Working in the banking and mortgage industry, you are sure to have gained a wealth of experience that you can share with potential clients. Branding yourself as knowledgeable is a good way to build trust, and a reputation as someone who knows what they are doing. Aside from your LinkedIn profile, you have the ability to hold an even bigger presence online through blogging.
There are a multitude of reasons that you may want to start a blog as a broker (gaining exposure, building trust, and setting yourself apart as an industry influencer, just to name a few). While blogging does take up a few more hours in your work week, it’s important to remember that your personal blog is an investment.
Maintaining a blog is not difficult—the hardest parts usually come in setting up the page itself, and then optimizing your SEO. However, once those pieces are out of the way, the rest comes down to you doing what you do every day – gathering the information you’ve collected throughout your years in the mortgage industry, and using it to help others.
To get you started, here are three beginner-friendly blogging platforms that you’ll love:
WordPress is the most popular blogging site out there. (1 in 4 bloggers can be found here!) Whether you decide to use the free, more beginner-friendly version (WordPress.com) or the more coder-friendly version (WordPress.org, where you have to self-host), you can build a beautiful portfolio to showcase not only your knowledge of the industry, but where clients can find you, what services you offer, and testimonials from past customers.
If you are not in the business of design, Medium.com may be a better fit for you. Maintaining a universal layout for all of its users, Medium allows you to focus strictly on content. You can better connect with people in your industry through the use of tagging, commenting, and posting. (Medium also makes it easy to take a few minutes to read great articles, just for the fun of it!)
Weebly.com is a great place to start for brokers who want to showcase their entire brand. More of a website than a blog (with blogging capabilities), Weebly lets you build and manage a portfolio easily with its drag and drop features. After signing up, you can select from a multitude of theme options that are both visually appealing, and totally customizable.
Utilizing any of these blogging platforms can prove to be beneficial to your growth. Share your expertise with the public, and allow them to see why you are the perfect person to help them reach their goals.
*To avoid a bulky URL, you’ll want to separately purchase a custom domain name and hook it up to your account.