You Go Girl: Carol starts an association blog
My longtime friend and fellow REALTOR Association Exec Carol Van Gorp has started a blog.
One of the first things to decide when starting a blog is who your audience is, and this is how Carol describes it on her blog: “My intent is to speak to my members (and anyone else who is interested) on issues that we deal with at the Columbia Board of REALTORS [Missouri] - both on a staff level and on a volunteer leadership level. Maybe we can answer the age-old question of ‘What were they thinking?’ I’m going to try for a few weeks and see how it goes.”
I think Carol’s decision to do this type AE-to-member blog communication makes her unique, and worth watching … Here’s a few examples of what she’s posted so far:
1. A YouTube video of her explaining how the association is going to use a NAR grant they received;
2. An explanation of a decision by a local newspaper to stop delivering their association consumer publication, and what they’re doing in response;
3. Thoughts on dues collection, budget and explaining hard look at services for the New Year. Post includes this classic comment [emphasis mine]: “Everyone asks me how we are doing. It’s really hard to tell because you all pay at the last minute …. The dues being due right after Christmas is a hard time for everyone. It’s a slow closing period which makes it worse. In Miami, we billed in the summer for the following calendar year’s dues … Everyone hated that too because they didn’t want the association to hold their money that long. My guess is that no payment date would be any better than the next. New Year’s Eve will bring about a third of our membership in to the office to pay. It’s really kind of fun to see everyone!”
Three words, Carol: You Go Girl! Can’t wait to see what else you post ….