Guest Blog by Michael Beckerman

I am a huge fan of blogs. I write one myself. My news platform features hundreds of them. And I preach to anyone that will listen that blogging is one of the most effective ways to build a brand, differentiate yourself and build a prosperous dialogue with your client base.

In my mind, a good blog does five things well:

1. It provides insight.
2. It makes you think about how you are doing things in your own world.
3. It makes you want to share with others.
4. It is short, concise and reflects its author or brand’s personality.
5. It makes you anticipate the next blog.

While it’s really great to see so many amazing blogs now being written in the marketplace, I see a great many mistakes bloggers make that prevent them from developing a good following or having an impact. Here are the top five mistakes I see all too often:

1. Lack of consistency. If you can’t write on a consistent basis, don’t do it at all.
2. Too self promotional. If you make your blog into a sales pitch, people will get turned off.
3. It is too long and reads like a book.
4. It has nothing new to say.
5. It is cookie cutter.

Outside of real estate, three of my personal favorite blogs are Gary Vaynerchuk, First Round Capital and Ben Thompson’s Stratechery.com.

In the real estate sector, I think these 10 blogs do an amazing job when it comes to creating content about commercial real estate and technology.

1. RealNex
2. Duke Long
3. Jonathan Schultz
4. Hightower
5. Neuerspace
6. Allen Buchanan
7. CREoutsider
8. The Tenant Advisor
9. RealMassive
10. Real Estate Tech News

It’s so refreshing to see how many real estate sites have begun to embrace Content Marketing as a business tool. While I am a big fan of dozens of others, I mention the ones above because I think they set a good example of how professionals and companies can use blogging as a way to build their brand and generate leads.

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About Michael

Michael Beckerman is the founder and CEO of The News Funnel, a leading real estate content platform and content marketing agency.

Connect with Michael

blog   |   @m_beckerman   |   michael@thenewsfunnel.com