ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: I Don't Have Time For This!
- 04/16/24 09:35 AM
Time keeps on slipping into the future, and if you want to fly like an eagle, you've got to know some tricks of the trade.
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a 1000 times, I don't have time to blog. I'm not in your shoes, so I don't know how accurate that statement is, or if it's more a matter of not knowing how to be efficient with your blogging time so blogging doesn't become a burden.
The reality is a blog post can be a fairly short amount of time once you've refined your blogging chops.
Do you have a picture … (9 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: The Language of ActiveRain
- 04/10/24 08:50 AM
If you're new to ActiveRain you'll find that there's a language to be learned (just like real estate!). So here's a quick list of key terms to know:
Membership categories:
Rainer: default, unpaid level of membership. Full participation, BUT nothing is visible to Google. You can write the best public facing posts in the world, but your consumer target audience will NOT see those posts unless they also join ActiveRain.
Rainmaker: Either paid on a monthly or annual basis until you reach 500,000 points, then you gain a free Rainmaker account.
Ambassador: a small group of members specifically tasked with helping other members. You'll see … (13 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Newbies Don't Know
- 04/09/24 08:35 AM
ActiveRain comes with a written and unwritten list of expectations. If you've been here some time, you learned what they are (and whether you choose to follow them or not is a whole different thing...we're looking at you serial commenters...).
There's not a requirement for new members to read the Getting Started on AR content (located in the bottom right footer) or Kat's superb Getting Started post, or the Community Guidelines or Weltanshauung links found at the ABOUT link in the footer.
Fact is someone can create a profile and within minutes be leaving comments and blogging without any of the above knowledge.
They … (22 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Choose To Walk Away
- 04/02/24 03:30 PM
One of my favorite things about using blogging for lead generation is that when used properly, the results attract clients you WANT to work with.
The longer I'm in this business and the older I get, the less I want to work with people that make even the simplest parts of real estate harder than it needs to be.
That doesn't mean I'm not willing to work hard, because I do work hard, but it's for people I've chosen to give my time and energy to.
With a focus on low maintenance homes and almost as likely the last ever home for many of … (19 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: How To Be A SME
- 03/26/24 09:29 AM
What's a SME you ask? it's not more NAR related alphabet soup to add to your signature and advertising, but Subject Matter Expert is the answer,
When a consumer contacts us, they're expecting whoever answers the phone to be a SME when it comes to real estate matters. If they didn't think we were the SME for the particular topic or location that concerns them, they'd never reach out.
To be a SME, you have to know stuff. That doesn't mean you have to spend years in college getting an advanced degree, instead practical knowledge and critical thinking can trump a certificate.
But for … (12 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Pump You Up!
- 03/18/24 08:16 PM
The joys of home ownership include unexpected events. In our case, two sump pumps failing within 24 hours of each other. We have 2, one is the normal sump pump for draining the basement foundation as needed (which isn't often) and the other is dedicated to our basement washing machine/sink combo to push up the drain water to the main drain line. When you have as many furry critters as we have, having a washer/dryer set dedicated to their beds, towels, blankets, etc. is more than just a nice to have.
The good news? I learned a thing or two about pumps … (14 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: What's Your Blogging Priority?
- 03/11/24 07:41 PM
When you first start blogging, chances are you'll blog about ANYTHING just to get a post completed! Unless you've got prior experience blogging before arriving here in the Rain, I liken beginning blogging to being a kid with training wheels on your bike. You're moving along, maybe not too quickly, and maybe with some side to side wobbles, but you're heading in the rough direction you want to go.
As you gain experience blogging, it usually gets easier. The mechanics are in place. You know how to use the blog editor, where to find usable pictures, and the ideas come easier.
As you … (12 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Selling The Positive
- 03/05/24 08:04 AM
I'm going to talk about something advisers say NEVER to talk about: politics.
Don't run away, because this isn't really about politics!
It's election season and our mailbox and texts are getting flooded with mail about an Ohio state representative race. For whatever reason, a Northern Virginia PAC has decided to spend millions and millions AGAINST the incumbent, and with no endorsement of another candidate. Pure and simple, nothing but mocking the incumbent, false claims, all the usual stuff.
I'm not a fan of dark money influencing elections, and even less fan of the equivalent of a political fire hydrant spewing negative information.
The net … (22 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Shift Your Perspective
- 02/26/24 03:56 PM
Our area can get a bit drab during the Winter months when there isn't snowy decorations, so I enjoy seeing the early shoots of daffodils appearing and then our first flowers to bloom, our snowdrops.
Snowdrops aren't big flowers, just a handful of inches tall, but they can handle the cold, so snow can come and go and they'll still be there with delicate blooms opening as the temps warm.
Snapping a picture of them to share offers options, and perspective matters. If I stand nearby, the distance is such that I'll mostly have little flower dots and not much detail. Shoot from … (16 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Repeat After Me, Big Wheel Keep on...
- 02/19/24 07:06 PM
This summer will make 20 years since I started in real estate, and while a lot has changed, a lot of the fundamentals haven't.
It's a people business.
It's a numbers game.
And there's absolutely no reason to reinvent the wheel for much of what we do. That doesn't mean continuous improvement shouldn't stay front and center, but there's also no need to start from scratch when you're in the 1,268th iteration of a certain task.
To deal with what I have on my daily plate, I have to effectively use my time, and one of the ways to do that is to standardize some … (19 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Bee Ready For The Sparse Times
- 02/12/24 07:30 PM
If you're a beekeeper in a place that has a true Winter, you know sparse times are coming. The blooms don't last forever and the bees know that. Busy bees isn't just a cliche, it's how they live and work. They build comb, fill the cells with honey, pollen and the queen lays the eggs that increase the size of the colony. Numbers are needed to build, store food and stay warm. Not enough bees and the hive will die of starvation or cold.
As beekeepers, there are things we do to help prepare our bees for Winter and the coming sparse … (21 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Should You Purge Old Posts?
- 02/04/24 07:35 PM
I wrote our first ActiveRain post back in 2010. Since then, I've added over 4,000 more. A lot of those early ones were written with blogging training wheels, they didn't accomplish much! Maybe too close to a rant, no reason for a consumer to reach out to us, not a lot (if any) eye candy. There was still a LOT left to learn about blogging effectively!
So that brings to mind a question, should we purge old posts that no longer serve a purpose?
I can provide a rationale for leaving any posts that have a direct real estate tie-in: market reports, new … (26 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are You Organic?
- 01/29/24 07:30 PM
While this could be about the more expensive veggies at the grocer, it's not.
It's not even about an option of how you might grow your own veggies in your back yard.
In this case, the organic I'm referencing is a type of SEO.
Organic SEO is ranking WITHOUT paying for ads or hired ranking in the search results. It's cost effective IF you learn the tools of the trade and gains you more consumer trust than seeing SPONSORED right above your snippet.
Organic SEO is the Holy Grail of blogging and IDX search pages. If you can rank organically, you have a good chance … (19 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Do Your Posts Have To Be Pure Real Estate?
- 01/23/24 07:54 AM
The very short answer: of course not, you can now continue about your day :)
But, "it depends" is also a correct answer.
One of the primary questions for any blogger to ask and answer is "Who is your target market?"
Group 1: People that already know you are a real estate agent and already trust you
Group 2: Unknowns finding you at the end of a Google search
The more your target audience is in Group 1, the less evidence you'll need to provide that you know the real estate market inside and out, know how to take care of your clients, etc. E.g. anyone … (15 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: What Happened To The Juice?
- 01/16/24 11:47 AM
Once upon a time in the early days of ActiveRain you could post and find yourself on page 1 of Google in short order.
Now, not just any old blog post is going to get you found. Has ActiveRain totally lost it's mojo?
I'm not some SEO guru, but I don't believe any drop off in SEO results is strictly an issue with ActiveRain, although there are things we as a community do that don't help the community members that are all about those rankings on the WWW.
Think back 20-30 years ago and you were probably carrying a beeper, or at best a … (25 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Do You Have Your Why?
- 01/09/24 10:28 AM
Why are you in real estate?
Why are you here in the Rain?
Why do you blog?
Why, why, why??
And if you're like me, the whys can change over the years.
Why am I in real estate? I'm in real estate because 22 years ago Liz became an agent and after a couple of years working on a team she wanted some help and to split from that team, so it was either hire help or I get my license. So I took the classes, passed the exam and over time expanded my assistance role. So there's a major WHY.
Why ActiveRain? Way back in 2006 … (19 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Looking Back, Looking Forward
- 01/02/24 08:52 AM
I'm not a New Year's resolution type of guy. I figure if something needs done, it should just be done no matter the time of year. Now whether or not I'll actually follow through is a whole 'nother thing!
But there are a couple of things that do happen every year around NYD that forces me to look back and look forward and decide if adjustments are needed.
One is reviewing expenses. Exporting all the AMEX and bank statements to categorize for tax purposes reminds me just how much we spend and where for the opportunities to help others people buy and sell … (17 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Thinking Ahead Can Prevent Pain
- 12/26/23 11:17 AM
2024 is right around the corner, but this post isn't about business plans, goals, or even the fact that we get an extra day in February.
No, in this case, thinking ahead is about preventing pain to yourself later in your career by taking care of some big picture items early.
Your current brokerage may be everything you could ever hope for, but things can change in a hurry. Brokerages sell to other brokerages, brokers/managers retire, fee changes, other staffing changes, culture changes, bad press for the brokerage because another agent did something REALLY stupid and public, and you may find it time … (18 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Missing The Point of Points
- 12/18/23 05:54 PM
Points are a genius idea...and the bane of this community.
The philosophy behind points is pretty straight forward:
Do the RIGHT things in the community to participate and you get a reward of points that helps the Type A competitive types track their progress up the Leaderboard, gaining at city, county, state and overall rankings.
Legitimate comments of 50 or more characters come with points and reward you for the opportunity to build relationships with fellow Rainers (and maybe a referral later?).
Posts of 50 words or more (for the first 10 posts of the week) provide 225 points, and if you pick your topics … (28 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Don't Walk Barefoot Down A Dark Hallway
- 12/11/23 07:58 PM
Some things in Life you have to learn the hard way to fully understand why you shouldn't do them.
For instance, if you have a house full of dogs and cats, it's not advisable to walk down a dark hallway. You might get away with it many times, and you can do everything you can to keep a home immaculate, but furballs don't always follow the script and sooner or later you're going to step right in it, followed by the one legged hop to go clean up.
Now in real estate, there's ample opportunity to step right in it, and it can … (21 comments)
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Time keeps on slipping into the future, and if you want to fly like an eagle, you've got to know some tricks of the trade.
;)
;)
;)
