This is an awesome nudge to get going on the blogging. Thanks so much. I've been dragging my feet like many others.

Love the video - short but to the point. hmmmm sort of like the few paragraphs in a blog?

I stopped all Print advertising 3 years ago - striclty Blogging now - best thing I ever did !

Thank you Mike I Have only been a Realtor 6 months, I joined A.R 2 months back. It took 5 weeks of webinars and tinkering to write my 1st blog, since then 2 more. Your post is encouraging me that I am doing the right thing, and my efforts are worth while...... Thanks again .........Brad

Mike,

I'm glad to hear that your blogginghas paid off!  I often wonder if all this energy is going to pay dividends. You've confirmed that it does!

Thanks!

Good video explaining the 'whole' experience. I've never looked at blogging the way Seth said but that is 100% true. I'm good at taking a complex task & bringing it down in simple bits for others to understand. I think that it also has enlivened the social medium of writing in general. No one writes letters any longer but people blog. In fact I will boldly say that it has kept the english language alive vs. slang, street lingo and other spoken garbage.  If you talk in duhs, errs, ummm's, then blogging is not for you.

Congrats on your milestone.

Mike,

How funny is this? I just got off from a "sales" call from an Internet company before I opened Active rain and he stated that blogging and Social Media are the worst time and money wasters out there. I think I'll definitely dismiss his offer after reading your post. Good for you. Have a great 2011 with all the blogs you'll be posting.

 

Great inspirational post Mike....thank you

...and it's free.

It is good to hear and I am so happy for you and all of your blogging achievements. It gives great hope to us newbies!

Thanks for the post - despite numerous news items that blogging is on the decline.

I may never make an extra penny from blogging, but joining ActiveRain has given me a built-in community so much bigger than what I would have without it, and that is PRICELESS!

Of course I do see great value in blogging - as long as you're doing it with a business purpose. I remember reading blogs where people rambled on about what they had for breakfast, how long it took to take the dog out for a potty walk, etc.

Happily, those are NOT the kind you find on Active Rain!

What seems sad to me are the comments on this blog (and others) that say "I'm glad it works for you." I can almost feel the dark cloud that surrounds those individuals, and they do "bring me down" for a moment until I shake it off.

I don't know if they haven't been at it long enough (because blogging is not for instant gratification) or if they're writing about the wrong things, or if they're filling their messages with typos and mis-used words, or if it's just their whole attitude of "This won't work" that is preventing their success.

One thing I've learned is that if you start with that attitude... you're right.

Henry Ford said "If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right."

Meanwhile, wish I could have listened to the video. A few come through on this Wild Blue connection just fine, but most do not. I tried this one and it paused every 3 or 4 seconds - for 7 or 8 seconds. I'm still trying to find out the difference between the videos I can watch and the ones I can't. It must have something to do with the way they're produced.

Gotta love this "High speed" connection from Wild Blue!

One more thing - to Annie and others who wonder if they have to write all their own material. No, you don't.

I write blog posts for a few agents - these are informational, factual, statistics, etc. In between my posts they add their own "personality" posts. It keeps fresh content on their sites and frees them from writing more often than they want to - or have time for. You might consider that kind of arrangement.

Mike, Thank you for sharing your wonderfully positive results you've gotten from blogging. 

I stayed away from blogging for about a year, and made a new commitment to get back into it regularly the beginning of December.  It has already changed my activity level (from participating in the "31 Days of December Challenge" here in the rain.  I've decided to do it daily this year and keep a journal as well.

You are a true inspiration!  Thanks again!!

I've got to get a better job of doing it. That's why I'm here, learning and practicing.

Blogging is the biggest part of my business and social media is the future.  Even clients that do not find me on my blog often come from people that did.

I am new to blogging and seems like it is taking me forever to choose the right words or ideas to be appealing to other. but i will keep doing it. Thank you for the post.

Nice post, Mike.  I am the only one blogging in my office too.  I think it is definitely worth it!!!

Thanks for sharing Mike.  I've been at it for one year and enjoy blogging except I know it takes me too long.  Margaret C.

I'm so glad to hear that blogging had paid off for you!