WordPress, the popular blogging platform, is challenging its users to publish a blog post every day in 2011. The PostADay Challenge is designed to keep you writing and posting regularly.   And because the folks at WordPress know that’s a tall order, they’ve also created a blog called The Daily Post that will offer ideas and inspiration each day to help you come up with something to write about.

Posting to a blog each day is tough for many real estate professionals.  Yet, posting regularly is one of the best things you can do for yourself or your brokerage; the process of regularly refreshing your website with new material helps you rank higher in search engines like Google.   Plus, publishing fresh and engaging material on a regular basis builds your readership and, hence, your visibility in the real estate world.

When real estate was hot and new properties were coming on the market every day, consumers didn’t have to be “enticed” to visit real estate websites.  The interest was already there.  Today, you have to offer something of value.  Consistency is important, too.  If readers perceive that your material doesn’t change very often, they have little incentive to visit your site.  But if they know you have something relevant and interesting to share on a regular basis, they’re more likely to check in from time to time to  to see what you have to say.

Consider it a form of prospecting.  Traditional forms of prospecting like cold calling always took time but used to be essential for success in real estate.  In fact, the most successful people in real estate usually got that way because they had the discipline to carve out a set number of hours each week for prospecting.  For some, it was the first thing they did each day.

Think of your blog in the same way; it’s a form of digital prospecting.  Therefore, it needs to be done as frequently and consistently as any other sales or marketing activity.

For all of these reasons, you should take the PostADay Challenge.  If once a day is too often, WordPress is also suggesting a PostAWeek Challenge.  I’m already behind but I’m committing to once a week for both of my blogs for the remainder of 2011.  Will you join me?

This is one of those Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do blog posts.

It’s been 18 days since I’ve published an article on this blog.  I’ve spent a great holiday with family, I’ve eaten lots of good food, and I’ve gotten plenty of rest.  But I haven’t written any blog posts. That’s probably not such a good thing because consistency and predictability go a long way when you’re building readership for your blog.

So here, in retrospect, is a summary of what I should have done to prepare my blog for the holidays.

• Plan Ahead. Just like it’s not good to wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping, it’s not good to approach the holidays with no plan for your blog.  Just like Christmas, you know it’s coming.  So start preparing early.  Write several extra posts and set them aside to be published while you’re on vacation.
• Keep it Short. You don’t have to write a lot.  Chances are your regular readers are on vacation too, and will be spending less time than usual on the Internet.  A handful of short, to-the-point articles is all you really need.
• Work in the Holidays. You may be writing in advance, but don’t forget that your readers will be reading during Christmas.  So write about something that fits the season. You can even be specific by writing a special message to be posted on Christmas Day or a celebration-related story for New Year’s Eve.  If your blog usually includes pictures, try to include winter and holiday-themed shots.
• Post in Advance.  WordPress lets you auto-post your articles.  That is, you can write and edit articles today and indicate the date and time in the future you want them to be published. (Don’t forget to check for messages while you’re on vacation and to reply to comments, if necessary.)
• Enjoy Your Vacation. Winter is often a relaxed time for real estate professionals anyway.  So next year prepare your blog in advance and enjoy your time with family  and friends.

Recently we wrote about the importance of making your real estate blog easy to read from a mobile browser.  Today, we consider several tools that allow you to do this if you’re blogging with WordPress.

• Mobify is a web service that provides a quick way to optimize your site for mobile access.  The basic plan is free and offers great controls over how your site will be seen in mobile web browsers.  But because it requires some knowledge of CSS style sheet language, it’s not a solution for everyone.

• WpTouch Pro ($29 for a single-site license), is a WordPress plug-in that lets you create a separate mobile theme for your website.  When a visitor comes to your site, WPtouch automatically determines whether the visitor is using a computer or a mobile browser and displays the appropriate version of your site.  Images, captions, videos, and text are all scaled to make them easy to view on the smaller screen.

• MobilePress is a free, open source WordPress plug-in that adapts your blog for mobile viewing.  You can customize your site by creating your own mobile theme or use one of MobilePress’ pre-designed themes.  And because it’s open source, you’ll enjoy plenty of support from its community of developers and users.

Along with these “outside” resources are several traditional WordPress plug-ins:

• WPtouch iPhone Theme Plug-in. The free version of WPtouch Pro, above, WPTouch iPhone Theme Plug-in automatically transforms the mobile version of your blog into a cool iPhone-application style theme complete with iPhone-style icons and tap functionality. The iPhone-style theme works for iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Opera Mini, Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm users and gives them the option of easily switching to your regular blog theme if they need to.

• WordPress Mobile Pack is a comprehensive set of tools that includes mobile themes, extra widgets, and a mobile admin panel that lets you configure your site or post content from your own mobile device.  Images, text, and videos are scaled to fit the viewer’s mobile browser and viewers can from switch from the mobile theme to your regular website theme if they wish.

• WordPress Mobile Edition transforms your blog into an easy-to-read version for mobile visitors.  This is a great plug-in if you want something easy to use that you don’t have to fiddle around with.  But beware:  this plug-in has few setting to change since almost everything has been configured for you.  As a result, there’s no easy way to alter the configuration or customize the viewing experience for your mobile readers.

How does your blog look when viewed on a smartphone browser?

Given the popularity of smartphones and the reality that prospects often need real estate information while they’re away from their computers, it’s important to be sure that your website is smartphone friendly.

The best way to find out how your blog or website works on a smartphone is to try it yourself.  Navigate to your blog on your mobile phone and see how easy it is to read.  Also ask yourself these questions:

• Do I write with plenty of paragraph breaks, or is my blog one long unbroken block of text? (Paragraph breaks make blogs easier to read on a computer and are a must for reading on a smartphone.)
• Do my pictures take forever to load? If you have pictures, their file sizes need to be reduced for quicker downloading from the Internet.
• Is my blog written in a traditional journalistic style with the most important information (the who, what , when, where, and why) in the first few lines of the article?  Readers often don’t follow long blog posts all the way to the end and that goes double for readers checking your blog post from their iPhones.
• Is too much going on? If it’s a traditional website rather than a blog, be aware that flash intros and other “gimmicks” also take a long time to load and often don’t run at all on smartphones.

If your site doesn’t perform well on the small screen, it may be time for a redesign.

Maybe it’s a vacation.  Maybe it’s a busy period with clients.  Maybe it’s a family obligation.  Anything can interrupt your regular schedule and make it tough for you to keep up your blog.

If you know in advance that you’ll need to take a break from blogging, there are several things you can do:

• Warn Your Readers. Post an article that tells your readers upfront that you’ll be away and when they can look forward to your return.
• Write Ahead of Time. Write several articles in advance so they can be posted during your hiatus.  Articles can be published automatically; WordPress lets you set the future date and time your article will appear.
• Arrange for Guest Bloggers. Contact other bloggers in advance and invite them to post articles while you’re away.  Guest bloggers raise your visibility and improve your SEO, so featuring them is a good strategy even when you’re not on vacation.
• Be Brief.  Continue to post during your hiatus, but write short articles that are quick to write and easy to read instead of your usual content.

Blog post writing has become an essential part of real estate marketing, but finding the time to put ideas into writing can sometimes be tough—especially if writing is not your strong suit.

But there are things you can do to spend less time thinking about and preparing blog posts so you have more time to spend getting work done.  Here are seven great ideas to help you spend less time writing your blog.

1. Clip and Save Ideas. Sometimes, coming up with a topic is the hardest part.  So always be on the lookout for good article ideas.  When you see them, save them.  Copy to bookmarking sites like Delicious, or use a digital clipping service like Evernote to save photos, web pages, parts of e-mail messages, and anything else you see and hear that inspires you.
2. Write When You’re Hot. All of us have a peak time in the 24-hour cycle when ideas flow easily and we can accomplish much in little time.  For me, it’s early in the morning, soon after I wake up.  Your best time may be late at night or in the middle of the day.  Whenever it is, use it to make blog-post writing go faster.
3. Keep it Simple, Sis. The KISS principle works with almost anything, including your blog.  One of the simplest formats is the list—articles like “The 10 Best Ways to Blah, Blah, Blah” are easier to write than plain narrative and are more likely to be a big hit with readers.
4. Be Short and Sweet. Don’t have a lot of time?  No one said you had to write a dissertation.  Short blog posts are OK and can also be a hit with readers–especially busy people who are short on time.  Outline your ideas in a brief paragraph or two.  Include links or photos so readers can learn more and you’re good to go.
5. Write About What You Know. It’s much easier to write when you’re an expert.  Conversely, reading and researching to prepare a blog post can make the process drag on for hours.  So focus on your area of expertise and blog writing will be a breeze.
6. Don’t Try to Be Perfect.  Every post you write doesn’t have to be outstanding. To be effective marketing, each one should be well written and make sense, but no one will be grading you on your effort.  So don’t spend a great deal of time editing and rewriting.  Accept the fact that every post doesn’t have to be Pulitzer material.  Post it and move on.
7. Always Be Writing. Sometimes when you’re busy, you don’t have a block of time to devote to writing your blog.  If that’s the case, you’ll just have to write on the fly.  Jot down ideas and parts of paragraphs whenever you have a spare moment.  Later, you can pull your ideas together into a coherent whole.  This method works really well when writing a “list” article as in #3 above.  Take five minutes to write one list item while you’re waiting for an appointment.  Write another list item while you’re on hold on the phone. Keep doing that and by the end of the day, you’ll have more than enough for an article.

Ning is the do-it-yourself social network application that allows anyone to create a social network centered around any topic or concept.  There are Ning networks focusing on neighborhoods and communities, Ning networks for fans of individual artists or entertainers, Ning networks that support causes and social issues. In fact, millions of Ning networks have been established, and until recently they were free to create and free to maintain.  But that’s about to change.

Recently, the creators of Ning made the decision to start charging for Ning networks in return for providing more features and more support.  The change will take place starting in July.  That means if you created a social network using Ning, you’ve got to decide whether to keep your group and start paying, or dissolve it.  And that can be a tough decision if you have a vibrant group with many members and lots of activity.

If you’re a WordPress users have a third option.  You can use BuddyPress, a free WordPress plug-in that lets you transform a WordPress blog into a social network site.  Then you can use a Ning to BuddyPress importer to migrate your users to your BuddyPress-created social network.

BuddyPress is completely customizable so that it can have the look and feel you want.  It gives network members an activity stream that lets them follow the actions of their friends à la Facebook; it also allows them to create profiles and set up blogs.  It has groups, forums, private messaging and a growing number of plug-ins that extend its capabilities.

It has the potential for a number of really great real estate applications and—better than Ning or Facebook—you own the content, you set the terms of service, and the members and their information belong to you.  What could be better than that?

If you have network built on Ning, take a look at what  BuddyPress can do.

Facebook’s changes and “unchanges” in recent weeks should be a reminder to us all that it’s probably not safe to pin our marketing hopes on something we can’t control.  And while you probably shouldn’t cancel your Facebook account just yet, you probably should re-evaluate the relative importance of your blog, your Facebook page, and any other social media you’re using.

In fact, your blog turns out to be one of the most valuable Internet marketing resources you have.  Here’s why:

1. You don’t own your Facebook account, and therefore, you have no say over what changes Facebook might implement.
2. You don’t own the content on your Facebook page so that if it were shut down for some reason—or if some change in Facebook policy were to go too far and you decided to close your account—your content would be lost.
3. You like to think of them as “your” followers, but you can’t control how Facebook chooses to use the private information of people who like your page.
4. Your content (and that of millions of other people, of course) is what makes Facebook successful.  Your effort enriches Facebook.  Are you getting back as much as you give?
5. Your blog, on the other hand, is yours. You set it up, you make the decisions, and you own the content.
6. Your blog enriches only you, your brokerage, or whomever you chose to write about.
7. Your readers are your readers and your subscribers are your subscribers.  As long as you put out good content and treat them well, they’ll stay with you.   (You don’t have to worry that changes someone else makes might erode your readership.)
8. Other than occasional upgrades to the blogging software, there will be no changes that you don’t authorize.

The Internet and the social media tools we all use will no doubt continue to change and evolve as the big players try to find ways to gain market share and turn a profit.   That means we’ll frequently need to review our Internet strategy and the usefulness of the tools we’re using.  In the mean time, don’t ignore your blog.  It’s one of the best tools you have.

Real estate plug-ins aren’t all that common, so it’s nice when one comes along that’s functional and attractive.  That’s the case with Dan Green’s Real Estate Chart of the Day, which which I’ve installed in the column to the right.

It makes a nice addition to your real estate blog and installing it is easy.  You can even configure it to match your blog’s color scheme.  Watch the tutorial below for step-by-step instructions.

Everyone loves a success story; write about successful people in your community and your readership will grow.  People will be encouraged by your stories and at the same time, you will help make your community appealing to prospective buyers.

• Write about people in your neighborhood who’ve overcome tremendous odds.
• Share stories about local companies that have donated to outstanding causes.
• Describe heroes in your community who’ve lent their time and talent to help people in need.
• Write about nearby churches or community organizations whose soup kitchens or homeless shelters have bridged the gap for people in these tough times.
• Feature a senior citizen who’s gone back to school or who is doing great things in retirement.
• Tell about teenagers who are making a difference.
• Highlight local teachers, police officers, nurses, or fire fighters whose efforts go above and beyond what’s required of them.

Scour community newspapers and websites for people to write about.  Include photos and testimonials on your blog.  Encourage people in the community to contact you if they know of others you could feature. Focus on the positive in your area and let it become the centerpiece of your blog.

The more you do this, the more people will see you as an asset to the community.  Market yourself without directly marketing yourself.