Attending a Chamber of Commerce Function or Writing For My Blog:
A couple of hours, some refreshments, and a bit of conversation are all great. But, while someone else is meeting and networking with the same people they met with a month ago, I've written three or more blog posts. Their time at the Chamber function may generate business, but it's over when it's over. My blog posts will still be getting me business years from now.
While You're Laying Out a Newspaper Ad - I'm Writing Blog Posts:
How many hours every month or year do you spend developing newspaper or homes magazine ads? Add to that the time you spend meeting with the media salesman, proofing what they set up for you, and then proofing it again. You may not be able to stop doing these things, but consider finding ways to spend some of that time in writing for your blog. Your newspaper ad has a week or so of exposure, and the homes magazine ad may get a couple of months. That blog post gets years.
Volunteer By All Means - But Watch Your Time Commitment:
Don't be hypocritical. Some of the things you volunteer to do, or organizations/causes for which you volunteer, are at least in part to network, meet people, and build your sphere of influence. But, while you're spending hours every month with these activities to reach a limited group, you could be posting multiple times to your blog for a world-wide audience.
I Skipped the Realtor Luncheon - While They Chatted I Gained Market Share:
Again, some great conversation, and a bit of networking with peers, is useful. But, unless the monthly MLS luncheon schedules a speaker that I really want or need to hear, I'm not going. It's much more productive for me to write two or three blog posts in that hour and a half period.
Instead of Spending Hours With a Motivational Course - I Blog:
Motivation is something very personal. Some need some external impetus to get them going, or at least to generate enthusiasm, especially in a tough market environment. It's not immediate gratification, but it motivates me to tell myself that the half dozen blog posts I wrote instead of taking that first motivational training lesson will be out there working for me, even on days when I'm not in the mood.
That eNewsletter That Takes So Much Effort - My Blog Goes Out Weekly to Many:
I love to tell people that I write something once, and then use it three times or more. One use is through a service that takes my blog posts and creates a custom email newsletter every week. I write the posts, and they are compiled and set in a professional way, going out to a list of hundreds. And, I didn't spend a minute of my time on the newsletter preparation or mailing.
Answering Questions Via Email - Doing It With Your Blog & Gaining Readers:
How many times have you answered the same question of a client or prospect in an email? We do it every day, whether it be about the negotiation process, transactions, or just the general market. Even if you try to use some type of saved message or canned response, there's still time to pull it up and personalize it a bit. I use questions asked to give me blog post ideas. So, once the question is asked and answered in a blog post, it's easy to send my email answer as a link to the post with a short message. And, there are links in it to other similar posts, so more info to my visitor.
It's Not About Time Available - It's About Priorities:
There will be a very different portrait of the local area real estate top producer in a few short years. It will be the person or brokerage with an effective web presence, regular blog posts with relevant and timely information, social networking expertise, and a system to capitalize on the prospects these activities deliver.
Few of those who continue to spend all of their time doing all of those things that used to bring them their business, while saying they don't have time to blog, will be on the short list of success in the Internet marketing world.
Sit down and do an analysis of where and how you spend time in activities that you expect to bring you future real estate business. If there isn't any blogging going on, then take a close look at what is going on for areas in which you can free up time to set up a blog, learn to use it effectively, and then write, write...write.
