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ActiveRain Contest | LM Challenge

ActiveRain Contest!
The LM Challenge!

Chance to Earn Some Bonus Points!

Open your mind to the possibilities...

LM | Colleen Kulikowski

Laurie of Long Beach CA is an amazing mentor for many of us at ActiveRain. Recently she sent me on a little reading tour. Over the last few weeks, I have spent less time moderating and more time reading outside of ActiveRain. Those of you that have been given this challenge by this talented Long Beach Realtor and haven't taken her up on it - I hope this inspires you.

What finally inspired me to finally listen to Laurie and go exploring outside ActiveRain? It was simple -- I wanted more. My venture out has inspired me, improved my writing and changed the type of posts that I feature here at ActiveRain. My Celebration Florida Homes Blog, is benefiting from the education thes tour has provided.

Let's face it Blogging is a Social Activity we learn from each other all the time. Online Social Media is not the target audience, but we influence what other's think. We need to learn to harness it and make it work for us. In Toby Bloomberg's Diva Marketing Blog she wrote Social Media A Way To Reach Out, I strongly suggest this as a great read.

The summary reminded me of Laurie: "Lessons Learned: Reach out. You may find someone like Marianne who is happy to help ensure understanding. And if you pass that along to your community .. that's a powerful way to use social media tools." Laurie is a master at this. Laurie thanks for making my journey a pleasant one.

It's interesting to see what other's are writing about and how they are expressing themselves. You may have already ventured to some of your friends at ActiveRain's outside BLOGS, here are some others to check out. While traveling you should find some of that coveted blog fodder and increase your inventory of ideas. Your friends here at ActiveRain will still be here when you return. We look forward to hearing what you discover in the blog-o-sphere.

RSS Pieces Blog	Big Time Listings	Real Estate Convergence	Professor Piggington's
Matt Cutts	Bigger Pockets	TrumpBLOG	How To Change The World
Real Estate Marketing	Rembex Blog Fiesta	Off Beat Homes	House Blogs
1938 Media	Real Estate Investing BLOG	BawldGuy Talking	3 Oceans
Hot Property	Real Estate Bubble	Appraisal Scoop	InmanBlog
Scobelizer	Zillow	Bob Vila	Blogging Systems
StarPower	WorkerBeeBlog	Clear Bloggin	XBroker
CK's Blog	Get Staged to Sell	Sellsius Real Estate BLOG	Curbed LA
StickyFigure	1031 Exchange BLOG	Travel Blog	The Golf Blog
Blog Critics	Paul Allen the Lesser	Blogger's Blog	Simpler
The Real Estalker	Business is Best At The Top	The Real Estate Bloggers	ShoeMoney
Customers Rock	Trulia Blog	Business is Best At The Top	ProBlogger
Soapbox Appraisal Blog	Writer's Blog	Seth Godin's BLOG	Home Improvement BLOG
Negotiating Tip of the Week	Home Inspection BLOG	Transparent Real Estate	Kitchen Remodel BLOG
Google Tutor	Vlog Soup	Condo Domain	Realty Thoughts
Copy Blogger	Successful Bloggers	Search Engine Journal	Freakonomics BLOG

***** Yes the list is changing -- it is rotating and there are additions to it! With each modification of the list it will change colors!

So what is the LM Challenge? It is the latest in the ActiveRain Contests!

Contest "Rules"

Tag your post "LM Challenge"
Entries must be made by Friday, August 17, 2007 10pm EST
Post should be Titled LM Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read
Post TO: For Real Estate Professionals & ActiveRain Community
Posts you may select to write about can be published between August 2 - 16, 2007

You can't use the judges or Laurie's outside BLOGS

Pick 3 posts from 3 different BLOGS and write a brief summary of each and why you think members should check out the writer. You should include a link to the individual post and to the Blog home page

Do you have to stick the Blogs listed above? No, these are only suggestions? The only rule is that it must be a BLOG and three different BLOGs. (In case you are wondering -- no you can't pick three posts from a single BLOG)

Visually appealing, no wall of words!

Winners will be Announced on Monday August 20th and like all Contests here at ActiveRain it has prizes! And here they are:

1st Place - 1,500 bonus points and featured on AR
2nd Place 1,000 points and featured on AR
3rd place 750 points and featured on AR
Honorable Mentions-- 3 will be given out with 500 points awarded each

Judges for this contest are:

Jonathan Washburn - ActiveRain
Colleen Kulikowski - Orlando Avenue & Celebration Florida Homes
John Novak - Henderson NV
Carole Cohen - Cleveland Real Estate and News
janeAnn Narrin - Building Bridges to the Future
Brian Brady - America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker
and we have a special outside Blogger judging -- Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing Blog

Posted by Licensed Real Estate Salesperson Colleen Kulikowski on 08/08/2007 03:34 AM

Comments (71)

triiibes

71 Comments on ActiveRain Contest | LM Challenge

AUG

2007

Love the idea! I'm in! One of the great things about reading outside blogs is the ability to find new subjects for our own blogs. Hmm ... Another late night coming for me :-)

Interesting challenge, Colleen. Laurie and I talked about this sort of issue at the Blogger Connect event, among many other things. We'll see what we can come up with - I already read things on a number of other blogs (some names above, some not).

Jeff

Excellent challenge. I probably won't make the mark as it's a busy real estate time in my little corner of the world, but I will read about it!!!

Hope the challenge rears it's head again in September or October when I can take a breath!!!

ooh... another contest... yippeee

Do the blogs have to be real estate related or can they be about anything?

OH Colleen I like this one. I have been filling my RSS feed up the last month and have found some really great bloggers outside of AR.

Colleen I guess this would be one way to get me to read blogs outside the Rain. The points are very tempting.

I'll give it a whirl! Does spelling count?

Stephen Wolfe

Interesting challenge... I'll start reading NOW...

Toby -- Welcome to the Night Shift!

Jeff -- since you have had this conversation with Laurie, then you know how strongly she feels about everyone reading outside of ActiveRain. I look forward to your submission....

Chris -- it is a possibilitiy

David -- I look forward to yours too!

Tracey -- Anything that you can somehow relate back to Real Estate/Business-- that is half the fun... Many of the ones I pointed out were Marketing related.

Ashley -- then you have an excellent head start!

George -- I knew I could get you out there....

Stephen -- Absolutely!

Irina -- Cool... I look forward to your entry! This looks like it will be a lot of fun! And we might all discover a few new reading favorites!

I'm in too; this will be fun;

Sort of a side note here, but, I also recommend strongly that we all spend time on outside blogs in our local community. I'm telling you it is almost life changing to connect with other local bloggers, most of whom, in my case, have nothing to do with real estate. My original goal was to find ten blogs in NE Ohio. OMG my list is a lot longer than that now! Anyway, just another 'outside blog' comment.

Good Colleen, you got George thinking LOL

Hi Colleen, I'm always up for a good contest but I think I'll have to pass on this one. Having a hard time keeping up as it is right now. I'm with Chris...September maybe.

I can't wait to read the winners though. I'll bookmark this and the others that come in.

Colleen - Sounds like an interesting challenge. Leave it to Laurie to suggest something that will stretch and grow us all. I've bookmarked this post and will be doing some extracurrivular reading. Thanks for the great list of sites to visit.

sounds interesting.... god I feel like I am back in school with all these assignments.... don't get me wrong... I love to learn and I love anything that challenges my brain... thanks again for another great idea.

AUG

2007

Colleen - what a GREAT idea - it's like having an easter egg hunt in August - LOVE IT! You and Laurie are the BEST!!!

So yesterday's post was just a teaser? What fun. This one is going to take some time, and I'll bet each one of us learns something along the way.

Hi Colleen,

Interesting contest you have going here. I guess you really have enjoyed your little journey. Why members only? This is going to be great content. Why don't you remove the members only and let the contestants use the information to rank up in their respective areas? I don't think it is necessary to make it members only.

To all of the members who choose to participate in this contest I wish you a happy journey. It is an interesting world out there.

Laurie

I had to bookmark this so I can come back and read it when my brain is thinking clearly. I need to go to bed right now! But it looks like a great idea!

Hi Colleen (and Laurie who inspired this contest)! Morning shift starting up!! ;-)

I am SO guilty of mostly staying safely tucked inside here on Active Rain. I know I really need to get out and travel around the blogging world. I do periodically read some of these on this list and the first list you wrote about.

I think this is a great idea and a motivating way to create travel outside AR. Great idea!

Ann

Colleen~

THIS is going to be an adventure. Now all I want to know is ...is it possible to add a few more hours to the day?..like make summer days 30 hours long?

Good luck to all the entries.

Great idea, I read a lot of blogs outside AR, so I will narrow it down and write on them. This will be fun, now if my darn dell parts would come !!

Laurie Manny Challenge Carole -- Good Point! It is my intention to get a lot of AR members thinking!

Stephanie -- understandable... but if you get a moment or two, you might want to explore!

Marlene -- Laurie has a way of doing that doesn't she? Happy Reading!

Desiree -- Things are changing so fast in the blogosphere. It is important to keep up -- unfortunately the only way to do that is to go to "school".

Cyndee -- Easter Egg Hunt in August.... It is a lot of fun...

Gary -- You get a gold star -- it appears you were the only person that actually left a message on every BLOG in the list! I look forward to your submission!

Laurie -- Done! Laurie you have inspired many of us... From the response that I have gotten, it is going to be a very interesting and some great reading ahead!

Lisa -- Sleep tight!

Ann -- Get out there!

janeAnne -- Welcome to the Night Shift.. Less sleep, more reading and changing to your stuff!

Neal -- Thanks -- Not able to partake?

Missy -- I really look forward to entry!

This looks like a fun an intersting challenge. I look forward to reading some of the blogs and taking a peak of the blogosphere outside of AR. I'm not sure I'll have time to write, but I will take the time to read. It looks like a hectic week ahead!

What a wonderful idea, I can't wait to get started. Is this a Nationwide Event? :)

This will be my first AR contest.

I've been looking for and reading more and more outside blogs, and recently started a local one myself. I am learning so much from other people, as I see what they're doing in their own markets. Great contest idea!

Colleen...

My first 'knee jerk' reaction to this was "Why are we having a contest that drives members away from AR?"

That reaction was based on my concern that newer Members/Bloggers are having a hard enough time gaining readership on AR and keeping up with everything here.

Then I sat back and thought about it. And it dawned on me that perhaps this is good for new Bloggers. This will give them an idea of how things work in the 'real' world of Blogging.

So...You have my blessing on this :)

TLW...ROAR!

I am a newbie and book marked your blog for future reference... Thanks for all the links I need to check out!

Joan -- It is over two weeks long... Hope you have the time!

Lacey -- Nationwide? Everyone on AR is welcome to participate!

Rebecca -- I look forward to your entry!

Margaret -- This will be great information for your BLOG!

TLW -- Thanks so much!

Diane -- Enjoy the tour!

I'll pass on the contest. I read many of these on a consistent basis. When I first started in AR I got a little tunnel vision. But for the past few months I utilize AR to it's fullest capacity but still stop by BawldGuy and r.e.revealed (formerly Realtor Wives) on an almost daily basis. About 6 others I stop by once a week.

Thanks for the heads up, however. I think it will do a lot of readers/bloggers a lot of good to get outside the rain. There is a lot of creativity out there.

Coleen,

I think it's a great opportunity to explore and learn more about blogging! It's a great idea with some awesome links.

Great idea,We do have to think outside the box and the tribute to Laurie is well diserved. She has been very generous in sharing.Great links.

I did not realize there are so many blogging sites out there! WOW!

Colleen - how do you have time to sell real estate? Sounds like a great challenge from Laurie - the responses should be good resources for us, to supplement the ones from you and Laurie.

While I can't enter the contest just now, I do appreciate the list... I always like to read up on the hot blogs- I wasn't aware of some of these. Thanks Colleen and Laurie.

Colleen,

WooHoo, Another AR contest!!!.....Colleen, sign me up. I always love a good challenge.

To those of you participating you are not limited to the blogs listed above. These are just suggestions in case you don't know where to start. A great place to find other blogs are on the blogrolls on blog-sites that you visit. There are usually a lot of good reference to great blogs on the blogrolls.

Sign me up!

OK, I'm back. i've been thinking about this contest, and it is quite intimidating to me. Why does no one else seem like this is scary to them - intimidating as all get out to me to think about leaving my nice comfy little box here in AR to venture outside.

As scared as I might be thinking about this, I guess I'll say "I'm in". I'll force myself to do some traveling to outside blogs. Hmm, I wonder if Laurie's blog and Colleen's blog count??? I know.......I know.

I'll hold you to what you said - my friends will still be here when I get back..... ;-)

Ann

I guess my writing skills could improve with something like this under my belt. I'll give it a shot.

Reading other Blogs is very important. Many of the blogs you mention are blogs that I've visited. I've book marked this post as a reminder to go back more frequently. I 'm always energized by reading what other excellent bloggers have on their minds!

Hi All,

Both Colleen and I visited Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing Blog and liked her post so much that we left comments. Toby emailed each of us and is very kewl. She has agreed to be a judge for this contest, which we think is way kewl.

I don't think we have ever had an outside judge before.

Thank you Toby.

AUG

2007

Just a quick note to say I plan on writing an entry for the contest. I have a lot of outside blogs I read too and I really enjoy some of them.

I'm looking forward to this! One question...do the three "brief summaries" have to be combined on one blog or can we write three separate blogs?

AUG

2007

On one blog Diane.

Hi Everyone --- Sorry I have been rather busy the past couple of days! Laurie thanks for answering! Very excited about our Judges and those that are entering I look forward to reading your posts!

Go make it a great day!

I have not seen a challenge like this here before; definitely different.

Colleen,

Interesting contest. I have bookmarked the blog to refer back to it. I need to check out Toby Bloomberg's blog along with Laurie Manny's blog. Wish me luck!

What a great idea. I'm in! Got my spring coils installed on the bottom of my shoes for all the hopping I'll be doing. BOINGG!!

I'll have to sit this one out.I have too many PC problems right now.

Another great idea to challenge the members here. I can see the creative ideas exploding already.

THATS A GREAT IDEA, I'M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!!

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I think You Should Read - 08/06/2007 03:22 PM

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I think You Should Read; There are THREE posts I think you should read: Requiem for the Lazy Agent

There are THREE posts I think you should read:
Requiem for the Lazy Agent is a post from the boys at SoundBiteBlog and clearly depicts how the ‘career' real estate professionals will survive in this current slow market and asks for a greatful moment of silence and to bid "lazy agents" everywhere a fond ...

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read - 08/08/2007 03:57 AM

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read; I was a blog reader long before I was a blogger. I have

I was a blog reader long before I was a blogger. I have eclectic tastes and subscribe to about 40 different feeds. The wacky and funny, super geeky and technical or business and real estate, I like em all. Here are my three favorite real estate or business related blogs
The Real Estalker ...

Colleen- great idea and post. I just did a post regarding outside blogs after meeting Laurie and the gang in San Francisco last week. How ironic, to find this post. I will have to check out some of these other blogs now as well. Thanks for sharing this and for all the work YOU put into it! :-)

Colleen, what a great post! Thank you for spending the time to create this! Rated a 5 and bookmarked!

AUG

2007

One of my favorite ways to find reading materials is to use my response from reading what someone else was inspired about. I love these kinds of posts. I'll be sure to put one together.

Perspectives

Pricing-Inflation

Those are two that I wrote before. I'll be doing it again for this. Thanks.

Caleb -- Thanks for the links, you are right they are excellent examples of using a post from the outside to write your own post.... I look forward to your post!

AUG

2007

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read - 08/10/2007 03:36 AM

"Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out." -- James Bryant Conant, former president of Harvard University
A paradox of social networking sites is that although there are often many thousands of members, we limit our participation to a much smaller subset that fits our personal comfort zones. Man is ... (2 comments)

Oh boy, it sounds great, but time could be an issue. I will have to read my feeds and add some more, then see what I can come up with. A great idea, thanks!

Soaring Through The Blogosphere for Quality Consumer Posts...The Laurie Manny Challenge, A Sample Post - 08/10/2007 10:59 AM
Through The Blogosphere for Quality Consumer Posts...The Laurie Manny Challenge, A Sample Post; There are as many styles of blogging as there are bloggers; the same can be
There are as many styles of blogging as there are bloggers; the same can be said about what we blog about. Heading into the blogosphere is a daily thing for me. Usually I wind up on Northeast Ohio blogs. For this post, I decided to head out in search of blogs ...

Laurie Manny Challenge | Bawld, the X Factor and a Mortgage Fraud Prosecutor square off for your eyeballs - 3 Posts I Command you Read - 08/11/2007 09:51 PM
Laurie Manny Challenge | Bawld, the X Factor and a Mortgage Fraud Prosecutor square off for your; When web advertising began, people would literally pay for a set of eyeballs... that was
When web advertising began, people would literally pay for a set of eyeballs... that was how what we now know as clicks were measured.
The funny thing is... a click was a worthless measure. People got into time on the site, how they got to the site etc to determine the ...

AUG

2007

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read - 08/12/2007 05:01 PM
I will always remember Mr. Hoban, my high school English teacher. He caught my attention (at a time when that was very hard to do!), made me want to ask questions, and ultimately inspired me to change my major in college from math to English. A good blogger can have the same ...

AUG

2007

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read - 08/13/2007 10:31 AM

Laurie Manny Challenge - 3 Posts I Think You Should Read; I usually do not go into contests but I was encouraged to try this one

I usually do not go into contests but I was encouraged to try this one. so here goes...
When I was growing up on the eastern seaboard of Long Island New York. I had no idea that many years later I would become a Realtor®. I also had no idea that I ...

AUG

2007

Now I hope my post gets a few hits on the positive side:)

Great Challenge! I am in!

AUG

2007

Cool Leah, we look forward to your submission. Good Luck.

Everyone! This is excellent! The entries are amazing!

AUG

2007

We didn't get to participate, but have just posted what we got out of it. Have thanked Laurie for her part and want very much to thank you as well. We are most grateful at the expansion urge and assistance.

APR

2008

wow...is this what happens to "dead" blogs? I was searching for info on how you find out about rain "contests" and THIS is the first listing...and it hasn't been posted to in almost a year?

OCT

David -- this was an amazing contest it challenged so many people... It was really a great experience...

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