Writing blog posts can be a great way to establish yourself as an expert in a certain area, spread the word about successes you've had, or just network with the group. So far, our leading industry consultants have taken the lead on writing blog posts on Multifamily Insiders, but we believe almost everybody has the potential for a great blog post! And since writing a blog post is fairly informal, it's easy to try one out!
So we'd like to inspire you to try writing a blog post, but we also want to mention a few things that are not appropriate when writing a blog post, as well. Here are some "Do's and Don'ts" to writing a blog post:
DO: Write about your personal expertise. Whether you are an expert in apartment marketing, lending practices, multifamily renovation, or any other of our diverse multifamily professions, you can establish yourself as an expert in your particular field!
DON'T: Sell or advertise through your blog post. Use your blog to showcase your knowledge, not your service or product. We do, however, allow a 2-line byline about yourself or your company at the end of your blog posts.
DO: Share your success stories. Did you have a great turnout at a summer party? Did you have great results with a new closing technique? Our members want to be inspired, so if you have a great story, then share it!
DON'T: Use your blog post as a sole means to drive traffic to your "other" blog. If you are active on Multifamily Insiders, we want to help promote you, but please keep mentions of another blog or website in your byline!
DO: Get creative with your blog posts. Blog posts don't always have to be strictly business. If something great happened recently, then share it!
DON'T: Write a blog post when a discussion post is more appropriate. If you have a one or two sentence thought, we want you to share it! But usually these short ideas are best put in the discussion area.
Unfortunately, all to often people try to use a platform to the detriment of the website itself, or sometimes do innocent things that have unintended consequences. So although we would love to keep these guidelines simple, we have to be more specific to stop these types of practices. Here are some things that are not allowed while blogging:
- Bloggers are welcome to publish their blog on both their own website and on Multifamily Insiders, however, we never want our users to feel that the content is second rate content in some way. The user must feel as if the blog has been published for the purpose of being on Multifamily Insiders, and not simply a copy. Therefore, phrases like "Originally published on..." makes the site appear as if it is just an aggregator, rather than a source of valuable content. Therefore, please do not use phrases that hurts the sites reputation in this way.
- We understand the SEO value of links coming from Multifamily Insiders. However, some users have abused this creating link spam. For blogs, please keep links to your site(s) to one in the byline and one in the body of the blog.
In the end, writing a blog can be the most cost-efficient form of marketing you ever try, but it's important to follow these basic guidelines. This is especially true for "selling" through your blog post. If I asked 100 people, then I guarantee 99 of them will say they do not want to read sales or self-promoting blog posts. But if you establish your expertise in an area, then business will come! Just write what you know!