photo courtesy of Mispahn
No one ever said blogging was easy.
I haven't posted here tons recently. For a guy who managed to dive right in to blogging, I feel like I've neglected my ActiveRain blog a lot recently. Sure, there's been holiday parties, me tearing an ear drum, me pulling a muscle in my back, and the usual things that get in the way of our blogging activities (we call them "life"); but none of that usually stops me. To be technical, none of that has stopped me either.
Lately, I've been concentrating a lot of my writing efforts onto my main site, www.RErockstar.com (as well as my simple as could be San Antonio photo blog using posterous). I've also been plotting and scheming for 2010 and where I want my site to go and how I want my business to grow. So here ActiveRain sits, collecting a bit of dust.
I still love ActiveRain and what it is, but lately I'm finding that it's not as consumer-centric as I'd like. Granted, my posts vary from consumer-based, to agent-based, to fun and goofy at times, so the consistency is not quite there in one firm category; but I'm not seeing the numbers I would like to out of ActiveRain (my outside blog rarely turns up in Google, which concerns me and when compared to my main site, the numbers look even worse). So, I'm going to step away from the keyboard for short spurts as I work out what direction this blog should take.
That doesn't mean I won't post, it just means that this place may continue to seem like a ghost town as I revamp all my decision making in preparation for the coming year. I want 2010 to be my break-through year. The one that you always look back on and say "that was the year I really started to become a real estate agent."
In the meantime, I will continue to visit and read as much as I can. There is no doubt that there are some great writers out here and way more knowledge that should ever be contained in one place. Keep doing what you're doing and enjoy your time. I hope you all have built great business plans for next year and I can't wait to see what the market will be like through 2010.
All content ©2008-2010 by Matt Stigliano unless otherwise noted.
Matt Stigliano, Realtor® Becker Properties | (210) 646-HOME | www.RErockstar.com
"Your all access pass to San Antonio real estate."
Matt - LOVE the picture, and I would be happy to read just the first line. ... blogging isn't easy, but it is WELL worth it. I've had nothing but fanastic results for my AR blog. I do plan to spread out to 2-3 more sites in '10, including priming posterous and seeing how it pans out. But I'm not dropping all my eggs into one basket.
I like the picture.
It reminds of the mining ghost towns. Some of the stuff in the picture looks like this might use to have been a mining town?
Matt. I liked your post and the fact that you are stepping out in the limelight to assume the role of the Rockstar Real Estate Agent. The number Two Thousand Ten rolls off the tongue and would make a good lyric in the video you are apparently shooting on the set of "Ghost Town". If you care, PM me if you have any ideas on which sites are more consumer-centric and I will do the same for you.
Matt,
I follow ou twitter! didn't know you were on here. glad to see you back?
Matt, great shot! I, like you have let 'life' get in the way but I am slowly making my way back.
Matt, the reality is that there are only so many hours in the day and too many places that we can post. I've been concentrating on my own site as well for the last few months and while I don't get the comments there that I get on AR, it ranks pretty well and has a consistent readership. So, I've taken to waiting to get google alerts and then cross posting to AR. Easy, unless there are a lot of comments to deal with here...sometimes I tire of the "great post" comments and I've just stopped responding to them. Not trying to be rude, but time management doesn't allow me to come back just to say "thanks".
You are blowing down doors with your blog - very well done!
Like your new listings in that photo, Matt! While I understand having to manage precious time, I'm surprised at your Google woes. I'm still getting multiple leads a week from my hyper-local contest posts on my Outside Blog (and I live in a rural area without tons of people).
Perhaps if/when you opt to refocus on AR, you could "go back to basics." Maybe reread and implement the tips from posts to which you'd direct a newbie in your role as Ambassador?
To bounce off of what Lisa said, there really is only so much time. I am planning on revamping my main site. '10 so far has me working hard on AR, my personal site, FaceBook fan page, occasionally at Trulia since I get some decent leads there with very little effort, and Posterous if I have time. Obviously using some of the same material on these. After all, we have to make money too!
Matt - that is a very cool picture! You might consider talking with Jeremy Blanton before letting your AR blog turn into a ghost town. There are somethings you can do to make your blog rank high in Google.
Matt, here is what I do. Each blog is different and has a different focus.
I have my Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk WP.org blog that is just for local people.
On AR I blog for the members with technology, fun, or whatever is on my mind posts. I do blog for the consumers here too, but I first post on my outside blog, wait for the Google Alert to come through and then post here. My outside blog ranks higher but it gets me 2-3 spots on Google for the topic I want to be the authority on.
The longer you blog the more you realize you need a strategy for where you post, who your target market is.
I blog for business, but on AR I blog for the relationships and social aspect of it.
If you go look at your Static's Page on AR, you will probably see what I do, and as I commented on Benn's AG post this week, thousands of views and clicks for listings, market reports and local information but very little comments.
This is a good thing IMO as it shows the consumers are finding my blog here.
Steve - There's some great photos on Flickr if you search "ghost town" (although I added in Creative Commons licensing rules to my search). No doubt blogging is well worth it. I have no plans on stopping that (just try and stop me!). My personal site is really doing well and the activity on it has been outstanding in the year plus I have been running it. Posterous is so easy to use and allows me to blog short brief bits of info about San Antonio and what I've been up to, so I really enjoy it. I have some specific plans for that which I'll begin concentrating on in the coming months.
Mark - I believe it was an old mining town in Northern California. Aren't all ghost towns mining towns? They always seem to be.
Hank - The name actually has history behind it (I didn't just claim to be a "Rockstar Real Estate Agent" as one might assume). You can read about that here, " What’s In A Name? The Genesis Of RErockstar." As for consumer-centric, I think the most consumer-centric site is one you build on your own. Not to say that others aren't, just saying that it seems to be more consumer-centric than most blogging platforms available to real estate agents.
Paul - Yeah, I've been here for over a year now. You've got a lot of reading to catch up on. Haha.
Matt - I can understand your goals and your way of thinking. I am very interested in the conclusions that you reach. I know a couple of other bloggers as they grew stepped a bit away from AR and did more things on their own. I think it is great to have a place in all of the above which you do. I just started a wordpress blog for our new office site "Access Philly" (the wordpress came with the site) so that is a new experience. I do not really know the SEO differences and the like but am trying to learn more every day. The bottom line is to be in it which you are. Keep doing what you are doing and hang in there with the "life" stuff !
Here is hoping that we will be reading some from you and that you truly have a break through year in 2010.
BTW, your picture brought a question to mind and that is "Does Bracketvill still have the replica of the Alamo standing or has it long since met its demise"?
Tim and Pam - Life gets in the way of everything, doesn't it? Haha. I actually like that about life - the challenge of finding the time to do all that you need/want is actually fun to me. Perhaps I'm just a glutton for punishment.
Lisa - Missy Caulk (who later commented about it) does the cross posting thing. I've never really done it (except for complete re-writes that lead back to the original). My commenting on my own posts here at ActiveRain has definitely dropped off some. Usually, I get to the first people that comment (after I've published the post), but the later comments usually get read and not responded to, unless there's something I feel I really need to say. The "great post" comment will be debated around here for ever, unless they take away points. I'd love to see an ActiveRain experiment where they took away the comment points and monitor the numbers for a month.
Irene - I think the biggest problem with Google and my ActiveRain outside blog (for me) is that when I blog here on ActiveRain, I'm selective about what I send to my outside blog. I don't share the real estate industry-centric posts on the outside blog (unless I feel there is a need for people to know about the topic). I view my outside blog as my consumer-centric arm of ActiveRain and that's where it's not performing well. Interestingly enough, I use most of the same exact tactics (in SEO terms) there as I do on my personal site, yet my personal site blows it out of the water.
Steve - Thanks for reminding me that I still need to get my Fan Page built. It exists, but it's not doing anything yet.
Bob - I read a lot of Jeremy's posts and am a big fan of his in general. I think the real question for me is which direction do I want to take this blog and how do I do that without taking away from other projects (not in terms of time, but in terms of effect).
Missy - I know your strategy and (obviously) it works well for you. You're an amazing blogger who works hard on so many different sites it's a wonder you have any time in a day! I think my big concern is that my ActiveRain blog brings me more benefits (consumer-centric) than my outside blog. I would like to think that the outside blog would perform better in terms of consumer use, but I can see from statistics that it just doesn't happen like that. My outside blog gets most of it's traffic from referrals (here and when I post links to ActiveRain posts I usually use the outside blog address) and very little from keyword searches. Yet I employ the same SEO tactics on my main site and it does phenomenally well. Just hard to figure out why.
Chris and Stephanie - Glad to hear you started up a Wordpress site. If you ever have any questions let me know. I love the Wordpress platform and it's probably one of the easiest things to use. There's a lot of great SEO-related plugins (they make a plugin for just about everything you can imagine - try visiting my site with Internet Explorer 6 - that's a plugin that generates that warning). I'm definitely "in it" (up to my eyeballs).
Don - Love the photo. I was named "Mr. Zero-60 in 30 Days" by my broker and her sister at our company party yesterday. I loved the title. You know, I've never been to Bracketville - I've heard the name, but didn't know about the Alamo replica. I'll have to check into that.
Sometimes it depends upon friends cross linking with friends. I find that my posts that do really well are the ones others link back to and further the conversation somewhere else.
Matt - I have been involved in "life" lately myself, with less time to spend here posting, although I try to make the rounds and comment each day. I hope you don't leave completely, which is something I've seen happen with MANY friends over the past two years. This remains the best place to network in our industry that I have found.
Thanks for sharing with us Matt.
There are just so many hours pr day. So it boils down to priorities. More than ever we need to decide where our time is best spent. In all our endevours. Merry Christmas and good luck!
Matt - I too am lining up my blogging strategy for next year and will include a photo blog somewhere - right now looking at WP, already have a very neglegted blog there. My outside blog here is putting us on first page on google on a keyword that is diffcult rank for so I need to keep that up. I'll keep posting on Trulia blog as well as it's getting a lot of views. ~Rita
Matt, don't leave us man!
I don't know why you're not seeing the results you desire. But I know I've gained a great referral base, closed a bunch of transactions and made a slew of friends as a result of my existence here in the Rain.
Also, I can see a dramatic increase in my web traffic each time I put up a localism post.
Hi Matt... sometimes a bit of distance is good at helping people find perspective... please don't become too distant though. I, for one, would miss your voice in the Rain.
My AR blog has been seeing a good amount of recycled content from my primary platforms... but I'm here pretty regularly...
I've been there! (that exact ghost town)
That's all I really wanted to say - other than ...
Go RibEye!
LOL
Matt - I have had the same problem this month. We've been busier than ever and it's made it hard for me to find time to blog, to visit the blogs I like to read, etc.
There just aren't enough hours in the day with holiday parties, etc. I have elected to "do the best I can do" and revisit rejuvenated and anew for 2010.
Just so I'm clear...I'm not going anywhere. I am not leaving ActiveRain or anything like that. What I am doing is spending a lot more time concentrating on my main blog (which has always been my focus as it is my complete package site - IDX, blog, marketing, etc.). It's also the holidays and things have been a bit hectic and my brain has been a little dry lately. I had some ups and downs with my health that threw me for some loops too (nothing bad, just annoying things that kept me from working as hard as I would normally).
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and leaving all the comments. Don't worry, you won't get rid of me that easy.
Matt I love the picture and hear you loud and clear. I have been working on other things as well in order to keep my business improving.
Good Luck Matt ! Here's hoping 2010 is that breakthrough year for ya !
Cheers my man !
Matt I understand and have felt your pain. Stick with what you do best and it'll come together. It's just so many avenues out there to venture it's hard to travel them all.
Believe it or not Matt, even before you wrote this, I wondered when you had the time to write such amazing blogs ~ you have been so consistent and your topics so varied ~ that I can only imagine they were time consuming as well ~ it is no wonder you felt the need to step back to try and figure out what direction you should take here in 2010!
I hope your holidays went well and that you are feeling much better! Cheers to you.