Posted in Features on December 18, 2007
Every real estate agent and developer is different, and each one believes one form of marketing works better than another. Word of mouth, or viral marketing, represents just one method of marketing. Others include print, radio, television, Web sites, and blogs. This marketing “to-do” list can grow, and it would take a ’superperson’ to take advantage of every marketing situation - let alone to use each one to its peak performance.
This is where marketing bloggers can come to the rescue. The list below includes bloggers who focus on general and online marketing, including blogs. More specifically, the list below focuses only on real estate marketing, a necessity that can prove both very expensive and time-consuming unless you learn how to get around those obstacles.
Please note that the blog numbering is not meant to be a ranking, as each blog topic is listed in alphabetical under five different categories.
General Marketing
Location is important to realtors, and it’s no less important in where you place your print ads, your radio spots, and more. The blogs below will provide tools, tips, and advice on how to promote your listings in the general marketplace from other real estate developers and agents.
- About Real Estate Business: The About Web site maintains plenty of real estate blogs, but James Kimmons’ column focuses specifically on real estate business and how to market that business. Kimmons is a real estate broker in Taos, New Mexico. He has been previously licensed as a broker in Texas and currently also holds a broker license in Colorado.
- Ask Chester: Real Estate Advice: Real estate agent, Judy, speaks through her dog, Chester, as she offers advice on real estate, including marketing tools that go beyond her Dallas real estate market.
- BRER Real Estate Marketing Blog: Kathleen Allardyce, founder of Build Real Estate Results and Getting It Write, Inc., offers tips and tools that will provide your real estate business a competitive edge. Allardyce also maintains a real estate marketing “lens” at Squidoo.
- IBS Team: Yes, this site is known for its real estate listings; but, the blog focuses on real estate marketing. The news categories are varied, as they range from blogging to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Web 2.0.
- Real Blogging: Yes, this is a blog, but it’s a blog about community and how that real estate community can drive markets to your business. A variety of agents blog about coaching, specialty services, technology and more at this site.
- Real Estate Marketing Ideas: Brandon Cornett is the author of many real estate marketing guides, having earned a reputation for “spilling the beans” on marketing secrets that other experts hold in reserve. The blog is an arm of Cornett’s Web site, Arming Your Farming.
- Real Estate Blog: David Cowgill created this blog in 2006 to help others already investing in real estate to pick up a few more ideas, and for those who are beginners and want to learn exactly how to get started. If you type “marketing” into the site’s search engine you’ll discover some real estate marketing gems.
- REALonomics: REALonomics analyzes, critiques, polls, editorializes and conducts interviews that are posted to this blog as a service to real estate company owners. The advantage to the real estate agent is that he or she can learn much from various business models, including how to analyze business models for the most effective and profitable ways to conduct business.
Internet Marketing
The days when you didn’t need a Web presence are over. But, you may wonder whether the expense is worth the effort. The following blogs will help you sift through the Internet hype, to decide whether you want a static site or a blog, and to decide whether you want to go it alone or join a group of other real estate bloggers.
- 3plainsReal Estate Internet Marketing Blog: Ryan Trask converted to Internet Marketing from working previously for the media industry. In 2007 he began to create useful online real estate website guides and building real estate Web sites. He shares his expertise with agents and developers in his blog.
- Best Practices: Latham Jenkins has been in real estate marketing for ten years. He brings his passion for real estate and for Internet marketing to readers through this blog.
- Future of Real Estate Marketing: This blog, brought to you by Joel Burslem, examines the impact of Web 2.0 and the Internet on real estate and real estate marketing. Burslem has over ten years’ experience in high tech marketing and consumer public relations, and is a regularly quoted expert on the impact of the Web 2.0 and real estate.
- Geek Estate: Zillow.com founded GeekEstate Blog as a resource for real estate professionals who want to learn more about how they can grow their business through smart use of technology.
- Kim’s Tips and Tricks for Marketing Real Estate Online: Kim Morlan, a marketing coach, provides articles and info on real estate marketing, with an emphasis on online marketing and websites.
- Mike’s Corner - Real Estate’s “New Rules - New Tools™”: Michael Price is the president of 360Podcast, LLC, the parent company of MLBroadcast.com. He’s been involved with the development of web software, marketing and listing enhancement tools for real estate since 1995, and he now offers his advice to anyone online.
- New Home Marketing: Bo Gilbert, Senior Consultant at Mitch Levinson Consulting, has over 12 years of experience working in the new home construction industry and he’s also a member of the Institute of Residential Marketing (MIRM). He focuses on Internet marketing and blogging for the home seller.
- ParticleWave: John Lockwood’s goal is to get you more escrows through advanced Internet marketing. He uses his blog to share tips and tricks.
- Real Estate Internet Marketing: Mert Sahinoglu is a White Hat SEO Consultant who hopes to share his Internet and marketing expertise with fellow real estate industry professionals through this blog.
- Real Estate Marketing Blog: This blog offers real estate marketing advice for the wild, wild Web. “The Sheriff and his posse of consultants defend the value of real estate websites around the globe to the search engines by warding off the renegade throngs of bad SEO practitioners, inefficient spam lords, and boring form-letter outlaws.”
- Real Estate Marketing Platform: Rather than location, location, location, this blog focuses on relationships, relationships, relationships. Realivent aims to connect real estate agents to potential clients in a non-obtrusive, helpful, and friendly manner by providing tools to promote efficiency and the ever-increasing need for transparency.
- Real Estate Marketing Tools: Justin Smith, a coach for the Real Estate Tomato and employed at the Christian Real Estate Network, offers his expertise on blogging and search engine optimization.
- Real Estate Toolbox: Brian Rodgers is one of the most sought after trainers and copywriters in the real estate industry while maintaining his successful real estate practice. Brian remains “out in the trenches” so he doesn’t lose touch with what is actually going on in the industry.
- Realtor Tech: Marc Everlove, the Director of Information Technology at the South Bay Association of REALTORS®, shares some insight and knowledge regarding technology in the real estate industry.
- Realty Blogging: This blog fosters a network of blogging evangelists who write on how to conduct effective real estate blogging. Interested realtors will find tips on effective blogging techniques, trends, and tools that can be put into practice as agents learn how to efficiently use their blogs.
Coaches
Coaches teach, monitor, and hold agents accountable to their goals. Additionally, coaches teach the skills required to meet those goals. This includes marketing tips and tricks that only the experienced coach would know. The following coaches have businesses, but they also take time out to write blogs about motivation, skills, and selling techniques.
- Jan O’Brien - Real Estate Coach: O’Brien has over 22 years’ worth of training, leadership, business and coaching experience. She seeks to inspire, educate and counsel others to discover their full potential.
- Colm Dillon - Real Estate Development Coach: Colm Dillon, real estate developer, has created workshops that he holds in the U.S. and in Australia. Additionally, he provides software and more - including this blog - that help other developers to get a leg up on their businesses.
- Doug Crowe - Real Estate Coach: Doug Crowe offers a blog, a podcast, and other online tools to help real estate agents create and meet goals.
- Luxury Clues: This blog is dedicated to real estate agents who represent luxury properties. This tool will help you learn their “Language of Wealth ™” as well as what’s hot and what’s not in the upper echelons. Their posts include timely training tips, updates on the statistics you need to know, and strategies for providing the services that wealthy clients expect and require.
- Tom Ferry: With a current focus on real estate and financial service professionals, the Tom Ferry blog leads readers deeper into this company’s materials and mentoring programs.
Development Properties
Marketing development properties, condos, apartment and office buildings and other large properties is different than marketing a home. The blogs listed below are geared specifically toward those individuals who seek to invest and/or sell larger commodities and to the accompanying marketing issues.
- 1031 Like-Kind Exchange Blog: Why worry when a 1031 expert can help you to avoid the tax man — with little to no marketing! Bloggers Chad Hallberg and Richard Dance are qualified to facilitate a 1031 like-kind exchange, and and they about the advantages to this real estate development tool as well.
- CondoLeaf: Marc Vitorillo, broker/owner of Schaaf & Vitorillo Realty and CondoLeaf.com LLC, believes it’s time to “turn over a new leaf” by focusing on a savvy consumer-driven market. While CondoLeaf specializes in buying and selling condos in the Tampa Bay area, Vitorillo’s advice provides great inspiration and ideas for any condo agent.
- Curbed: What better place to learn about development markets than in New York (although there are links to Curbed LA and San Francisco from this site as well). Not only does this site provide a wealth of information that New York agents can use, it provides great insights into tools that other agents can use across the country.
- EcoHome Guy: So you have your hands on some properties, and you want to catch the wave of the latest green technologies. Visit this blog to learn about Burke Sisco’s perspectives on this market in the Atlanta area. What he imparts, you can adopt.
- Landlords and Property Managers: The authors of this blog, who also participate with LandlordAssociation.Org, provide services and resources to help landlords, real estate investors, property owners, or property managers make or save thousands of dollars each year. This includes networking and marketing.
- Multifamily Technology 360°: Look up this blog to find the latest news in technology and telecommunications services for apartments, condos, student housing and mixed-use developments. This is one way you can advance the marketing of your properties, and this blog shows you how to do that as well.
- The Trump Blog: You don’t need to attend Trump U. to take advantage of the wisdom imparted by writers on the Trump blog. You can even catch blog entries written by “The Donald” himself.
Marketing Tools
Business owners who also offer real estate marketing tools such as Web site design and virtual tour development write the following blogs. While business owners also write other sites listed above, these blogs are geared specifically toward the tools that they market for your success.
- 1st Online Realty News Blog: This blog compiles real estate marketing and technology news articles that will help you get a leg up on your competition.
- Base 10 Web Solutions: Base 10 Web Solutions is an internet marketing firm headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. They specialize in online marketing services such as Web site design and development, strategic Web marketing solutions, and graphic design, and they provide a blog filled with real estate marketing tips.
- Guru Real Estate Marketing: Bruno Roldan studied marketing and international business before he started his first business based on developing virtual tours for real estate marketing. Now, he promotes the first donation-based online real estate software for agents worldwide.
- ISREP Member Blog: International Society of Real Estate Professionals members use this blog to interact with the public and other members on the subject of real estate and the business of real estate, including marketing. Although no advertising or solicitation is allowed, the benefits derived are transparent. This is a form of marketing for the member, and the reader learns more about the real estate business. If you’re an agent, perhaps you should join or become a member of another group that provides this same benefit to its members.
- Kay’s Real Estate SEO Blog: Kay is a Search Engine Optimization Strategy Specialist, and she has a great deal of experience working with real estate agents, ranking their sites in Google and other search engines.
- Livepads: LivePads provides real estate professionals, home buyers, and home sellers the necessary tools for all real estate needs. People can search for homes, sell their homes, utilize social networking, and find valuable web resources for real estate. The bloggers try to write about 25 real estate sites a week.
- On the Avenues: Although the blog provides generic yet valuable SEO information, Bonnie Burns also provides web site analysis and search engine optimization services specifically for real estate web sites.
- PropertyTech.org: This business offers practical technology for trainers, practitioners and students in the real estate industry. Their blog carries the same focus, and it brings an emphasis on the services that they provide.
- Real Estate Blog Site: Chris Frerecks and Kristen Veraldi provide real estate agents with Web-based products and services, but they also provide a blog that offers advice on how to promote your business through blogs.
- Real Estate Marketing: This blog is a collection of tips, techniques and real-world advice for marketing real esate projects. Renderings.com, a full-service real estate marketing company, maintains this resource.
- Real Estate Marketing Blog: This blog is a promotion of Proquest Marketing, a business that offers marketing products to real estate agents.
- RSS Pieces: RSS Pieces makes no bones about the fact that they design Web sites for real estate professionals. However, they also interact with the public through a blog where they offer advice on Internet marketing.
- Sorted Sites: Sorted Sites is a leading company on Web site design and internet marketing. They offer complete solutions for small to medium real estate companies, and they also provide a free blog filled with substantial Internet marketing advice.
- Viral Marketing with a Real Estate Twist: This blog is provided by 4MySales, and it focuses on viral, or word of mouth, marketing.
- VTRevolution: This business combines photos or video, voiceover and music to create multimedia presentations for real estate agents. On the side, they write a blog geared toward the real estate market, which also shows some of the ‘other’ agents who are using this business product.
Did you enjoy this article?
Gary Elwood
December 18, 2007
Thank you very much for the placement as one of the top 50 best real estate marketing blogs. It’s really humbling being in top notch company.
Burke Sisco
December 18, 2007
I’m honored to be recognized with these excellent bloggers. Thank you…
Kay Frenzer
December 18, 2007
Thank you very much for this honor. I’m quite excited to be recognized in this list.
REBlogGirl
December 18, 2007
Thanks for the mention and a great compendium of categorized industry bloggers with descriptions.
Anthony Longo
December 18, 2007
Great post! and a Great list! Thx!
Kathleen Allardyce
December 18, 2007
I’m honored to have made the list! Thank you for including my blog, and for a great compilation of useful blogs.
REALonomics
December 18, 2007
On behalf of our entire REALonomics team, I want to say “thank you” for including us in this list of obvious experts. We are humbled, honored and truly grateful for the nearly 8,000 readers that actually peruse our rants. Mostly, I thank Chris, Robert, Steve, Frank, Lou and Jim…the team! Donald Teel, Founder.
Dennis McGuire
December 18, 2007
Thank you very much International Listings for including us on your blog. It is a true honor and I will proudly display this on our blog for all to see.
Warm Regards,
Dennis
http://www.livepads1.com
Jan O'Brien
December 18, 2007
Thanks for incuding my blog on your list! I have bookmarked this post as a resource. I read and subscribe to several already and look forward to exploring the list further.
Jan O’Brien
Ken @ Realivent
December 18, 2007
Thank you International Listings for including us in your list. Very nicely organized and useful to anyone looking for new tools and tips.
Michael Price
December 18, 2007
Your compilation is a great bookmark for any real estate professional interested in keeping up with the ever changing landscape of Real Estate 2.0. Thanks for including us. ~MP
Kathy Hertzog
December 18, 2007
We are honored and thrilled to be included on your Top 50 List. This list is an excellent resource for those who have an interest in almost any facet of the real estate world. We just started blogging a few months ago and had hoped our members and other bloggers would begin to participate more with our blog. Your article will be of great use to others seeking more information. We have already added a link to this terrific resource on our blog to share with others. We are very thankful to you for including us in your Top 50 Real Estate Marketing Bloggers List.
Kathy Hertzog, President
http://www.LandlordAssociation.Org
Chicago Real Estate
December 18, 2007
What a great list. Congrats to all that made the list.
Brian Nygard
Josef Katz
December 18, 2007
Thanks for including us on this list. You have identified a great set of resources for everyone involved in real estate. Good job.
Bonnie Burns
December 18, 2007
Thanks for including our OnTheAvenues Blog on your top 50 list. As an SEO consultant for Realtors and businesses, it appears that you selectd the cream of the crop in all catagories. This list should be of great help to Realtors, who face a tough market when it comes to ‘internet real estate’
Chad Hallberg
December 18, 2007
Thank you very much for the vote of confidence International Listings! This is a great group of bloggers to be associated with and we consider it a true honor.
Chad Hallberg
Tim O'Keefe
December 18, 2007
This is a killer list of blogs but may I humbly present our marketing blog at http://www.houseblogger.com ?
It is arguably the first real estate marketing blog, as we were blogging since 2004, before blogging was cool I like to say.
You will find real online marketing advice from a real online marketer first, vendor second.
Thanks,
Tim
Chris Frerecks
December 20, 2007
Wow, we’re honored be on your list.
Thanks vey much,
Chris
Marc Vitorillo
December 21, 2007
Thanks for the props, Brian and your team at International Listings. And congrats to all that made the list.
Marc
Herb Hamilton
December 23, 2007
What a great article. I am always looking for Blog Sites to visit and learn from. Now my Favorites are bubbling over. Perhaps you know of a site where I can buy some more time?
Wayne Pruner
December 27, 2007
Thanks for the list. I’ll start chasing all those links. No doubt I will learn something. Thanks.
Tshombe
December 29, 2007
This is a valuable resource. Thank you for providing these great links! I’m very much looking forward to reviewing all of them.
Chuck Smith
January 02, 2008
You seem to have forgotten about Chuck Smith, the best house flipper in North America, 33327 houses.
He was inspired by Donald in 1994 and has shared the stage with him.
Real Agent Blogs
January 03, 2008
Great post! Nice to see some of my favourite blogs getting recognition, and some new ones to check out.
Ryan
January 15, 2008
Wow, thanks for including http://www.aBlogAboutRealEstateMarketing.com and for all the great traffic! As the condo market takes a skid, more and more condo developers and sales brokers are turning to cost-effective marketing tactics found at http://www.aBlogAboutRealEstateMarketing.com Thanks again!
Kim Morlan
January 18, 2008
Thanks for recognizing my blog! I’ve recently changed jobs (I’ve gone over to the slightly more stable Commercial side of RE marketing) but I intend to maintain my blog regarding Residential RE, even so (and may start including info on Commercial RE as well).
SEO For Real Estate
January 23, 2008
Extremely Great Post I liked it most and i found this detail a very comprehensive and I want really thanks Author for providing me or us the great information.
cheers in respect for the Author
sumit
January 23, 2008
Thanks for including our OnTheAvenues Blog on your top 50 list. As an SEO consultant for Realtors and businesses, it appears that you selectd the cream of the crop in all catagories. This list should be of great help to Realtors, who face a tough market when it comes to ‘internet real estate’
Chris Heath
February 13, 2008
Great list of sites nice piece of research work, thanks
Anonymous
February 26, 2008
im doing similar blog on local language. maybe u dont mind if i take a few article and translate it
steve jenings
April 07, 2008
Very good and well researched post.
Alec Bobdon
April 21, 2008
Excellent list of sites, great bit of research, thank you.
Lyn Smith
May 01, 2008
Thanks for the list of marketing tools, very helpful.
ashes_to_ashes
May 28, 2008
These houses are awsome, and the parties i bet are great
David
June 05, 2008
Four offices in Costa Rica. Properties available for sale from lots to condos to homes. Pura Vida.
Peter Bland
June 16, 2008
Lots of good tips and useful information here, thanks.
Peter
July 03, 2008
This is a great list. Thanks for compiling it for us. If anything, it makes me strive and work even harder to become one of the blogs listed on such a list.
Peter K.
Tony Bennett
July 16, 2008
This a new blog with current development news and articles both from Colm Dillon (Real Estate Development Coach) and other authors based on Colm Dillon’s website. It would be great if you can add this to your list of references. Regards from Tony and Colm
Sandra O'Neill
August 18, 2008
Looking for a nice property abroad? Costa Blanca Properties for Sale - White Villas in Spain, friendly estate agent covering the Costa Blanca and Costa Calida with online searchable database for properties.
Wishing you all the best.
Sandra O’Neill.
aboutrealestatemarketing
August 18, 2008
Hoping to make this top 50 list in 2008
Dan
September 17, 2008
It just goes to show you how blogging is becoming very competitive
Jonathan Bentz
October 08, 2008
So many sales pitches in the blog comments of this webpage. While I hope to see several other great real estate marketing blogs added to this list for 2008, I would hope that most real estate pros don’t think blog commenting makes for great marketing strategy.