In economics, there is a principle which offers insight into not only the known effects of choices, but the unknown too. It is referred to as unintended consequences. Business blogging is something where one can see a tangible result in terms of page views, subscribers, and other various SEO metrics. The outcomes which cannot be seen are how blogging allow agents to outline their thoughts on real estate topics and cohesively construct working arguments on those subjects. As agents expand on subjects like the home buying process, they will read and re-read what they write. There are results of this behavior which will give agents two surprising, although non-tangible outcomes.
Two Unintended Consequences
I often look at scenarios beyond the immediate view. As I mentioned above, blogging is viewed as an online marketing strategy with tangible metrics. If you look beyond the first stage and see the preparation of the blog post as a process, you can see amazing unintended consequences as a result of each blog topic. I will go into two of them here.
Increased Expertise
The first unintended consequence of blogging is becoming a more knowledgeable agent on your topics. If done correctly, you will increase your industry expertise across several topics. When agents begin blogging for real estate they have some topics in which they would like to write about. For example, first-time home buying or how to obtain financing in your local community are topics I have seen agents write about. If agents have been in the industry for a while they know a little bit about several topics and can write on them extensively. If agents are new to the business, they most likely will take classes and workshops on different topics. If agents have attended any blogging workshops or webinars they know blogs can translate real estate industry processes to the general public. These posts will improve search engine results and lead to higher lead generation. Most agents who blog do it for one reason, making sure they are providing high-quality content that is worth sharing.
What these blog posts will also do is improve agents understanding and knowledge of the topic. The way this looks is agents will write a post on a topic, read the post they wrote, and re-write, or edit the post. The posts act as a place for agents to outline their understanding of the topic and develop opinions on each topic. The key to this development is that with each agent it is written in their voice, with their tone, and using their words.
Higher Lead Conversion
As mentioned above, blogging offers a unique way to critically think; because agents write, read, and re-write their posts. By reviewing posts and thinking of the reader, agents are leading to the second unintended consequence of blogging – higher lead conversion. There are two ways this happens, first with a higher awareness of topics when communicating with leads, and by efficiently leveraging blog posts with knowledge in conversations with leads.
When agents blog on a particular topic they essentially trick their brains into looking for empirical evidence on our topics. On the one hand, if they are constantly reading and editing our posts, they are training their mind to think differently and look at the subject in a more … subjective manner. What I mean is they are now looking for evidence in their daily routine which supports their thoughts.
For example, if I wrote a post on first-time home buyer in Tucson, I would mention the importance of obtaining financing. As I show properties or field sign calls, I would now be aware of financing if a lead mentions they are buying for the first time. Most agents already do this; however when agents blog, their brain is now more aware of the correlation because of posts they just researched and wrote. In the above example, I would pay closer attention to the direction of the conversations because I know I can now use it in my upcoming blog post on the subject. I am also looking for an opportunity to test my written content by using it in the conversation with the lead. I want to see if what I wrote makes sense to the audience, in this case, first-time home buyers.
Let's recap – because of a blog post I wrote, I am now more aware of what a potential client is asking. Let me pose a question here: do you think people know when you are more in tune with their conversation and when you are just "going through the motions?" This is a unique trick of essentially tricking our brains into raising our awareness to become better listeners to new leads.
An additional way blogging can lead to higher lead conversion is by effectively communicating with leads and friends after writing. How does this look? After a few conversations where agents have trained their brain to be more aware on a particular subject, they are now cataloging responses based on the people they have met. Additionally they will be reviewing other conversations they have had. Smart agents also blog about the subject relatively quickly and go through the process of writing, reading, editing, and reading again. This process is training for agents to explain topics differently when standing in front of potential clients or having conversations with friends. Couple this with the internal catalog mentioned above and agents will reach a point where their conversations with leads and friends will be more natural, and flow in a more professional manner. At this point, lead conversion will increase because agents will have better understanding of the topics and some experience with different ways to communicate topics to leads.
Blogging is a way for people to express their opinion on topics, however blogging for real estate is all about business. By creating great content and using it in daily business day situations, agents who blog will see an increase in both expertise and lead conversion. These increases are interesting because they are not, or rarely are, quantifiable. Agents cannot say "I saw a 50% increase in converted leads after blogging!" This is why these two consequences are unintended. Blogging today will not make agents better at lead conversion tomorrow. It will, however, lead to a path of success in your real estate career.
Develop a plan to get started today and watch both the intended consequences (SEO & Lead Generation) and unintended consequences (improved industry expertise & higher lead conversion) produce great results!
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