Why Real Estate Blogging Is Like Golf – The Back Nine
We’ve had our lunch, made the turn and re-stocked our coolers.
We’re ready for the back 9.
Today’s post is the second part in a two part series observing how publishing your real estate mind is like mastering a game of patience and grace. Miss the 1st installment? Click the link for the Front Nine.
1. It is an addiction.
Once you’ve caught the ‘golf bug’ it becomes obvious to those closest to you. You practice your swing in the living room and your putting in the office. You actually start watching golf on TV and, you’re unsuccessfully convincing your spouse that you need to plan your next vacation around a dream course.
With blogging, your loved ones know you have lost your mind. You blog in bed, from your cell phone, before anyone else is up, on vacation… and in the bathroom?
2. It is therapeutic.
A long walk, none of life’s distractions and a few solid strokes… the Zen that is golf.
Organizing your thoughts, working out a unique concept, staying focused and completing the task… the Zen that is blogging.
3. Sometimes, just one good shot makes the whole day worth it.
A day in the rough is saved with a 30 foot putt.
A heart warming comment from a reader will make a blogger’s month.
4. Approaching a shot is envisioning success.
120 yards out: There is a calculated formula for your success. The right club, the right amount of swing, the landing target… everyone envisions it.
A solid article, for me, is envisioned before it is started. I write the headline, the major points and the goal in my mind before I even open the laptop.
5. Small changes can make all the difference.
Position the ball just an inch further back in your stance, and you can achieve the loft you need to clear the trees.
In blogging, it’s all in the formatting. Break a long paragraphs up into smaller, bite-sized, reads, and your audience will spend a few more minutes on each article.
6. No matter how polished we may be, we still land in hazards from time to time.
A misspelling or a broken link are one thing… but an opinion that falls sour?… Some shots you just wish you could take back.
7. There’s no pay, just ‘investment’.
Almost every golfer spends money to golf. No one is paying them to play. Oh the dream.
Golfing for me is an investment. An investment that makes me work on my focus, my patience, my discipline and that mind over matter thing.
Blogging similarly is an investment. Blogging makes you a more disciplined writer, thinker, reader, networker, advertiser and Realtor, but rarely is it going to directly pay you back in cash.
8. The Outfit.
Your stereotypical golfer: Loud pants – pastel, soft collard shirt – and an ol’ timers hat. Don’t forget those funny golf cleats
Your stereotypical blogger: No pants – stained T-shirt – and a baseball hat. Don’t forget those bunny slippers.
Sure, no comparison here… but the visual was too much to pass up.
9. The Lost Ball
A solid drive; you got all of it. The balls soars and bends into the sunlight. You squint to follow its path. It’s out there, somewhere in the fairway. You know it.
10 minutes later, with the whole group unsuccessfully locating your powerful drive, begrudgingly you pull a new ball from your pocket.
1 hour of typing, formatting, and researching; you got all of it. “Windows has performed and illegal operation and must shut down.” Noooooooooooooo!
For inspiration on this post, special thanks to:
Keith Jeppson
Doug Trudeau
Wizard Man
