Real estate is a face-to-face business. You're not selling a product, per se; you're selling your services. So how do you build rapport online and turn a stranger into a lifetime customer?

In an automation era, replete with automated follow-up campaigns, people long for personal attention and authentic communication. That's the point of need.

Rethinking real estate websites, a blog is a conversation-starter.

Like any exchange, there's the requisite give and take. As interest ensues, quality interactions lead to personal relationships. Recognizing the value of these relationships is essential to your business.

By frequently providing quality content, a REALTOR® gains credibility. The blog platform gives an agent a channel to market her greater knowledge base. Since potential clients prefer doing business with agents they "know" and respect as experts, blogging agents generate more leads than non-blogging competitors.

Know your target audience

For 40-plus consumers, blogging does not yield the same ROI. "They are not yet embracing social networking or blogs, despite what recent hype would suggest," according to a survey by ThirdAge and JWTBOOM.

"This audience values word-of-mouth recommendations, expert opinions, trusted brands and privacy online."

What's more, "boomers...are interested in connecting and interacting with others in their community around shared interests and common life experiences."

Niche Marketing

Seniors Real Estate Specialists® best target the midlife market. REALTORS® "counsel clients age 50-plus through major financial and lifestyle transitions involved in relocating, refinancing, or selling the family home."

Following suit, capitalize on your ability to provide a unique service that is of great value to the customer; go after a niche market and minimize short-term competition.

To increase brand awareness online, develop a relationship with influential bloggers in your niche market and post a comment on their websites. By including a link to your real estate website in your comment, you automatically drive traffic back to your site. A relevant and informative comment can be as little as 140 characters and still have the desired effect.

Proactively building quality backlinks is an effective alternative to blogging.

Location, Location, Location

Think hyper-local. Type in the following phrase in Google's search: "your city real estate blogs" (i.e. "San Jose real estate blogs"). Frequently posting comments on the resulting blogs will increase your online presence.

Reach new customers by also listing yourself in local search engines, such as Google Local and Google Maps and YellowPages.com.

Although some of these sites cost money (e.g. Yahoo! Directories and Business.com), this annual fee maintains the quality of the directory and helps legitimate businesses like yours get found.