Help!!! I'm new to Active Rain and Would love to hear from you!!

I'm new to active rain.  A friend of mine that is in the mortgage industry suggested that I join for marketing purposes and I've been fumbling around with the site for about a month.  I'm so new I'm not sure what I should even expect from the site nor how to get the most out of it.  I'm looking for someone with tips on how this "blogging" thing helps there business and suggestions on how it can make mine flourish.

So a little about me, I'm an Engineer by degree and still work in that field as well.  This means English and writing really aren’t my strong suits, but I feel confident this will only make me stronger. While going to college, I worked for a realtor collecting rent, completing CMA’s, working on databases, etc.  When I graduated and moved south I decided I would get my license so that I could purchase rent homes as a second form of retirement.  Well, a real estate license isn’t free or easy to keep so it forced me into a second job that I’ve really enjoyed for the last three years.  Because I’m new to the area I’ve had to be creative in meeting new clients.  While RE/MAX is known to be an expensive agency for agents in my area I’ve found it to be truly worth every penny.  I receive 50% of my leads for their lead street system (I’ll be happy to explain if you’re interested) and the other half really from great habits I learned from the Buffini program (also happy to expand upon with you).  I’ve been able to close over $2M per year… which is good for my area and for a part time newby, at least in my mind.

Anyway, I’ll be happy to share about the programs I know have worked for me!!  And I’m looking for tips on how Active Rain can improve my business and also other ideas you may have.

Lynn

Longview Texas