We hear about getting a Voice in your blog posts. It's really very simple - you should sound like you. Your writing should be similar to what you'd be saying over coffee with a friend.
A local real estate agent started blogging recently, and none of his posts sound like him. On a whim this week, I took the first two sentences of his post, put them in quotation marks, and put it all into Google search.
Gee, it wasn't surprising to find more than a dozen exact posts from agents around the country - well, not all of them were exact. Some changed the location in the headline or first sentence - i.e., the impact of tighter mortgages on the (insert city) real estate market. I don't think he plagarized, or used the Cut and Paste technique - I think he paid for a service that does blog posts for agents all around the country - the same blog posts. Is the blog you? or a hired gun?
To me, that's not what blogging is about.
You may fool a potential customer for a while, so that they call you and come to you to look at property or talk to you about listing their home - but when what you say and how you come across doesn't match the personality they came to know on your blog - Bye Bye.
Readers don't want shortcuts, they don't want a canned post about real estate - they want to really know your market and really know you. It's not about spending money, it's about sharing yourself.
p.s. I'm not suggesting a VA can't be useful in cleaning up a post, correcting the spelling or grammar, or finding links to your previous posts - as long as it's your voice coming through.
Pretty interesting. Hiring someone else to do blogging for you. Kind of a ghost writer?
Sharon, how lazy or uncreative to pay someone to blog for YOU. I know some do this, which can only mean they can't WRITE themselves or don't have the time.
Rob - that's it - but a common Ghost Writer.
Gary - they just don't make the time.
Sharon - I suspect this is more common than we know. It's unfortunate, IMO. Guess I just like the real thing, and taking the time to make it so.
Have a wonderful holiday.
Jeff
I was not aware of the ghost blogging. They are missing out on the fun part!
People say when I write it reads like I'm talking.
Hi Sharon, It never ceases to amaze me at they way people feel the ned to find short cuts to everything. I would guess that maybe it doesn't make a difference but it certainly would be difficult for an consumer that cared , not to see the real person behind the blog. When I write, it may not be as sophisticated as a paid writer might do but it is real and the clients I care about would be able to discern the difference. Great post idea Sharon!
Sharon, I did that once with a lender from these parts, and same thing - a gazillion other lenders were publishing the same thing. Sorry, but I don't think that's even blogging.
Sharon - I always thought the purpose of blogging was to show your personality and voice It's actually one of the things that initially stopped me from blogging when I first joined AR because I thought it would so difficult to write in my own voice. I've learned over the many months that writing is just as you said....to tell a story as if you're talking with a friend. Thanks for the great post! Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Sharon, so well put and I am with you about using one's own voice. I have been careful since arriving here last summer to try and find my voice by following the guidelnes, advice and encouragement of Rich, Brad, Jason, Jason, Jennifer, Paul and YOU! I have enjoyed what is starting to be a pretty good time here and I really enjoy the networking with agents all over the country. That would be impossible if we were not ourselves! Thanks again and..
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I learn something NEW every day and sadly, none of it surprises me! I'm like a lot of others - I thought the point of blogging was to use your voice to connect with your prospective audience. Interesting concept, but somehow I'm thinking it's not going to work that well because you cannot fake "fake."
I agree 100% and don't want anything 'auto.' My voice tends to be a bit colorful, which actually comes in hand because not too many people want to copy my 'flavor.' The more I loosen up, the more great comments I get!
Sharon--I think anyone who blogs this way won't be doing it for long because they won't get any response. People respond to blogs because they like what they read and connect with the writer. If they call you and you don't sound like what was written or worse yet, you don't know what was written, all credibility is gone.
Sharon - I could have never made all the friends I did in AR if I had paid someone else to do the blogging - too bad that some people do that -
Hi Sharon -- You are so right. I think some people are afraid to sound like themselves... they are afraid it won't be good enough. But it is.
Hi Sharon,
I know just what you mean, I've seen it myself time and time again.
Jeff - yes, if you don't know the person, you probably wouldn't know tht.
Maggie - it is about the interaction, isn't it?
Michael - then you've found the perfect voice.
William - it's funny when people try to be and do everything. If they don't want to really do something, like blogging, then they should choose something else to focus on, instead of pretending.
Patricia - exactly!
Donna - we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hope you did, too. There's no perfect Voice - we are who we are.
Russell - hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too. When you start interacting with someone through a blog, and moreso if you talk in person, you get a feel for whether the blog is part of them or not.
Susan - it's like the old saying, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Guess this agent is just trying for the % he can fool.
Susie - more people want to be with someone who makes them laugh that a dry philosophical dissertation.
Teri - I agree, it's probably short-lived.
Barbara-Jo - some people forget that it's the journey that's important, not the destination.
Shirley - I think it's more laziness than fear.
Lynda - it's good there's a core of us that are real.
Sharon, We have all grown to know and love your voice. And you are always so willing to share and make others feel good. No wonder you and your team are such a success.
Margaret - you always say such nice things.
Having a VA take what you write and put it on your blog looking nice with links and things like that works just fine. As long as you remember to go in and respond to the comments people make after your VA puts up your posts.
~Kathy
Kathy - you hit the nail on the head - as long as you write it, someone else can clean it up and make the links. Good reminder, though, to check for comments.