ActiveRain - The Early Days (July 1-10, 2006)

For sometime now, I've been wanting to go through ActiveRain's blog archives to see what members where writing about since before I joined in late August.  I decided to get started this past weekend and I've decided to share my findings with you in a series of posts.  I guess you could say it's and "oldies but goodies" blog carnival of sorts.  So come along for the ride... it should be an interesting one!

These are some of the "Faces of ActiveRain" that make up the community, contribute and share their knowledge!  (Hover over each thumbnail photo to see their name.  Each one is mentioned in this post.)

>>> If you are not a member yet, what are you waiting for?  Click here to sign up today!  Membership has it's privileges! <<<

• Matt wrote about the "power of the blogosphere", alerting us to the fact that one of ActiveRain's members, Stan Mackey, had essentially obtained Internet celebrity status for having listed Robert Scoble's house in Bothell, WA, which Stan blogged about the next day on BloggingSeattle as well as on ActiveRain the day after that (where I got a kick out of his expression "all web hell broke loose").  For those of you who don't recognize the name Robert Scoble, he's one of the authors of a book titled "Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers".

• Gene Dexter wrote a humorous piece titled "Tales from the Fixer Market" that's worth reading... and don't skip the comments!
• Matt asked the question "Why advertise the competition?", listed three possible explanations and debated the reason behind each one.  His post makes for interesting reading for anyone who's thinking about including Google's AdSense ads in their website or blog.

• In his excellent "Don't Save... Invest!" post, Trent Yeo urges people to build their wealth through real estate investments.  Sound advice that we should all heed.

7/07/06 - 

• A new blog is born when Sue Melhorn takes the plunge and writes a post titled "My First Blog" in which she gives an example from her own life where change can lead to great things.  Well done, Sue!

7/08/06 - 

• In what was among the first consumer blog posts on ActiveRain that describe a particular area of the country, Michelle Sotelo explained why she "Loves living in the Pacific NW"... and very well, I might add.
• Margaret Rome explained how nothing gets her creative juices flowing faster than the "Unique Challenge" of marketing what many would consider an "impossible" listing.  Several ActiveRain members shared their suggestions with her and contest winners were announced.
• Matt... one of the brains behind ActiveRain... whose nickname while growing up was "mouse"... reveals to us his other passion besides ActiveRain (and his wife, Lydia, of course).  Who'd a thought?  I guess we'd better bone up on his hobby if we ever want bonus points.  Just kidding, Matt! LOL!  :-)

7/09/06 - 

• We start to see more consumer blog posts designed to "sell" prospective buyers on the particular agent's slice of paradise.  Posts were written about the New Hampshire Seacoast, Northwest Arkansas, eastern North Carolina (and two posts about New Bern, NC, in particular).
• Our illustrious Kristal Kraft shares some of her favorite Realtor toys with us.  Oh, goodie!
• I learned that before Mary McKnight came along, members could rely on Bill French to learn about things such as podcasting, RSS, as well as the pros and cons of duplicate blog content.
• Ken and Mary Deshaies write about how the increase in second homeowners is causing a decrease in affordable housing for the working class... an important issue popping up in many resort-town areas around the country.

7/10/06 - 

• Rory Siems blogs about how Internet-based home valuation services such as Zillow cannot put a price on a great view.  Just another reason why real 'live' agents are the key to correct pricing!
• Don Lantier attempts to clarify things in "Condo or Townhome?" and Broker Bryant chimes in with comments!
• More consumer blog posts relating to cities, this time about Jacksonville, FL and Fredricksburg, VA.

Of course, I could not include every post in this summary so if I did not include you/your post here, it's very possible you may find you/your post will be mentioned in an upcoming edition.  

Stay tuned for more snippets from "ActiveRain - The Early Days".