Last week I posted the summary of the Blogging Presentation that I made to the NEFAR (North East Florida Association of Realtors). You are welcome to enjoy this video of the presentation right here on the blog.
Archive for the 'Jacksonville FL' Category
Today I had the privilege of speaking to NEFAR -( Northeast Florida Association of Realtors which includes Jacksonville Florida ) today. It was a great experience and I really appreciate the opportunity to present. And since it was about Blogging, it’s only appropriate that I blog about talking about blogging. 
The Realtors had some great questions and I thought I would recap some of them here.
What is Blogging?
Doesn’t a Blog require Maintenance?
What Blog software should I use?
What about the Free Blog Services?
What would I Blog about?
What is the benefit of a Blog
Why should I Blog?
And of course provide a summary of my answers, too.
What is Blogging?
Blogging is using software that lives on your website, where you can journal, diary or update your website quickly and easily, without needing a webmasters help (once the software in installed). Search Engines love visiting blogs because they are updated frequently are therefore considered relevant and recent for search
Doesn’t a Blog require Maintenance?
YES! and YES! If you had the opportunity to spend 1/2 hour speaking about real estate in front of an audience that wanted to hear from you - how often each week would you do it? Once, twice, several times per week. Well writing in a blog is sort of like that. You can spend an hour each week updating your blog, and folks CHOOSE to read it and learn more about you. I hire writers to help me develop content and write articles and blog postings for me. BONUS RESOURCE I can highly recommend Web Friendly Writers, Dave Navarro and Michael J. Dowling - as I have personally used each of their services with great satisfaction.
What Blog software should I use?
I personally recommended http://www.WordPress.org - and you may already have Wordpress available on your websites inside of your CPanel and Fantastico Scripts. BONUS RESOURCE If you don’t have it installed you can hire a WordPress Blog Installation Service to do it for you.
What about the Free Blog Services?
You can start a Blog on a FREE service, but you are not adding value to your own website, and you have increased credibility when you have recency and frequency of posting blog entries. A DOWNFALL to posting your blog on only the free service? If they go out of business, or decide to stop hosting blogs - you don’t have any control of your content and website, it could be gone overnight. Hosting your own blog greatly reduces that risk. Register your own domain name and get web hosting that includes the Wordpress software for less than $100 a year.
What would I Blog about?
You can blog about anything that is affecting your market. Blog from the point of view of the buyer, blog from the point of view of the seller. Offer tips about your market, blog about neighborhoods, subdivisions and even segments of town.
Jacqui Crockett the Chief Knowledge Officer from Old Republic Home Protection Company - a Home Warranty Service stated two facts that blew me away.
80% of all real estate searching begins online, and further that the Gen Y’s are much more able to actually begin buying houses now with the lower prices that are on the market.
You’ll increase your visibility by 300% by adding your picture to your blog.
What is the benefit of a Blog?
To brand yourself, to introduce yourself to someone who doesn’t know you, to have create a wireless relationship with your existing contacts and to attract new ones, to sell yourself and create credibility for who you are as an individual Realtor and the value you bring to every transaction.
This isn’t unique to the Jacksonville Real Estate Market, either, branding yourself and your credibility is important for any one who has hung out a Business Shingle and wants to attract and retain new clients.
When you consult in Search Engine Optimization, folks look at your stuff with a different focus. They want to know what you’re up to, and more importantly see if you really know your stuff. And really, who can blame them? Until the last year or so folks in the SEO industry have acted like the Mighty OZ behind the curtain. If you even breathe the letters SEO, they are already suspicious that your hand may be reaching into their pocket -even when you’re not.
So in a “small” town like Jacksonville, Florida when you tell folks you work in Search Engine Optimization, they can hardly believe it. Really? People in Jacksonville “do SEO.” They think it’s only done in technology hotbeds like Silicon Valley or New York City. NOPE right here in Jacksonville, FL there are bunches of individuals and companies who leave, breathe and love SEO. And I am one of them. Now while I don’t do SEO as a direct service, I work with corporations and entrepreneurs who need someone to help them develop a strategy for Search Engine Optimization yes even in Jacksonville, FL
The scary part about SEO is that while there are tactics to Search Engine Optimization, tricks of the trade as it were, there are no real secrets. Look high and low around the web and if you want to apply yourself to it, within 6-8 months, left to your own accord, you can master many basics to Search Engine Optimization. It’s a skill, nothing more, nothing less. Now some other SEO folks may be getting a little nervous — not to fear — I am not saying SEO professionals are hucksters. It’s a profession, just like plumbing, brick laying, accounting. SURE anyone can do it, but are you willing to apply yourself to learn the task?
Mastering skills of SEO are like mastering the skills of bricklaying. You can understand the concepts on mortar and spacing, but that does not make you qualified to build even a wall. Know the skill isn’t enough, its understanding the application, knowing how to make the bricks work together, keeping things properly aligned, making sure the mortar is the right consistency, know how to layout the design, understanding footer placement so your wall has a good foundation.
The thing is, SEO like brick laying is not really where the trick is; the trick is in understanding what keywords you’re customers may type to look for you, and where they may be in the buying process mentally. That’s where the Marketing comes in. Someone asked me the other day if you could teach a Tech person SEO. My reply was “YES and NO”. Really when I teach and train in SEO, I prefer to train folks with Marketing Brains. It is much easier to teach Marketing People how to do “Search Engine Optimization”, than to teach Tech People hot to think like a Marketer. Now understand I once was a “tech” person, too, but fortunately I inherited Marketing Intuition from my Father, making the web an extraordinary playground for me. But I digress . . . Entrepreneurs who understand their business can even learn the concepts of SEO far better than their techie employees.
Sometimes Jacksonville is not thought of a technology haven, but you would be amazed if you look around. For instance in our Jacksonville Search Engine Optimization Meetup, we have more than 30 folks in the profession, interested in the services of professionals, or desiring to learn how to DIY SEO. The Jacksonville Web Development Group has more than 90 members, and there’s even a Jacksonville Ruby on Rails Group, too. And that’s only the folks who are out in public.
So if you are in Jacksonville, FL and looking for Search Engine Optimization Services, you don’t have to go far to find a whole bunch of folks who’d love nothing better than to get their hands on your Title Tags. If you’d like to meet them, join up with up at an upcoming Jacksonville SEO Meetup, and there’s no secret handshake required.
Every day that passes, I am continually amazed that I am no longer in corporate land (as my friend Ben Mack calls it) but still with a foot in it - intentionally. There is an amazing realization that as much as I enjoy being out of “corporate land” officially, I did begin to feel that distinct disconnected feeling, as though I was stranded on an island.
Amazingly for me, Social Networking is changing that. Sure I am getting my share of garbage, but honestly, I am getting some amazing results in 2 very specific ways: 1) I am able to reconnect personal and business relationships in a fun, easy-going manner and 2) I am finding NEW clients to build relationships.
Truly 2 months ago whenever I would get a Plaxo, or a LinkedIn or a FaceBook request, I would just delete it - after all, I am in the real world. Turns out, the real world was coming to me, and I was missing the boat.
Today, I uploaded my contacts to LinkedIn, to begin re-forging relationships. But I didn’t use their BORING request, I sent a very personal ‘group’ email like this to my contacts who WERE NOT shown as current members of Linked In … :
So we haven’t connected in a while, and here I am blasting you with an Ask to join me on LinkedIn.
2 months ago, I was deleting these requests, and then I discovered that LinkedIn and Facebook are amazing ways to connect with Friends, Business Associates, and Clients in a networking setting, without the cost of fuel
If you haven’t thought of joining, please consider this your personal invitation.
Thanks, Michelle Chance-Sangthong
P.S. I am on Facebook, too - just search for Michelle Chance-Sangthong I am the only one with that long name
And I sent this email to folks who WERE already members on Linked In
Don’t you hate those stock - join me emails. Yes, you’ve probably been blasted from others folks to join them on linked in, too.
Since you’re already on LinkedIn this is pretty easy, if you’re interested.
I uploaded my email address book, which means that we have corresponded, you have been a customer of CS ideas that has sent and email, or we are friends in the personal or professional realm.
I would love to connect with you here, too.
Thank you for considering it, and thanks for being in an easy place to find you.
Best Regards,
Michelle Chance-SangthongP.S. I am on Facebook too, if you want to join me there, just look for Michelle Chance-Sangthong
(I am the only one with that name
In less than 2 hours of that email invitation on Linked In, I have re-connected with 15 or more folks from my contact list - more than half who were cold contacts. It took about 10 minutes to do. And now I can re-forge old relationships and reconnect with clients and friends in the “real world” via the dot com experience. And as I was writing this post, I just checked, a client from 10 YEARS ago is asking if I can help them. (Not bad for 10 minutes).
Now, let’s get one thing clear though - friending and linking doesn’t give me abuse privileges. I am a professional, I want to be treated like a professional, and I want to respect others like professionals. As an entrepreneur my job is to add value for my clients, period. Not slam them with junk offers, and spew on them. This is networking after all, just without physical handshake and cost of fuel.
Treat your contacts with respect, have fun and enjoy. That doesn’t mean you can’t market - it means use some common sense, that’s only fair play. Still not convinced? No problem, just start with me, I’ll be your friend
FACEBOOK: To find Michelle Chance-Sangthong on Facebook - go here.
LINKEDIN: To find Michelle Chance-Sangthong on Linked in - go here.