Maybe I should submit this one to the Carnival of Brilliant Business Ideas? Maybe I should go on late night TV and try to sell this idea?
There are many reasons for people in real estate to be blogging. Premier among these are the essence of blogging itself: enjoying the process of writing, creating connections, meeting new people, educating yourself, honing your wit and writing style.
But, at the end of the day, very few of us blog for charity. Real estate is a business, this is how we make our living, and so a constant refrain is, “Where’s the money?”
Well, I think I’ve found what we’ve all been looking for: the ultimately scalable, easy to start, even easier to manage real estate blogging money-making idea.
Through sheer grit, lots of writing, a good number of incoming links, and a bit of luck, Google now considers my blog if not famous, then at least respectable, to the point where if I mention a non-celebrity’s name — say, a local real estate agent — within 48 hours my blog rises to the top 10 when you search for that agent’s name.
Realtors are nothing if not publicity-hungry. (If you doubt that, open your local paper’s Sunday real estate supplement. Have you ever seen so many happy faces smiling out at you?) One of the reasons most agents have a web site (typically branded with their name) is so that prospective clients can find out more about them.
So what happens when three of the top ten Google spots about John Q. Agent come not from John Q. Agents’ web site, but from my blog? Assuming John Q. Agent finds out about it — which, to be honest, is unlikely — he ain’t gonna be that happy. At the same time, since I’m writing a real estate blog and enjoy first amendment privileges as much as the next guy, it’s perfectly within my rights to write about John Q. Agent — as long as I don’t slander him.
So, here’s the deal: Pay me $50/month, and I won’t blog about you. Then the top 10 spaces on Google for your name will be your web site, and the local newspaper which has your listings in it, and the interview from four years ago that describes what a charitable person you are. My blog? Nowhere to be found.
Here’s the genius of this idea: Writing about lots of people takes time. Not writing about lots of people takes absolutely no time! In fact, I could become so good at not writing, that I could end up not writing about thousands and thousands of people!
Any takers?
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Tags: Blogging, Industry, Real estate, Real estate bloggingPossibly related posts
11 responses so far ↓
1 Greg Staker // Mar 25, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Funny. Maybe we can get paid in Florida *not to list*. Isn’t that why the government pays farmers to not plant or raise their product, to offset a market over supply?
With so many agents here continuing to over price listings, the $50.00 to not take the listing may go a long way to help eliminate the 28,000 four county inventory supply we have now.
BTW, I share the top 10 with my namesake in Australia and a wrestler. I will keep my eyes open for your blog.
2 Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate // Mar 25, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Hi Greg,
Thanks for dropping by. Getting paid to not list sounds like another straightforward way to make money. Let’s all contact our NAR reps in DC and get this through congress. Maybe it could be part of the pork being dished out like the $20M bailout for spinach farmers?
3 Loren Nason // Mar 25, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Nah
I won’t pay your 50 bucks not to say my name
but i would bet you could get 50 bucks from an agent to review their blog with specific keywords to help improve their own rankings
Loren Nason
Future of Real Estate Technology
(blatant ploy to help my ratings)
LOL
4 Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate // Mar 25, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Hey Loren,
Let me help you out:
Future of Real Estate Technology
Cheers.
5 Real Estate Blog » Blog Archive » If Iowa Hog Farmers Can Be Paid to NOT Raise Hogs, Can I Be Paid … // Mar 25, 2007 at 8:31 pm
[…] Original post by Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate […]
6 Looks Like I’m Not the Only Thinking of Blackmail this Morning | 3 Oceans -- The San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Blog // Mar 26, 2007 at 8:58 am
[…] Hot on the heels of my tongue-in-cheek — and possibly illegal — suggestion that local Realtors pay me $50/month so that I won’t write about them, the below came by email this morning. […]
7 Marty Van Diest // Mar 26, 2007 at 11:18 am
hah! I found out the same thing. I initially thought that I shouldn’t mention other realtors in my blog, but I did it anyway. I discussed their good listings and mentioned their name and company.
What do you know? My site comes up right on the first page of google. Mine isn’t as famous as yours so it usually is just behind their own website. But still, it was an eyeopener.
So I think you are on to something. Getting paid not to do something is the ticket to the easy life in America.
8 Gabe Gross // Mar 27, 2007 at 7:48 am
Do you have an affiliate system in place for this? I’d like to resell your not-blog-about-me service.
9 Kevin Boer, Realtor, 3 Oceans Real Estate // Mar 27, 2007 at 7:51 am
LOL!!!
Sure, I’m just putting one in place. I’ll give a 50% referral for any business you send my way. The catch is, you do actually have to re-sell it; I unfortunately can’t pay you for _not_ reselling it.
10 Athol Kay // Mar 28, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I’ll not write about you for $44.99 a month.
Plus my not writing is of better quality than Kevins.
11 Hey Chris, great blog! « Your guide to Campbell real estate, brought to you by the Zanger team // Mar 28, 2007 at 7:44 pm
[…] Here’s an article that Kevin wrote describing his dumb little scheme about getting people to pay him so that he won’t blog about them. […]
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