10 Easy but Essential Tricks to Persuasive Real Estate Blogging

Amazing, isn’t it? How when you listen to one of your favorite bloggers and you say to yourself:

“Why didn’t I think of that? It seems so obvious…so easy.”

The masters of blogging–people like Brian Clark, Leo Babauta, Hanan Levin–always seem to come up with the perfect phrase…a few words…sometimes even just one word…that grabs you by the lapels and drags you into their post.

The perfect words make you want to read whatever they’re writing before they’ve even mentioned what it’s even about.

It’s the art of persuasion. Right?

But let me assure you right now that it’s less of an art and more of a science.

The art of persuasion is something you can learn. And the good news is the fundamental building block to any good persuasive writing–or speaking–is simply rapport.

And to build that rapport, you need to cultivate behaviors that will make people trust you and make them feel it’s in their best interest to follow your lead in what Greg Swann called the larger conversation of the blog sphere.

So, with that in mind, here are some ideas, big and small, for making yourself more persuasive:

1. Before you write a blog post, ask yourself “What do I really want out of this post?”

Ask soul-searching questions to understand your true motivation: money, fame, power. You’re looking for what makes you tick, what drives you. But you’re also looking for the purpose, the plan and the result. This is really a question you need to ask yourself long before you even record your first post so you know the direction you want the blog to go. That’s planning on the micro level. Planning for each post is on the micro level.

2. Develop the knack for making the other person feel like the center of the universe.

You’re blog post is not about you. Period.

3. Be quick to compliment.

If someone leaves you a comment, thank them. Especially if they are a first time visitor. And comment on other people’s blogs. Wait, that’s the next point…

4. Train yourself to visit other people’s blogs. And leave comments.

If you want comments on your blog…you have to leave comments on other blogs. Also, making your daily rounds on the real estate blogging circuit help you to note what people are talking about…which leads into my next point.

5. Listen to anybody with an idea. And see how you can help them.

Follow the maxims of legendary 3M leader William McKnight: “Listen to anybody with an idea. Encourage experimental doodling.”

And get involved. If you come across a blog that is interested in working on joint projects, email them and share your idea. If you don’t have an idea, tell them you be interested in doing some of the legwork.

6. Try to arouse positive emotion.

When writing blog posts, avoid negative emotion. You know what negative emotion is? Just read the Fox News home page and you’ll see what I mean.

People respond better when you give them positive, life-fulfilling information. Stuff that builds on their business, their lifestyle. Granted, always harping on the doom of the housing market will attract a crowd…but it will probably be a crowd of pessimists.

You, my friend, are better off being an optimist.

7. Take a clue from your audience.

Occasionally ask for feedback after your posts. Encourage people to give you thoughts about what they’d like to here. Keep an eye on your analytics, like news feed subscriptions, page visits and posts-to-comment ratio.

Really make an effort to communicate in a manner that matches your message to the receiver.

8. Hone your sense of humor.

It really, really helps if you are witty or clever.

9. Practice being a better questioner.

Follow up all posts by asking, “What do you think? Was this blog useful?”

Better yet, ask more pointed questions at the end of posts to root out opposing thoughts. You might have a good idea, but with the help of someone else arguing for a differnt side of the coin…you might unearth the best idea.

10. Keep your perspective.

Remember: Even though you’re passionate about your point of view, lighten up. Tomorrow’s another day-and another opportunity to persuade.

Well, that’s it. Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add.

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