Jillayne Schlicke's Tips for Beginning RE Bloggers

Jillayne and I have know each other longer than we'd probably like to admit!  It's kind of funny, but it's blogging that has "reconnected" us from way back in our title insurance days. 

Jillayne Schlicke is now an educator for the real estate industry as CEO of CE Forward, Inc. and fellow contributor at Rain City Guide.   I recently asked her for some pointers for real agents who are considering getting active in the "RE Blogosphere". 

Here's what she had to say:

• I recommend that Realtors become regular readers of the blog, including reading the comments, before jumping in. This will give you some subtle cues as to the culture of that blog, it's regular writers and regular readers.   I highly suggest looking for a "Blog Comment Policy".  Not all blogs have them, some do.

• Realtors who are coming from activerain out into the real world of blogging should be aware that blatant self-promotion is not only discouraged, it will often be called out by others. "Great article Jillayne, keep up the good work!" or other "attaboy" comments that might be rewarded with points elsewhere may not net you what you're looking for. This is similar to passing a co-worker in the hall and saying, "Hi, how are you doing?" and not really being all that interested in how your co-worker is doing. The co-worker knows that you really don't want to know by the hurried look on your face. If you sincerely liked what you read, tell the author why. If you didn't like what you read, tell the author why.

• Consumers may or may not want to reveal themselves to Realtors.  Some folks, for a wide variety of reasons, prefer to blog [or comment] anonymously.   Perhaps they have a high profile job or a high profile persona. Maybe they're blogging at work and don't really care to provide evidence of that out in the blogsphere.

• For practical and perhaps legal reasons, Realtors, while using blogs to connect with consumers, can consider the good reasons why they should always be up front in revealing their true identity. For example, a Realtor may be part of a larger team. Maybe an agent has an assistant. It's a good idea to always identify the individual posting the comment simply because in the future, a client may be talking to you and referring back to something you've blogged about.  If you were not the author, this will create confusion and perhaps slight distrust.

• You don't have to write long comments in order to get your point across.  In fact, it could be argued that shorter comments are better because they're easier and faster to read.

• Consumers are hungry for honest market advice. "It's always a great time to buy real estate!" Is not going to go over well on the majority of CONSUMER-centric blogs. Expect to be challenged on that, with requests to provide statistical data to back up your assertions.   We are living through a national housing recession of historic proportions. There ought to be no sugar coating going on out there.

Consumers are eager for opinions beyond the mainstream media.   Real estate agents have a fantastic opportunity to fill that need.