Since joining the Million Dollar Blog Project over a week ago, I’ve been hard at work reinventing the online real estate guide to Brownstone Brooklyn.

Corbett and Caleb have done a great job providing a step by step outline on how to approach creating a new site or relaunching an existing one.

I decided to get started by tackling the following items:

1. define My Market
2. new Blog Topic
3. define my Unique Selling Proposition

Since my blog has been around since 2009, there’s a lot I wouldn’t have to do that  others must do who are starting a brand new blog site.

But I decided that I should, at least, tinker a bit to fine tune for the upcoming re-launch.

For instance:

1. site domain URL: www.mybrooklynreport.com
2. tag line: your Online Real Estate Guide to Brownstone Brooklyn NY *
3. site description: Online guide to buying, selling, owning and renting real estate in Brooklyn NY neighborhoods by Michael Corley
4. site home page keywords: Brownstone Brooklyn, Michael Corley, online real estate guide, owning your home, selling your home, renting an apartment, buying a house. *

Anywhere you see an * above represents changes I’ve made to the Home Page SEO.

So let’s get to how I’m positioning My Brooklyn Report:

1. Define My Market: here’s where I did some real soul searching along with market research.  As a real estate broker in Brooklyn NY, here’s how I define my market for readers:

current and future residents of Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods in New York City who either do currently or will rent an apartment, buy a home, own a home or will sell their home in any of the central Brooklyn neighborhoods listed below:

• Bedford Stuyvesant
• Crown Heights
• Bushwick
• Prospect Lefferts Gardens
• Clinton Hill
• Fort Greene
• Prospect Heights
• Flatbush
• Ocean Hill
• East New York
• Brownsville
• Cypress Hill

2. New Blog Topic: It’s here that I made a big change in the way I want to position the site on the web.  My former topic inspired content that came off a bit technical and only appreciated by industry people. 

Now, I want to produce content that would be widely read by consumers of real estate in a user friendly format.  So here’s the new topic;

Tips, insights and strategies for people who want to buy, sell, own or rent their home in Brooklyn NY successfully.

I think the above blog topic really defines where I want to go in my content and who I’m trying to reach based on the outcome that all current and future residents want in their next real estate transaction.

However, I’m not sure  if the topic defined should become the site description on the home page.  Will have to inquire with Corbett and Caleb to find out.

3. My Unique Selling Proposition: I really had to think this one through clearly.  In my deliberations I discovered a source to guide me in arriving at my USP.  My past real estate transactions with customers and clients, as well as my personal experience in buying our first and only home (and my Mom’s dream of home ownership unfulfilled).

In fact, after reflecting on all of the above it also served to fuel my future rant post.

So here’s how I see my unique selling proposition:

I’ve been where you are and know how you feel when you’ve looked at a home or an apartment, making an offer, signing a lease, applying for a mortgage, trusting professionals involved in the process and hoping everything works out in our favor.

In short, I’ve been where you are right now as a consumer and offer my own experiences as a homeowner and real estate agent to aid you in defining a successful real estate deal in one of America’s oldest cities and how to accomplish it.

While the primary topic of the site will be on residential real estate, I’m also including content about public school education and locally based small businesses in the above neighborhoods to give readers a great resource that fulfills the site’s name: My Brooklyn Report.

I’ll have more updates coming soon on my progress in the MDBP challenge.

Back in February 2008, I caught the blogging bug from my daughter who started an online resume business (Ayesha Writes 4 U).  After seeing her hard work and commitment to building an online business with her unique talents, I decided she might be on to something.

I started out using the current site’s name on Wordpress.com and began creating content that was basically social commentary on the foreclosure crisis and the economic, political and demographic impact it would have on central Brooklyn neighborhoods and throughout New York City.

(heavy stuff, indeed)

After writing a 3 part series on Goldman Sachs real estate investments in urban neighborhoods that generated a high readership and raised the blog’s visibility, I decided it was time to move to a self hosted platform.

But in moving to a self hosted platform, I decided it was time to bring my real estate experience to the fore by positioning myself as the “ultimate industry insider”.

However, in late 2010, I decided that the content I should publish needed to serve individual homeowners primarily and consumers of realty services entirely.

And thus, the online real estate guide to Brownstone Brooklyn was re-born with the following mission statement: Helping you buy, sell, own and rent successfully in Brooklyn and throughout New York City.

I’m aware that in order to realize this in the current real estate economy, it may be time to position the blog’s focus slightly online to begin generating revenue, and the next report here will begin to form my “think out loud” brainstorming for doing just that.

So stay tuned for my next update in future reports here where I’ll tackle the following questions while participating in the Million Dollar Blog Project:

• Define my market
• Develop a Unique Selling Proposition
• Create a Killer Brand
• Design a great looking (and effective) blog
• Re-Building the blog (MyBrooklynReport.com)
• Creating a Re-Launch Plan
• Developing re-launch content

Here’s the inaugural post for my public journal where I’ll post entries as progress reports about my participation in the Million Dollar Blog Project.

You can see my registration for My Brooklyn Report here.

Stay tuned for regularly scheduled posts on my progress in making the Online Real Estate Guide about Brownstone Brooklyn, New York City, a successful online business.