Ever So Grateful for My ActiveRain Family
I certainly was not aware 13 years ago when I was invited to join this 'up & coming' real estate platform, that it would transform my life in so many ways. I was clueless! Like Beth Atalay mentioned in her challenge post this month, I began using ActiveRain with SO much trepidation - it took me 6 months to even leave a comment!
Yes, the platform has been going through some growing pains and those are well on their way to being mended. I'm here to tell you though, any experience in life is what you make of it. When you find a good thing and you do your part to make it better.
*With dear friend, Lisa Von Domek
I'm here today to share my gratitude for my ActiveRain friends & family.
I've been reflecting this month as I read Jeff Dowler, CRSs challenge entries (THANK YOU, JEFF!) about my tenure (13 years and counting), here in the Rain. Yes, things have changed, people have changed and those who started here in the beginning will tell you, social media and personal websites as well as increased business have taken many of the original members in another direction. Many have taken sabbaticals and then there are those who have remained faithful.
What a wonderfully welcoming, caring, loving community we have here. We are truly ALL blessed with this platform and the amazing people here!
If you're a newbie (brand new to the Rain), jump right in! Yes, easier said than done! I began on ActiveRain very slowly. It was absolutely the MOST uncomfortable thing for me to write my first comment--UNTIL I finally got the courage to write my first POST! Talk about uncomfortable!
I watched the original members - day in and day out - for 6+ months but, just could not muster up the courage to write a post. Why did they seem so comfortable with it but, it seemed so foreign to me? You have to remember though, at that time, Facebook did not exist so, online communication was not that common to most of us.
Above - with Bob Stewart, in New Orleans for RainCamp/NAR meet-up)
When I finally did get the courage to write a post, the stress was almost immediately gone! POOF! People actually commented--not many but, hey, I didn't know them from Adam and couldn't imagine what they found interesting in my local posts!
I originally ONLY wrote local posts because I didn't want any of 'me' showing through. Imagine - I thought if you weren't ALL BUSINESS, that might be bad for business! After hearing over and over and over again from clients who found me here in the Rain, "I feel like I know you already," I realize how ridiculous I was to think that leaving the 'personal' part of me out was the wrong blogging plan!
I am so thankful for the original members, as well as the ones who came after me here in the Rain, for the learning, relationships, business and 'fun' never end! I have learned how to blog, what to blog about, how to use keywords, write market reports, focus locally and everything that I needed to know to become the source of information for my area.
During the early days, my ActiveRain family taught me how to create a Facebook & Twitter profiles, then Facebook business pages, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram - every social network. Together, RIGHT HERE IN THE RAIN, we have learned so very much!
We have reached out to one another to share our knowledge of website-building, business development and so much more. For years, I have been a member of several AR groups - members who build websites, members focused on listing marketing and more. Many of the members are no longer participating on AR or do so minimally but, we all met here - what a wonderful opportunity ActiveRain has been for so many reasons!
*Elizabeth Cooper-Golden, conferencing together in 2013!
This year (2020) has been a challenging year for SO many of our members and for others, it's been eye-opening and refreshing. Yes, REFRESHING! Why? Thanks to Marie Story's brilliant, "Let's meet for coffee on ZOOM" invitation, we now have weekly, one-hour meetings with fun but, educational presentations, rivaled only by CRS courses! We are having a blast and loving the camaraderie as well as the education.
*We'd love to have you join us - Here's the link. We meet on Tuesdays at 2PM EST - THE LINK IS ALWAYS THE SAME. SAVE IT TO YOUR CALENDAR and you won't miss a meeting!
When a member or family member falls ill, our AR family reaches out, offers a shoulder, words of support and prayers. In 2018 my husband fell quite ill and was in critical care for nearly a week. There were numerous members who did not miss reaching out to me ONE single day during his hospitalization. That's what family does and I will be forever grateful for my ActiveRain family!
In 2019, he spent several months in the hospital in Denver. I wrote about one of our member's hospitality while Ray was there - Will Hamm. I couldn't have gotten more 'care' from a family member!
OH, the lifelong friends that have become family - who knew?! I have sent and received tons of referrals, found two fantastic lenders, an amazing local stager and, of course, received wonderful direct clients from my blogging here in the Rain!
*Atlanta meet-up, 2017, hosted by Lynn Friedman
*CRS Sellabration & ActiveRain meet-up, Dallas, 2018. I finally got to give a hug to our lovely Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP! ❤️
*Boston meet-up, 2018
*More photos from the Boston meet-up
*Atlanta friends traveled to Charlotte for one of our meet-ups. I love, love, love my Thom Abbott (& Ray) as well as one of our fantastic lenders, Brian Dover.
I joined forces with 3 other members to start Charlotte's first ReBar Camp and put several ReBar Camp events together for several subsequent years following the first event. We even helped support other area ReBar Camps across the south, including our NC friends in Raleigh. Just LOOK at this turnout - and this was just one room of several rooms that we had, covering a multitude of topics!
*Rebar in Raleigh
I've attended conferences from coast-to-coast and had the honor of meeting some of the most fabulous people through ActiveRain.
*Orlando RainCamp with Elizabeth Cooper Golden & Kerrie La Guardia - Boy, don't we wish Kerrie was still with us - AND we still had RainCamps?!
I've even hosted ActiveRain 'family' meet-ups in my own home (below) and visited others across the nation as well. This one was held only 3 weeks after we finished building our new home in 2014. Yes, we had JUST moved in, which is why I hired a caterer for one of the nights they were here! Talk about the love of family!
Oh and we have even vacationed with ActiveRain members, visiting AR HQ in Seattle! Steve Shatsky and I taught a class on farming while we were there and played the rest of the time! We had an absolute blast touring Seattle and spending time with some other amazing AR peeps - including Brad Andersohn & Rich Jacobson...
Then, in 2019, Steve was transferred to Charlotte. We had kept in touch over the years, even after he left real estate. So, I was honored that he phoned me to help him with his home purchase. Steve Closed on his hew home in Charlotte in early 2020. He now knows my personal family and is now part of my Charlotte family too!
You get the point now, right? We're just one, big family here!
Anything you want to learn about your real estate business is right HERE! If you can't find it, you can ask about it in the Q&A section - one place I rarely miss a day visiting!
The best part is and always will be, the friendships - you simply can't put a price on the incredible relationships we forge here in the Rain. OF COURSE, the business and the 'education' are wonderful too but, the ActiveRain family is AMAZING! Who knew you could have it all on, what I originally thought to be, a very 'scary' social blogging venue?!
So, if you're a newbie, jump right in--I promise we don't bite (well, most of us don't)! Add ActiveRain time to your calendar - block your time to spend a little bit of it here each day. It's a great place to hang your hat and stay awhile! ActiveRain is a wonderful place to meet new friends and gain a whole lot of knowledge to grow your business also!
*With Christine Donovan- Christine traveled from California for RainCamp Charlotte! And, no, we didn't plan the matching attire!
And remember, any experience in life is what you make of it! What are you thankful for today?
Thank you again, Jeff Dowler, for your ActiveRain Thanksgiving challenge! If you haven't entered the challenge yet, there's still time to do so!
© Debe Maxwell | The Maxwell House Group | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com | Ever So Grateful for My ActiveRain Family
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