Where do we begin ? There was such a huge amount of rich, viable information shared at Raincamp SF it was astounding! Thank you to Ben Kinney, Brad Andersohn and Active Bob! You guys were are amazing.

I have to admit, until very recently, I have been resisting getting into the whole Social Media world….well, this seminar sealed my intent to jump in further. And here I am, blogging. Not only did the message of the importance of social media for ALL business owners ring loud and clear, but the added talents of those named above were stellar. Brad Andersohn and his family rocked us, Ben Kinney had us in hysterics…and so much more. That said, the audience consisted of realtors, lenders, inspectors, professional home stagers, and many other real estate affiliates. Many of whom were twittering away during the day – taking the Word of mouth to the WORLD of mouth.

A beautiful moment occurred with the showing of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium – one of the worlds’ largest . What does this have to do with active rain? Well, if you truly want to know, watch the response of the band whose music was playing during the video above. In short: they were thankful to have their work catapulted due to the exposure during the video. Would that have happed so quickly without social media? Chances are good that would be a no.

In addition to blogging tips, tactics and techniques, statistics, and the discussion of various mediums – eg Twitter, Facebook, and the resources available via Active Rain, a huge number of resources (many of them FREE) were shared. A few favorites that I know we’ll incorporate into our Professional Home Staging and Furniture Rental Business:

• issuu.com – huge library of digital publications. And allows you to publish
• slydial.com – when your fingers are tired of texting, connects you directly to voicemail
• goldmail.com – combines voice with visuals resulting in audio slideshows
• picnik.com – photo editor made fun…and easy!
• bannerfans.com – create your own banners 
• steprep.com – manage your online reputation
• avg.com – antivirus & security
• hittail.com - keyword tool to help drive long tail traffic to your site.-- and don't enter a typo and enter hot vs hit. I did. and am still blushing at the porn it brought up.
  

Seriously, there were between 50 & 100 resources mentioned! Do you see my head spinning? There was a panel discussion, comprised of Nick Cameron, Janet Guilbault and Jeanean Gendron bringing real-world examples of success using social media as part of the game plan. At the end of the discussion each was asked for their single most important tip:

1)take training – online, webinars, (RAINCAMP)

2)let it flow – be natural. People see through a fake 

3)be consistent. Be genuine. Be interesting

Was it worth the time and money? You bet. I believe Wednesday's event was the single best 1-day education I've had the honor of participating in. Again, if you have a chance to attend a RAINCAMP, do it! As Ben Kinney said, "what got us here, won’t get us there”. Blog on