I started blogging less than a year ago and haven't looked back. In fact, it's been very disappointing to not have enough hours in the day lately to post or comment as often as I would like.
The good news is, in my opinion, my lack of time to blog is a direct result of my blogging!!
When I joined Active Rain, I gave serious consideration to the message I wanted to send with the majority of my postings.
I saw this forum as an opportunity to position myself as the Manalapan New Jersey Neighborhood Real Estate Specialist! I've lived in Manalapan almost 17 years and have been raising 2 daughters through the school system. I'm a Girl Scout Leader and community volunteer. What better place in which to specialize?
I started posting about community, school and local area events. I'd post my Manalapan listings. I'd write about market trends in Manalapan Real Estate. Working with my Weichert colleague and fellow Manalapan resident, Gail Szeluga, we've been working toward buidling a focus toward reporting on the different communities that make up Manalapan Township. Soon thereafter we expanded our Manalapan presence via Facebook, Twitter and other Social Networking forums. Join us (and the 286 other Manalapan residents) on Facebook at the Manalapan Residents Group.
Almost immediately, the phone starting ringing.
Buyers would find me via posts on Manalapan homes for sale. Sellers started to stumble upon me when searching for information on Manalapan Township.
I've been thrilled with the response and felt I was making great strides toward my goal of being seen as the source for Manalapan Real Estate information.
Recently, I received a phone call from Ms. Jill Capuzzo. That's when I KNEW the plan was working!
Jill is a reporter with the New York Times! She was writing an article on "Living in Manalapan" and needed a local professional to show her around town and fill her on on the local market. She found MY blog which then led her to my website and finally to my listings! Don't you just love when a plan comes together??
About a week later, Gail and I had the pleasure of meeting Jill and touring her around Manalapan!
We visited neighborhoods throughout Southern and Northern Manalapan, as well as East and West of the Route 9 corridor.
We talked about the award winning Manalapan-Englishtown and Freehold Regional High School Districts. We covered the newly expanded Manalapan Recreation Center and the recently rejuvenated Thompson Grove Park. We toured many Manalapan landmarks, including the municipal building, 9/11 memorial, Old Tenennt Church, Holiday Park Duck Pond, Millhurst Mills, historic Englishtown and Pine Brook Golf Course. We talked about the attraction Manalapan holds for New York City transplants looking for a little extra elbow room while still enjoying a reasonable commute. Good schools, affordable homes, reasonable taxes... what's not to like? The time flew by! Once you start a realtor talking about real estate, good luck getting them to shut up! We had a blast!
What a thrill it was tonight when I felt my blackberry buzz and looked down to see my most recent Google Alert...
REAL ESTATE | June 28, 2009
Living In | Manalapan, N.J.: High Marks for Space, Schools and Location
By JILL P. CAPUZZO
I scanned the article quickly. As promised, Jill highlighted my Manalapan listing at 9 Old Queens Boulevard. What I didn't expect was that she would give mention to both myself and Gail! What a treat! A great afternoon showing off all our real estate know how, talking about the town we love AND a mention in the New York Times!
Me!! In the New York Times!! Excuse me while I go call my Mommy!! :-)
Jo
JoAnna Siminerio
Weichert Realtors - Marlboro / Manalapan
732-598-6823 cell 732-536-4400 x152 (office)
JoSiminerio@optonline.net
www.JoTheRealtor.com
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Enthusiastic, motivated & determined to succeed! Focused on Buying & Selling homes in Monmouth, Ocean & Middlesex. I am YOUR Manalapan & Marlboro Area NJ Real Estate Specialist! www.JoTheRealtor.com
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Congrats to you and your strategy...now make sure your 15 minutes of fame does continue and not burn out:)
Congratulations Joanna, to you and to Gail. That's a great story to hear, wish both of you continued success!
Diego
Congratulations . This is wonderful news. It shows people do read our posts.
Bravo!
It is so good to hear the positve effects of blogging and showing your market knowledge. The NY Times! Great Job!
Have a Great Day
I do love it when a plan comes together. Sounds to me like you're doing a lot of things right.
Congratulations on being discovered by the NYT. Hopefully, the NYT article will lead to more business for you! Blogging works.
Congratulations for your new position as an expert. . AR will definetely help you become one
Great job JoAnna and thanks for sharing it. I hope you will reap the rewards.
WOW! Good for you.
Joanna, I knew as soon as you started blogging that you had what it takes to attract readers. You have a clear, concise and humorous style to your writing. In fact, I think you could easily have written the article for the NY Times yourself!! Thanks for including me on your wild ride!!
Hi Joanna, Good post. Thanks for sharing.
Best - Sash
JoAnna - Congratulations. That's a great result from blogging if you ask me! Of course, those sorts of things only bring more attention to you as well.
Thanks for all your supportive comments!
Getting the opportunity to have my listing highlighted on the NY Times was awesome!
Having my name mentioned in the article was pretty cool as well.
What excited me most was that when the reporter searched the internet to find an agent who knows Manalapan, she found me. Having her contact me was all I needed!
Hi Jo,
Great news! Glad your hard work is paying off!
JoAnna, the New York Times is a big freakin' deal no matter where you are. Good for you!
Wow! How cool is that little Mafia Princess! Any mention of our names in a major newspaper is quite a feat! Good job!
JoAnna, WOW, New York Times--How Awesome. It's nice to see all your hard work is working. Congratulations, you've truly earned it.
Congrats! Joann I guess there is no stopping you now.
Hi JoAnna - how cool is that! Now that deserves the weekly Pride Award. Congrats.
The lack of time to comment and post being attributed to your blogging ... I agree 100%. I often wonder how much production some of the "big names on AR" have. Sure they know their stuff, but I am having a hard time keeping up with AR because of how much business I get from it. Anyway, congrats. Very cool stuff.
Thanks all for your support! The feedback has been great! I've gotten so many calls from old friends and colleagues who read the article!
Steve, I've often wondered the same myself! I think many, many of the folks you're talking about are broker/managers and have teams working for them to process leads and transactions. In fact, that's a direction I'm considering down the road.