Hi Margaret!

What a helpful post...I am just starting out on Active Rain as well and it is very helpful to understand how to keep it organized and what the "unwritten" rules and courtesy guidelines should  be.

I haven't figured out any shortcuts yet...but I think I'll be contributing to your future posts.

Margaret, your a genious.  I want to play in your sandbox.  Great insight. 

Margaret,

Thanks for the clarification. I often times miss these small nuances and are oblivious to there implications. I now am suffering from a guilty conscience wondering how many people I may have offended by not reciprocating by adding them as Associates ( friends ). Thanks again.

What great ideas, I love the to do list, it's just a shift of paralax, that makes that list a useful too. Good job.

Margaret, I just flagged this - I really hope it gets featured.  It's well-written, has great graphics and great advice.  And I'm lookin' for my bucket and shovel right now.

Patricia - You're IN!  And thanks for the flag!

Michael - What's a paralax?  Glad you enjoyed this, and I hope you find it helpful to use the log for a "to do" list.

Herb - Whoops!  This reminds me that I should double-check MY Associations and make sure I've at least considered them for the privilege of being my Associate.  But never fear... I read other posts, too, and I recognized your name right away as the Portland guy.  Hmmm... why aren't you one of my Associates.  I'd better fix that.

Edson - Thank you for the smile!  And I enjoyed reading your first post.  Keep up the good work.

Yvette - Your posts are terrific, and I have no doubt you'll be back in a few weeks with a shortcut to add - or a link to one of your blogs describing how you use ActiveRain.

Margaret, this is a good explanation of how to navigate your way through the intricacies of the Active Rain community.

Hi Margaret, This is a great post for navigating. My only "routine" is bookmarking my favorites, but then I can never seem to clean them out, so I have at least 50 posts bookmarked at any given time.

Paralax is a misspelling of Parallax, (sorry) It is a tighter definition of "point of view", Think of how the picture changes in a film as the camera zooms in with the lens, while pulling back with the shot. Wikipedia says: Parallax

Hi, Brian - Thanks for your comment.  Do you have any shortcuts to share?

Allison - I have that problem, too.  I think ActiveRain needs an organizing tool for bookmarks, so we can sort them a bit like we can our Associates.  I'd probably have "how-to" and "inspirational" and "mortgage info", amont others, if that were an option.

Michael - See, we learn something new every day.  'Can't wait to drop that into a conversation with one of my brilliant adult children!  And that is a great way of considering the whole idea of the My Home log.  Thanks for your take on my post, and for the new vocabulary word.

Margaret, I need to be a bit more organised. Thanks for your helpful tips

Margaret,

Great post. It's so nice to see people sharing rather than hoarding helpful info. Our tip is to print off posts that inspire us and then challenge our newer associates to relate it to their business. Ie. your post could be used to challenge someone to organize their database (a la Buffini). This helps get our guys thinking while almost covertly introducing them to the big world of blogging. They don't even realize the respect they are growing for e-search until one day they feel they have something to say/share.

I subscribe to someones blog first (even if they added me as an associate because I get so many and I don't even know who they are) read, comment and "get to know them a bit".

My subscribed list is over 110 now and I realize it is only a "dent" in our membership although I still add and delete every couple of days if needed.

I too use my Home page as a base. I don't click on "notify me of new comments" because I can go to the home page and see where I commented and go back and see if they responded. If they have and I need to comment I will...if not, then I'll delete it from the home page. I am a fanatic about keeping the home page "clean" so I go in there and delete etc as often as I go into the rain to comment.

I reciprocate like you wouldn't believe (I learned this from the beginning from TLW's posts)...I think my comments made are almost 6500 and my comments received are almost 6400...and this is in 5 months ....I know, I know...I'm an addict...lol!

Okay, i may have missed something but this is the start of my morning (it's 7am) and I still haven't gotten through the majority of my subscribed list and I have to leave for the office in a half hour. See ya!

Hi Margaret,

I really don't use the Associate feature to its fullest.  I basically use the subscribe list.  I don't even use the Groups feature by checking the blogs in that.  Like Sally, I go through all My subscribers, read and comment as much I can.  Then when I am done there I surf the new blogs on the left hand side and try to find a newbie.

My first stop of the day is the newbie group to see who is new, Offering a word of welcome or encouragement when ever possible, then I wander through my favourite groups looking for new and interesting posts and especially ones from familiar faces. I like the idea offered here of reading the posts of those with whom I have an association.

Bob, 'Sounds like a good system.  I might have to try using the subscribe list the way Sally does.  It sounds almost like an audition list, before making it to the Associates llist.

Sally, I'm with you on that - no "notify me of new comments".  'Looks like you have a good system down with your subscription list and your Associates.  Remember, when someone adds you as an Associate, it goes on the Association list; when you add someone else, they go on your Associates list.

RE/MAX Bridge City - Who are you?  I want to know your name and see your picture!  And yes, of course you can use my post in your training, but thanks for asking.

Diane, 'Glad you found it helpful!

Kathy, That sounds like a great idea.  I often check out the list of new members, but it's not part of my daily routine.  Thanks for suggesting that.

Margaret,

Thanks for the good tips. I've just gotten started and I'm already swamped with bookmarks. Not sure if I should go back and read all that once seemed interesting, or if I should just try to keep current. 

Margaret - My first stop is at Active Rain Addicts, the group that I recently started.  For more about this group's concept, please check out the blog entitled Attention All Active Rain Agents.  After I've responded to the posts inside of Active Rain Addicts, I go and check out the blogs of the people that I subscribe to.  Since I check them regularly, it's easy enough to see if anything new came in.  I'll try and post as much as possible there.  Then, I'm off to the Realtor Group and RE/MAX Active Rain Bloggers group to check for anything new and interesting.  Finally, I'll look at the blog general home page.  By this time, I should have done my maximum responses for the day (for points), but I check back later in the day to respond to more blogs that interest me.  I will check back from time to time during the day to see if I've gotten any comments that I need to respond to either on my blog or on someone else's blog.  I erase the notifications in e-mail, but have kept the ones under "My Home" just in case I ever want to refer back to them.  Thanks for posting this blog into the Active Rain Addicts group.

I like Kathy's idea of welcoming the new rainers!

I do just like you do Margaret, except when I make the comment on my associates I place a comment, like Choose Margaret for all your Maryland real estate needs. Because the public sees this part. I learned that from someone's post, can't remember who.

I subscribe to all the blogs that I comment on every day. I see who has a new post and go there to comment first. Then I will look at the new blog posts and featured posts to check out people I don't know yet. I make way more than my 10 comments for points a day. I am networking. My ten comments go easily to my network of agents I am currently working with and getting to know. So I need to make more than 10 to get to know new people to grow my network. Katerina

Katerina - You're right... 'Not possible to grow your personal network with just 10 comments in a day without adding another hour or two to the 24.  Good idea on the comments for Associates... I should make time to do that.  And thanks for sharing your ActiveRain routine.

Adam - I'm resisting the label of ActiveRain Addicts, because I like to think I am disciplined with my ActiveRain time, but I do enjoy the group.  Thanks for your work in starting and maintaining it!  And thanks for outlining how you deal with comments.

Roland - Those bookmarks just keep adding up, like birthdays.  I wish we had the ability to organize them - until then, we just have to edit the list from time to time.

Very nicely done, Margaret.  I've been away for a week and feel like I forgot how to do this!  

Jeff- We missed you! I hope everything is alright with you and your wife and new baby. Katerina

Margaret - Hopefully this group will eventually become larger by having members join that are passionate about the benefits of AR in addition to those that can't pull themselves away from the computer.  I have a system, but do tend to spend some "extra" time on here as well.  Thanks for your post.  It's a very interesting topic and something that I never would have thought of asking about.

Margaret, this was a very well written and helpful post. I never thought of using my home page as a to do list, however I can see how it would really help to do so.  Thanks so much for all of these great tips.

Jo 

Margaret - Excellent post....especially for someone who is new to active rain. I have not gotten around yet to organizing my associates but I will sometime soon. Thanks for your thoughts onhow to best organize things.

Thanks Margaret!

Being relatively new to AR I was wondering what the etiquette was for associates and you just answered my question.

Susan, That's just MY way of using the Associates feature.  Other people may use it differently. so try my way if you don't already have a system - but feel free to experiment and develop your own.

Bill, This helps me keep organized... makes it easy for me to find specific individuals. As you can see from the comments to this thread, other people choose the "subscribe" feature.  Whatever works for YOU!  And I'd love it if you come back in a month or so to let me know what you decide works best for you.

Jo-Anne, Yes, I am SO glad I figured that out.  Doing this makes my home page a really helpful tool to ensure that I never fail to acknowledge a comment to my posts.

Jeff, 'Missed you!  Welcome back!

Adam and Katerina, Thanks for staying involved in the dialogue!  I don't know how you have time to promote and moderate a new group, Adam!  And Katerina... Did you tell me 5 kids?  I can't imagine being as active on AR as you, having a full household, and still having time for business.  You both are amazing!

Margaret:  Once again, I've learned several more helpful tips from you.  Thanks for mentioning the difference between Associate and Association.  I had no idea and I think I've been doing it wrong.  I wish I could bottle the knowledge you have.  Thanks so very much.

Wow....not only is this a really helpful post, but I am realizing quickly how unorganized I am!!! I am still not clear on How Associates work, and I have been very very bad about going back to my original posts to thank everyone for the comments...at one point I couldn't even find my first 3-4 original blogs since they seem to no longer show up on the "My Blog" page. I need to get some systems in place here...and all of your suggestions are very helpful! Thanks for this! 

Margaret,
Thanks for the good advice and information.  It is very easy to get sidetracked here and wander away, eventually forgetting your way back to where your started!

David and Kristin - You are so right!

Erica - Thanks you, I hope it helps.  Using your My Home page as a to-do list sure helps me.

Donna - I don't think there is any such thing as doing it wrong on ActiveRain.  Everything I've learned has been through trial and error - maybe my hints will give you a head start, but don't be afraid to experiment and figure out what works for you.

Margaret...as a "newbie"...first blog coming soon.....you have some great ideas. I've posted in the Newbie section to someone else to help out with how to put pictures in Blogs, etc.

But your organization ideas for someone who is "Type A" organized are fantastic!  Thanks for all the tips!

I'm all for the sandbox thing!! When can I jump in! I'll even bring my Tonka Dump Truck..and I promise to play nice!

Margaret- Great post. Nice way of breaking things down. We all have our own routines. Sometimes they can be tweeked!! Thanks for sharing!

Margaret,

Great suggestions. Can I play in your sandbox? I am still new, but I learned that I learn and benefit from reading my Associates blogs. Commenting there is my way to stay in touch.

Hello, Thom - Welcome to ActiveRain!  I look forward to seeing your first blog.  Why don't you send me a note to look for it, when you post - I'd like to be the first to comment! 

Rick and Lynn - Now you know my routine... do you have one to share?

Faina - Thanks for the invite.  If you're serious, why don't you save me as an Associate, and make it official?

Margaret, funny, we pretty much have the same plan.  EXCEPT, I haven't been on AR much lately so feel I need to get caught up!  My BIG to do:  Get AR back into my routine ~ it's been a hectic season!!!

Thank you very much for the post, I need to plan to make a plan.

Margaret - Just wanted to let you know that I featured this blog with a link in my most recent blog Top 10 Reasons To Join Active Rain.  I thought that this was such an original idea for a blog because I'm sure that many people bounce around AR without a "map" and end up lost.  Hopefully people will use this as a template to plan their AR time better.  Thanks again for this great post.

Every day, I learn something new about AR.  The "Associates" puzzled me, but I hadn't taken the time to figure out what it was about.  Thanks.

Deborah Johnson is your Farmington Hills real estate expert.

MARGARET!  I started, but did not finish, reading this entire post, and it's WONDERFUL!  So many of these things I've guessed at, assumed, or just not touched out of pure fear of doing a Newbie No-No. Here, I have learned (and plan to come back and learn) more than I have been able to glean on the AR Newbie site.  Thanks, Margaret.  I bow to you!

Cheers, from DC!

   Jaynee

Margaret,

I did save you as an Associate right then, so we are all official now. Did you get the notice? I never know if people get notified. Look forward to reading your posts.

Faina - Yes, when you "save as Associate" the individual receives a notice on their ActiveRain "My Page" and in their email.  Thank you, I feel very flattered!

Jaynee - Thank you!  I need to learn more about staging!

Hi, Deb - I never really found this breakdown anywhere... I just figured it out.  Hopefully I did it right, and I'm not spreading any incorrect info.

Adam, thank you!  I feel flattered!  There are some other areas, such as "subscribe to blog" and "groups - what do you think, should I make it a series?

Shane - It's a lot easier once you do have a routine.  When you're active every day, you'll find it a real necessity.

Joddie - It's so easy to get out the routine, once you have one.  I've been in training all week, and I'm having a hard time acknowledging my comments in the p.m., when I'm used to doing it in the a.m.

MARGARET - Please do make it a series.  Those are 2 other areas that do have their confusing points.  Your blog was very interesting, and Paul Slaybaugh pointed out in the comments section of the Top 10 that I was speaking about that he really likes the group because the blogs feature a little bit of everything.  I'd love to get your feedback, and I think that doing a series of anything that we all use everyday can only help everyone that participates.

Margaret, I DON'T have a good system for AR, and that's why I appreciate your blog so much. I realize that I have not been reciprocating blog comments to Active Rainers who have been so curtious to comment on mine, oh faux pas! Many times I just comment on the latest blogs that show up on the list of all blogs, but that's not the best "strategy"! I certainly want to build relationships on AR, so I'm thankful for reading about how you do that by "playing in the sandbox"! Thanks :)

Bridget, I don't always succeed at reciprocating one comment at a time, but is my goal to do so over the course of a week.  Today, for example, I'm heading out for an all day training class, and I probably won't catch up before the weekend. It is how we get to recognizing people's names, and learning their personalities and style.  If we always comment on someone new, we don't get to know them and they don't get to know us.

Adam, Thanks for your encouragement - maybe this weekend!  Again, thanks for including my blog in your Top 10.

Haven't even thought about all this, but they are definately helpful ideas.

Margaret - Good tips.  I handle my AR similarly - thanks for sharing this.

Margaret as a new-bee to all of this I will definitely save your tips and add you to my list Thanks

Hi, Troy - I never really thought about it either... it just sort of evolved, and suddenly I realized I had a system.  'Thought it might give some newbies a shortcut.

Jason - Feel free to add any of your ideas - I think they really help the newbies.

Patricia - There, you just made my case for me...   Thanks, you're what this post is all about.