I joined The Rain on October 04, 2007 and shyly surfed the site for the first 10 days. No comments, no posts, in fact I hardly understood the concept of "Blogging." Blogging, it's not even in the spell check system. How important can it be if it hasn't made the spell check system? (hint, hint Active Rain Team). I thought what the heck, I'll look into it now that I'm here.

My first post was on October 14, 2007. Nervous, yep, after seeing the post that some of the seasoned (OK, old timers) Rainer's were posting.

But, what to write? Would I get comments? Will I make a mockery of myself? What would a Blog do for me? Why do I want to subject myself to these dreadful thoughts?

I found a description of What a Blog is by Mike Tyler, I feel he said it well.

Mike wrote: What is blogging?
"Simply put, it's a daily posting of someones thoughts on a web page. Postings are like small articles from the Blog's author. The subject matter of these postings is as varied as human beings themselves. Some are trivial - some of more substance."

I wrote that first post and reluctantly pressed the submit button, boom, there was my writing out there for the world to see, yow. Then I sat back and watched for two days while the comments rolled in, wow, three total. Hey, what about these old timers seasoned Rainers who were getting 50-60 comments per post, what did I do wrong? Maybe no photo's, OK I added one, hhhmmm, no additional comments.

So, on October 16th I tried another, wow, 15 minutes later my first comment, hey this is much better. Of course that was the only one I received, dang. Now I'm losing my will to be a Blogger of the World.

Now it's October 17th, and another shot at stardom, my post goes live and a day later, no comments, I could hear in my head the little sound when Pac-Man gets gobbled up and he disappears. Failed, washed up, done, gone. So desperate I tried to kick start the post myself, naughty me. Nope that didn't work either.

Not ready to give up, I kept posting to try to figure out the secret in The Rain. I adopted the concept of acknowledging the comments (an important etiquette of Blogging) which helped keep the posts alive and build camaraderie with the Rainers.

Finally on November 12, I wrote a simple fun non-business post and yeehaa I went into double digit comments, bingo! I found the secret, off to my next post now that I know what it takes. You guessed it, the next post netted one comment, shoulders drooped again and chest dropped back to my waist. Now that I look at these past posts, I made some Newbie mistakes.

• Lack of Photos
• Titles that didn't grab the readers attention
• Not acknowledging Comments
• Not asking for help or input
• Not being "Active" in The Rain
• Not visiting and commenting on other members posts right away (Networking)
• Not reading the many helpful posts provided by the Active Rain Staff (see the new Group Help/FAQ) and members (see the Active Rain Newbies Group)
• Not submitting my posts to certain Groups that the post met the Guidelines

Today, I have found the importance of being "Active" in The Rain. The site name says it all and the Newbie who gets involved from the very beginning will find that this "Blogging" thing can be phenomenal.

On a side major note, I wanted to let you know how helpful the old timers seasoned members and the Active Rain Team is, here in The Rain. Drop a line to any member and 9 times out of 10 you will get a helpful answer to your question or at least you will be pointed in the right direction. Or you can go at it like I did and be the guy who doesn't ask for directions and head down a few wrong roads.

It's up to you to light the World on fire. Don't expect to be a super-star from the get go. We all had to crawl before we could walk, and blogging is much the same way.

Don't get discouraged, we all started out as Newbies. Even the well seasoned member is learning every day. Ask those questions you have, put it in a post to get different input. Nobody is going to look at a question as being stuppid stupid. Get rid of the pride and ask away.

You will find The Rain, to be a educating, informative and a fun part of your business. Plus, the family and friends across the nation you will acquire as you get involved will surprise you, it did me.

So, dive in and take a refreshing swim in The Rain. It will remove the feeling of the title of this post.

Have Fun and Welcome to the Active Rain Family!

Anyone involved in the Real-Estate Industry is invited to join Active Rain.