Live From Bloggers Connect

I’m at the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco. This morning I’m attending Bloggers Connect; a mini-conference devoted entirely to Bloogging in Real Estate. There are 150 to 200 people in the room. Many of these folks joined us for beers last night– the room has nicely warmed up although the 8:30 start was clearly a challenge for some after last night’s parties. Attendees range from local Realtors to large home-builders and of course real estate technologists like the team from Zillow. Many of real estate’s best known bloggers are here – meeting face-to-face is a major draw card. If you hadn’t heard, blogging is a hot topic in the real estate industry.

The first panel kicked off, most appropriately, by focusing on the topic of “Finding your Voice” for your blog. Drew Meyers discussed his experiences with both Zillow Blog and his personal blog and was joined on the panel by Ardell DellaLoggia, Marlow Harris and Philip Ferrato. It was a great discussion and the panelists know their topic well. If you’re wondering why the real estate industry is so interested in blogging, Ardell clearly answered that question when she talked about the leads she receives from her blog and said, “Blog readers are ready to buy right now.” Real estate professionals who still buy leads as a part of their marketing effort may find that hard to believe but Ardell’s quote beautifully illustrates the powerful and personal connection bloggers have with their audience. Here’s some takeaway.

Next up was a discussion of monetizing your blog – the main take away was this: don’t waste your time with Google adsense on your real estate blog.

Right now, Glenn Kelman is speaking about the media storm he’s created around Redfin. Glenn’s a fantastic presenter and his candid review of Redfin’s appearance on 60 minutes was hilarious. Glenn prioritizes blogging in his marketing strategy and has done some great analysis of the efficacy of their blogging effort. When Redfin recently interviewed their clients, 42% of them mentioned that the Redfin blog positively influenced whether they used the company’s service. Redfin polled customers about what they wanted to read on the blog and found the most requested topic was past sales and price reductions. They also discovered that readers prefer posts where the style of writing is humorous, sassy and analytical. Glen reminded the room that a great blog is not a diary – you should write for the audience you want.

Head on over to Realty Thoughts for Erik’s summary.

Check back for another update later today.

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