ASK MR. INTERNET
Michael Russer answers your Internet marketing questions

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an Internet speaker, trainer, author, and consultant. You'll see his column on REALTOR^® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your questions to help@askmrinternet.com.

The power of the pen, er, mouse
Get Published

Become the "Dear Abby" of real estate in your market with a syndicated online column.

DEAR MR. INTERNET:
What can I do to differentiate myself from my competitors online?
Debi Orr
Century 21 Landmark Properties
Ridgefield, Conn.

DEAR DEBBIE:
How about a marketing idea that requires little investment of your time or money yet virtually guarantees growing awareness of your name and brand, makes you the real estate expert in your town or city, and sends tons of new visitors to your site?

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. The opportunity is waiting for anyone who follows my six-step plan on how to syndicate an online column.

Six Steps to Online Fame and Fortune
1. Decide your column's focus. You could gear your column to consumers who need help searching for and selling real estate online. Or, you could concentrate on a particular demographic, such as first-time buyers or seniors. Just make sure that the theme you pick provides a rich vein of ideas and issues to write about over time—and enough diversity to please an editor.

2. Choose a column format. A Q&A, in which real online consumers ask questions that will interest other readers, is a good bet. Readers can readily relate to others with real issues.

Don't wait for someone to ask a question before you write. Ideally, you've picked your first several columns’ questions months in advance. Contact past clients for permission to designate them as the people doing the asking. Be sure to include their full name and city--a nice touch that adds credibility to your column and can generate chatter among people who know the person named in the article.

3. Design the look. Hire a good designer—it’ll cost a few hundred dollars--to lay out the overall look and feel of the column. Newspaper and magazine editors probably won’t use the design of your column since their sites already have a design. But associations and organizations that pick up your column may use your template. Your design should ensure the text is readable on a standard screen resolution--800 x 600--so there’s no horizontal scrolling. If your current site already incorporates a branding element (see " Branding Your Way to Online Success," Nov. 2000) that unites all your marketing materials, be sure to include that in your columns. The column then extends your brand and creates an attractive package for the sites that publish it.

Include your byline and a short biography with contact information and links to your Web site and e-mail address, where readers can send questions. Keep your byline short, simple, and devoid of a sales pitch. Online editors can smell an infomercial a mile away and will reject anything that smacks of self-promotion. Place your copyright notice and reprint terms at the bottom of each article.

If you want to get fancy, include "feedback" and "forward to a friend" buttons as part of the column template. Those offer a viral way to spread word of your column--and you.

4. Offer a printer-friendly version. For each article, create and link to a text-only version. Many people like to print online articles. And a printer-friendly version also makes it much easier for offline publications to republish your work, giving you even greater exposure and credibility.

5. Set up a schedule and stick to it. Above all else, editors hate missed deadlines. Don't even think about pitching a column to an online publication unless you have the discipline to deliver every time. How frequently your column appears will depend on the requirements of your publisher.

6. Sell your column. Nearly every newspaper in the world, big and small, has an online edition run by editors who are crying for quality online content. In fact, most U.S. cities have several papers that have a Web equivalent. Find out which ones in your area have online complements by going to the Media Directory of the Editors & Publishers Web site.

Arm yourself with sample issues of your column before you make your pitches. Then, contact the editor of the largest online newspaper in your area to ask whether he or she has given any thought to including a regular real estate column in the online edition. If there’s interest, show your samples and explain the reader benefits of having access to this information.

It shouldn’t take long for editors to make a decision--especially if you give them a deadline to get back to you before you speak to someone else. If they say yes, great. I f not, call the next editor on your list.

Once an online publication agrees to host your column, be sure to negotiate the right to republish the articles in other publications in a way that won't conflict with their copyright. By syndicating your column, you broaden your marketing reach.

The power of the written word is very much alive online. If leveraged wisely--via an online column--it can quickly catapult your name recognition over your competitors.

Who's Going to Write This Thing?
Ideally, you write your own column. However, given that most real estate professionals aren’t known for their writing skills, there’s an alternative. Hire a ghost. A ghostwriter, that is, a professional who writes for someone else’s byline.

Find a good ghostwriter--and a designer for your column template for that matter--at eLance.com. There you can post a project for professionals to bid on--at no cost to you. Typically, it takes only 24 hours to find a freelance writer. And, eLance.com maintains a rating system showing how clients of a particular freelancer felt about their work. Everyone I’ve recommended eLance.com to has been pleased with the results.

Make sure the freelancer’s writing style reflects the tone and personality you want to get across in your column. Remember, the writing reflects you. And it should be consistent and entertaining. For each column, ask your ghostwriter to interview you about the topic and how you’d like it addressed. Also remember that the writer may not be familiar with the real estate industry, so your expertise and sources will help.

Once You Have a Column--Leverage the Heck Out of It
Now that you’re the (possibly exclusive) online real estate columnist for the Web edition of a paper in your area, boost your marketing exposure and business to even greater heights.

Extend it. With one site under your belt, you can more easily approach other sites (other newspapers, chambers of commerce) to publish your column. Most will jump at the chance.

Announce it. Being a columnist is a distinction you can use in all your marketing. It sets you above the competition. Articles carry a greater degree of legitimacy than any amount of advertising.

Archive it. Your past articles create high-value content for your Web site.

Better act fast, though. There's likely to be room for only one "Dear Abby" of real estate in any particular city.