I agree entirely! Now one of the things I learned through trial and error early on was this, it doesn’t have to be overly formal. Shoot for “conversational” instead. At every point, seek to humanize your interactions (in other words have fun with it and give people the opportunity to have fun with it too). Although this might seem like common sense to some, it’s challenging for others.

The more conversational and welcoming you are, the more willing your consumers (readers) will be to talk to you.

places like trulia/zillow/ar are information gathering depots – where consumers go to sniff around. they gather details, get questions answered, and use the information to get a better picture of what the terrain looks like before honing in at a more local (personal) level.

i.e. i go to webmd to learn about pneumonia so i can talk intelligently with my doctor about it

now, a blog… that’s something far more leverageable and is an actual asset to the agent – it’s of interest, it builds rapport, it’s personal, it’s branded, it’s a conversation point (for consumers and influencers), and something that a strategy can be built around.

Conversational marketing is the true benefit that a well written and constantly updated blog can bring. As an agent, I can see the benefit of a personal blog vs other websites like AR, Trulia or Zillow.

AR has it’s place, but striking up a conversation with a potential client generally happens via phone or email, rarely does a consumer actually post there.

Trulia and Zillow’s agent platforms remind me very much of barking dogs chasing cars down the street. Each agent racing to answer the next question first in hopes of winning over an anonymous Internet visitor. While consumers may find valuable info on those websites, I don’t see it as a productive way of finding or serving clients.

and, yeah, there’s a lot of things that can be said about Flynt but you have to say the guy knows how to create press.

when you look at conversational marketing and the buzz it can steer your way, you really can’t buy that kind of press. another way to look at: you could give away the most lucrative real estate tips in the world, but once you can tie those tips to a dominant conversation more people will flock to them simply because you’ve tied into that which is at the top of their mind.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on “Vince from ShamWow”. Love that guy!