Today's Easter Sunday, I just got home from Mass and lunch with my family, my dad, and his girlfriend, and I have a knot in my stomach.

Tomorrow is the beginning of Project Blogger.

Where's the Maalox?

I love to write.  One of my biggest challenges is not writer's block, but instead, being brief.  I read once that women say about 5 words for every 1 word men say.   I think I have that gene (the verbose one) in triplicate.

But blogging is a whole different thing. It's not just about saying something, it's about saying something worthwhile enough that someone cares to read it, and in a package that's attractive and helpful to the viewer. With realty blogging, hopefully it is a way of getting an "at bat" with more buyers and sellers too.  And frankly, I don't know what I'm doing with blogging. 

Thank goodness I'm not on my own.  Frances Flynn Thorsen is my very talented, very successful coach.  And she is confident, too, and that's a good thing, because like I said, I have a knot in my stomach.

Are you familiar with the DISC Assessment?  If so, you know that folks who are "high D's" are super competitive, they like to win. No, they almost need to win.  We have some high D's in my family, and these people are highly successful (whether it's in law, teaching, playing softball on the beach at a family reunion or throwing a football for a famous team out of Boston).  Ordinarily, I'm only a "high D" if it bumps into ethics or one of my values. Competition is not my "M.O." and it is not something that I particularly seek out - even though it's part of the package deal of working in Real Estate.   Instead, I'm a "high I" - I like to have a good time, I'm expressive, I love a good story.  (We have a lot of that in my family too.)  And so I write because I enjoy it, and if I can make it enjoyable for others to read my pieces, that makes it even more fun.  Real estate can be fun.  So writing and real estate combined should be a very, very good time for me!  I believe that the best route to success in real estate is finding a way to be passionate about what you do. If you enjoy it, it will be sustainable.  For me, then, blogging for real estate should be ideal.  And this blogging contest should be the express elevator ride for realty blogging, with a learning curve so fast my ears will be popping.

Competition, on the other hand, is not something I crave.  It's part of the package and I just have to adjust.

How'd I end up as an apprentice on Project Blogger, then?   Fran heard about me from someone we both know, like and trust - and this gal knew that I was anxious to learn more about blogging and she knew I had a passion for writing.  A lot of things in real estate are tied to relationships, so I guess this isn't surprising, but I never saw the opportunity to do this contest coming.  So when it did come to me, I was surprised and almost suspicous. Will I have enough time? What is involved?   Hearing all about it, I was intrigued.  Hearing that money was going to go to charity, I wanted to help - that kicked the "D" in me into gear. 

And so here I am, with my nerves on high alert the day before we go into this contest.  I am reminding myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint.  And I'm reminding myself that Fran is running this thing with me, and she knows what we're doing.

What is really cool, too, is that in recent weeks (even before I knew about Project Blogger), I started getting more involved here on Active Rain, and I'm beginning to feel like I know some of the good folks from all over the country here.   As I re-read the rules on how the competition will be judged, I realize that it's not only the judges who have something to say about the outcome of the contest: it's everyone here on AR too.

My learning's already begun as yesterday I asked a question about where everyone gets the graphics and I received a ton of great answers. (Next I need to learn how to wrap text around images, as you can see from above.)  I hope you will feel free to participate by doing the commentaries or scoring on me and everyone else involved. I'm hoping too that I will get constructive criticism (and maybe occassional encouragement!)  and that from the contest we will all learn and improve our blogging skills and effectiveness with this very cool new venue.   In addition to the growth in understanding on blogging, I am also looking forward to just getting to know this giant community better.

So my hat is in the ring.

Pass the Maalox.

with good wishes from Silicon Valley,

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy
Blog:   http://www.LiveInLosGatos.com

www.PopeHandy.com & www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com