I've got a new client who has some property in Vernonia and will be listing with me, but she also owns some acreage in central Oregon that she wants to sell. I told her I would find her a good agent as I didn't represent property that far away. She currently lives in Camas, WA and will someday move, so I have a GREAT agent through ActiveRain for that area, Debb Janes.
I don't know any agents in central Oregon, so I went onto our ActiveRain resources and looked up local areas ("Local Info"), then clicked on that county to see who would come up in AR. Sadly, the latest blogger had not blogged since February 2013! It's important to keep up with this, not only for agents to find you for referrals, but it puts you high up on Google. Many had no profile pictures. Since this is a new client, I don't want to blindly pick someone. 
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I did call one person who answered her cell phone with lots of noise in the background. She thought I was someone else! She was attending a meeting in a public place, so she got my e-mail address and said she'd be in contact. I did get an e-mail late last night. The main reason that I called her is that hers was about the only blogpost I saw that had nice photos and a great description of the area. What was so odd was that I found it on a re-blog on someone else's site! So, I had to backtrack and look up her profile. I still can't find that post now that I'm actively looking for it.
If someone doesn't know you, and they are blindly looking for an agent, it really is important what you write in your profile, including any testimonials and how you write it. I found with others that I looked at that there were typos, (which told me this person doesn't pay attention to detail), another was written in all CAPS and even though she had many awards, I found it too difficult to read and it seemed too self-serving. I want someone who will be personable and develop a relationship with my delightful new client, not someone who will tell her how fabulous they are!
I've gotten referrals from ActiveRain agents and it feels wonderful when they reach out across the country to do that. Believe me, without blogging on ActiveRain and having a descriptive profile, NO ONE would know a lick about Fishhawk Lake, let alone about me!
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