Photos and Real Estate Blogging, It’s What Makes This Fun and Easy

Photos by Teresa Boardman

Before going up on stage in front of 3500 Realtors last week, I was speaking with Teresa Boardman about what she enjoys to most when it comes to posting on her St. Paul Real Estate Blog and her ActiveRain blog.
“Photos I shoot and my Fridays Are For Fun posts,” she quickly responded.
“I know that I need to be posting about the local real estate market and other topics around that subject, but I really enjoy the pictures and the fun stuff.”  “I also know that my audience enjoys them a ton too.”
So when I got back from the big event, to an over-stuffed, under-managed inbox, I wasn’t surprised to find the following article from Teresa, ready for the Tomato.

Photos and Real Estate Blogging, It’s What Makes This Fun and Easy

By Teresa Boardman
It has been fairly well established that through our business blogs we build relationships with the people who live inside of our computers: home buyers and sellers, searching the internet and looking for help with their next purchase or sale.
The words we put on our blog help people find us through the search engines and if we do a good job posting the right kind of content readers stay on our blogs and read our posts.
However, there is more to a blog than words, especially when it comes to real estate blogs.  Pictures are an essential ingredient to an engaging blog, yet often over looked, and even considered unnecessary by some.
Images are worth a thousand words and are almost like magic in the way they attract people.  This past weekend I had some people in my car that are relocating from Switzerland.  They asked to see some of the places I photographed for my blog.  They want to live inside of one of my pictures.
Pictures with words create a kind of local experience for readers.  Shots around town illustrate that I know St. Paul, and demonstrate my understanding of housing and architecture and my love for where I live and for what I do. They show St. Paul through my eyes.  They are also my voice, and communicate emotion whether I want them to or not.

Search engines like the tags for the photos, and help bring more visitors who are interested in St. Paul to my blog.  The pictures that I have uploaded in Flickr and in Photozou create traffic and through my profile viewers can find my blog.  Occasionally I meet photographers on the internet, we share ideas and they give me advice when I ask.

Now that digital cameras are affordable, easy to use and storage space is cheap and readily available, picture taking is easy.  Taking pictures, like writing, gets easier with practice.  Sometimes I take 20 or 30 shots before I get what I want, a picture that shows what I see, or that will communicate what I am trying to say.
The best kind of camera to have is one that you know how to use and will use. I have three cameras, and use the least expensive camera the most.  I never leave my home without a camera and rarely have to go out of my way to find an opportunity to take a picture.
Looking at a photo is a great way to come up with an idea for a blog post. At least once a week I take a photo, or two or three, and turn them into a blog post.  This is the secret of how I am able to post seven days a week.  Honestly I don’t have that much to say but there is always something to see.
If I had to choose between a photo blog and a blog with words and could only do one or the other, I would go with the photos.  It is easier to communicate through photos, less time consuming and I don’t need to use spell check.
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Thanks Teresa, we love having you on the vine.
To see more pictures snapped by Teresa, check out her blogs StPaulRealEstateBlog.com and allTallDay.com