ActiveRain's first article contest has just passed the half way point. The clock is ticking and the entries are piling up. There are 10,000 points up for grabs! The deadline is Saturday at 12 midnight, PST.

For those of you who missed the original post, I have included  a link to the original announcement. The contest has been Officially Approved by ActiveRain. You can find Jonathan Washburn's comments and "contest sweeteners" about 14 inches down the page. I'll warn you now the thread has gotten very long and your scroll bar will get a workout.

Here is an update of what has transpired since Sunday.

• 59 people asked to participate in the contest
• 45 people have joined the contest group Prime Time
• 32 articles have been posted to Prime Time
• 16 of the articles have already been Featured!

To put these numbers into a different context, consider this. Each day on ActiveRain there are approximately 300 new articles posted. Of the 300, approximately 30 are Featured (or 1 out of 10). The articles that have been entered in the contest have been Featured at the rate of 1 out of 2!  The quality of the articles being entered in the contest is much higher than normal.

The Contest Is A Call To Action

ActiveRain was designed to promote individual Real Estate Professionals on the Internet. Most people do not have the interest or the skill or the time to design and maintain a website that generates business. Yet, we all want one. We are all members of ActiveRain because we see some personal benefit to be gained. Some members like the social aspects of a network, some like to blog, some members are looking for information and some are selling products or services to Real Estate Professionals. We all have Real Estate in common. And we all want Internet exposure.

The idea behind this contest is very simple. If a potential client finds you on ActiveRain because they are searching the Internet for someone like you, you have very little time to make a good impression. These potential clients, will begin to know you through your writing. Suddenly, what you write and how well you present yourself has become very important. The public is watching. Consumers have discovered ActiveRain! Consumers in your area will find you because ActiveRain is very good at what it does. ActiveRain profiles rank consistently high in search engine results. So your blog on ActiveRain needs to get it's Sunday-Go-to-Meeting-Clothes on and make a good first impression. Contests tend to make people reach for excellence. And excellence makes a very good first impression.

If this is the first you have heard about this contest, you still have time to enter. You will need to join the Prime Time groupand you will need to add your article to the group to enter it in the contest. There are prizes for the First, Second and Third place contest winners. There will be quite a bit of exposure on and off of ActiveRain for the winners. There are also many ActiveRain Points up for grabs.

Read the contest guidelines carefully and then enter one of your articles! What do you have to lose? What might you gain?

The contest articles must be Real Estate Related and the maximum number each author can submit is limited to two. Other than that, there are few limitations. You can write on any subject you choose. You can write in any style you prefer.

Interesting Tidbits 

• A Seattle PI real estate blogger has joined the contest and is concerned that his article is not good enough!
• I have received multiple inquiries from Real Estate Blogs outside of ActiveRain wanting to host the winning articles!

This contest will get you exposure both on and off the ActiveRain network!