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On Leaving Lurkdom ~ 10 Good Reasons!

Social Networks have been around for many years. Online social networks are making a big splash now that they come out of the middle school population and into the mainstream. The Active Rain Network is an amalgamation of blogging, social networking and viral marketing. The combination of all empowers users on so many levels. Addiction to the rain has become common place; many of us have been to the Betty Ford Center and will probably go back. I don't know what it is about Active Rain, but one day my family will have to pry my cold, dead hands off the keyboard...

Until then folks you are going to have to put up with me. My campaign of the day is to encourage the folks in the deep dark shadows of Lurkdom to come out. Lurkdom is a crummy place to live. It's a one-way street, dark and dingy. Nobody knows you are there. Hanging out in Lurkdom, you grow up lopsided. Your body gets nourished from all the good information on Active Rain, but your mind doesn't grow, it atrophies into neutral, never going forth again.

Lurkdom

If you are worried about coming out of Lurkdom, don’t despair. There are plenty of resources here on Active Rain that will help you find your way. In addition, you will find many people who are here, ready willing and anxious to help you. So what are you waiting for? Here’s how to get started:

Pick a topic ~ choose something you are familiar with
Write a blog ~ it doesn't have to be long
Read it out loud ~ spell check it
If you are unsure about how to publish it on Active Rain read some tutorials

Don't worry if your first blog isn't a master piece. It is more important that you get started. Once you have gone through the process a few times, it will become like second nature to you.

Next thing you know you will be making a journal with all the topics you would like to blog about, just so you can remember them all! Trust me, it WILL happen!

You will also find times when you can't string a bunch of words together to make a sentence, much less one coherent thought. We all hit that wall, so don't worry about it. Right now, it's time for you to start.

HOW TO GET NOTICED

After you have published a few blogs, hopefully you will get comments on them. If you don't, keep trying. We all didn't start with a million comments coming out of the shoot. In fact my first blogs went unnoticed for a long time. Of course back then we had a couple hundred people not the thousands we have now!

Here are a few hints on how to get noticed:

Leave comments on other blogs. Follow up on how they respond to you. Making friends is the best way to get noticed.
Join a group or two or ten. The Newbie Group is a perfect place to start. Getting in on the same level as others is instant affiliation.
Show up regularly
Build your profile, be sure it is clear who you are, what you do and where you do it.
Use a photo we can identify as you.

Once you get in the swing of writing a blog, you will progress to a higher level. Start adding links, photos and items of interest. Be sure not to copy other's work, unless of course you like being ridiculed and ostracized in public.

Here are a few blogs to assist you in sprucing up your blog:

How to Add Pictures in Your Blog
Unofficial Tech Support ~ Adding side by side photos
Unofficial Tech Support ~ Adding photos and wrapping the text

Most members of Active Rain agree, there is an abundance of information published here to help you get started.

We all have "Our First Time" jitters so don't feel alone when you do. Just come on in, enjoy, make a new friend and tell us what's on your mind. We would like to know!

P.S. If you are part of the Real Estate Industry and are NOT a member of Active Rain, you can SIGN UP HERE!

P.P.S. I really am NOT tech support. I am a Realtor in the Denver Metro Area, who loves your referrals and will treat them with the care and respect they deserve. Please remember me...

Colorado Licensed Broker ABR - Accredited Buyer Representative CIPS - Certified International Property Specialist CRS - Certified Residential Specialist The Berkshire Group Realtors 3801 E. Florida Ave. Suite 400 Denver, Colorado, 80210 USA	Mobile: 303-589-2022 Fax: 303-953-5362 kristal@tbgdenver.com Denver Real Estate and Relocation Denver Home Search
Selling Denver and the 'burbs

Posted by Kristal Kraft ~Denver Real Estate~303-589-2022 on 04/15/2007 02:00 AM

Comments (47)

Blogging in the ActiveRain Channel

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Originally posted at: The Official ActiveRain Guide: On Leaving Lurkdom ~ 10 Good Reasons!

Post is included in group: Active Rain Newbies

47 Comments on On Leaving Lurkdom ~ 10 Good Reasons!

APR

2007

this is wonderful - I love your humor - I come to Denver at least once a year would love to chat over lunch

Thesa ~ you are on! Give me a call we will make a plan.

kk- with 25.000 + members makes you wonder why they joined if they aren't blogging and commenting.. AR is a wonderful palce to get your feet wet and learn about blogging.. and it doesn't hurt that the more you blog the better your SEO will be.. Your posts are terrific for new and experienced bloggers.. addiction... nothing wrong with addiction.. as long as it's with AR..

KK - an inventive, low-tech message to get folks out of the closet and into the daylight. Bet you will inspire more than a handful - they don't know what they are missing by lurking only. It's just a one-sided conversation.

Jeff

Kristal - thanks for another great post - I'm still working on getting my photos right but I'm not giving up. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Kristal - ok, haven't mastered the pics yet but I just did a Real Estate market report and used the tool you suggested and it was so easy and I think it looks great - thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. I put a link to you and gave you credit for all the great coaching you've been giving me and everyone else in here in the active rain community. If you get a chance I'd love to know what you think?

Kristal - Thanks for all of the info about putting pictures in our blogs - I still am having trouble but I'm working on it!

kk: Good morning professor! Gee, the though of a couple of near-octogenarians hovering about in the ‘rain|shadows is really frightening! There is one thing however, at least on some blogs, that keeps us lurking—is the active rain|active codgers, your active fans image way-too-serious-folks who set strict limits on the kinds of comments they want to their posts. It seems to me, at least, the most successful blogs on the ‘rain only set common decency limits, and welcome free-flowing comments—and are even playful with their readership, and by extension—their comments to other’s posts—bus bench tipping comes immediately to mind.

Jay

Kristal, as always, you have given me a lot of good ideas. I like your graphic presentation. I'm sure it will do a lot to make people feel less intimidated about posting on AR. Thanks.

I love the word Lurk. I see the old guys do too. If I would just lurk then I would not have to worry about bus bench vandalism.

Kristal - LOVE that graphic you used in this post! Very clever way to illustrate exactly what you're saying. Your 'instructional' posts are so simple and easy to follow - wish I'd had posts like this to learn from when I first joined.

On another note - what program do you do your posts in before putting them on AR? For some reason, the right hand side is cut off when I open it. I've noticed this on a few others' posts, too.

Ann

So well done Kristal! I always love to read what you write.

Kristal, you could take the key board with you~and if you have a laptop you can take the whole dang computer with you!

2:00 a.m. ????
2:00 a.m. ????

That's dedication. If I ever see a 2:00 a.m., I'll check to see if you're online.

Actually, I don't mind the lurkers. It's the skulkers that worry me.

LURKDOM!! -- At first I thought this would be about vampires....how clever are you?? Very encouraging post .....COME OUT, COME OUT....WHEREVER YOU ARE....we're not that bad, promise, we're willing to help!

(I do agree with Jay about the serious ones though.....sometimes they scare ME away)

Teresa - looks like this is a British pigeon - is that a map of the London Underground I see on the back cover of the book? :-)

Thanks Kristal. There is some great information there for everybody.

K-It took me awhile after joining AR to post my own blog. It was scary to think about the number of people that could potentially read what I wrote, and what if I sounded stupid? Now, I put more thought into each blog than the last and hope that I am writing about something useful. I wouldn't call myself a pro, but I'm having fun with it and learning a lot. Thanks!

You should copywrite that word. Lurkdom......

I am not a lurker.....it is just against my nature....I am too outgoing for that.

Teresa - I love the photo.

Hey! great advice. I wish I had read that the first time I cam to AR (not that I've been here long)

I sense that this is the beginning of a whole series on the geography of ActiveRain. And with your style and creativity I know it would be a good one!

Excuse me, Miss Crystal...

Could you please explain to me how to delete a comment?

You so smart!

Delete comments Craig ~ Here's a lesson on deleting comments, as per your request.

Next week a spelling lesson.

How to use you spell checker...

K R I S T A L

K ~ I agree, more folks should be taking the leap and contributing. They are only getting in on half the fun!

Jeff ~ Hopefully the message will be read and received and acted upon. I'd love to hear from new people and I know you would too!

Cyndee ~ Glad to hear you've got something going there. I will head over and check it out.

Sandra ~ keep on practicing. If you want me to walk you through it sometime, just call. I've done that for many people, sometimes it's easier. :)

Jay ~ I agree sometimes being so polically correct spoils some good clean fun. I love a bus bench challenge! I see you Codgers do too! We should start a new GROUP, Bus Bench Graffiti Online, or something. Are you game?

Leon ~ You are so right. I think everyone is just a bit scared to post on AR. They should be. They just need to get over it and do it. Like Nike says...

Teresa ~ Leave the old guys alone. They are my buds. We have a date to buy spray paint next week. What out.

Ann ~ Thanks for telling me. That means your screen is smaller than mine. I try to shorten the width to accommodate this, but it's really hard to tell. The Codgers have their 'puter set for larger print, that too drives the graphic off the page. I used a program called "Mind Jet" to do today's graphic. It's really a brain storming, planning program that is awesome for developing concepts to reality. It also has quick and easy graphics, as you can see. Normally I use SnagIt to grap screen shots. I manipulate in PhotoShop Elements 5.0. Actually I am a software junkie. My computers have so much loaded they actually weight twice as much as they should! :)

Cynthia ~ thank you. However this is a lesson you do not need to learn!

Danny ~ Are you sure about that? If so, I'm ready! Well maybe not, should I get Vista or wait? ;)

Lenn ~ It weren't me up publishing at 2 a.m! I pushed the key at 11 p.m. but it registered 12 AR time. Me thinks a moderator pushed another button at 2 a.m. Probably some night owl on the left coast. What is a skulker?

Ines ~ Serious? I am always serious! Except the times that I'm not. ;)

Teresa ~ I told my broker on you. Remember pidgeons flock together. That's the good news. The bad news is...

Tony ~ Mind the Gap!

Greg ~ You are welcome Greg! :)

Jen ~ I find it so amusing; at first we fear people will read it, then we fear people won't read it!! Don't worry just do it. :)

Christy ~ ©Lurkdom How's that?

Sharon ~ sorry Teresa's not here. She mumbled something to Jack about having to "go clean off a bus bench."

Luther ~ Glad you are here, hope your journey is an easy and pleasant one!

John ~ Active Rain Geography, I like it! Thanks!

Noooo....not you....not YOUR serious posts.....you would NEVER be able to scare me away Kristal, not even if you tried. I meant bloggers out there that are stiff as boards and don't like humor.

Kristal, You never cease to amaze me. I love reading your stuff. I think I'll reset my home page to YOUR blog!

KK...Excellent post. I love how you make it so clear and simple. I love your graphics.

Ines ~ humm I think I have run into a couple of personas like that. Oh well, to each his own!

Carol ~ Ah gosh....(insert thumbs in suspenders) golly gee Carol...(face is turning red)...thanks! :)

Monika ~ thanks again, the graphics are the fun part.

APR

2007

Kristal,

Excellent post. Lots of good info and links. Thanks for the great effort and humor!

You can always come to Brooklyn you know...

APR

2007

Marlene ~ glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by with a comment.

Luke ~ I never quite understand what you mean. I've been to Brooklyn, they beep their horns a lot there.

APR

2007

Great post, just like mine a week ago! Ok, it is much better.... :)

APR

2007

Great advice Krystal. I lurked for several months before making a post.

I think I'm going to spend the weekend reading through all your posts. There is much to be learned there.

Kristal, I'm sending this article to every new agent I'm trying to get to start blogging and join AR. Great information. Thanks for sharing.

Add vocabulary instructor to your resume KK. Lurkdom....

I think Theresa has to blog something around that pidgeon pictures.

APR

2007

Kristal

This should be a must read for all new comers to AR. So many tips that will help the newest member get in the swing of things. Thanks for the tips I will put them to good use. :)

JUN

2007

You're a pro. Thanks for the quality information.

JUL

2007

Hi! I had bookmarked your post awhile back. I always remember this 'lurkdom' post. I just wrote a post about the benefits of blogging. I think what you've written here provides a great perspective on that and I included a link to your article. You can see it here. Just thought you may like to know that what you wrote was referenced in another post. (plus I've linked to it from the newbie group intro post as well....)