Why Real Estate Blogging Is Like Golf.
9 observations of how publishing your real estate mind
is like mastering a game of patience and grace.
1. You are competing against yourself.
In golf there is no other responsible for your successes failures.
Blogging is no different. Your search engine presence, traffic and leads are all dependent on your performance. The more you play, embrace your strengths, improve on your weaknesses and learn from those that are better, the more effective you will become.
2. It’s not how you get the ball in the hole, it’s if you do.
It’s not how you generate leads and business through blogging, it’s if you do.
There are a lot of ‘right’ ways to to get business from your site. Listen when you are attracted to what you see as sound advice. Recognize what’s working for you, and duplicate that.
3. The better you are, the less important the equipment becomes.
Tiger will out play you with just his putter; no driver, no irons, just the flat stick.
Have you seen Seth Godin’s blog? Just the flat stick.
4. Put together a couple shots and you’ll still have a good hole.
An errant drive can be recovered with a strong iron; an ill approach can be saved with a delicate pitch; one-putt and you’ve made up for that bunkershot.
When blogging, as long as the topic is solid and attractive, every point made doesn’t have to be absolutely polished. A couple great observations, or nuggets of knowledge will carry it through.
5. Drive for show, putt for dough.
This common expression explains that, just because you can crush from the tee, it’s really your green work that will shave the strokes, keeping you competitive.
With blogging: Just because you can write a killer headline, it’s keeping the reader’s attention through to the end of the article that proves its worth.
6. Play within the limits of your game.
Golf will beat you if you press. Going for it usually adds up to more strokes and penalties.
Similarly, if you don’t have a poetic command of the English language, don’t press. Leave the thesaurus on the shelf, and just write it the way you’d say it.
7. Approach each putt from all angles.
Hastily hitting a putt leaves you open for surprises on the path to the hole.
Blogging topics should be contemplated, analyzed and refined. Leaving yourself open for surprises in the comments that discredit your post is never a good thing.
8. Golfing is social. Play nice and honest.
When your phone stops ringing to be part of a regular foursome, it’s because of your behavior.
Keeping your cool in the comments and on the blogosphere is crucial for maintaining face online. Your written words can last forever online, be certain that what you write will be construed with its intention.
9. Etiquette is expected.
You can always tell the new guy on the golf course; he’s stepping on your putting line, teeing off out of turn and ignoring his divot.
Beyond spellcheck, it may do you proper to spend some time reading and learning from the behavior of the seasoned bloggers before jumping into the ring. A gaffe won’t have you expelled, but heads-up play can save you from some embarrassment and eye-rolling.
Leaving this one off after nine holes to go in and get lunch at the turn. Any other golfing bloggers out there have some suggestions for the back nine?
