I stopped caring about the points a long time ago.
It didn't take long to realize the the real value of this network went far beyond having my face move up the rankings. It's too simple to rack up meaningless points for that to even be a challenge, and lots have written about how to do that, so the points soon lost their appeal.
That's not to say the points don't matter. That's is clearly not true. The only folks who say points don't matter on ActiveRain are those who already have a lot of points. I'm not going to join that chorus.
The points matter.
- Points help distinguish you from the myriad who simply sign up here.
- Points put your face in front of new members and internet wanderers.
- Points will bring you increased exposure and random traffic, if only out of curiosity.
- And if you're lucky, those same points allow you to speak to people you might otherwise not be able to speak to, because you will simply be seen more often.
You engaging others matters more.
- Points don't make people subscribe to your posts.
- Points don't influence a Realtor 10 states away to send you a referral.
- Points won't drive a consumer to pick up the phone and call you after reading what you've written.
- Points won't create relationships so real, that when you finally meet that person for the first time you feel like you're meeting an old friend.
- Points won't tell your arms to reach out and hug them knowing that they truly are an old friend.
Yep, I've now got 200,000 points. And with each point that piles on, I care less and less. Because the relationships that I've developed here are cherished and authentic. They are relationships with people - real people - some of whom I've recently had the pleasure to greet, and hug. Sappy? I don't care. That's me.
So, while I can appreciate the value of these 200,000 points, I don't expect they'll be giving me a hug anytime soon.
:)
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Edit: I was just taking a trip down memory lane and found that the post I thought was the most visited, Sex And Real Estate :: Part 1, was not. The one listed below must have recently passed it, and it seemed appropriate to come back and link it here, since I called myself a newbie at the time.
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Congratulations !!! Partee time... Aw, shucks. I"ll give you a hug instead.
;)
;)
