Offline Traffic Tips For Your Real Estate Blog, Part 2

Part of the Offline Traffic Tips For Your Real Estate Blog series.

It was a funky shirt but I wore it as a test. Across the front it read “The Top 10 Traits of a StomperAgent” and in smaller text beneath “Text stomp to 4640 to find out”.

A quirky shirt, for sure, but I was curious to see if folks would text. And folks did. What they received in return was an automated text reply that directed them to a post on my blog.

Now, this post isn’t so muich about using t-shirts to promote your real estate blog (but you can). It’s actually about harnessing a larger offline method for attracting offline traffic… the shirt was just a minor player.

A traffic event

Chances are you attend plenty of events in your local area, especially if you’re a hyperlocal blogger. These events can be a great source of traffic of local folks to your blog.

This is how a friend of mine, Realtor Nick Bastian, gets a huge amount of local traffic to his site, RailLife. But, Nick’s approach is a bit different from the average agent’s…

Your average agent will attend an event looking for an opportunity to whip out his card and score himself a lead.

Nick, on the other hand, doesn’t push his mad real estate skills. Instead, he simply promotes his website. The dude’s got hats, t-shirts, banners, stickers, business cards, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had golf balls, too.

In fact, if there’s no event to attend, Nick creates one (you don’t need an excuse to party ). All in an attempt to constantly be in front of his market.

A reason to visit

One thing that works in Nick’s favor is the fact that he’s developed website to be a resource and a service to the community. His site does not solely exist to promote him or his real estate services.

As a result, though, Nick and his website have become a part of the community (one that he helped pull together), often appearing in local papers.

The lesson here is that on any given night there’s a group of people you can get in front of to promote your real estate blog or website.

What’s been your experience using events and gatherings to drive traffic to your site?