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.