Ask an Ambassador: Are you getting any business from ActiveRain?

I have not really gone into that much detail. I track all my leads. I do know i get a great deal of inquiries direct from my AR blog. I have been able to turn at least 1 a week into a client. an equal mix of listings and buyers. Business is steady and busy, and although perhaps i should. i have not had to dig into google. 

If it was a sure thing...it would cost a fortune. This is about par for us all

Tammy, I think I've provided enough posts about how our patio home niche performs on placement and getting us clients. It gets a bit muddled differentiating on whether they found us on our main AR blog, our patio home Outside AR blog, or our WP/IDX pages, but they find us.  And going into 2017 I have two new constructions under contract and being built, and I have two other clients with lot holds that will write contracts in the next 2-3 weeks.  Those four contracts alone will put us at close to $1.5 million in transactions for 2017 before the calendar even turns. Yes, AR works well for us :)   There's a lot of effort behind those results and it wasn't quick, but it works.

Great info and congrats on your feature.   I will have to  brush up on my skills. 

Tammy Lankford, - I'm paying very close attention to my stats right now because I recently started a new "search" website separate from my corporate website. On my main community website, the link goes straight to the "search" one because I figure people want to get right down to finding out what's available.  As to Activerain which links to my corporate website, I get surprisingly little traffic. But I can pinpoint some actual business from AR members.

If people don't spend the time to optimize their site, they are going to get bad results or no results.

I loved the one the other day that said my blog is broke lol.

Tammy, I absolutely need to get better with viewing analytics. As I move through re-vamping my business in the next couple of months I am sure I will be reviewing/tracking on a weekly basis.  Congrats on the Feature.

Checking analytics is something I need to do more often - but then, so are a lot of other things. Too many tasks, too few hours! 

To answer your question, I know I do get some business directly from Active Rain, because people tell me that's where they found me. A (very) few even use the contact form.

Congratulations on the Feature!  Good information and I am hoping to learn more about the analytics.  

With most of the buyers searching online...that's where I want to be. AR does a good job of getting me out there. 

Excellent post Tammy not all that many of the folks with web site really under stand the ways the analysis of search traffic.

Tammy Lankford, - I should start tracking where I am getting traffic on my market reports! (And yes, this is the question even I ask myself!)

Good Morning Tammy Lankford, - I'm glad to see this one featured Tammy! You've been around a long time on ActiveRain and you've taught us all plenty! Thanks for the services you provide as an Ambassador too! You are appreciated.

In all the years I've been an AR member/contributor I've rarely ever received any actual biz. But then again that's not why I joined. I joined because Jeff Dowler walked into my office at Surfer's Point Resort one day and asked if he could do a blog about our project.

Up to that point I had no idea what a "BLOG" even was. But I like to write and thought it would be a good way to get some attention on this particular project and possibly others.

So I joined AR, became a "RAINMAKER" immediately, attended a couple of "RAINCAMPS" and misc activities, met lovely Kerrie La Guardia  who welcomed me to AR with open arms and participated in several of Bob Stewart's free webinars on how to be a better blogger and the rest is history.

It wasn't until I joined Trulia a short time later and took advantage of their Q/A platform which elevated me to the top as a VIP 3 in a couple of years that I started really raking in the biz and generated business on a national level. 

In fact we still continue to get many great leads from the thousands of Questions I answered  regarding Manufactured Housing over the years that the platform was being offered. That's the power of a Google Search no doubt.

All this stated I have no regrets for the time and effort I've put forth on AR. I've learned a great deal about blogging and no doubt have a long way to go. But moreover, I've met so many truly great folks and really feel like I've been a small clog in a big wheel to some extent and will continue to contribute to this very fine platform

However, I do wish that they would someday open their Q/A platform to the public. I really do think it could be a huge benefit not only to the AR site overall but to the tens of thousands of RE Professionals who have so much information and knowledge to offer the folks who need answers to questions.

Now, how's that for a Sunday diatribe and how did I do at linking? LOL!!

Great explanation of what to pay attention to on the back end, Tammy, thanks.   Going on my "Winter" task list!

Tammy, 

I wish my AR stuff would generate some businesds for me but last couple of years no cigar. Good post. 

Tammy great explanation of how you track and what the tracking means.... needless to say good to see you are getting lots of traction from your Internet Activity...if you did not I suspect you would be spending so much time with it...Congrats of the well deserved Gold Star, Endre

Business comes to me from a variety of places online. They all tend to end up on my website, but they come from different places, mostly from Google searches. I've had clients tell me that while maybe they didn't initially find me on AR, they like the fact that they can read when I talk to other agents. They like the comments and banter. They read everything online, and all of it together solidifies their decision.

I have gotten a referral connection that gotten me on average 3 deal a year since 06 I think it works as much as anything else I feel if I took the classes and spent more quality time I would get more out of it but with all the busy busy I don't know which way would be best

Tammy Lankford,  I know I am getting leads from AR as they call me from my market reports .I have not bothered to track them as I know they are coming from my blogs . Great information here