They tell us that "Content is King!"

With over 37,000 members and growing daily, ActiveRain has become an amazingly successful and valuable network for real estate professionals. One of the best ways we can ensure the continued growth and benefits of this platform is to strive towards contributing quality content. Never before has the need and demand for good quality, original content, consumer-oriented, real estate-relevant articles been more pronounced than now.

(Wow! That was a 'mouthful!)

Hence, the ActiveRain "Carnival of Content" - a twice monthly contest to challenge, encourage and foster better and improved quality writing from among our membership.

This contest will accomplish two goals:

• provide greater quality articles of enhanced value for Localism/Consumers
• provide excellent examples of what constitutes good blog writing for our members

This Contest Is A 'Call To Action'

We will be running several "Carnival of Content" contests. The first one will be specifically for Real Estate Agents/Brokers. The following contest will be for Mortgage Lenders/Officers. The third for Staging Professionals, and so on. It is our intention to offer contests that will encourage/challenge improved writing from all the various categories of ActiveRain membership.

This first contest is for Real Estate Agents/Brokers. The topic/subject is "Best Advice/Tips for Buyers or Sellers in a Slowing Market." You can create your own 'catchy' title, and offer advice/counsel for Buyers, Sellers, or both.

Since most markets throughout the country are experiencing a 'cooling' trend or 'slowing' market, we want to provide our most professional, knowledgeable, experienced, and 'practical' advice to consumers and potential clients. What is working for you? What tools, tips, techniques have you utilized in helping your Buyers/Sellers to achieve success in your particular markets?

Read the contest guidelines carefully and then enter your article! What do you have to lose? If nothing else, you'll at least get your usual 200 points for posting an article.

The Rules (yeah I know, but we need some, so deal with it!)

• Must be written between July 9th and July 13, 2007.
• If it's not fresh, it will get cut. Let's get some new articles to read. If you want to rewrite an old article, knock yourself out. But don't submit anything you have previously posted here on ActiveRain or on your outside blog.
• No Cut and Paste. (Do we need to explain this?)
• Copyscape (If it doesn't pass the Copyscape test, it's out. We will not tolerate plagiarism)
• No Ghost Writing (we only want 'original' content articles. You have to write it yourself!) 
• Late entries will not be accepted. No exceptions. The cutoff is midnight, Friday July 13, 2007.  
• We have just added a new Group called "Carnival of Content - Real Estate Agents/Brokers." All contestants need to become members and your article needs to be submitted to the Group. Subsequent groups will be created for each specific category contest. 
• Categorize your article "For Consumers." You can place it in your respective State, region, or city.
• For the duration of the contest, the submitted article, in its entirety, will be published here on ActiveRain.
• Only one article per contestant

Criteria

• Topic/Subject: Best Advice/Tips for Buyers, Sellers, or both, in a Slowing Market
• Minimum of 300 words
• Grammar (if you have trouble with this, get someone to proof read your article)
• Spelling (your blog has a spell checker, use it)
• Consumer-Oriented (write your article as though you were counseling/talking to your clients)
• Aesthetics (attractive layout and relevant graphics will get a more favorable rating, it takes more effort to make it pretty)
• Your Unique Voice (we want to read your own personality, perspective, and passions in your article) 

The Prizes

A contest is no fun without prizes. So, here's what will happen to the winning articles. There will be a first, second and third place winner.

• All three winners will be announced on Monday July 16th, 2007. 
• All winning articles will get 'Featured' on the Blog Dashboard.
• Points - We all like to get them or complain about not having them. ActiveRain runs on points so let's give some away. 1000 points will be awarded for 1st Place; 750 points for 2nd Place; and 500 points for 3rd Place.
• The winning articles will also get published on SoundBiteBlog.com. This is not as big a deal as being featured on AR, but SoundBiteBlog does have a respectable readership and it can't hurt, can it? It will also help with your Internet exposure. A backlink from SoundBiteBlog to your profile or ActiveRain blog is a good thing.
• The winning articles are bound to make it into the Week In Review on Monday the 16th! So you will get acknowledged one more time!

The Judges

There will a minimum of 5 judges per contest. They will be chosen from among the rank & file of our clearly qualified and veterans for each discipline within our membership. The names of these judges will not be announced until after the winners have been chosen.  

Summary

Many of you have complained about the lack of quality real estate-related articles here on ActiveRain. Now is your chance to show us how it's done! Take your time and write the best article you can for consumers! Let's all strive to 'Raise the Bar' on more improved writing in the Rain!

* * * * * * * U P D A T E * * * * * * * *   Only 3 Days left to join the Carnival of Content - Real Estate Agents/Brokers group and submit your article entry into the Carnival of Content for Real Estate Agents/Brokers!