I've been out doing office presentations these past few weeks, and sharing with Brokers and Agents what ActiveRain is all about. In my travels, I have found that as new members join ActiveRain, it can seem a bit overwhelming because there are so many members, tools, great posts, and let's face it, there's a ton of information here.
So Where do you go and what do you do once you hear about ActiveRain?
The first step is to just sign up, the second step is to setup and create your ActiveRain profile, and the third step is to write that first post. To help new members with these steps and to try and simplify the process, there is a "Getting Started" post that helps minimize the frustration some experience their first few visits here.
The most common question I get is "What tools does ActiveRain offer to help my Business?"
Having useful tools in your "Toolbox" is great, but if you don't know where they are, you're not using them, you don't know how, or you never open the toolbox, then none of them will present much value? Hopefully this wil help some of you that are new to the community.
Here's the "TOP 10 ActiveRain Tools" and in no particular order:
10. Advertising on Activerain can get you some great exposure. Nearly 150,000 members, and over 2,000,000 visitors each month. We have numerous options available through channels, Activerain pages, the Daily Newsletter and the Top Spot on the Feature Board.
9. Go Hyper-Local using Localism.com Creating content on ActiveRain for your Localism Blog can be a huge resource for your local communities and neighborhoods. The worlds most complete neighborpedia. Sponsoring a community is easy and inexpensive.
8. Building a Profile is more than just your picture, company name and phone number. Member profiles CAN generate Subscribers, Traffic, Associates and Business. Take the time to make your profile your masterpiece. Your Profile can be just as powerful as a website.
7. Outside Blogs have become one of ActiveRains leading tools for members. There's No need to learn a new Blogging platform. It's easy to set one up and there are plenty of tools and widgets to help make your custom outside Blogs successful.
6. Vision - Do you know what your prospects are thinking? ActiveRain presents a new vision for success. IDX and Leads are great to have, but you'll need the tools, a plan, and the follow-up / follow thru to make any lead generation tool become a success.
5. Hit Router - With over 100,000 City searches on ActiveRain recently, you could generate some great leads via your IDX. Set up your FREE Markets, create City Search Campaigns, you can watch a webinar how to do it all. There's over 1,000,000 posts on ActiveRain which means one million plus opportunities for visitors to search for homes in your area and find YOU.
4. The ActiveRain Referral Exchange. Be sure to setup some alerts in your area immediately. This training webinar will help. There's even a rating system in place that can be used at the close of referral transactions. A tool every referral exchange should have.
3. Networking, Connecting, and building Associations with other Real Estate Industry Professionals on ActiveRain will increase your knowledge and resources faster than any other website or Social Network out there. Your Associates are a great reference and endorsement. You can Build your National and International Associates all in one place.
2. It's good to find Blogging mentors who have been successful. There are thousands of great Bloggers and successful members here on ActiveRain, you can see the Top 100 most subscribed to get some great ideas and to see what works for them.
1. Becoming a Rainmaker member does have it's obvious privileges. Why? (see all the above) There are many more tools, services and benefits you'll discover on ActiveRain, but these 10 are the most valuable and powerful in my opinion. Remember that joining ActiveRain and using these tools is not a "Sprint To The Win" it's a "Marathon To The Victory!"
Sometimes finding support and answers to your questions can seem like a daunting task, but there are some easy ways and "tools" available to help you get anything you need on ActiveRain. You can Contact ActiveRain, use the SEARCH tool, check the HELP/FAQ Group, visit the ActiveRainGuide.com for "how-to" posts and tutorials, use my profile, or you can contact our staff on-line anytime. You'll find our staff Blog at ActiveRainTeam.com.
Specific Tools are created to get certain jobs done, I hope these tools help you "Get Your Job Done!"
She is a terrific client - and very motivated. 
What suggestions do you have for staging during the holidays!
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