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The Power of Active Rain Turned Me from a REALTOR® to a Nursery Owner

Who knew posting on Active Rain could do this for you. It has created a whole new business for me and it has little to do with real estate.

A short time ago I received a message from someone via Active Rain.

A friend of mine will be retiring from the Federal Gov't after 39 years. She and her husband have a home at Lake Anna. I would like to gift a tree, plant or anything for her outside area that would be a hardy selection. I've never been to their home but believe it has mostly pines on the property..I'm sure you are familiar with that area. Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Naturallly I followed up and that resulted in a few messages back and forth. This morning I received the following:

The time is approaching for my friend and I to purchase the tree that we would like to give as a retirement gift. I know stock is limited this time of year...but do you have any type Cherry trees available?

Ah, ha! The light bulb went off. I was not contacted because I was a REALTOR®, I was contacted because of my post, http://activerain.com/blogsview/645424/A-Colorful-Visit-to-Lake-Anna-Nursery.

lake Anna Nursery

Thus the power of Active Rain proves itself again. In my book, a contact is a contact, is a contact. Naturally I will be sharing this with the owners of Lake Anna Nursery and other business owners around the lake.

This will show them the power of blogging, the importance of Active Rain, and how their local REALTOR®, Kate Elim, is spreading the word not only about Lake Anna but the services they offer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you or someone you know is thinking of buying or selling property at or near Lake Anna, Virginia please contact Kathleen "Kate" Elim, REALTOR®.

Kate lives at Lake Anna, knows Lake Anna, loves Lake Anna, and specializes in Lake Anna area real estate.

Call Kate at 540-226-1964 or by e-mail at lakeanna.kate@gmail.com. Be sure to check Kate's Web sites and blog at http://lakeannaandbeyond.com/ or http://lakeannacountry.com/

Posted by Kathleen "Kate" Elim LAKE ANNA, VA Real Estate on 11/09/2008 01:18 AM

Comments (41)

Lake Anna in the Regional (Localism) Channel

active rain, realtor, lake anna, virginia, kate elim, lake anna nursery, blogging

Originally posted at: Lake Anna Country: The Power of Active Rain Turned Me from a REALTOR® to a Nursery Owner

This post has been included in Virginia Information Louisa County, VA Information Mineral, VA Information
Post is included in group: RE/MAX Active Rain Bloggers
Post is included in group: Posts to Localism
Post is included in group: Localism Success and Accountability Group
Post is included in group: Addicted to Active Rain

41 Comments on The Power of Active Rain Turned Me from a REALTOR® to a Nursery Owner

NOV

2008

What a great testimony to AR! I love it!!

That's the fun of being here on AR ...we never know who might connect to us because of a story we write.

That's great Kate! I had several people contact me about locations and wait times for early voting. It was because of my Blog post on it. We never know who is reading our blogs. It made me happy that they were being read by consumers!

Isn't it funny how many "hats" we wear as agents. It's one of the great things about the business- being able to cross lines into areas we wouldn't have anticipated.

I guess it all boils down to ask the local expert. I hope you connected them with the owners of the nursery.

Hi Kate, That's great! I had someone call me to ask me the phone number for Ft. Sam Houston. They are being transferred here and couldn't find the number for the particular department they needed. I found the needed information in a heartbeat.

Isn't it fun? In my less-than-two months of blogging, I've been contacted twice about something other than real estate.

Hi Toni...Absolutely! That is exactly what I thought.

Kate

Hi Lizette...You are so right. The Rain is a fascinating place.

Kate

Hi Kathleen;

The Active Rain community is a great place to be, meeting new people and learning new things everyday. Congratulations and lots of success.

Kate, I'm coming to you from now on for all my fall and spring plantings advice. I knew you were talented in many areas. : )

Hi Jen...That's wonderful. I have had calls and even e-mails asking me for information on Lake Anna entirely unrelated to real estate but this is the very first time they actually thought I was "something" else. I love it!

Kate

Hi Chuck...I never thought when I wrote the post about the nursery that anyone would think I worked there but that is fine.

I have always believed that real estate is a service industry (it certainly is for me) and I like to help whenever I can. This worked out just fine.

Thanks for commenting.

Kate

Hi Rich...I certainly did. I provided them a link to that particular post in case they heard about me/Lake Anna Nursery from another source and I included all of their contact information on my last message to them.

I will be sure to share this with the nursery owners and other businesses around the lake. I bet I can get them to help me with posts about them.

Kate

Hi Shirley...You sound just like me, anything that can help someone. Well, maybe not anything.

It makes you feel good when anyone, not just prospects, looks to you as a source for information on your market area.

Kate

Hi Sandy...Congratulations! You are doing great. Keep it up.

Kate

Hi Anthony...You are so right about the Rain. It is the place to be for all REALTORS.

Thanks for your comment.

Kate

Hi Gary...Of course you may.

Hopefully the type tree I suggested is one the friend will like. Actually I suggested 3-4 different ones but they selected the cherry tree which I think is beautiul.

Come to think of it, I might have to bone up on horticultural tips for Ft. Worth/Dallas before next spring. I lived in Baytown and in Houston but that was before my most recent "expertise."

Kate

Kate, Isn't it wonderful, you never know what you're going to write that someone will find! I agree a contact is a contact and they will remember you!!

Kate, We never know how or where the contacts will originate - I had one soliciting my assistance with a community cleanup project, karen

Hi Carole...What was so neat this time, is I got a contact but one of our local businesses may be making a sale. That's double the bonus.

Kate

Hi Karen...That's great and it is always a bit of a surprise. Good to know someone else is reading us.

Thanks for reading this one.

Kate

NOV

2008

I have had similar results from blog posts I have written. It is great when they comeback, isn't it?

You never know which way life will lead you.

Plant on!

Rich

Charlotte NC

Kathleen - that's a great story about the power of the "long tail" search terms. When I look at my Google stats, it amazes me the path that some take to get to my site. Keep up the good work

The blogosphere penetrates our lives in amazing ways...and wonder who those nursery folks will start referring friends to...and a very great closing gift which we have used is a gift certificate from a nursery...all new homeowners want to watch their OWN garden grow.

I've had many inquiries like that from my blogs. Wrote one about picking Daffodils last spring and wow, everyone was calling me to come and pick them.

Excellent! BTW I am looking for 5-6 small maples to plant before Winter... Can you help me?

You are just a short drive away!

your friend in Charlottesville!

Kate ~ That is very cool! Did they get their tree? When I did a post about Restoration Hardware opening an outlet on Long Island, I had people contacting me about it!

Kate, cute story! With that title, I was wondering where it was leading!

Ha, this doesn't surprise me at all, when you come up for the long tail in organic searches it will happen. Great story and glad it worked out.

I hope this lady will keep you in mind when she decides to buy or sell. It shows you are truly a full service Realtor with her best interest at heart. Good luck!

Betina

Interesting. You never know what will turn up in a long-tail search. All the best.

It's all about being found, isn't it? I had one person call me because they couldn't read the street name of an address...so I guess I'm also the phone book! Ha ha! :)

Now how great is that!? Just goes to prove that AR does reach out into the non-real estate world. You go, girl!

Awesome testimonial for AR and what it stands for, thank you very much for sharing

NOV

2008

Whether on your blog or your web site you need to have something other than real estate to attract the public to you. Then when real estate comes to the forefront of their lives maybe they will remember you.

People sure do call us about all kinds of different things from here don't they!

NOV

2008

Amazing how playing in the rain brings so much sunshine into our lives.

NOV

2008

Thats Great. All I get confused with is a carpenter. I usually dress up when I am out and about, but occasionally I'll be in jeans and a t-shirt. No name tag or anything else to identify me as a realtor. Several people have thought I was a construcion worker.

NOV

2008

This is great. I have been contacted by several business owners and organizations to say thank you for highlighting them in a post. Though I highlight a lot of charities on AR, I highlight many local businesses on my Knoxville, Tennessee Area Local Expert Blog. I used to highlight local businesses a lot on AR but am getting much more response on this type of post on one of my outside blogs. Congrats on being contacted, this should help to keep you in their mind when they do need a Realtor in your area.

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