Why a marketing consultant bought the largest real estate trade magazine in Canada
Andrew Fogliato was one of the earliest real estate agents to discover that online content could drive sales leads.
When Andrew Fogliato entered the real estate industry in 2012, his ambitions were modest. He was simply trying to make it as an agent in Aurora, a suburb just north of Toronto. Like many new realtors, he needed to find ways to stand out in a crowded market. What set him apart, however, was his knack for digital marketing—a skill that would ultimately transform his career and lead him to own Canada’s largest real estate trade publication.
Blogging His Way Into Real Estate
Back in 2012, few realtors believed social media could generate business. “[Social media] was this play thing that young kids did that was not a serious place for making money,” Fogliato recalled. But he knew better. Having already built genuine friendships in Facebook groups, he sensed the potential for connecting with clients.
He started writing three to five blog posts a week on Google’s Blogger platform. Mondays were reserved for “Ask a Realtor” posts. One article, What Is a Bully Offer?, took off on Google. “That jumped me from maybe a hundred people a week coming to my website to like a thousand,” he said. The traffic wasn’t all local, but it helped him rank higher in searches and gave him credibility.