ASK AN AMBASSADOR: Do You Speak ActiveRain?

ASK AN AMBASSADOR:  Do You Speak ActiveRain?

If you're new to ActiveRain (aka AR aka The Rain) you might feel like you've entered the Tower of Babel.  There's ALL kind of strange terms being thrown around, and honestly even when you've been around for quite awhile, there's still something new to be learned.

So here's a bit of a primer to help you out:

There are certain members that if people use just the first name, people know who is meant: 

• Ben is Ben Kinney, the new owner of ActiveRain (and not just AR but a lot more).  He's got us out from under the umbrella of Z (aka Zillow) and T (aka Trulia).  People that have been missing from the Rain for months and years are returning to the fold.
• Bob is Bob Stewart.  Bob is the community evangelist, the trainer, and the guy whose job I WOULDN'T want because he's the one that's got to deal with all the members that don't toe the community standards.  I don't think I have the patience to be Bob.
• Kerrie is Kerrie La Guardia and for now she's on maternity leave taking care of her newborn and (as far as I know) still a Z employee.  Many rosaries are being said that she decides to come back to the Rain when it suits her and family, but until then, our community cheerleader and advocate is enjoying lots of mommy time.
• There are Rainers that are known by their first name:  Pat (the Leaderboard champ) & Lenn (the guru of all things copyright).  There are names from the past TLW & Broker Bryant aka BB.  There's Anna Banana (okay, she uses TWO names but don't use Banana for the directory search!).  The list could go on and on with Rainers past and present.

There are terms that are thrown around that are not really AR specific, but important to knowing how to do our jobs and gaining business and some of them ARE another language entirely:

• SEO, Serps, long tail keywords, linking, blog, post, alt tags & tags, html, php, and okay....sometimes it's best to HIRE people and some things it's good to learn yourself.  Figure out what works for you.
• WP is short for WordPress, an alternative for blogging and a great place to host:
• IDX (Internet Data eXchange), a shareable database of homes for sale and done properly about the most attractive thing we can have on our website, buyers LOVE home searches!

And of course there is AR specific language:

• Features, Gold Stars, Points, Feature Fairies, Leaderboard, Suggests and more.
• Hyperlocal:  this is how you beat the syndicators, prove yourself the local expert and tie it together with IDX and you can make your phone ring
• Ambassadors:  the folks with the orange badge.  We're not perfect, but we're here to help.  And we DO NOT have the monopoly on helping.  A great thing about this community is almost everyone is willing to help.  Just ask! 
• Rainers:  people who DO NOT have a paid account so everything they write stays in the community and no further.  No Google Juice for you! 
• Rainmakers:  They get their posts spread to the world because they have a paid account (or passed 500,000 points).  Their work DOES get spread to the world assuming they didn't post MEMBERS ONLY.

And there are some terms you DON'T want to have associated with your name:

• Copy/paster or blatant plagiarizer.  Original content and photos:  GOOD.  Other stuff:  NOT so good & can actually get you kicked out of the community.
  
• Serial commenter (copy and pasting something generic across multiple posts no matter the topic won't earn you much love from the community).
• Jackwagon...okay, that's NOT an AR term but basically those that passed Sandbox 101 can thrive here.  It doesn't mean that there aren't disagreements, but it's all about HOW the game is played.  Keep kicking the beehive just for the fun of it and people get tired of the drama FAST. And fyi, some bees can sting back.
  

Bottom line, there's a LOT to learn here.  Be patient, get comfortable with the place and put what you learn to work and watch your business grow. 

Questions?  Just Ask An Ambassador!

Liz and Bill aka BLiz