The Art of the 10 Minute Real Estate Blog Post
“I just don’t have time” always leads to the death of a real estate blog.
Even bloggers that have great success from their sites find that, at times, the time it can take to construct worthwhile content is hard to come by. And the more often that it is hard to come by the further a blogger is from overcoming this challenge.
The best way to maintain a good habit is to reinforce it as often as possible, even if it is only in small efforts.
After reading all the reports that sitting is the new smoking, and that it increases your risk of all sorts of health problems, I decided that I needed to be more active on a daily basis.
As a very dedicated worker who puts in several hours of focus in a row, getting up from the desk every hour, or taking a long lunch to exercise has proven too difficult to make into a habit; disruption is the death of my productivity.
So, in January I started walking 4-5 miles every morning before sitting down for a long day in front of the computer.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago: I strained my lower back after taking a hard foul on the basketball court. I woke up the next morning unable to stand up straight, much less go on my daily 5 mile walk. The next day I had improved, but the long walk was still out of the question. Day 3: same story; mild improvement, no miles. I was enjoying the extra hour of sleep but the guilt of not going on my walk was getting to me. The next morning I got up early and slowly walked 1 mile. Then the next morning, 2, then 3 and then back up to 5.
It was easy to convince myself to stay in bed knowing that a 5 mile walk was out of the question. But once I committed to a much lower effort (1 slow mile), it was easy to get back into the rhythm. Who knows how long I would have stalled had I kept looking at 5 miles or nothing as my only options? But I do know that I got back into the rhythm much faster by lowering the bar.
Your blogging habit, much like any healthy, daily habit needs to be maintained – and learning to avoid long interruptions in your effort is key.
So – when you find yourself short on time, and know that the 30-45 min article is out of the question, don’t use that as an excuse to not publish to your real estate blog.
Use these tips to bang out quick, but worthwhile posts that will keep you on pace.
The best thing you can do to improve your results from blogging is to hit Publish as often as possible.
1. Learn To Blog From Your Smartphone.
It has a great camera, it has a blogging app for WordPress and no one wants to fidget for more than a few minutes with that little keyboard.
One of the time consuming things about blogging is going to the computer, sitting down, logging in, firing up your site and getting going from there. Your mobile device (if you’re at all like me) is almost always at hand and you’re one tap away from launching the blogging app.
Since blogging on the mobile is not as easy as it is on a full desktop keyboard, you’re forced to keep your posts brief.
This is the perfect opportunity to post something pithy; a picture and two sentences; a quote and two sentences; a quick RE news flash; a statement; a link to something useful and two sentences. Whatever it is, make it quick and easy and hit publish.
WordPress App for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)
WordPress for Android
And all the rest are here too: (BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Nokia, etc.)
2. Blog The Instant Something Comes To Mind.
Article ideas come to the blogger all the time, but they usually go into a list of “good blog topics” that you pull from, from time-to-time.
Instead of saving that clear idea for a rainy day, quickly bang out that idea as swiftly as you can, with the goal of hitting publish in less than 10 minutes.
3. Break Up Topics Into Snack Sized Bites.
Any good blogger can wax on and on about an interesting topic – why not chop it up into several smaller, easy to swallow, bite-sized pieces?
Blogging with lists is a super common format for tackling a topic’s many points. Posting an item or two a day helps you extend that topic and shorten the time between posts.
4. Take A Minute To Outline The Idea To Keep You On Track
It might sound silly to outline such a short effort (10 mins) but one of the things that keeps people from being able to get a post written and published in less than 10 minutes is their lack of focus.
By summarizing the message of the post you not only have a guideline to follow, but you also have exercised your ability to express the message concisely. I find that in the summary you can also quickly determine the Tags that you want to use for the article.
5. Eliminate All Distractions For 10 Minutes
By eliminating the common distractions (FB, chats, email, music, TV, phone, family, etc.) you can make the most of that 10 minute window to get the job done.
6. The 10 Minute Challenge.
As an exercise try challenging yourself to only 10 minute or less blog posts for 10 days straight.
Once you learn to post compelling content in a short window, it will be easy for you to add it to your blogging style.
For more information on real estate blogging, or to get some world-class one-on-one training, contact us today.
If you can’t make the content happen because you don’t have the time, or interest, or language skills, then you need to seek someone who does. Having strong content on your website is crucial for connecting with your visitor and that is the first step in “generating leads.”
Don’t just hire whomever to help with your website’s content. Hire someone who cares and understands your business. Hire someone that you are willing and able to spend time with to train to write on your behalf. This relationship needs to be healthy and maintained in order for you to get the results you want.
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