June 2006 I started my journey on the Activerain real estate network. Yes I participated in forums and social sites before but none of them have impacted my life like Activerain. When I joined I solely trained for CENTURY 21 Sundance Realty and occasionally jumped into sales...
June 2006 - I Was An Activerain Newbie - Today Ghostwriter | Social Media and Real Estate Trainer
I joined this platform in the early stages and there were fewer members, in Florida there were only 60 + profiles. I learned from the best and I had a blast doing it. Follow the links and share the journey! :)
Back then there were few tutorials | selected members were moderators and the best of the best taught me more in real estate sales | technology | and being social online more than any other source and laid the ground work for me on my journey to pursuing my dreams.
We blogged about everything under the sun and yes debates occurred back then! I watched myself grow as a person. Four years in the making and for a long time, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Every year I had a plan and every year I failed meaning I had no idea what to do about writing. All I knew was that I wanted to write for a living.
Many told me I made mistakes because it seemed I lived on Activerain but inside it didn't matter...I was hooked...and to me, a day without Activerain was like a day without sunshine. Lucky for me the direction I was going it benefited me......let me stress as a REALTOR I would rethink that plan, seriously.
After I competed in the the Makeover2Takeover Contest in 2008, more opportunities presented itself. I was limited and committed to one company I had to make a choice!
In the middle of 2009 I decided it was time to jump into some sales and get out of management and feeling stuck only training for one company. Most people that I knew were REALTORS and Brokers in town...maybe not the best timing maybe not the best maneuver now as I look back it had to be this way. Let's just say it was a hard year financially and personally! Oh, happy day..it's really starting to pay off!
I didn't stop there, I applied for a position at a local web company in 2009 and because of my blogging on Activerain, my websites and the content placed on social networks...I couldn't believe it...I was hired to write web content! A dream come true...the opportunity was amazing and I learned so much about SEO | Social Media | Content Writing.
Things Changed Again
At the end of 2009, I was fried, burnt out and wearing too many hats I decided January 2010 will be the end of my selling career and opted to join a real estate referral company and shuffled my priorities around. I was sad but I really wanted to write.
While working for the web company, people started contacted me for social media services | SEO and my ghostwriting. I was very excited when I picked up my first account...it was time consuming..slow in starting but they never gave up on me. More and more people seemed to contact me either for real estate training | coaching and social media. Still burned out and not enough hours in the day I left the web company and decided it's time to freelance writing and connect people's social media in the process and yes I am still not ready to give up real estate training.
At first, I didn't have enough accounts, giving away free hours | doing things for free...for some reason I thought I needed a portfolio, little did I realize that when you blog on a platform such as Activerain if people know you provide these services that business would naturally come your way based on the performance they witness everyday.
When I think of what Activerain has given me and people ask me was it a waste of time? The answer is Activerain gave me a place to learn and grow and I've made friends that will be life long. I learned from the best of the best. I had closed transactions as well as checks to come. (referrals) and opportunities for radio as well as events. It gave me the notoriety and reputation building needed for building trusting business relationships.
Every Client That I Do Social Media and Ghostwriting Read My Activerain Blog! Real estate sellers, buyers and referrals all of my ghostwriting clients, when asked how they found me...98% lead source....Activerain! BTW it's amazing and they are not all real estate industry people!
Thank You Activerain Readers - Subscribers - Associates - Staff!
This probably is not typical results, please note:
As a former REALTOR I recommend balance - consistency and balance blogging with getting in front of more people!
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Midori:
What an amazing journey. But think of the friends and the learning, and how much you have grown and changed. Bravo to you for taking the chance to move along.
Jeff