Technology for the Real Estate Future

I was able to attend the Tuesday morning MLS meeting at the board office yesterday. Mike Murtagh of Fidelity National Title was the featured speaker and he talked about the differences between a website and a blog. For those of you that couldn't be there, I thought I might give you a quick summary of what was said. Mike started with the analogy of the fax machine and how, at the introduction of it, the business (and real estate) world was dramatically changed. And then he stated that blogs and blogging will do (and are doing) much the same thing, especially in the real estate world, and so we should take note. The difference between a blog and a website? Well, Mike pointed out how a blog gets noticed by Google since it is changing (via posted articles and the social interaction that takes place) as opposed to a website which basically remains static (rarely changes). Blogs are liked by search engines for this reason. And Mike's right. Google, Yahoo, MSN, Dogpile (it is a search engine - check it out), etc., will rank blogs higher (for the most part) than websites. And so when a person does a search for property, let's say, and they use search terms like homes for sale, Sonora, Twain Harte, Mother Lode, etc., if you have your blog set right, it just might be one of the choices that appears in this person's search. And then the potential exists that they just might contact you to be their agent?! It's as simply as that. And it really does work. The best thing about blogs and blogging is it's free, Mike added. And then probably the most important point to me that Mike would make was about how the Gen X-ers, Y-ers (and I'm adding to that: the 9/11-ers) are on the verge of entering the real estate market to purchase property - and these groups have all been raised on computers and the internet and are interested in social interaction online (thus the rise of youtube, myspace, facebook, BLOGGER, etc.) - and so as a realtor, you don't want to miss this fact. If you want to have any hope of capturing the online audience, you're going to want to consider and make blogging an important part of your marketing strategy. For more information about blogging and how to get started, you know who to contact. Not Mike M., Mike C. (Though Mike M. does know what he's talking about.) I'll be happy to get you up and running with a blog.