When Active Rain "works" it does something quite wonderful. It grows, and expands, and teaches, and challenges. It creates dialogue in places and spaces where there was none.
I think sometimes we forget that we all here are a community. An ever growing community, but a community non the less. In the "good old days," when there were only a few thousand members, there was a daily banter of ideas bouncing back and forth. Those of you who were lucky to be here then know what I am talking about. Some of what was shared was of great "industry" value; some was just plain "trivial chirping". But no matter what, there was a connected sharing taking place across the blogs and within the comments.
Today, with so many members now sharing so much of themselves, and with so many different types of content being able to be shared (i.e., listings and statistics) sometime it is hard to chirp an idea out through the loud quacking.
But every so often a bird's song is heard. So here is my tale to how Active Rain can give wings to a discussion.
It all started when I posted my blog Successful Selling in an Ugly Market Ain't Always Pretty!. In that blog I got one of those comments that just ruffles my feathers. It seems that when I write a post that shares the virtues of staging there always seems to be someone that takes a shot at me. It is as if they load their comment with common bird-shot and shoot off something like, "Yudda Yuddd Yudda Price Is King". They never quite hit me, but they do ruffle my feathers. I hate that one!
OK... so now what? Well this time, ruffled feathers and all, I was going to pluck that common rebuttal clean. Which lead me to write my next post. Chipping Away at the "PRICE IS KING" Myth Too Many Realtors Rely On In it I had you all pondering the potato chip, no not the Ruffles kind, as I laid my trap. (Wow talking about mixed metaphors, and double entendres that actually make sense. But I digress). In that trap I caught that old Blogging Bird Broker Bryant. (Wow... an automotopia too. My English teacher would be proud. But I digress.) He squawked in a comment in a way only he can.
Proud of my catch... I was going to make sure the whole world saw my trappings. So I posted this: Best Blog EVER Finally Hits Its Target... of ONE. Well, I may have caught Birdy Bryant, but he surly was not dead. He squawked out this post Does "Staging" a home in Poinciana FL make sense? and posted it over in the Stage It Forward... Hen House. Oh my God, if that didn't kill him it should have. Now ALL those chicks, and a few roosters, were cackling all over his post... plus a few of you from out here in the big Rain puddle were chipping in.
This trophy catch asked questions that challenged us yet also gave us Stagers insight and understanding as to how and what we need to do to share our staging message. But I wasn't gonna let Birdy Bryant get the last chirp in. PLUS there were now a few from his flock squawking in with more issues I thought could be discussed. Maybe it was over kill, but I blasted him with a double barreled dozzie of a comment... that also went out into the Big Rain as yet another one of my posts entitled: Is Your Ignorance Bliss or a Missed Opportunity?.
Now that that post was out there... seeded with that enticing word "ignorance" I laid in the brush waiting. Low and behold I caught me a Hitzelberger. Now I never saw a Hitzelberger before, but boy could that bird sing. And sing he did with more to know and ponder in It's not just ignorance.. (Unfortunately, right now it is a "Member Only" post. So if you are not logged into the AR puddle... you won't be able to see it)
Well, by now you get the point and I am sure this hunting story will go on. I thank you for letting me tell my hunting tale. I do invite you to go hunting or start quacking out new ideas that grow and expand your way of thinking, because they always are in-season.... here in the Rain.
Quack it Forward...
Me
PS: I gotta admit I got my sites set on the wise, yet elusive, "Harely Bird" that sits in a forest over in Maryland.
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