How Brokers Can Use Blogs To Efficiently Correspond With Agents

Since the broker blog is a communication tool among employees and the agents it must be decided whether information should be available to the public or remain private to registered users (employees/agents).  Also, when comments are submitted from previously written entries the broker must decide whether they should hide comments, remain private to registered users only, or make them available to the public.  Finally, in handling comments the broker should decide whether they will automatically approve all comments, or require approval prior to publishing.

My recommendation for brokers on handling comments is to make some entries public, make some entries private to registered users only, make comments private to registered users only and require approval before publishing comments.

Each employee within the organization has the ability to contribute information using a feature called mutliple auhtors.  This will allow responsible members of the company to contribute information as deemed necessary without having one person write and submit content.  Also, another feature most blogs have is the ability to time release entries at a specific time/date so that they do not have to be in front of a computer every day to manage and publish the blog.

In order to better explain this phenomenon let’s look at some examples that each person or department would be responsible for contributing information.

Example Broker Posts

1. Motivational quotes. 
2. New license law changes
3. Upcoming office events
4. Recruiting messages
5. Industry news

Example Broker comments

1. Responding to a misinterpreted statement
2. Answering a follow up question from an employee
3. Clarifying a company policy stated earlier

Example Agent Posts

1. New listings
2. Open Houses
3. Good experiences with contractors
4. Good experiences with the company or team members

Example Agent comments

1. Responding to a new listing post that they have shown before
2. Demonstrating expertise in a particular area based on entry
3. Stating opinion on company policy by providing useful feedback

Example Admin Posts

1. Company birthday announcements and events
2. Policy changes
3. Service provider changes
4. Contracts and forms

Example Admin comments

1. Clarifying a company policy stated earlier
2. Giving a word to the wise from experience
3. Supplying additional information to add to entry

Example Marketing Manager Posts

1. MLS changes and correspondence
2. Newspaper deadlines, submissions, and corrections
3. Share vendor relationships

Example Marketing Manager comments

1. Be careful about how you market that listing
2. Restating company policy on a home for sale
3. Reminder about upcoming deadlines for advertising

Example Relocation Manager Posts

1. Companies moving to or away from  town
2. Tips on working with relocation clients
3. Referral opportunities
4. Changes in relocation policies
5. Relocation education requirements

Example Relocation Manager comments

1. Restating relocation policy
2. Sharing untapped resources

Example Education Department Posts

1. New company training offerings
2. Certification/Designation courses available
3. Continuing education requirements
4. National education opportunities

Example Education Department comments

1. Responding to a misinterpreted statement
2. Answering a follow up question from an employee
3. Reminding of upcoming events

Example Accounting Department Posts

1. How commission splits are handled
2. IRS rules to follow for agents
3. How agents are compensated
4. What fees and when are they due to the company

Example Accounting Department Comments

1. Be sure you check with your accountant
2. I hope that we have it in our budget to do that
3. I think we should consider this in our budget for next year

This dialogue created using the blogging platform will increase idea sharing, creativity, and ability to make transitions in a shorter period of time.  It essential for broker to require approval before publishing comments and show comments only to invited members of the blogs (staff, agents, admin, managers, and accounting).  It may be a good idea to share some entries to the public and require a password to view others depending on the confidentiality of the entry.