20 top property blogs from "Quick Move Now"....

 ....another day another spot of recognition for A little drop of Cognac.

This time it's from UK company Quick Move Now who are the UK's leading home purchase specialists.

They kindly told me that this was "one of the first websites to be featured on the list – we recognise its position as an industry leading property-related website".

Praise indeed, perhaps even a tad over the top.... but, hey, who's complaining?

You can see the full listing of 20 blogs featured on the Quick Move website here.

My personal list would also have included:

www.propertynewshound.com

www.hclp.co.uk

www.privatefinance.co.uk/mepasite/24/Blog.aspx

www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-magazine

If you have any others to add to the list do please let me know. 

www.cognacproperty.com

Some other great French property blogs....

Fresh on the back of being shortlisted in three of the four awards run by Primelocation for property blogs I reckon that my friends at FrenchEntrée should run a similar awards scheme for blogs about French property.

There are plenty of good ones about and to get the ball rolling take a look at some of these:

Let's start with "A view from the foothills of France" where Nadia Jordan combines crisp prose with some stunning photography.  Her post "All in a days work" about a hooky day off work certainly made me jealous.

Take a look also at "Half way down on the left hand side" which gets my vote for the title alone. Val Walmsley is just setting out in the world of blogging but will be one to watch.

Rebecca Russell is a seasoned professional (it's a compliment Rebecca, don't shoot me) and this shows if you read her musings on "Cote Abode" - want to know about life and property in Nice then this is the place to go.

Just a short way along the coast in Provence you will find Neil Ranadé and "Provence property connections" - his posts are always thoughtful and well written - take a look at his writings about art in Provence.

"A word from Calvados" is another that I like - Janine posts infrequently but her thoughts are always worthwhile hearing and accompanied by interesting snapshots.

I have mentioned before that I follow Alison Morton's blog "Loire Thouet property search" - not the catchiest of titles but a real goldmine of information and written in a very professional manner.

Finally, if you still have time before you get back to work, take a look at "Perpignan Post" where Caroline Hill gives us an insight into her life down near the Spanish border.

So there we have it....a magnificent seven if ever I saw one.  Why not take a stroll around some of them and say hello.

I probably should disclose my interest here in that they're all colleagues of mine in the FrenchEntrée property finder network but, hey, you trust me by now surely.

www.cognacproperty.com

A little drop of Cognac - reviewed

There's a witty (and kind) review of A little drop of Cognac by Keith Eckstein on his website A Taste of Garlic.

Thanks a million Keith and keep up the good work.

www.cognacproperty.com

Primelocation property blog awards - winner, "best blog"!

I'm thrilled.

Being shortlisted was an honour in itself.  My fellow entrants were of an exceptionally high quality and The House Historian leads the way in showing how social media can be used in the property industry. Everything about it is top quality from the design & graphics to the research & writing.

I'm in distinguished company and I know it.

Here's what the judges kindly said about A little drop of Cognac:

It was a closely fought battle, but A Little Drop of Cognac’s Graham Downie has emerged victorious with the top prize. The judges were won over by his refreshing and entertaining mix of property market musings and insights into his life in France, alongside some great images and interesting guest posts.

Have to dash as I have a day job to run but I'm sure I'll be back later to give a more considered opinion once things have sunk in.

www.cognacproperty.com

"Brits in France" brings in the visitors

I'm addicted to the google analytics for my blog pages.

They tell you how many visitors you've had, how they found you, how long they stayed and a zillion other interesting facts.

Today I discovered that nearly half my visitors who arrived from the google search page did so after typing "Brits in France".  Pretty amazing as this blog didn't come anywhere near the top of the list when I tried this.

Why too did readers stay for an average of seven minutes last Sunday when usually I can only be entertaining enough to keep them stimulated for two and a half?

One stat that I'm proud of is that 35% of all visitors are in the top two "loyalty" sections and come back every day.

Finally, four people this month stayed on the site for half an hour or more which means they must have read just about every post I've ever written.....if you happen to be one of this elite group then take a bow and if you click here you'll find out how to turn this original, informative & witty online content into a book for Grandma this Christmas.

Alternatively I hear the new Dan Brown thriller is pretty good.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property blog gets worldwide exposure

Just taken a quick peek at the google analytics pages for this blog. 

I update it most days and it's easy to think that all I'm doing is talking to myself.

However, a couple of things lately have made me realise that this isn't the case.  A short while ago I did a piece on the current state of the market and (gospel truth) within a couple of minutes the phone rang and it was Trevor Leggett of Leggett Immobilier to say how much he liked it & could we work together.

Then, last week I was with some new clients and out of the blue they said how much they enjoyed reading the blog each morning before they got down to real work.

Hence my desire to know how widespread the readership is.  A little drop of Cognac hasn't quite got the circulation of The Sun but it certainly does have a hardcore of fans....primarily in the UK, France and USA. 

Then there are readers in a further 57 countries around the world including regulars in South Africa, Russia, India and Scandinavia.

If you take a step back it's quite extraordinary to see how far things have come with the internet.

Journalists face some enormous challenges from the millions of unskilled amateurs like myself. People who haven't been taught how to check facts, compose sentences, paint pictures and weave stories...it must be hugely frustrating for anyone who did actually make it through journalist college.

I'm not complaining mind and if you happen to be reading this over a cup of coffee in Vietnam, Iran, Mexico or Argentina please do feel free to let me know what you think.

www.cognacproperty.com