Getting Personal – Open Up to Let Your Readers In

05/27/2011 By 2 Comments

Open Up and Get Personal With Your ReadersThree blogs I read regularly had intensely personal posts by their authors within about a week of each other. I think this struck me because they came so close together, and because I could really relate to them.

How willing you are to open up and get personal is entirely up to you and how you want to relate to your audience. Getting too personal can put some people off. It can also draw people in and make your current audience even more dedicated.

I’m glad the following authors did. Here’s who they are, what they said, and how I can relate.

Erika Napolitano

(@redheadwriting)

Erika is a bold and brash writer and not always for the faint of heart. I’ve never gotten the feeling she writes this way deliberately to be shocking. She’s just brutally open and honest, and she pulls it off. Anyone who has a section of their blog titled “The Bitch Slap” is good in my book.

Her blog post What Makes Us recounts her feelings of fears and awkwardness as a high-schooler.

I’ve never been a teenage girl, but I can definitely relate to what she’s saying! In my ridiculously small high school I was one of two people that played guitar. The other was one year below me and also my best friend. For the record, I was a slightly better player, and at the time I lorded it over him without mercy. I feel bad about it now, but that was the one thing I had.

I had long hair, torn jeans and a leather jacket (the one with fringe *shudder*) and got lumped into the “stoner” crowd. This was funny not only because I didn’t do drugs, but no one in the so-called stoner crowd did. We were just the metalheads. We’d rather share a new band with each other than all just get drunk until we puked in someone’s bedroom (which was the favorite weekend activity of the popular kids).

Had I gone to HS with Erika, I think we would have been friends (ok, I’d probably have had a crush on her, I did always like smart girls.. and redheads, but she’d just want to keep it friends).

Daniel Rothamel

(@drothamel)

Daniel made a name for himself in the Real Estate/Tech community as the “Real Estate Zebra” (taken from his days as a basketball referee or “Zebra”) only to ultimately find himself on the unfortunate end of a trademark lawsuit.

There was a great show of support from Daniel’s social media friends and followers (#SaveTheZebra). In the end Daniel made the choice to settle the lawsuit and rebrand himself.

He discussed what I’m sure was a difficult decision for him on his On Endings and Beginnings blog post and also opens up on the  how he’s gotten to where he is today.

I already relate to Daniel as a REALTOR and techie, and someone who loves to combine the two. I also personally know the impact of the words “flare up” having a related medical condition. I also have a very supportive wife named Kari!

See how these little similarities can create a feeling of camaraderie and connection?

Brian Clark

(@CopyBlogger)

I want to shave my head just to see what the scar looks like 6 years later


How can you NOT click on that? In The Snowboard, the Subdural Hematoma, and the Secret of Life Brian tells of a harrowing head vs. mountain skiing accident that could have been the end of him.

I don’t have any gnarly scars on my head, but my head did once lose a battle with an ice covered driveway resulting in an ER trip and some scrambled memories of the event. This post touches on my fear of brain injury or trauma, and how quickly things can change.

You!

I’m not suggesting you open up as a ploy to get more dedicated readers. I’m just trying to point out that from time to time, pulling back the curtains and letting people know something personal about you lets your fans and readers relate to you on a whole new level.

Take some time and read the posts I’ve included here. Let them be your inspiration to find ways you can open up more to your audience! The more personal ways your readers can relate to you the more trust you’ll build with them.

If social media is really about connecting then being human, vulnerable, and letting your guard down is a way to let people in. It’s something I intend to put into practice on this blog.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , ,

Forget Your Niche! Sometimes It Pays To Be Everything For Everyone.

05/21/2011 By 2 Comments

Don and Lillian Stokes - America's First Couple of BirdingWe’re told time and again to be successful you need to find your niche. Specialize and focus to find your audience. In general this is good advice, but sometimes you can pull off something special by being everything to everybody!

Last week I had the chance to meet Don & Lillian Stokes (Americas “First Couple” of Birding) at a meeting of the DuPage Birding Club where they presented their new Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

As an avid birder you need a good field guide to help you identify birds. I’ve used their Eastern Region field guide for years and was a big fan of their Stokes Birds At Home TV show which aired on PBS (and is planned to be released on DVD later this year).

Six years in the making, it covers all the birds of North America, including more than a hundred rare birds like as the Brown-Chested Martin only spotted in North America six times.

They faced the difficult task of compiling a field guide that worked for beginning birders as well as seasoned birdwatchers. They accomplish this by including the rarity of the bird, on a scale of 1 (very common) to 5 (presumed extinct). Each bird gets the full photo treatment, including immature birds and subspecies to help in identification. Over 500 of these pictures were taken by Lillian Stokes herself.

The result of the Stokes’ effort is a behemoth! Some guides focus on a specific type of bird (birds of prey, shorebirds, etc) but this one covers them all. The only real drawback of this much information is that its size makes it hard to carry out in the field.

You can take a page from the Stokes and consider writing an “Ultimate Guide to…” or “Everything you need to know about…” for your blog. This can be a resource that keeps visitors coming back to your blog.

If you want a real-world example, CopyBlogger recently posted The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing which has covers everything a Twitter newbie or experienced Twitter marketer needs.

Some other examples to check out are The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn by SimplyZesty and SEOMoz’s Facebook Marketing: Ultimate Guide.

So don’t be afraid to let things get out of focus! Do some research and create your own Definitive Guide to Anything.

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

7 Reasons Why We Blog

11/23/2010 By Leave a Comment

This may sound crazy, but not every blog post is just shameless self-promotion! When sitting down to write something ask yourself one simple question: Why am I creating this? What is my goal?

When you post something to your blog (or to micro-blogging sites like Twitter, Tumblr or Posterous, which I’ll just refer to here as your blog) you should have a clear objective for each post. I think it’s a given that whatever you put online is intended to make someone think, but consider your goal and adjust your writing style accordingly.

This list is by no means complete, but here are seven reasons you’ll want to post something online:

To Inform
I think the most common reason for blogging is to share your knowledge or thoughts on your particular area of expertise. This is a great way to establish your reputation as an expert in your field. Your blog is a great outlet for discussing a trending topic or technology, or to share statistics/market data for your industry.

To Educate
An educational blog entry is usually more detailed and specific than an informative one. A good example is a step-by-step how to article, or something more instructional in tone. Many software development blogs are made up of educational posts describing exactly how to resolve a specific problem its readers may be facing.

To Announce
A corporate blog is a great place to announce a new service, product or partnership. Keep in mind that a blog that is strictly a PR feed would get boring pretty quickly. There’s a lot of debate about if this is acceptable use of a blog.

For example, consider a REALTOR who posts a new listing on their blog. Some say it doesn’t belong there, but I disagree as long as it doesn’t become the main focus of the blog.

To Brag
Sometimes blog posts ARE about self-promotion! (*shock*) If you’ve received an award or recognition, or if your product was written about, consider posting this information to your blog.

You can also post major accomplishments or achievements. Be careful though, becoming a braggart is an easy trap to fall into! No one will want to read you telling them how great you are for too long.

To Ask
Starting a discussion can be a way to draw people into your blog. One way to do this is to post an open-ended, thought provoking article. Ask your readers a question or to share their thoughts on a topic. Engage them in the comments to keep the conversation going!

To Rant
Sometimes we all just need to vent. You can connect with people on an emotional level if they share your annoyance or pain on a particular topic. Before posting a rant, consider how edgy you want to be and how willing you are to offend. Touch a nerve and your blog could quickly become popular (or unpopular)!

To Entertain
To lighten things up, relate a funny story from time to time. Sometimes a completely off-topic post can make your blog more personal. Like a Rant, carefully consider when this type of post is appropriate for you!
Go back and take a look at your recent blog posts and try to determine what the goal was. Break them down into percentages by type. If most of your posts are of one style, try mixing it up a little. Thinking of why you are writing something is a tool you can use to get yourself out of a rut. Try to write your next entry with a specific goal in mind.

Not all blogs fall easily in to a specific type. To me, this post was intended to inform you of my thoughts on why we blog, while you might consider it more educational (and hopefully at least a little entertaining!)

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: ,

Stockpile Your Trust Now for the Market Turnaround

12/23/2009 By Leave a Comment

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
It seems like every week there’s a new report that shows why the housing market is rebounding, or why it’s sinking even further. Just this week we saw new home sales in November drop 11%, while existing home sales rose 7.4%. Predictions of how this (and other factors) will affect values is anyone’s guess! When people ask me what I think the market will do, there is only one prediction I can make confidently: The housing market won’t rise as fast as it fell!

If Robert E. Lee were alive today and selling real estate he’d proclaim “The Market shall rise again!” He’d be right. And when the market does pick up, whether it’s 2010, 2011 or 2017, you need to be ready for it.

Right now is an opportunity to use new tools such as Blogging and Social Media to build your reputation as a trusted resource and establish your credibility as an expert. As you gain more readers and followers you can stockpile your trust now so when the market does turn around you are poised to take advantage. Maintaining an “online presence” beyond a simple, static website will build your reputation as someone that is knowledgeable and helpful.

Finding Focus

When deciding on what your blog will focus on, think about the type of readers you want to attract. Notice I said readers and not clients. You shouldn’t try to sell your services or listings to your followers. Every “Social Media Guru” has their opinion on how much you should promote yourself in the context of your blog. Shameless self-promotion won’t provide any value to the reader and eventually they’ll get turned off and ignore you. Keep it relevant and you’ll be OK. The key is finding just the right balance.

Your blog shouldn’t be all things to all people. It should be geared to the types of people you’d like to connect and work with or to build your reputation in a certain area. If you do half your business in a certain area or type of client focus on that! Here are three areas to consider:

1. Geography
Do you work in a specific area? You could focus your blog on your city or even down to a neighborhood or subdivision.

2. Client Type
Think about the types of clients you work with most. You could focus your blog on topics of interest to first time buyers, downsizing retirees, commercial/retail, distressed/bank/short sale sellers.

3. Lifestyle
Going “green”, Healthy/Active lifestyle or Outdoor living are all topics you could cover, and how it relates to what to look for in a home or home improvements.

Whatever you choose to focus on, write from the Real Estate perspective. I read a LOT of real estate blogs that only focus on real estate. Your blog should be a source of information for your clients, not your competition. Unless your blog is just a hobby your ultimate goal is to grow your business.

Build your reputation as a resource in whatever area you choose so when your readers do decide to enter the market, you’ve established yourself as a knowledgeable resource. You’ve already built up a certain level of trust that you can leverage to get their business.

If you build it, they will come… eventually.
Don’t worry about promoting your blog in the beginning. Work on your writing style and find your voice. If you send people to a blog with just a handful of entries they aren’t going to put much value on it and probably won’t come back. Keep it focused, relevant and creative and readers will find you. After you’ve established yourself and built up some valuable content you should start actively promoting your blog.

Write whenever you can. If you have fits of creativity write several blog entries at once and stagger when you publish them. A steady stream of content will keep your readers interested and increase your search engine rankings.

You should read and follow blogs similar to yours for ideas and inspiration. If you find a great article post a summary and link to the original site. Don’t be afraid to send your visitors to someone else! If your readers think of you as a resource for information they’ll come back to you.

Most importantly, Have fun!
Yes, writing can seem like a chore sometimes. It’s perfectly ok to mix things up and write about something completely off-topic from time to time. When you see your view counts and followers start to grow the effort will be worth it. Nothing will beat the first time you introduce yourself to someone and they say “Oh yeah, I know who you are, I read your blog!”

Filed Under: Blogging, Real Estate, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,