real estate agents were at the bottom of the "prestige scale."

Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I'm just reporting what I found on this subject. But it's not the point of this article to support or refute any of these perceptions. They are what they are. So let us simply agree that real estate agents -- like any other service professionals for that matter -- can benefit from inspiring a higher level of consumer confidence.

How Real Estate Blogging Can Help

I would like to offer a suggestion toward the above-stated goal. Blogging. That's right, publishing a blog. Based on my experience over the years, real estate agents can build trust and improve consumer perception by doing the following:

• Publishing quality information online
• Doing it on a regular basis
• Engaging in a dialogue with their readers
• Showing some personality
• Demonstrating their professional skills and talents

And what better tool to accomplish these things than a blog? Now, I'm not going to tell you that a real estate blog will perform some act of magic and transform the public's perception of you overnight. In fact, I'm not even saying you need to change public perception at all. I don't know anything about you. As an agent, you could be doing just fine in this department.

But I will tell you this. Any real estate professional can benefit from demonstrating knowledge, skills and competence, and a real estate blog can help you do exactly that.

Think about it from a consumer's perspective. If somebody visits your website only to find the standard resume or bio page, they really haven't gotten to know you at all. But if they find your blog -- and you've done a good job blogging in your natural voice, and on a regular basis -- then the reader will feel almost as if they know you. As a result, they'll also be more likely to contact you about your services.

Of course, there are many other advantages to publishing a real estate blog. You can use it to start a dialogue with your visitors (through the comment feature). You can use it to keep people informed about your local housing market. You can use it to boost your search engine traffic by publishing keyword-rich content on a regular basis. The benefits of blogging are nearly endless. So why not start a blog today?

Starting a real estate blog is fairly straightforward. Of course, it's easy for me to say that because I've created many blogs for clients over the years. For some, it can be a frustrating and time-consuming process. If you want to get your blog up and running fast, and it you want a custom design that matches your website, check out our blog setup services.