It's been an interesting contest that I had no intention of joining because I knew I wouldn't have a chance.  But then Eric Blackwell decided to form a team for the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World seo contest and I figured I could at least join up.

It introduced me to a couple popular real estate blogs I had never read before including Bloodhound Blog.  Reading through these blogs brought me to other real estate resources I had never known about.  I just wish I had more time to keep reading all of the sites I found.

It also turned into kind of a soap opera of some heavy hitter seo folks stating they would not join this silly contest yet their actions refuted those claims.  There has been controversy, arguing and some good discussions.  It has definitely been interesting.

My team got me to finally create my first Squidoo page.  They also got me more involved in the social bookmarking sites.  Even as a member of a 10 person team, I sometimes didn't have enough time to do everything that was asked of me.

Our team grew and changed and we ended up sponsoring the Eco Preservation Society in Costa Rica because of one of our team members, Mike Damann, who now lives in Costa Rica.  In fact, our team is hopefully going to get together and meet up with Mike for a Costa Rican trip.  If our team wins this contest we will put the prize up for auction and donate all proceeds to the Eco Preservation Society.

And that is why I'm glad I joined this contest.  There have been negatives but the positive things have far outweighted the bad.  It was a learning experience and I made stronger bonds with some acquaintances I already knew.  I wish I could have learned more about the detailed seo stuff my teammates were discussing but I guess I'll never be able to absorb it all.