Active Rain for Dummies:  Where to go to be in the Know.

Oh My God.  I think I've hit the proverbial real estate pay dirt when I discovered Active Rain.  Oh my God.  This is great.  It's absolutlely fabulous.  But wait, now that I've found it, what do I do with it?  Where do I go from here? Do I just read and learn?  Dare I write a post of my own?  What?  What? What?

I'll bet the above is reminiscent of the vast majority of us when we stumbled upon Active Rain.  But fortunately for the Newbies, the vets and semi-vets such as myself, take pride in reaching out to help you to find and navigate your way around this cyber city called Active Rain.

Below are just a few resources where you can find

  • the help that you need
  • the answer to your questions
  • some people you can call on at any time
The absolute first place to look is the Guidelines set by ActiveRain.  This is very important as it sets the stage for expectations (yours, ActiveRain's and the membership at large).  You'll want to know what is and is not acceptable "In the Rain".
 
Still got questions? Turn to Active Rain's Help/FAQ. Here you'll find out how to get started on Active Rain and find helpful tips contributed by ActiveRain members.
 
Ambassador BadgeThen there are those of us that serve as ActiveRain Ambassadors.  As an Active Rain Ambassador myself, I have accepted a responsibility to make myself available to newbies (and oldbies too.  SIDE NOTE:  OLDBIES IS NOT REALLY A WORD!) to answer questions that are "all things Active Rain."  That doesn't mean that we Ambassadors know all of the answers, but even if we don't know an answer, we probably know where to get it or who can best address your question. So if you are new to Active Rain, please do not hesitate to ask any one of us that proudly wears the Ambassador badge under our profile picture.  We have already accepted our role and you should by all means, take advantage of that. So be sure to look for that badge as you get to know the membership.  But let me just say that Ambassadors are the only ones willing to help.  I'm willing to bet that you can call on just about any member and get the same kind of help (thanks to Eric Michael for this reminder)
 
Get yourself a mentor.  Dick Greenberg came up with this awesome contest a few months ago and it was such a great idea, that the concept this lingers on.  The first thing you'll need to do is go to the Sensei/Grasshopper page  and read about how to find a mentor, then join the Sensei/Grasshopper Group.  Once you join the group, you just place a post asking for a mentor to help you with a general or specific task.  It's just that simple.
 
Groups created just for you.  Because of the membership's helpful nature, several people have started groups just for you.  The cool thing about this group, is that it reflects the challenges that the group's creator also faced when they were new to Active Rain.  And each time someone writes a post that they feel will be helpful to  Newbies, they will include the post in one of the following groups, so please go ahead and join these groups:  Active Rain Newbies (founded by Karen Hurst in 2006), Introducing Newbies to Active Rain (founded by Jerry Newmann in 2011 when he was pretty much a Newbie himself and now he's one among AR's most respected members). Although these groups are specifically for newbies, I suggest that you check out other groups as well.  I'm positive that there is a group just for you.  As a matter of fact, there are many that you can and should join, if for no other reason than to start mingling and let people know that you exist among us.
 
Oh and last but not least.  Actually this probably should have been first, but the last group that I want to mention is ActiveSEO. Why ActiveSEO?  Because SEO is why we're really here. What's SEO you say?  Well that stands for Search Engine Optimization which is a really fancy term for "using the best terms in your blog post to make it easy for people to find you. Don't take my word for it.  Nobody defines it better than Google.
 
This should be just enough to get you started and take away some of the mystery.
 

 

Origin of BDAMB from Bham (The Back Door Ambassador Series)

BDAMB Gains Access Through Front Door

Charita Cadenhead, Your Metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama Real Estate Broker of Choice

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Charita H. Cadenhead, Realtor®
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Star Posted by Charita Cadenhead, Your Birmingham, AL Realtor® of Choice on 06/11/2012 06:19 AM   Comments (59)   ActiveRain Community in the ActiveRain Channel   newbies  
Short URL: http://actvra.in/Cn7
Post is included in group: Safe Haven For Newbies - Survival Skills & How To Get Started
Post is included in group: Introducing Newbies in Active Rain
Post is included in group: Active Rain Newbies

59 Comments on Active Rain for Dummies: Where to go to be in the Know.

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

JUN
12
644,381 Points 111 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Hi All.  I got kind of busy yesterday so couldn't finish responding to comments.  Thank you all for your comments and as time permits I'll respond so excuse me if I had not responded to your comments yet.  The end of yesterday was met with power outages (over 80,000 in Alabama and still counting this morning), so I'm playing a bit of catch up here.

 

 
5:42am • #40
411,722 Points 15 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Charita, you are truly an ambassador!  This is great information for those old and new. 
5:59am • #41
1,584,664 Points 430 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Charita

An excellent overview of the resources that are available to all of us. It's easy to forget the different ways to get information, but reaching out via phone or email is probaby one of the best. Many of the bloggers hear enjoy helping and do so willing and at any time.And obviously YOU are part of that crowd!

Jeff
6:57am • #42
229,157 Points 7 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Great advice!  I have been on AR for quite awhile but still have so much to learn.  I have bookmarked this for future reference.
7:05am • #43
1 Featured Post
Thank you Charita for a great post! I am a newbie making my way thru ALL of the great information on AR, also working thru the ActiveRain Camp (green Group), it is amazing how much help is provided. Thanks for all you do!
7:56am • #44
248,670 Points 8 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Hi Charita,

Great post, links and advice- A well deserved feature!!

Hope you're having a perfect week!

Gina
10:01am • #45
617,285 Points 60 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Charita

I'm also very thankful for getting into Active Rain....I can't even remember how I started, or how I found out about it. But kudos to all the people who contribute their time and knowledge to enable the rest of us to be the best that we can be :)
12:00pm • #46
134,415 Points 2 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Charita,

Good post, I am sure many new Active Rain members will find the value in a mentor...

-Brent
1:38pm • #47
118,280 Points

AR is such a valuable resource and everyone needs a refresher course once in a while.  I like all the mentions you have and have no doubt called upon them for help!
1:50pm • #48
202,316 Points 11 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

You're absolutely spot on. Every ambassador I've ever reached out to has be extremely warm and friendly. I've also made a lot of great friends and have a few good mentors like Lenn, Barbara & Melissa just to name a few. Then there's the most unusual staff. Folks like Kerrie and Bob make if very easy and fun to a part of this wonderful family.
1:58pm • #49
195,737 Points Outside Blog

Thanks for the resource information and how to access it. many of us, like myself are too busy to block time and research ourselves and it's very helpful that you and other Ambassadors are sharing your time with members who need help and information.
3:13pm • #50
1,023,536 Points 15 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master

ActiveRain was a gold mine for me too.  And I am still learning something new all the time.
4:11pm • #51
JUN
13
497,860 Points 13 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Great post Charita, so I hope you don't mind my re-bloggin so many others can benefit from it!
3:15am • #52
349,280 Points 29 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Good morning Charita - Great post. I bet even the more experienced members of AR found something they didn't know when they read your post - I know I did!
3:49am • #53
245,751 Points Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Charita, I am always on the lookout for posts to remind me all of the ways that I can get the most out of this Active Rain platform. thank you for the information.
5:03am • #54
1 Featured Post Outside Blog

Great post for newbies like me! I continue to learn a lot from everyone! 
5:02pm • #55
JUN
14
370,923 Points 10 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

CHarita - great ideas for anyone -  new or otherwise! Thank you for sharing this great information.
1:54pm • #56
JUN
15
2 Featured Posts

Great tips Charita.  ActiveRain is awesome!  I need to utilize it more because it is so good on SEO.  Thanks for the group suggestions, I don't belong to them now but will definately check them out.  Good to know I've got an ambasador in my neck of the woods ;-)
5:09am • #57
JUN
17
316,859 Points 16 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor

Charita, excellent and very informative!  We can really get gold mines of information here in AR.  Thank you for sharing!
11:39pm • #58
JUN
25
550,772 Points 19 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Charita~ I was SO lost when I got started on Active Rain.  I had a "sponsor" who encouraged me to start blogging, but I had no idea what I was doing.  This is a great reference/resource tool for newbies (and oldbies) in the Rain.  Thank you for all you do to support the members!  :-)
10:29am • #59

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