Write!

In my opinion, there is no smarter, easier and more effective way for a real estate professional to build their own professional brand than by becoming a thought leader in their respective market.

The tools to write blogs have never been easier with sites like Wordpress or Squarespace. And there have never been as many outlets to distribute your blog to, whether it's LinkedIn, my site (The News Funnel), Facebook, Twitter, Medium or even your local media.

And for folks that don't have the time or confidence to write something, there are many great writing and freelance resources available to you.

Why do I feel so strongly about this?

With the media continuing to experience contractions and cutbacks, the result is a tremendous void for intelligent, thoughtful analysis covering the real estate industry in particular.

But your clients and peers are looking for that content...

Commentary on local and macro market developments, lessons learned, top trends, interviews with other key professionals/experts, successful case studies, etc., are all topics that the marketplace is clambering to read about. 

Some of the most successful business and tech blogs are written by industry professionals.

And they have built up HUGE followings. An example of one of my favorites is Benedict Evans’ blog.

In the real estate industry there are several pros who really get this including:

Jonathan Schultz
Jeremy Neuer
Coy Davidson
Bo Barron
Duke Long
Allen Buchanan
Michael Borodinsky

Forget advertising, forget direct mail – forget all other types of individual marketing techniques in fact.

For any professional who wants to differentiate themselves as an expert, the best way to show it is to show it by writing it!