The more that I am trying to get involved with newbies and making it a point to help people out, the more I see a need for a tour guide. With that said, I would like to take a few minutes to welcome the 4231 newbies that have joined over the last 30 days. Just imagine where we will be by the end of the year if we continue to grow at that pace. Now, I know that a lot of people come in here and the first thing that they do is get overwhelmed. So, lets get right to it.

  • Creation of a profile: I think that the first and foremost thing that everyone should do is to create a profile. This does not mean answering a few questions and diving in. Put some meat into it and get a picture of yourself up there as quick as possible. The last thing that you want is for people to think that you are a primate. So many times I see that people have just put in the basic information and left the rest blank. To access your profile, you can go to My Home and click on the edit. Once you have filled out the About Us, Areas of Expertise, and Testimonials, then it is time to move on to the next area.
  • Post a Blog: I noticed that when I am scanning all the newbies, I notice that only a handful of them actually tackle blogging the first or second day on here. All I can say is do not be scared. Make the first blog simple and announce yourself. It is simple to throw 50 to 75 words into a blog and tell everyone in the world that this is your first day here and you are anxious to meet new people. You will be surprised to see what comes out of the woodwork. Once again, you can got to post a blog directly from your My Home page by clicking on the POST link right beside the words My Blog.
  • Surf and Comment on other Blogs: Once you have posted your own blog, it is time to go out and read other blogs. Now, there are 2 ways to do this. We will also go over how to comment on a blog. Lets look at the 2 ways that you can surf blogs. First, is the easiest. In the upper right hand corner you will find a link that says BLOGS and if you were to click on this, it would take you to the most recent blogs as well as any blogs that you subscribed to. The second path is by going though the groups link right next to the blogs link in the upper right hand corner. In this, you can find groups that you will enjoy and read blogs there.
  • Subscribing to Blogs or Groups: The next thing in line is to subscribe to peoples blogs that you enjoy and joining groups that you can relate to. I have seen many people in the past subscribe to a number of groups and never "step foot" into one of them. It is important that you do not flood yourself in the beginning.
  • Invite Others: This is something that we all could stand practicing more of. It is important to grow our membership and we do that by spreading the word. People like you and me need to get out and tell all of our friends, family, and co-workers about this site and then our business partners. We want to grow it with people that are just as enthusiastic as you are. The Invite button is located on the lower left hand of your My Home page. If the invitation is accepted, then you can earn bonus points as well.
  • Linking to ActiveRain: Another great tool that ActiveRain allows is linking. If you have a website that you own, or one that you have a lot of traffic on, you can create a link on it and AR will give you bonus points for this. It will also give you exposure for your ActiveRain account and can lead to business leads or referrals.

Now, with this tutorial, I hope that it gives you some type of path for your first couple of days to follow. I am always willing to help anyone. All you need to do is ask. If I do not know the answer, I will make one up. Just kidding. I will direct you to someone that can help. Thanks for taking the time to read and good luck.


You can check out other tutorials that I have written through this link also.

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About the Author

If you are in the market to purchase a home or even refinance an existing loan and you want a loan officer that will walk with you every step of the way, then contact Danny or Rich of the Thornton Team at Home America Mortgage today. We can have you pre-approval in as little as 4 hours. You can visit our website or send an email to or call us @ 865-951-0522.

 
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7 Comments on Welcome to your first day on ActiveRain

MAY
22
2008

Danny, Excellent post.  That's a lot of newbies the last 30 days.  I appreciate what you do for the new AR members.

10:57am • #1
208,478 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog
Great post Danny. Nice of you to put out this info for all the newbies.
10:59am • #2
129,765 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog

Wonderfully informative post for the all the newbies (and the Invitation part is a good thing for everyone to keep in mind)! This post obviously took a lot of time and effort, THANKS!

11:00am • #3
123,159 Points 4 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Your instructions are very easy to follow, Danny.  A newbie can just go down the list and be up, running and having FUN her in the Rain in no time!  Go for it, new people!  You'll love it!

11:01am • #4
332,686 Points 5 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Kay, you will be surprised to know that it is not just the newbies that have no clue about some of this in the tutorial. Thanks for the comment.

Bob, you and everyone else is welcome. It was my pleasure to do it.

Rich, I hate to even say how long it took me to put it together.

Elaine, I learned a long time ago that if you make something easy enough to understand it that a 5 year old can do it, it will make life simple.

 

11:58am • #5

Nice post Danny! Im not so new myself but I still learned something from this. Thanks!

2:24pm • #6
332,686 Points 5 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Jeffrey, well, I am glad that I was able to teach you something.

4:37pm • #7


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