How Blogging Can Help Grow Your Real Estate Business

In many ways, real estate is an industry where old school and new school ideologies collide. Some Realtors champion cold calling and going door to door in their desired territories. There are also social sellers who leverage their networks and grow organically. Yet others send emails to those listing as for sale by owners (FSBO) or reach out on BiggerPockets.

What type of Realtor are you? You can be a successful Realtor leveraging any of the aforementioned methods. Here’s the problem: Someone else is already doing it. The solution? Blogging. Many Realtors overlook blogs as a viable option to garner exposure and potential leads. If you’re not blogging already, this article is intended to convince you to start sooner than later.

The Internet Is Prime Real Estate

Location. Location. Location.

For a Realtor, the internet is prime real estate. According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report, the first step that many people make in the home buying process is leveraging the internet. As a first step, 40% of millennials looked online for information and 48% of younger boomers looked online for properties for sale.

What does a blog have to do with that?

You’re probably thinking that you need to have a listing in order for someone to find you on Zillow, BiggerPockets, or another listing service. Although that’s one way a potential buyer could find you, another is by finding your blog. Blogs can help you acquire highly targeted, low-hanging fruit that no one is reaching for. A 2017 NAR report noted that only 11% of Realtors have blogs, so by simply having one and posting regularly, you could get more online visibility than your competitors.

Writing blog posts increases your visibility on Google because people can then link to your article. The more people that link to your article, the better. In essence, this is a component of search engine optimization (SEO), which online brands covet. Ranking higher in Google means more clicks and more people visiting your website.

Pretend that you wrote an article on your blog titled How to Buy a Home in ______ (insert your location). Then imagine that someone Googles this exact phrase. This means that anyone who clicks the link to your article is a highly targeted lead because they’re looking for exactly what you wrote about. Once they realize that you’re a Realtor, who do you think they’re going to call?

Show Your Expertise

When someone looks at Realtors on a company or listing website, there’s typically not a lot of information to differentiate Realtors. It’s usually just a picture and contact information, maybe a brief blurb if you’re lucky. Rather than relying on this basic information to get clients, leverage your expertise. Before choosing a Realtor, potential clients will probably do a quick Google search to learn more about you. If the first thing they see is your blog, they’ll witness your expertise on display.

As a Realtor, you wear many hats, ranging from salesperson to sounding board to therapist. This means you know people’s apprehensions, misconceptions, and frequently asked questions about buying and selling homes. Writing about these topics provides useful information to potential clients and shows them that you know what their needs are.

The more they read, the more they’ll realize you know what you’re talking about.

Stand Out

If success in life starts with just showing up, the same can be said about starting a blog as a Realtor.

Earlier in this post, you learned that only 11% of Realtors have blogs and that a blog can put your expertise on display before you even meet a potential client. One reason that so few Realtors have blogs is that it takes time and effort. Who has time to blog when you could be making cold calls?

That isn’t to say you should ignore other income-producing activities—quite the opposite. Blogging can actually save you time if your posts generate leads. Once it’s written, it doesn’t get erased. Over time, you can accumulate an arsenal of posts that speak for themselves and garner attention with the work you’ve already done. In contrast, cold calling will always require your time at that moment.

People want your undivided attention and to be treated like they’re your only client. By being thoughtful with your posts and blogging consistently, you’re indirectly showing your clients that you’re willing to go the extra mile when others are not.

Share Your Stories

Buying or selling a house is the largest transaction most individuals experience in their lives. Homes are where people start families and build memories. You get to be a part of every person’s life by helping them with housing. Blogging can help you capture these moments and share exciting stories.

People love to hear a good story—in fact, humans learn best from narratives. You’ll never run out of content helping people buy and sell homes because each story is unique. It also lends itself to highly shareable content. Blogging about these transactions—with permission, of course—enables you to show your audience of potential clients how they will feel when they work with you.

In addition to tying in emotion, showcasing each transaction can help you reflect as a Realtor. What would you do differently next time? What can people learn from those difficult negotiations or a home inspection? The possibilities are bountiful.

Final Thoughts

Many Realtors look past blogging when developing their business strategy. Take the road less traveled by investing time in a blog for your real estate business.

Realtors, what ways has blogging helped advance your career?

Share with a comment below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.