Jim Duncan, Nest Realty
My friend Jim Duncan is a blogger. He’s also a REALTOR® and an entrepreneur. Jim has been firmly in the lead, using social media and blogging, specifically to help build his business and maintain relationships with referral sources and future customers. Jim offers a nice balance when he blogs, spanning the personal and the professional, including musings about being a dad alongside thoughts about local policies and the real estate market.
Jim’s not selling on his blog — he’s blogging — which I appreciate. His posts are always informative, sometimes controversial but always interesting to read. Because it’s what he most wants to write, Jim gives the reader a great sense of what it’s like to live and work in Charlottesville, Va.
A couple of days ago, Jim shared a link to a post written by Hugh MacLeod which, as Jim said, perfectly summed up his blogging philosophy in one sentence.
People should come to your blog, not because somebody drove them there, but because it was important for them to come there.
We DO spend a lot of time talking about goals, evaluation, measurement and yes, “driving traffic,” but ultimately that’s not it at all. It’s about sharing valuable content, engaging in a way that’s authentic and thereby drawing those who are interested in what it is you have to offer. I’m FAR more interested in only having five visitors to my site if they are commenting, interacting and doing business with me, than 10,000 visitors who stop by and don’t contribute to the conversation at all.
I admire Jim’s philosophy, and subscribe to it myself. Do you agree?
How do you describe your blogging philosophy?
This philosophy reminds me a little of Danny Brown’s post about not needing to impress anyone but yourself. If you’re happy with the content you’re creating, it’s more than likely that your audience – no matter how big or small it is – will be happy with it, too.
Thanks, Marijean for this. I had lunch with someone today and I was explaining this philosophy to him. It’s really simple:
Write well, write about what you’re passionate about and create good content you believe in.
That, and be nice to others and karma will help.
@jimduncan Social karma. Good band name. It’s just good to hear or read it articulated now and again, particularly when we see so many not practicing the same philosophy — it gets a little disheartening.
@Marijean@jimduncan It can be disheartening, but, fortunately, there are a few people who practice the philosophy. I think they give us hope and encourage us to keep doing what we’re doing.