A staffer at the company updates Johnson’s blog with information on local real estate events, company news, and project updates, and also posts content gleaned from other industry sources, such as magazines, newspapers, and other websites, acting as a kind of news service. Johnson drives traffic to the blog with a monthly e-newsletter sent to a list of subscribers that includes real estate agents, vendors, suppliers, and clients. The company also has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Flickr photostream, all linking back to www.markjohnsoncustomhomes.com.
“We think 60 hits a day is pretty good. We’re a very small company; we might do $3 million this year,” Johnson notes. “For us it’s all about building the pipeline. When those [blog visitors] are ready to build, they might call us, or tell a friend, or forward an article.”
Custom builder Darren Andreoli and his partner Bob Sprouls, owners of Bluewater Home Builders in Westport, Conn., have been blogging, tweeting, and using Facebook for about six months as part of a more aggressive marketing plan. Bluewater’s blog, updated up to four times per month, invites visitors to follow along as the company builds houses. Project updates make up the bulk of the entries, but the company also blogs about interesting suppliers, visits to manufacturers’ facilities, and tips and how-tos for working with custom home builders.
“Generating traffic to our website and getting customers is the biggest reason we blog,” Andreoli says. “We also think it’s an important tool for us because we really feel it’s a window into our company. We feel it increases our brand awareness by increasing traffic to our website. And we get more prospects and more customer loyalty from it—because we’ve created transparency and trust from the beginning as people are starting to investigate us as a potential builder.”
