I was reading RSS pieces and there was a post suggesting agents join Active Rain. I clicked on the link and saw a bunch of blogs but did not have time to investigate so I passed.  Each Saturday night I visit Hawaii on the Internet for about 30 minutes. I decided to click on Active Rain to see if there were any agents in Hawaii.  I went to the search box and typed in ‘Hawaii’ for blog posts. I  reached Sally Cheeseman’s post “Points of Interest and Entertainment in Hawaii Part 1.” Well, I was hooked with Sally’s writing and wanted to read more but I felt a bit intimidated to join since I did not know what to do!

I am a member of several Real Estate Forums and other forums that are of interest to me. On one of the forums they were advocating to have a blog on Active Rain.  I have a Coaching blog and Squidoo lens. I know blogging is powerful and I joined Active Rain in the middle of June of this year.

When I joined Active Rain I decided to set my intention of what I was going to give and receive from blogging and networking on Active Rain.  Active Rain is very positive compared to some ‘mean’ people I have interacted with on some forums. My goal was to remain as positive as possible, contributing wherever I could, comment on at least 10 blogs per day, write posts that will inspire members as well as posts that will entertain and educate consumers about our area. What did I expect to receive in return? Great friends, associates, finding people I feel comfortable referring business to and people feeling comfortable giving me referrals. As a side reward for paying it forward I hoped for some Google juice as Stephanie calls it.

I met Stephanie Edwards and was so impressed with her blog post on Green Homes and with her professional knowledge of the Green Industry. I began emailing her asking her some questions since I was so new. She helped so much and taught me more about getting Google juice through Active Rain.

I began writing posts on things that I know about, that I can share and that I am passionate about.  I have met many great people on Active Rain.

Margaret Woda made a very powerful comment on one of my blog posts so I decided to reciprocate by visiting her blog and finding out more about her. This developed into each of us subscribing to one another’s blogs , then to emailing about different business ideas which has formed into a very exciting joint venture that will take place in the next several months.

Meeting Tracey was a special event in my life. She is a wonderful person and I was so surprised to find out that she was new to Active Rain.  Her posts are very powerful. Check her out: Tracey Thomas  I had some tips to give her because I wanted to help her out with one of her posts. She was so receptive and called me straight away to learn what I could offer to her. It feels good when you can help without needing anything in return. Well, we discovered we had so much in common and our goals were so inline with one another. Now we are forming a very nice friendship.

Now comes Jeff Geoghan  with helpful comments on my posts. I was so floored that this MBA gigantic successful man would take time out of his busy day to help me with my SEO for Active Rain. You should read his amazing profile! WOW!  Now I subscribe to his blog and I make sure that I comment on every post so he knows that I am supporting him. This is huge. I do not think most people realize the power of comments to support and uplift each other. It makes you want to write another post!

John Ochi and Cyndee Haydon and Janie Coffey have been a big help in teaching me more about SEO and blogging for business.  They  truly pay it forward.

I have visited blogs where people post comments and those that don’t get comments. The reason blogs get comments is because they are either inspiring or setting you on fire. There is an urge to comment. The blogs with most comments seem to be ones that speak from the heart and are engaging. Blogs that do not get comments will almost always be very selfish related. I can feel that the only reason they posted was to get a link to their website. Of course we all want links and that in itself is fine. But when your posts are so obvious put there for no other reason people will not be inclined to comment on your post. We can feel that you are just here for you and not to help others.

Wanting referrals was one of the benefits that I had hoped to reap from being a positive influence on Active Rain and it happened way before I was expecting it to. One month on Active Rain and Matthew J Blum gave me a friend as a referral for a listing. In this post he wrote some wonderful things which testified to me that I am doing the right thing writing positive and helpful blogs to bring value to others.

Then there is Dan Forbes Blog which is filled with positive and uplifting posts. You can be sure your day will be brightened  by reading his blog first thing in the morning.

For another soul touching blog check out Maggie Dovic .She is one amazing woman raising her children as a single mother and doing Real Estate Full Time. You can learn a lot from this lady.

There are many more excellent bloggers that give from their souls, their hearts and their minds. There are great writers on Active Rain too!  Lola from Michigan is  one of the best writers I have encountered.

Helping the new people I have invited to Active Rain has been exciting. As soon as I get the notice that someone I invited joined; I go straight to their profile, email them my welcome and support along with encouraging them to start blogging and commenting.

Welcome Monika Murray, Linda Weatherholt and Robin Pfotenhauer  to the Active Rain community. 

And then there are my loyal readers! Thank you all! Especially Ashley Drake,Toby Boyce, Missy Caulk  and Bill Roberts  and everyone else that is reading my blog! 

Now for the Google Juice! On Active Rain in less than 1 week I was at the top of my area, in less than 6 weeks I am at #8 in my county and # 56 in my state which is a huge state with lots of bloggers on Active Rain. For my main keyword search term we are number #1, #2, #4 and #6 on Google. For long tail keywords we are #1 and #2 on most searches. Our website has gone from # 250 to #4 on Google.  We are showing up in  Yahoo, MSN and AOL now too.

 So is my journey through Active Rain working and fulfilling not only my intentions but also my goals? You bet it has and more. I am grateful each day for Active Rain and all the good that is on its way to me and you because of what we are doing here on Active Rain! 

Copyright © 2007 by  Katerina Gasset  The material herein may not be copied,  reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published. All rights reserved.  Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law.