2,473,997
I wrote a periodic blog for my local paper for about a year (for free) until the paper changed their online format. I received several leads during that time and one reader eventually purchased a home.
One sale and I probably wrote about 20 articles (300 to 700 words). To me it was worth it (especially for free) because of the increased brand exposure and local backlinks.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kathleen Daniels, Prob...
San Jose, CA
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Inna Ivchenko
Encino, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
1,619,511
Yes, have a call to action, a landing page and a giveaway for the CTA. It's only vanity ad without it; it's a lead capture with it.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
3,074,389
Long ago we tried it - 2007. No noticeable benefit.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
6,687,212
I would never pay for posting a press release, legitimate newspapers do not operate this way.
I have summitted many press releases and feature articles, and they do post them.
And a few local people do generally call, and sometimes hire us.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Bob Crane
Stevens Point, WI
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
2,818,727
A few years back, I used to write for the Patch. (it was free). I did get some sustained traffic from a couple of posts (I think 1 was giving me around 1000 pageviews/month for 2 to 3 years. I did get a few local customers from it.
See if the links are do follow. If they are it's probably worth it for the combo of local customers and link juice (which is ongoing).
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Josef Katz
Manhattan, NY
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Anita Clark
Warner Robins, GA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
2,230,207
I have not.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
8,150,772
Nope.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
5,584,639
no, I've not done that....
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
5,167,137
I haven't. Do they feature other area Realtors's articles, too?
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
2,708,028
A couple of local Realtors already dominate the local rag's website. It would be expensive to compete with them.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
1,870,453
It's almost like a infomercial on their site. It's like a newspaper ad & I'm sure it's priced that way too. What is the readership? Don't forget their goal is to sell space & clear out your wallet .
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
5,311,875
I have not done this so can't really provide input.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
3,213,379
I've been quoted and they have linked to my blog before, but I'd never pay to put my blog on their site.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
1,650,342
Depends what is your goal and budget. If you need a brand exposure and marketing~ it will work, if you expect sales from it, it might not work.
In any case, it is still a better marketing investment if you compare to those benches with realtor faces I see when I drive~ I'll never get benches on the bus stops.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
5,487,078
I have and never got one lead - phone call, text, email, website registration or any other form of reaching out from a potential customer!
That is my market but, yours may be different, Lynnea.
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Sean Casey
Newark, DE
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
1,713,581
I have not.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
3,430,182
My gut suggest the only value may be the backlinks to your site.
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Brett McIntyre
Adams County, NC
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
391,098
No, but I would love the opportunity.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
5,774,100
Lynnea,
I would not pay to have my blog placed. This no doubt will be disclosed by the paper as an advertorial, which in my opinion just is another ad. Whenever we have been asked to do a guest post, it has been flattering. My expectations are slim, brand recognition. We did get a company branding and marketing from one, and that was after a year or two of posting...and we did not pay for it.
Agaain, that is just our experience, I have not studied your market in depth, so I am flying by the seat of my pants. A
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
3,988,138
I do not believe out newspaper offers to post our blogs on their site. I don't know that they get enough exposure to make it worth paying for that service.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
3,986,473
1,538,464
4,434,227
921,504
I would expect the cost to be predatory. However, you do need to spend money to make money.
Two clear benefits come to mind.
#1. Authority. Frequent contributor to New York Times says AUTHORITY. The same applies to the local paper. However, it is up to you to exploit it.
#2. Expertise. Such a forum to deliver the message of your solutions actually validates your solutions. Again, you must exploit it.
#3. Bonus benefit. Google Juice. We all know the most powerful juice has .gov and .edu extensions. However .news works nicely also. Run analytics on the website is see if there is traffic. If so, get in front of it.
Subscribe to a few programs regarding the creation of exceptional CTAs. Dropping the ball here will waste the big stack of money invested in playing in this arena.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
5,482,888
Never tried it. The vendor charging is making money for sure! Just saying!
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
1,679
It really all depends on the DR. For an inbound link I am sure it is a good link. But in terms of organic exposure probably none. Even though it is geared toward businesses that want marketing services in Cleveland, OH, it might help.
4,322,035
6,003,885
542,913