All hail the ActiveRain Gods!! I just opened my first escrow today with a client who found my blog on ActiveRain. I have been a "newbie" of the community for a little over a month, reading every article that I can, and my efforts are starting to pay off. I am starting to believe in the power of blogging, but I still have much to learn.
I started blogging after having a discussion with my broker a few months ago about coming up with new ideas to
attract new business. He had received an email article about ActiveRain & blogging, and asked me to read the piece. I was a little hesitant at first. You see, I have never been one to express myself through writing. I can talk to someone all day long on most subjects, but to write the same thing down is a foreign concept to me. Trying to get my thoughts from the brain to the paper (or in this case, the computer) has always been a challenge for me. But I saw the possibilities of blogging and decided to give it a try.
When I got to ActiveRain and started reading the blogs, I was terrified!! There were the articles about Project Blogger , Ardell's article about transparency, and all the writings by Laurie Manny. Then there were the discussions about SEO, "finding your voice", what to do or not do on ActiveRain, and every subject in between. It's a wonder I did not go insane!! My fingers were trembling trying to the type the words that weren't coming out. Who was going to listen to me, and what was I going to talk about?
One of the pearls of wisdom I came across was "It's your blog, write what you know". Well that's easier said than done. I started reporting with the real estate sales in Palm Springs, to let people know what was selling in town. That was about as exciting as watching paint dry!!! The words weren't coming to me, and my confidence started to disappear.
Then I wrote an article about my Dad for Father's Day, and then the words just flowed. My fingers were typing faster than I could keep up. I realized that all needed to do to keep blogging was to just be myself and write what I know. I started writing material about Palm Springs, and started posting the articles to Localism.
Yesterday, I got an email from Lexa Montierth that made my day. "Baby it's Hot Outside", my latest post to my blog, was being featured in Localism Week in Review. I felt like Sally Field at the Oscars, "You like me, you really like me!! I started doing my happy dance, and everyone in my office thought I was nuts!!!
This just validated to me that people do read these posts, and they do listen what we have to say. I don't profess to be a great writer. There are so many talented people on ActiveRain whose writing has substance and meaning. All I can do is to keep reading, have an open mind, and to learn from everyone in the community.
Thanks ActiveRain for giving me a voice.
Harold Watts, Lyle Realtors
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