ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: 10 Things To Do When ActiveRain Is Wonky
- 11/03/20 12:36 PM
Some days ActiveRain (or anything else in Life for that matter) can get a little wonky. I'll try my go to work-arounds, but frankly I'm not going to spend a LOT of time fighting uncooperative things. Time is limited, and just flushing it away willy-nilly isn't smart.
And while ActiveRain is an important part of our business generating strategy, it's not all we do.
So if ActiveRain is wonky, what else can you do to help your business?
1. Have you requested reviews from recent clients? It's easy to send a link to your My Google Business page, from your Zillow profile, etc.
2. Don't … (17 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are You Ready For Your Interview??
- 10/20/20 07:05 PM
Saturday morning started off with no appointments. We're entering the slower time of the real estate year here, and there were a LOT of leaves on the lawn that could use moved back into the woods where they came from!
But mid-morning the phone rang and it was an out of towner visiting family and the night before they'd decided rather than him continuing to rent, they might just buy a house instead!
We chatted for a bit and while I'm not normally a big fan of short notice work, they had a home they were interested in seeing so I made arrangements … (21 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Be Original & Local
- 10/04/20 06:38 AM
Whether you're a rookie blogger or experienced, topic choice can be a challenge.
What will it take to attract attention to your blog?
And we've all heard the saying real estate is local, right?
So for the most part while I might find it interesting to see how the real estate market in California behaves, there's usually VERY little correlation between a Cali feeding frenzy on a new listing and what happens here in Ohio suburbia.
The Cali seller gets 50 offers well over full list, I get 3 on a brand new condo listing and I consider it a REALLY good day for my … (11 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Sometimes It's Better To Just Punt
- 09/29/20 01:59 PM
Topic.
Intent.
Tone.
Execution.
I've typed away at this keyboard literally thousands of times to produce a blog post.
Some days are easy, some days not so much.
The idea is there. I know what I want to accomplish with the post.
I start to type, but something just doesn't feel quite right. I may be one sentence in, or almost done with the post, but I can feel it.
Somewhere in the execution of the idea and the intent, the tone isn't what I want, and tone matters, especially in a flat medium where there's no body language to tip you off as to which end of the … (16 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Why Your Blog Might Not Be Bringing You Business
- 09/21/20 08:19 PM
While I've not been here since the founding days of ActiveRain, I have been here for the bulk of its history and have seen many bloggers come and go.
Some found other platforms to blog on (Wordpress), some shifted to other methods (Facebook & Twitter), and some quit "because blogging doesn't work".
For the "blogging doesn't work", a quick look at their blog usually identifies two main issues that contribute to a blog not working:
1. A blog with relatively few posts
2a. Post topic choice & 2b. Comment chasing
For the 1st issue, blogging isn't a quick shot magic cure-all for a scarcity of … (16 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are Builder Reps On Your Side?
- 09/01/20 03:27 PM
Have you ever considered a builder's rep as someone that can help grow your business?
In theory the builder is probably better off NOT having an agent involved as often as possible since that's just more profit margin for them, right?
However, a builder and their reps might find value in aligning with agents that can provide value to the builder, and what brings value to them?
For one, free marketing.
If a builder rep provides me knowledge (especially advance knowledge) that fits my niche, they know I'll put out a blog post (or two or three) that promotes their community. And let's face it, … (12 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: 9 Ways To Use Google Maps To Help Your Business
- 08/25/20 04:40 PM
If you weren't able to make the Tuesday Zoom meeting this afternoon, we shared some tips on how to use Google maps to help your business.
I'm not going to get into the How To's of building Google Maps here, but if you've got a Google account, you'll find that creating maps is much like riding a bicycle, with a little practice it gets easier and easier. Create, make public, copy html code and drop into your Wordpress pages or your blog posts.
So without further ado, 9 ways to use Google maps to your advantage:
1. Create a map of your service area … (31 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Find What Works For You
- 08/11/20 04:15 PM
There are many different varieties of blogging, some are more successful at generating business than other methods...BUT just because a particular approach works for me doesn't guarantee it will work for you. And on the other hand what works for you may just not fit me at all.
Anyone that reads us knows that I'm a big fan of niche blogging. We cover Cincinnati patio homes and condos and subdivisions and new construction. Those posts are by far our most productive when it comes to generating consumer contacts.
When you get really focused, you'll find that you have less competition for eyeballs.
If I … (22 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are You Crosstrained?
- 08/04/20 03:20 PM
Back in my Navy days, in addition to your primary job on a ship you also stood what was called "watch". Basically for a certain number of hours, you'd fill an additional job that had to so with operating the ship. In my limited career I served as EOOW (Engineering Officer of the Watch), JOOD (Junior Officer of the Deck), OOD (Officer of the Deck) and TAO (Tactical Action Officer). Those watches might be in the busiest part of the day, or they might be the midwatch (midnight to 4 a.m. give or take a bit) with the side perk of … (23 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are You Refilling Your Glass?
- 07/21/20 09:08 PM
There's a joke about the pessimist and optimist arguing about whether a glass is half empty or half full and the pragmatist walking up, grabbing the glass and knocking it back and proclaiming that was good! And of course the rest of us realize the glass was always refillable with whatever we prefer.
Well right now some people are upset about the current state of ActiveRain. Will it be what it was? Will it be something different? Will it even BE, period?
But how much energy and mindspace should we give to a situation that we can't truly influence or control?
No amount of … (17 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: 5 Minutes Or Less
- 07/14/20 06:55 AM
5 minutes doesn't seem like a lot of time does it?
But 5 minutes or less can make big differences in how our customers perceive us and how we can get more done. You don't work two careers and be an unofficial zookeeper without learning a few things about productivity.
Prime example: It's almost time for new tires for one of our cars. Run flats for the SUV aren't cheap, so I'll shop around a bit, but it's not an overly complicated task. There just aren't that many tires that fit. At this point, you can go on Amazon and have them delivered … (9 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Press Release Blogging
- 05/26/20 11:57 AM
I love a good evergreen blog post. We have subdivision specific posts that quite a few years later still routinely bring us calls and clients. We have communities that we've done repeat business in and our ONLY source of business for those communities has been blog posts and IDX search pages on our Wordpress site. They get found and they lead to calls.
But I'm not going to write an evergreen post every day, and maybe not even every week. Why not? To be frank, sometimes I just don't have the motivation or time to knock out another subdivision post in the … (12 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Are You Untouchable?
- 05/19/20 04:15 PM
No, I'm not talking about Eliot Ness and his squad of agents.
Too often I find real estate agents are Untouchable, and not in a good way. If I (or even worse, a consumer) wanted to reach out to you to...oh I don't know...give you a referral?...there's no obvious way to reach you. Multiple clicks MAY get me to what I need, but face it, if you're in a market that hosts 1000's of agents, how hard is anyone going to work to find your contact info? The short answer? They're not. Neeeeeexxxxxxt!
So when you're working in the Rain, or on … (15 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Fully Exposed
- 05/12/20 02:37 PM
"You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. You are about to enter the Internet." (okay, just a SLIGHT deviation from the original).
Now picture this, you're standing in the busiest place in your city. No social distancing required, plenty of people you know and plenty more you don't.
EVERYONE can see you.
EVERYONE can hear you.
Now expand the scene. It's not just your city that can see you, but everyone with an Internet connection can potentially see and hear you. Your blog, your Facebook, any social media outlet has that potentail to … (28 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: No Matter What You Think About Blogging, You're Right!
- 05/05/20 04:14 PM
Blogging is great for business!!!
Blogging is a complete waste of time! ActiveRain doesn't rank the way it used to and this has just become a time suck for me.
Whatever your opinion about blogging and ActiveRain, you're right!
You decide that blogging here doesn't work, it won't (FOR YOU).
It's true, you can't just put any post up like it's 2010 and rank page 1 within a few hours.
We're probably not going to have 7 of 10 long tail spots on Page 1.
A LOT has changed since the early days of ActiveRain.
There is a LOT more competition. ANYONE with a handful of dollars … (30 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Sending Your Audience Packing
- 04/28/20 01:53 PM
Someone I know on Facebook is a master with a camera and travels frequently. I don't get to travel as much as I'd like, so if someone posts some great travel photos, you've got my attention.
There's a BUT coming, but I'll save it for later.
There are gurus in our business that have some great messages.
There's another BUT coming, but I'll save that for later too.
There are some bloggers I enjoy, each with their own take on things.
And yet, another BUT.
BUT just like most things in life, there's a trade-off we agree to make.
I'm taking a limited commodity, TIME, and trading it … (17 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Is Your Niche Vulnerable?
- 04/18/20 05:41 PM
Niche blogging can be VERY powerful stuff.
Choose a good niche and execute your strategy and you can be THE agent people find and hire.
It's the difference between being a "generic" agent and someone perceived as a must-have specialist.
But, niches come with risks.
When you're identifying a niche there are some key factors to consider:
1. Is there a barrier to competition? If EVERY agent can easily do what you do, it's going to come down to which agent(s) is best at executing their marketing to get in front of consumers.
2. Is the niche something you ENJOY working? Me personally, I have ZERO desire … (22 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Black Dot Blogging
- 04/14/20 02:32 PM
Thanks to shelter-in-place requirements and a bit of a slow-down in the local real estate market, I've had some extra time to address some home projects. Among them is replacing a sillcock (outdoor faucet) with stripped hose connection threads.
The project is fairly easy thanks to an unfinished basement and a threaded connection to the water supply line. No soldering required, mostly just a matter of unscrewing the old sillcock and connecting the new one. The supplier of the sillcock did one little thing that made the job even easier. They marked the pipe with a black dot next to the threaded … (26 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: Why Are You Here?
- 04/07/20 03:37 PM
Michael Jacobs gave me cause this weekend to revisit a post from 2011. What I saw was a snapshot into a different version of ActiveRain than exists for me now. Much more social, more conversation in the comment threads, and a post I'd written just for fun, not for business.
My purpose for being here has evolved over the years, much more business generating posts and far fewer just for fun type posts similar to that one.
What I also noticed is there were a lot of faces in the comment thread that have been absent for many, many moons from this community.
What I … (29 comments)
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ask an ambassador: Ask An Ambassador: 10 Guidelines For Blogging
- 03/31/20 04:48 PM
One of the most difficult things about blogging (especially when you're first starting) is coming up with ideas for what to blog about. The sources are all around you. Vacations, consumer questions, other bloggers, a good picture you took. Once you have an idea (or 100), you might want to run them through some filters before deciding to hit PUBLISH.
How do you decide whether or not DELETE may be the best use for an idea?
Here are some general guidelines & filters you can use:
1. Who is your intended audience? Other agents or the public? Will the topic engage a sufficient number … (10 comments)
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Some days ActiveRain (or anything else in Life for that matter) can get a little wonky. I'll try my go to work-arounds, but frankly I'm not going to spend a LOT of time fighting uncooperative things. Time is limited, and just flushing it away willy-nilly isn't smart.
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