1. To WORDPRESS or NOT To
WORDPRESS
Bring More Leads to You
NSDCAR Webinar 9/16/10
Jeff Dowler

2. Some Goals…
 WHY have a Real Estate Blog
 WHY Wordpress
 HOW to Create a Wordpress Blog
 Wordpress.com VS. a Self-Hosted Blog
 Setting up a Self-Hosted Blog
 Lead Generation
 Resources

3. What About Those Clients?
Where do you find them?
How do you find them?
Where is your next one coming from?

4. The Old Way: The New Way
Meeting face to face, events, telephone calls,
referrals, cold calling, postcards, print ads
Social networking – what we have always done
and are doing, but now can do in a new way

5. Why a Real Estate Blog?
 Branding
 Communication
 Build meaningful relationships
 Demonstrate your expertise
 Niche marketing – Sellers, Buyers, Community
 Search engine optimization (SEO) and web
positioning
 Competitive edge – Not many are blogging (NAR
says 4% of REALTORS®)

6. More Reasons Why…
 Build self-awareness
 Build critical thinking
 Develop your reputation
 Establish credibility
 Improve your writing skills
 Acquire information as you research
 Lead Generation
 Have fun

7. Why WORDPRESS?
 Popular
 Most Highly Recommended
 Google Loves It
 Functionality
 FREE
 Self-hosting Option with Low Cost

8. Setting Up a Wordpress Blog
 Go to Wordpress.com
 Sign up for a free account
 Give your blog a name
(mybestblog.wordpress.com)
 Complete the information about yourself
 Decide on your settings (can be changed)
 Pick your template

9. Wordpress.com

10. Sign Up for an Account

14. Next Steps
 GoDaddy.com
 Select a URL to use for marketing
(MyBestBlog.com)
 Purchase the URL (2 year minimum)
 Forward NEW URL to your Wordress.com
site (MyBlog.Wordpress.com)

16. I Have a Blog…Now What??
 Write compelling content
 Add photos
 Add video
 Schedule your posts
 Be interesting and informative
 Write regularly

17. Setting Up a Listing Blog
 Go to Wordpress.com and sign in to your account
 Create a new blog
 Give your blog a name
(123mainstreet.wordpress.com)
 Purchase your marketing URL (123MainStreet.com)
 Start writing your posts – stagger the publishing
dates
 Add photos and video

18. Disadvantages of Wordpress.com
 You are limited to their templates (with some
flexibility of the look and widgets you can
add)
 You don’t control nor own your blog
 You can’t have an IDX on your blog

19. Advantages of a Self-Hosted Blog
 You control the content
 Thousands of themes to personalize
 Numerous widgets and plug-ins to enhance
functionality and make it YOURS
 Can add an IDX (e.g., Diverse Solutions, 1 Park
Place, Wolfnet, IDX Broker)
 You don’t need to know HTML to easily update
your site
 Good SEO

21. What’s Needed for Self Hosting
 Domain (e.g., from GoDaddy.com)
 Hosting site
 Wordpress files downloaded from Wordpress
 Ideas for your blog – look, title, focus/niche,
functionality, pages, categories
 Comments – how will you handle them?
 Web Developer (unless you are pretty
technical yourself and have time)

22. Self-Hosting - Domain
 GoDaddy.com probably least expensive
 Buy for at least 2 years (NOT spam)
 Think of your keywords for your niche –
geographic, demographic – what will
consumers look for??
 Consider buying variations of your URL

23. Self-Hosting – Server
 Pick a server to host your blog
 BlueHost is $6.95.month
 www.WebHostingGeeks.com for a review
of the 10 top hosting sites (from about
$2/month to almost $13/month)

24. Final Thoughts
 Make a Wordpress Blog part of your on-line
marketing and lead generation
 Create a plan – THINK about what you want to do
 Consider your audience/niche and who you are
trying to reach
 Reach out to the many resources that are available to
you – people, tutorials, websites, webinars, books
 Don’t stay behind the computer

25. LEAD GENERATION
Remain top-of-mind ~ Write regularly
Meaningful content
Issues affecting buyers and sellers
Focus on a niche
Knowledge and expertise
Make it interesting and useful
Call to action
Contact information
Market it ~ Don’t Keep Your Blog a Secret

26. Resources
 ActiveRain – I can invite you
 E-books
 RE Bar Camps
(http://www.facebook.com/REBarCampCAR.EXPO)
 YouTube.com tutorials
 Tech Tuesday (C.A.R. in Anaheim)
 Send me an email – JDowler@remax.net –
for a list of great articles and some e-books