Depending on who comments on what and what I decide to post on my blog, my points at Active Rain will reach the 100,000 mark today or tomorrow.
100,000 points is quite an accomplishment, although I recognize there are many members here who have more points than I do, I also know that there are many more who have less than I do.
Perspective on retrospective
When I used to coach basketball I always told my players:
"Never judge yourself by what others can do or have done. You can work your entire life to get to the top of a mountain and when you get there you know the first thing you will find?
"People who were born on that mountain.
"Instead of judging yourself based upon others, look back and see how far you've come. Only then will you have a measure of yourself."
That said, I thought this might be a good point to do a quick retrospective---a good point to look back down at zero points and see how I got to where I'm at.
It seems like yesterday and at the same time it seems like an eternity ago, that I cobbled together my website and submitted the URLs to the major search engines. My website was a forgotten backwater in an ocean of websites. I noticed that a local competitor had a website that was atrocious, but he ranked well in some of the areas where I wanted to be noticed. I had come to realize that in-links are one of the keys to good search-engine ranking, so I went to Google and looked up the "in-links" that were feeding his ranking. Guess what I found?
Active Rain
I said to myself, "Active Rain? What the heck is rain that is active and what does it have to do with real estate?"
I wasn't quite sure what Active Rain was. I'd seen Localism posts, but I wasn't sure what that was all about either. I had no idea how to get started. If you're brand-spanking new, Active Rain is a networking and blogging platform that helps real estate professionals and clients exchange information over the world-wide web. Don't let anyone tell you different: A/R is a big deal and it is effective.
At first I was pretty timid. My first articles were generally just copied from my existing website. On July 13th 2008 (the day before my birthday) I posted "Start with a Budget". Every purchaser needs to know his budget and what's he's approved for. Seemed like a good place to start.
The routine ...
Then I just kept at it. I posted every day. Sometimes twice a day, but usually once a day. Soon enough, posting an article on Active Rain became one of my daily rituals. I won't leave the house without brushing my teeth, combing my hair and posting on Active Rain.
I've written a number of types of articles. Buying tips, selling tips, landlord tips. Real estate tips, tips ... tips. I written personal anecdotes about the real estate business. Most often I fell into a routine of writing basic information about neighborhoods, condos and local sites like parks and libraries. Very rarely have I written articles praising Active Rain, and rarely have I written tips for bloggers. I have chosen to focus on non-personality driven fact-base informational articles.
But, breaking with my tradition, I'll share a tip with my fellow Rainers: tips for fellow A/R members get featured. If you need or want points (more about this later) writing posts that help our network will get you noticed. For my part, I've been happy to sit in the background, cranking out Localism posts and providing neighborhood and condominium facts.
Then I hit the wall ...
Like a marathon runner, the key to blogging is to keep at it. You must push when you can't push and never ever stop. But, sometimes the well seems to run dry. Luckily for me, when I hit the wall was about the same time that Active Rain came out with the REBLOG button. Reblogging let's you give another blogger credit, but you get the content. It's good for everyone. After a reblogging respite I was back at it.
Condo Benefits
Along the way I started an A/R group called "Condo Benefits". Condo Benefits is a group for condo experts across North America. We're up to about 180 members and we'd love to have you join us. I take great care to make sure that it's not the "All About Me" group. I like to feature a variety of articles and I support the group with a site called CondoBenefits.com.
Points at Active Rain
I returned to my routine of an article a day and when I couldn't get an article written, I'd reblog an article and add my two cents. Eventually I wrote enough articles that I become one of my area's featured contributors by sheer volume of material submitted. I don't think I've ever written a bad article, but most of my articles were not the types of articles that should be featured on the A/R home page.
I notice early on that other A/R bloggers would talk about their "points". For my part, I didn't really care about points. I thought they were silly because I didn't want points. I wanted readers, because readers give you clients and clients give you money.
It took me a long while before I started to realize that simple things like commenting on the blogs of others gave you points. It took me a long while to realize that it is good form to reply to comments on your blog with comments on their blog.
But eventually I came to realize that A/R is your best friend. By that I mean, if you chase A/R points, you will follow a road map that the developers have laid out. If you do things that get points, you do things that get you noticed. Getting noticed by potential clients is one of the best rewards of blogging.
Is it worth all the work?
Now as I find myself approaching the 100,000 mark, I pause to ask myself, "Is it worth it?"
Hell yes.
The truth is ... blogging is absolutely the best and easiest way to jump start your career in real estate. It will make you smarter. It will give you exposure and it will bring customers and clients to you who like what you do and how you do it. Blogging on Active Rain is just about the easiest and best way for an agent to get started.
Thanks
It is fitting that I approach 100,000 points as we approach Thanksgiving. I give thanks to all the clients who have given me the opportunity to serve them. I give thanks to the folks at A/R who have built this reliable platform upon which we all depend. They have done a service to the community and a service to those of us who use this site regularly. Thanks much.
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