The POWER of Active Rain

This is not the usual type of post you will see me making as I am not about spewing out a bunch of bravado. I must tell you though the last week or so has been absolutely incredible with the kind of attention my blog here at Active Rain has been getting. I decided I needed to share my stories.

It all started towards the end of last week when HGTV/House Hunters contacted me and asked me if I would like to be on television for free exposure.

Are you kidding me? I guess you know I could not get YES out of my mouth fast enough! Here is a condensed copy of the email I received from Holly Schwartz, one of the producers of the show:

Hi Bill,

My name is Holly and I am with HOUSE HUNTERS, the #1 real estate program on Home and Garden Television (HGTV).

We are currently in our ninth season and are looking for real estate agents with home-buying clients in Mass. to be featured on our show.

As the #1 show on HGTV, participating in an aired HOUSE HUNTERS episode can offer you and your company free exposure in over 91 million households, as well as several countries around the world, including Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Finland and the Middle East. HOUSE HUNTERS also provides you a great opportunity to show off your expertise!

About the show:
From touring houses to making offers, each episode of HOUSE HUNTERS  highlights the experiences of finding and purchasing a property. Each episode breaks down as follows:
* First, we meet the buyers to find out what type of property they are looking to purchase and what they would like in a new home. They give us a tour of their current residence.
* Then, we meet the agent who discusses the home buying trends in the area and shows the clients three comparable properties that suit their needs.   
* Finally, the clients select a property to purchase and the episode ends with the homebuyers already moved into their new home.

To view a full episode of HOUSE HUNTERS log onto:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_68577,00.html

You will see how beautifully the show promotes the area where the buyers are purchasing their home and how the agent is featured on the program.
 
Bill, if you would like more information please let me know. I can also send you a detailed information packet.  Thanks for your time.
 
Best regards,
Holly


Holly Schwartz
Producer
‘House Hunters’ and ‘House Hunters International’

I have been in communication with Holly a few times. This could be a lot of fun. Holly found me by reading my blog!

A few days later I was contacted by Bridget McCrea. For those that don't know who Bridget is, she happens to be a very influential writer that has won numerous national awards for her journalism and coverage of a number of fields including Real Estate.

To see what I mean just Google her name....that is what I call some serious web presence!!

Bridget interviewed me because of my article titled

Social marketing, Blogging, Short Sales And The Seller I Never Met

Here is the email I received:

Hello Bill:

I'm working on an article for Bay State Magazine and wanted to see if you
might be available this week or early next week to do a short phone
interview for it. The piece will look at how the state's top agents are
succeeding (marketing strategies, tech tools, goal-setting, etc.) despite
the slow, national real estate market.

Let me know if you might have time to share a few tips via a phone
interview.

Thanks!

Regards,
Bridget McCrea
727.733.4446
Winner of the Florida Magazine Association's
Gold Award for best trade/technical feature statewide

Of course quite a bit about what I mentioned was blogging and Active Rain:)

On the same day I was contacted by Angel Horvath who is an Ecare Specialist at RE/MAX International in Denver through Linkedin. Angel's question to me was how could RE/MAX International use social networking sites for the benefit of it's Associates, and for consumers?

Here was my answer to Angel:

"How about setting up a corporate RE/MAX blog at Active Rain that would share all types of RE/MAX related news? There is a group at Active Rain called RE/MAX Active Rain bloggers that has quite a few members. I am sure a corporate RE/MAX blog would be well received by all RE/MAX agents.

Once you have a blog at Active Rain it is easy to send your posts to Twitter and other social Networking sites. You could also have a corporate RE/MAX Facebook page. Again your blog could be linked to the Facebook account as well."

Well guess what Angel loved the and signed up for an Active Rain account! She has not done much yet but here is her Active Rain Profile - Angel Horvath. Maybe you could drop her a line and welcome her aboard.

All this kind of exposure is terrific but I have also gone out on three listing appointments this week and have two more lined up for next week.

These prospects came from a few recent articles I wrote about selling your home:

Selling Your Home In A Buyers Market

Top Ten Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Massachusetts Home

I have also sent out three referrals this week as well. One of them happened to be someone who lived in California that was looking to do financing on his land. He read my article about USDA Loans For Low To No Down Payment and assumed I was a mortgage specialist. As it turns out this guy may possibly end up selling a project that could have 50 condo units. Who know what will happen but Jeff Dowler will be the man if it comes together.

The two other referrals where two people who need to do short sales and are out of my coverage area. How did they get to me? They read two short sale articles I have written:

Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure and Short Sales

Foreclosure Avoid It Through A Short Sale Or Loan Modification

In addition to these inquiries, I have been fielding numerous calls from people all around the country who are looking for advice from articles I have written. There is no question ACTIVE RAIN ROCKS with GOOGLE JUICE!

This doesn't happen unless you write about things that consumers are interested in and can HELP THEM! Having a Social Media Marketing strategy also helps. You should try to get your posts in as many places as possible and always concentrate on the quality of the material.

So here is my advice....The next time you are sitting down at your computer ready to write some mindless dribble about how Active Rain didn't score your points properly, why not take some extra time and write about something a consumer will want to read. Ya never know, you may just end up at a listing appointment next week or getting an interview.