AgentsBuddy Exclusive Interview with Internet Writer Lance Winslow
Blogging Advice and Web 2.0 Discussion
November 11, 2008 -- We recently had the opportunity to interview a very interesting gentleman by the name of Lance Winslow. Lance is a successful entrepreneur and is the founder of a franchise called The Car Wash Guys. Among many other things, Lance is an internet writer, a consultant, and also a regular contributor to the Article Website Ezine. Towards the end of the interview, Lance gives Real Estate Agents some advice when it comes to blogging. We specifically wanted to talk with Lance about his article stats.
Lance Winslow Ezine Stats6,705,143
32,137
248,187
37,132
AB: Thanks for taking some time out to talk to us on AgentsBuddy.
Lance: Thank you for having me on today
AB: Lance, can you please tell us who you are and your professional background?
Lance: Well, I have never really considered myself a professional or an expert for that matter, rather I challenge the professionals and experts and look beyond the suit and tie or careful use of vocabulary. Indeed, it is my contention that someone either knows what they are talking about or they have to pretend to be something that they are not. Professionals all too often hide behind their attire and it has been my observation that only about 15% of folks in any industry are at the top of their game. The others, well, heck they are just along for the ride and standing in the way of the money flow mimicking those who are there because they are truly the best in their fields. Thus, I guess one could say that I have NO Professional Background at all, now couldn't they? That's fine, I'll take your silence as a YES.
AB: What is a Brain 4 hire all about?
Lance: Simple really, after years as an entrepreneur, I- like many early retired entrepreneurs, know how to get things done and bring a certain level of wisdom and hard work ethic. Entrepreneurs have to think on their feet and often end up blazing a trail where none exists. After years of such activity they develop valuable skills, talents, intuition and a thirst for knowledge that comes from paying attention to details and leaving no stone unturned. Many times fast moving companies need a brain like that on the team to win.
AB: How did you get into blogging?
Lance: I am not really "into" blogging, in fact, I have a huge disdain for much of the blogging world. You see, I often feel when reading blogs that there are a whole lot of folks with a whole lot of opinions that have never done much of anything in their lives. Thus, I ask how much is their opinion really worth? And are they merely part of the 85 percentile of posers, wanna bees and malcontents, spreading sound and fury where ever they go? Now mind you I have no problem reading various blogs from folks that are creative geniuses or have achieved something in the real world and then decide to blog about it, but I take issues with folks who have never done anything and want to tell everyone else what to do and what They Think because really who cares what they think, providing they do actually think?
I have placed information on a blog type format a time or two. It is my way of sharing what I have observed and the knowledge I have gained from doing.
AB: What’s your stats looking like on EzineArticles?
Lance: It appears I am closing in on 7 million article views now on that site and have some 250,000 plus article pick-ups (where other folks use the articles in Ezines, websites, print or blogs). I will have approximately 15,000 original articles on that site by the end of the month. My articles on average are syndicated 17 times each and I have been watching that number climb over time. If one were to multiply the number of articles out there that have been syndicated by let's say 200 article views each, that would be about 50 million article views and that's pretty good, I'd say?
Having that many articles out there and most of them with back links well, that becomes a pretty intensive number in itself doesn't it? That is one statistic that few people talk about much, but people need to consider when writing articles.
AB: How do you think you achieved those kinds of results?
Lance: Well, I think folks can attribute any success in their life to a few simple principles: Hard Work, Working Smart, Making Lots of Friends and Never Giving Up.
Achieving results in online article writing has a lot to do with writing about what people wish to read and I do a good bit of that having chosen to study and write about some 400 different topics, but I mostly write about what I wish to write about and focus on specific niches. Things like business, futurist topics, philosophy, innovation, education, transportation, current events, history, energy, water, politics, economics and such.
AB: How has the internet changed since you started blogging?
Lance: Boy that is a good question, as I cruised over to the Thrift Store the other day on my scooter and I picked up a Paperback book; "Computer Dictionary" and it was published in 2000. Guess what? Social Networking, Blogs, Blogging and several other terms were not in it. Not long ago, I was watching a video from TED and a researcher from Google was there discussing the Internet and the last five years, how far it has come, it's truly incredible if you consider it. More importantly he asked what will the next five years be? Well, our Online Think Tank sure has some ideas on this, but his discussion was quite intriguing indeed. When I first started using a blog-like system on our website for a Franchises and myself to use, there was no such thing as a blog, but that's exactly what it was, perhaps not with all the features that modern day blogs have or all the advertising on the side bars, but it was a blog nevertheless.
You know where the word blog came from? You might want to look that up on the Internet sometime, I will not spoil the surprise here but it is something to consider. About a year ago I exchanged some emails with Vincent Surf about the future of the Internet, and later considered what he had said and the importance of what the
greatest communication device ever invented has to offer the human race. Can it bring people together, prevent political impasse, keep people talking and become the catalyst to prevent war? You know Tim Berners Lee also has discussed this topic and he is happily amazed at the progress of socializing on the Internet and the entire Blogosphere, as he stated in an MIT Conference Video.
AB: How important are social networks and Web 2.0 to the success of your blog?
Lance: This is a very good question indeed, because the evolution of the Internet continues and so too does the evolution of blogging.While search results are becoming more relevant, the Internet becoming a little more secure and safer, the migration to Web 2.0 will become mandatory. But, if you think it will stop there you are wrong, almost like Moore's Law Web 3.0 will then come along in half time. You know, Web 2.0 has one heck of a lot to offer the blogosphere and the future potential for multimedia will be very cool too.
AB: We noticed recently you started writing about Real Estate, how did that come about?
Lance: Well, like everyone else watching the insanity of the real estate market in 2004 and 2005 reminded me of what was going on leading up to the problems in 1993. The feeding frenzy and speculation fueled by easy money, no doc loans, 100% + financing, ARMs and the allure of flipping houses to make a quick buck, well let's just say the writing was on the wall, long before Sir John Templeton made light of it. If you will recall Treasury Secretary Snow (at the time), FED Chairman Greenspan everyone noted the bubble. And when it burst, I noticed folks very upset distraught and a local real estate friend of mine, she was working at the local Home Depot in the Decorating Consulting and Assistance Desk inside the store. I started the blog to discuss the industry, offer information and suggest ideas.
Of course, I come from a Franchising Background and as a Founder of a Franchise Company, I know that real estate is often more an issue with franchising than the actual franchising industry itself. But to better explain this, you may wish to read "Grinding it Out" by Ray Kroc and pay special attention to some of the comments he made at Harvard Business School about McDonalds and real estate.
AB: Lance do you have any advice for our Realtors that are thinking about blogging or maybe trying to get their blog off the ground?
Lance: A REALTOR generally works a specific region or specializes in a specific niche. Thus, real estate bloggers must focus on that niche. If you specialize in REOs, vacation homes, rental homes, or short sales, then you need to write about that, plus you need to write about your area and region. For instance if you sell real estate in the Dallas Fort Worth Area, then you need to have information on your blog specific to your niche and to that region. And you should have titles and key words containing the names of neighborhoods, cities and your specialty. Also you need to write about local things, information like the best restaurants in the area on your blog. This will drive the traffic you need. Write about the high school, local events, write about AYSO soccer sign ups. You need to write about things that are of interest to families, real estate investors and such. You should write about local golf courses, volunteer organizations too. By doing this you are "giving" information and this is how informational soft-selling works.
Although I am not a real estate sales person, I see folks struggle in the blogging venue, why? Well, my theory is that most of them are baby boomers and just do not really understand the blogosphere much. You see, if you have real estate blog and just post all your listings "willy nilly" it will eventually turn people off. If your blogging network allows this, fine, it's okay to post a few listings, but you really need to put local information up too.
Another thing I see as a problem for real estate folks is that they post too much information about politics, this is not wise, you will automatically cause 50% of your clientele to never want to do business with you, so that should be left out, probably leaving religion out too is a good idea, unless you want to make a blog post about all the churches and synagogues in the area. If you are out with friends drinking, for Pete's Sake, do not post silly photos of you doing stupid things online, that may be cool for some, but it is a turn off to many. Well, I suppose that is enough advice on real estate blogging for one night, except for all the obvious stuff like:
Check Your Spelling (quality)
Use Pictures
Make Sure You Are Accurate
Blog Consistently (2-3 per week)
Engage Your Reader (ask questions at the bottom of blog posts
Be Nice to Those Who Leave Comments
AB: We thank you for taking time out to chat with us Lance. We wish you the best from AgentsBuddy.
Lance: Well, Ryan, again I appreciate your having me on today, hope all goes well with your project, it is quite impressive actually, so I wish you continued success!
To read more about Lance, you can visit him on Ezine Expert Writer Lance Winslow
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