How To Almost Win The Carnival Of Real Estate In Ten Easy Steps

Well someone has to almost win the Carnival, so why not you? Here’s my inside scoop on how to slant the odds in your favor. Most of this stuff is pretty straightforward and easy to do, but you’d be surprised how often entries to the Carnival stumble on these points.

So starting in order of least importance…

Ten – Submit only one post per week. Spamming the host with multiple entries will likely get you deep-sixed for all your posts.

Nine – Follow the rules and submit a post written within the last two weeks. Specially important if it’s a topical news post.

Eight – Don’t submit your post to multiple Carnivals. When the host arrives at your site to read it and they see 3–4 trackbacks for other Carnivals you look like a Carnival spammer.

Seven – Submit your post on time using the correct link. The link is here. It really makes everything so much easier for the host if you submit it that way.

Six – Don’t email the host about the Carnival. Sometimes it’s a “did you get it?” query. If you used the correct link, trust me, the host got it. If you’re emailing an explanation of your post, well your post still needs work if it can’t stand alone. If you’re being chatty, hosts likely see you as trying to curry favor and this will backfire on you. Just submit your post and wait for the results.

Five – Submit a post about REAL ESTATE. On your real estate blog it’s fine to vary up your content and discuss things other than real estate. However The Carnival of Real Estate is purely real estate and nothing else.

Four – Don’t submit a hyper local real estate piece. This is a further limitation on the Carnival topics. Seeing the Carnival is attempting to draw a national audience, writing something ultra-local won’t appeal to a wider audience. Yes indeed your insights into the $250,00–$300,000 Condo market in South Woggle may in fact be extremely good. It’s likely a great post. Just that no one outside of South Woggle cares. Heck neither do most of the people in South Woggle.

Three – Pay attention to who the host is. If they have a pet peeve or peeves pay attention to it. If they love or hate something, it doesn’t hurt to share their stance on the issue rather than stand against it. However don’t turn your post into brown nosing suck up either. Don’t link to the host in your submission either. That smacks a little of attempting to curry favor too. It’s hard enough to judge and choose between online friends and strangers as it is without people blowing kisses at you.

Two – Have a hook, drama and color. Use a good title, interesting language and if at all possible photos or images in your post. Bland does not almost win anything.

One – Don’t try and win the Carnival. Just write good content for it’s own sake. Then once a week just choose your best general real estate post and submit it.

The truth of the matter is while almost winning the Carnival is fairly easy, actually winning the Carnival is a little bit of a lucky dip, it all depends on what everyone else submitted that week and what a single person happens to think is best. You really have no control over those factors. So don’t over think it, just pick your best, don’t be an idiot with the submission process, and hope for the best.

Follow my advice and soon you’ll get those long awaited comments on your blog…

Congratulations! You almost won!