PHASE FOUR: Broadcast Your Brand

Step 1 - Go back to the social network sites and take inventory. Some of these sites will allow you to post your latest BLOG entries to your social profiles via RSS. This is great because it will establish more circular references for you on the web and show the search engines that you are a qualified source worth referring to.

Step 2 -Start reading and commenting on other popular blogs. This is important but make sure that you do this with some etiquette. Don’t just spam someone’s site, leave a thoughtful comment and leave your blog URL in the signature. This will get you noticed with other bloggers and get them to visit your blog to read your content. Also, don’t be afraid to drop an email to bloggers and let them know about your new blog.

Step 3 - Think of search engines as the largest referral network and it only wants to refer business to people that are experts. The more you write and talk online, the more likely you will be visible when someone is searching in your area of expertise.

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PHASE THREE: Establish a Voice!

Step 1 - This is key. Imagine this as your virtual sales pitch so let’s make it sizzle! How are you going to deliver the message? It’s time to enter the BLOG world. For many it can be a nasty 4 letter word but for others, it works. At Active Website we recommend Word Press for your blog and there are a few reasons why. One major reason is that it’s simple to setup. The other is because from an SEO standpoint you get to leverage the Word Press network which is big.

Step 2 - Now you exist in the Blogosphere and you are on a connected platform. Focus on your blog URL. Make sure it’s unique from your website. This will become your brand in this new world so have some fun and be creative and straightforward.

Step 3 - How do you start blogging? (more…)

PHASE TWO: Establishing Your Presence on 3rd Party Sites

Step 1 -The concept is fairly simple: take the content you have developed and start building personal profiles on third party sites that target the audience you are trying to attract. This will help you cast a larger net and area of influence! Keep in mind that each online community has a different audience and you may want to tweak the content you have for each audience. For example, Trulia Voices is more of a buyer/seller network, while the Inman community is used mostly for agent/broker referral business. The key is knowing your audience.

Step 2 - Developing an Online Profile:

• Know your audience and establish a corporate bio and/or agent bio that is targeted to your social audience.
• Establish your credibility. Why would someone want to do business with your firm or agent?
• Write from the mindset of the prospective client so that when they read it they think, “I need to hire this company or person.”
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