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I Attend Active Rain Business College

By Kristine Ginsberg

Home Stager with Elite Staging and Redesign, LLC

March 28, 2012 11:29 PM

I Attend Active Rain Business College

Now I can only imagine how stupid this is going to sound, but sadly it’s the truth. When I started my home staging company I bought a WordPress website through my staging certification, added my portfolio ………………..and never did anything else!

Truth is I didn’t know any better until I joined Active Rain and started reading posts about Google Juice, the importance of working social media (Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +)blogging, SEO and how to get found by search engines. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Looking back I’m surprised I’m still in business and thank God for referrals………………and Active Rain! So how in the world did my old website climb to the top of page one of Google? All because I blogged on Active Rain!

That’s the only thing I did and never even went into the backside of my WordPress website for fear I’d screw something up. In this case “ignorance isn’t bliss", it's stupidity!

Since blogging worked, I kept putting off learning how to optimize and utilize my website until finally I’d read enough on Active Rain to know it was time to conquer WordPress.

I started from scratch, hired a seasoned, and reputablewebsite developer and created my new Genesis WordPress website with all the bells and whistles.

I’m still in “training” and have a long way to go, but in less than a month my new website is on page one of Google. Moreover it's formatted for smart phones and iPads, another thing I learned from reading Active Rain Posts.

The point of this story is that you can learn everything there is to know about working social media, getting found on Google, SEO, Google Juice all while networking with smart, likeminded people and making great friends along the way. If it's relative, you'll find it on Active Rain - it's the cheapest business collage out there! I will continue to be a student of Active Rain Business Collage because there's always more to learn!

Active Rain is my college of choice and has taught me more about building my business than any other source!

Newbies should all check out the Active Rain University and learn everything you need to know about navigating AR and blogging effectively. Even seasoned bloggers should occasionally check out what's new in the Rain:

Getting Started on Active Rain

Active Rain Classes

Active Rain Video Tutorials

Driving the Maximum Traffic to your Blog

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Dagny Eason

Dagny's Real Estate - Wilton, CT

Fairfield County CT, CDPE Homes For Sale and Condo

Kristine - you are so totally right!!!!

Mar 29, 2012 10:55 PM

Ron Marshall

Marshall Enterprises - Saint Michael, MN

Birdhouse Builder Extraordinaire

I am going to subscribe because of all the wonderful posts you write. Thanks for another eye-opener.

Mar 29, 2012 11:10 PM

Mimi Foster

Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO

Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

I'm so stinkin' proud of you! Your site looks terrific. I just went and G+'d some of your articles. Great resource, and it looks fantastic. Pontoon in September :) :)

Mar 29, 2012 11:42 PM

Sylvie Stuart

Realty One Group Mountain Desert 928-600-2765 - Flagstaff, AZ

Home Buying, Home Selling and Investment - Flagsta

Congrats on being #1 in Google!! That's really exciting! ActiveRain University has so much information that is absolutely beneficial to our businesses!

Mar 30, 2012 12:44 AM

Brett Richman

Summers/East Coast Realty Group - New Orleans, LA

New Orleans Louisiana Real Estate

Great Site.

Mar 30, 2012 01:16 AM

Terry Hunter

Hunter-Broker - Newport Coast, CA

MS Economics

Kristine: Great job on the reasons to stage and on your use of the slider images to show before-and-after shots. I am sending a link to your website to one of my clients who steadfastly refuses to "undecorate". I currently have a $1.6MM listing that is "decorated" in what I call "early Medieval Armory" style. Faux cracks in the "castle" walls, two full suits of armor, weapons on the walls ranging from spears to battle axes to crossbows to swords, 25 ft. long red split-tail banners on the walls, and a the family coat-of-arms painted on the walls is only part of the "ambiance". He is a contractor, so maybe your numbers will convince him of the cost of refusing to decorate for a prospective buyer, instead of himself. Maybe your site can help me sell this otherwise beautiful home... too bad you're not in my area... obviously there are stagers here, but you seem to have the rare combination of staging skill and persuasive skills, too! Congrats on your well-deserved success!

Mar 30, 2012 02:00 AM

Gayle Rich-Boxman Fishhawk Lake Real Estate

John L Scott Market Center - Birkenfeld, OR

"Your Local Expert!" 503-739-3843

KG~You're preachin' to the choir, missy--and I'm singing your praises! All of this is spot on...a little over a year ago, I TOO knew nothing, and I had joined AR back on 'o7. Oh, bad girl--all of that precious time wasted. Darn it.

The friends and continued support that is there for the asking as we navigate through this social/business site is the BIG PLUS that I never expected.

So so glad to see you at the top of the heap (and top of the page)!!! You deserve it, my dear friend.

Mar 30, 2012 02:11 AM

Diane M. Phillips Realtor 443-286-4365

Frankly Real Estate Inc. - Manchester, MD

Specializing in Carroll Co., MD

Kristine ~ I love this post! I'm a student here as well! I did a lot of finding my own way, reading, studying, taking classes, spending time at the office, etc., etc. ActiveRain is what really brought it all together for me too. So much to learn and the class mates are so willing to share.

Mar 30, 2012 02:20 AM

Jack Snyder

Loan Originator in Orange County for Nations Direct Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #109738 - Equal Housing Lender - San Clemente, CA

Loan Officer, San Clemente, Orange County, CA.

Great endorsement Kristine, color me enlightened.

~Jack

Mar 30, 2012 02:38 AM

Mike Giles

GILES COMMERCIAL REALTY GROUP - Boston, MA

www.OfficeTenantAdvisors.com Boston, MA

Kris, Great job on your Beautiful website! You're obviously very talented. And great reminder of resources available here on The Rain. Thanks, Mike

Mar 30, 2012 02:40 AM

John DL Arendsen

CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments - Leucadia, CA

Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer

That's great news. I've had a WP site up and running since the 1st of the year and haven't pulled the trigger yet for many of the same reasons you've stated. Maybe this post will put me over the edge.

Mar 30, 2012 02:53 AM

Craig Rutman

Helping people in transition - Cary, NC

Raleigh, Cary, Apex area Realtor

There is no denying how powerful ActiveRain can be for helping people grow their business. Like minded people sharing thoughts, tips and experiences. Does it get any better than that?

Mar 30, 2012 03:10 AM

Kristine Ginsberg

Elite Staging and Redesign, LLC - Short Hills, NJ

NJ Home Stager

I wish I had time to respond to each and every comment, but AR's brought me so much business I don't have the time I used to prior to AR college, lol. I am so happy to hear that I'm not the only person who put up a WordPress site and did little to nothing with it, and also that it's inspired so many of you to learn WordPress and optimize your sites.

Working my website and blogging is the winning combination for sure - that's how you climb the slippery slope of Google - at least that's been my experience. If you're not sure about something, you can find a post or many in the Rain. We're all still learning and we never graduate for AR University as social media and blogging continues to change! Make time to learn - it's worth the time!

Mar 30, 2012 04:04 AM

Pam Smits

Staging Fox Valley, LLC - Oshkosh, WI

Home Staging, Appleton, WI, Oshkosh, WI; Green Bay, WI

Kristine-"I don't know what I don't know" has been my saying since the beginning of the year. It has been my motivatior to find out what I don't know and learn from those who do!

Great post!

Mar 30, 2012 04:09 AM

Bob Miller

Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty - Ocala, FL

The Ocala Dream Team

Hi Kristine, excellent post! And it just goes to show there are many other college educations than those provided by universities.

Mar 30, 2012 05:40 AM

Gene Riemenschneider

Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA

Turning Houses into Homes

Without ActiveRain I do not know what i would be doing now. I don't think I would be in real estate.

Mar 30, 2012 01:28 PM

Bob Crane

Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI

Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Kristine, thanks for the advice. I think that I should start taking active rain a bit more seriously, get into the tutorials. start writing a blog and get involved in the university side of this group. Thank you.

Mar 30, 2012 01:53 PM

Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES

Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL

Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

Kristine, congratulations on your success with your new website. It's an inspiration to all of us to work on ours as well!

Mar 30, 2012 10:12 PM

Lyn Sims

Schaumburg, IL

Real Estate Broker Retired

I learn something new very day here at AR college. Think how far you have come in such a short time? Keep up the great work.

Mar 31, 2012 06:30 AM

Wayne B. Pruner

Oregon First - Tigard, OR

Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI

Good for you. I love to hear Active Rain success stories.

Oct 28, 2012 02:29 PM

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