Evolution of a Real Estate Blog

December 24, 2005

I just responded to a set of interview questions posed by Dustin at the Rain City Real Estate Guide about our blog. His insightful questions caused me to think about how we got started, why we do it and where it might go in the future.

There are many reasons to blog. One of the most significant is to get exposure for your clients, your selves and your business. When Pam and I formed our real estate partnership in July of 2004 no one knew who we were (past clients knew Pam since she has been in the business several years) or what we stood for as a new business entity. We knew we had to be different to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. We created new business models, developed a unique website and started marketing. Then, we discovered the power of the blog.

When we started blogging last March (2005) we had no idea where it would take us. We had to learn a new way of thinking, learn new techniques, learn new technologies and discover a lot about ourselves. Blogs take on the personality of its owners. Blogs thrive or die based on the content and the frequency of publishing it. Blogs let you reach people you otherwise wouldn't reach. Blogs have a global reach and can be read like news (that's what Really Simple Syndication, or RSS is all about).

Since we are coming to the end of our first full year in business together, I thought it would be interesting to see from a trend standpoint the growth of our following. These were taken directly off our blog server stats:

Jan 2005

Feb 2005

Mar 2005

Apr 2005

May 2005

Jun 2005

Jul 2005

Aug 2005

Sep 2005

Oct 2005

Nov 2005

Dec 2005

(Orange: Unique Visitors, Yellow: # of Visits, Blue: Page views, Turquoise: Hits, Green: Bandwidth in MB)

There's a Really Simple Concept here (I call it RSC). The more valuable the information we publish, the greater the following, the greater our personal exposure and most importantly, increasing exposure for our clients.

When we advertise in the print media we have no idea who really looks at our ads. We know almost instantly how many people view our blog articles. Blogging is a very powerful tool when used wisely. It takes a lot of thought and hard work. To be really effective, blogging needs to be consistent. It takes a commitment. Bloggers must have tremendous stamina. Blogging stimulates creativity. It's a marathon with frequent sprints. Blogging must come from the heart.

We are honored to have created a following that is growing at such a rapid pace.

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