activerain: Revival in the Rain
- 08/10/15 08:05 AM
I have to admit when I first caught wind of the purchase of ActiveRain by Ben Kinney, I was absolutely thrilled!.... As a Keller Williams broker myself, I have closely observed Ben's amazing track record for success over the years. What excites me, besides his obvious business acumen, is that Ben Kinney knows real estate. He has been down in the trenches. He has worked his way up, and has demonstrated proven, consistent success at very high levels. In addition, as one of the 'Old Guard' who has watched the growth & progress of ActiveRain since its launch in 2006, the prospects of … (108 comments)
activerain: ActiveRain and Your 'Find-A-Bility' Factor
- 04/04/12 06:55 AM
Yesterday was yet another example of why my time spent participating on ActiveRain is a worthwhile investment.... I received a phone call from a woman currently residing out in the Chicago Illinois area. Her husband was active-duty military. They had been stationed here in Kitsap County a few years back where they had purchased a home, and converted it to a rental property when they were transferred to Chicago. She found me initially through my ActiveRain blog, followed my comment streams, and eventually ended up at my local WordPress real estate blog and website. She asked me to do a marketing … (24 comments)
Join Us June 20-21 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center 2211 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121 Learn how to drive FREE LEADS from CraigsList, FaceBook, and ActiveRain to actually GROW your business in a down real estate market. At RainCamp Seattle you will: Learn the mechanics of blogging and how to use your blog to bring you business Understand the value and benefits of using social media to connect and capture more business Hear top real estate and blogging tips from successful ActiveRain leaders in the Pacific Northwest Find out how to drive more views … (19 comments)
activerain: Realizing the Radical Returns of the Rain
- 06/26/10 07:17 AM
For the past several months, I've been marketing a home over near Port Ludlow in Jefferson County WA. It's a beautiful craftsman-style home situated on a private 1+ acre lot with 120 feet of low bank Puget Sound waterfront. You can find more details about it at 'Breathtaking Waterfront View Property near Port Ludlow WA' and 'Stunning Low Bank Waterfront Property in Oak Bay near Port Ludlow WA' We just went under contract this past week, but that's not the point of this article. I pride myself in creating a very strong and effective online exposure/presence for my listings. Many of … (45 comments)
activerain: Passing Off the 'Featured Member' Baton in Washington State
- 02/17/10 05:14 AM
Ever since the start of this network, I've been one of the Top Two 'Featured' ActiverRain members in Washington State. In the early days, I used to compete for the #1 spot with Mark Flanders. He had a sizable jump on me at the beginning, but I quickly overcame him, and held the top position for quite a while. Then, along came Steven L. Smith, of King of the House Home Inspections in Bellingham WA, who passed me somewhere after 300K points and left me in the swirling dust of his endless blog posts. It was like something out of one … (20 comments)
activerain: "Social Media Sushi" - Developing a Social Media Strategy Part IV
- 12/21/09 01:16 PM
Okay, so this post marks the 4th installment in this series on 'Developing a Social Media Strategy.' So far, we've realized that "Social Media is a Conversation, not an Advertisement!" We've answered "The 'WHY' of Social Media?" (Why We should Make it Part of our Annual Marketing Plan) And, the importance of "Taking AIM" (Audience, Image/Brand, and Message) This week, we're going to start to unwrap the various tools that are available for you to create, package, and serve up your message so that it reaches your intended audience(s). Serving Up Social Media Sushi
Samurai Real Estate Professional Anyone … (68 comments)
activerain: "Is Social Networking an Excuse for REAL Marketing?" - Counter Point
- 12/02/09 06:55 PM
Liz Provo, with Mass Marketing Resources, recently published a semi-provocative article on ActiveRain which garnered an expected amount of comments. It was entitled, "Are We Kidding Ourselves about the Value of Social Networking?" She starts out by stating that she's having 'serious' doubts about the overall value of social networking. She then cites as an example a local business she's been following on Twitter who posts upwards of 20 tweets a day to a following of 140 Twitter members, most who, according to her, are from outside their geographical market area. She suggests that this company is wasting time trying to … (16 comments)
activerain: The 'WHY' of Social Media - Developing a Social Media Strategy Part II
- 12/02/09 07:11 AM
"Social Media is the new Water Cooler. It's where People Connect and Interact" ~ Rich Jacobson ~ Before we jump into the nuts and bolts of developing a social media strategy, I thought it would be best to understand the bigger picture of why you, as a real estate professional, should be using social media to grow and promote your business. Here's one of the best definitions I've come across for social media: "Social Media is the collection of tools and online spaces available to help individuals and businesses to accelerate their information and communication needs." - Axel Schultze - If there's … (63 comments)
For those of you who are new to ActiveRain, Social Media, and blogging, one of the most difficult lessons to learn is the importance and discipline of balancing your online marketing efforts with your past, more traditional methods of promotion/business development. In our industry, there is a natural tendency for people to become so caught up in the latest and greatest marketing craze, to the extent that they often neglect to continue doing those things which have worked effectively in the past. Let's face it, accessing … (67 comments)
activerain: "Attracting Great Clients Thru Blogging" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 08/13/09 08:49 AM
Okay, so you've heard all the hype about the ActiveRain Network and blogging. Someone you know and trust is an ActiveRain member and has challenged you to become involved in using Social Media/Networking on the Internet to promote/grow your business. And so here you are, skeptically navigating through the maze of features, lurking around various conversations, and wondering: What is the Value/Benefit of My Time spent here? The overwhelming majority of people in our business are still relatively clueless as to the value proposition offered by implementing an effective Internet Social Media strategy as part of their overall marketing plan. The viable 'bottom-line' benefits of Blogging in particular remain shrouded … (72 comments)
activerain: My Answers to SKCAR Panel Questions hosted by Claudia Wicks of RE BaseCamp
- 04/17/09 11:42 PM
On the morning of Wednesday, April 29th, I will be participating in a panel discussion at the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors in Bellevue WA. The event is being put on by Claudia Wicks, the guiding force behind the Real Estate Base Camp. Claudia had provided me with some questions in preparation for the panel, and I thought I would post the answers here for those of you who won't be able to attend: What made you decide to blog? Blogging really wasn't an intentional decision for me. I kind of 'fell' into it actually. My broker at the … (36 comments)
activerain: "A Camel is a Horse designed by Committee" - Should Developers Listen to Users?
- 03/26/09 03:14 AM
In what is perhaps one of the better articles I have read to date from Michael Arrington of TechCrunch fame, he recently published: No! Never Surrender to your Users, Facebook! It deals with the recent changes made by Facebook that have had many of its members in an uproar. As a result, Facebook developers have conceeded under pressure, and are reverting back to some of the previous designs. Arrington says this action by Facebook mirrors the quote "A Camel is a Horse designed by Committee." His point being that when you listen to your users, you arrive at something vastly different … (55 comments)
activerain: Content Ownership and other Urban Legends
- 03/21/09 09:36 AM
First, let me preface this article by saying that I’m not choosing sides here. As one who has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in blogging on both the ActiveRain Network and my own Wordpress blogs, I have found value in both platforms. I know some wonderfully successful real estate professionals who have utilitzed ActiveRain, and have derived tremendous value & benefit from their involvement there. Conversely, I know of many other RE bloggers who enjoy significant enhanced business through their ‘stand-alone’ Wordpress or Typepad blog. My point here is not to elevate one over the other, but to simply … (69 comments)
activerain: "Overwhelmed by the Technology Learning Curve?" Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 03/17/09 12:00 PM
Let's face it. For many of us, the learning curve for implementing emerging technologies into our business can be a rather daunting and intimidating venture. For old dogs like me, it can tend to be very frustrating and insurmountable at times. Although we recognize the value and benefits of blogging, and utilizing the wealth of social media tools available today, it's just a tad bit challenging to wade through everything that's out there! Maybe you're relatively new to ActiveRain, and you're thinking that there is just too much stuff to absorb! You feel like you're trying to take a drink from … (130 comments)
activerain: "Are You Feeling a 'Draft' in Here?" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 01/30/09 06:41 PM
I was responding to some frustrating formatting issues being experienced by community member, Mark Hendry of C21 Pro Realty Group in Blue Ridge GA. He was trying to import a blog article he had drafted on a desktop application, Dreamweaver, and was having problems getting it to upload onto his ActiveRain blog publisher. During the course of our phone conversation, I asked why he was crafting his articles on Dreamweaver, rather than using the ActiveRain publisher? He responded that whenever his blog muse would inspire him, he iiked to just go into Dreamweaver, knock out a few sentences, then save it … (46 comments)
So here's the unofficial Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Be There!.... Reason #10: Any conference in Florida is simply just an excuse for spending a few days at Disney World. Reason #9: You want to meet the guy whose leg-breaking video has garnered nearly 800K views on YouTube. Reason #8: The Burt Reynolds Museum is just down the road in Jupiter Florida. Reason #7: You can brush up on your US Civics & Poli-Sci studies by spending the day with Simon Conway. Reason #6: You have a thing for … (60 comments)
activerain: The ActiveRain Newsletter: "Your Daily Virtual Rain Shower!"
- 09/20/08 07:06 PM
In case you didn't know, one of my responsibilities here at ActiveRain is to publish the ActiveRain Newsletter. Each day I select a half dozen or so articles, feature one of our valued members, highlight one of over 4000 community groups, and scour the Internet for a 'featured' video. Right now, I am in Las Vegas, attending the BlogWorld Convention & Expo. I was one of the speakers on Friday in the Real Estate track, and have been attending many of the sessions today. I will be sharing several posts next week to share some of my thoughts, observations, and … (97 comments)
activerain: The Power of ActiveRain's Outside Blogs
- 09/19/08 07:52 PM
Here at ActiveRain Headquarters, our expert staff of network programmers and graphic designers are hard at work, constantly bringing valued improvements to our products. Being in the heart of Microsoft Country, we have the good fortune to draw from a very large pool of skilled talent. One such individual is Yi Zhang. Yi is an extremely talented developer with over ten years experience in companies large and small, most recently Microsoft, where he won a distinguished patent award. Back when he was a university student, he won 3rd place in China's (yes all China) college physics competition. So the guys got … (46 comments)
activerain: "Stop Wasting Your Time on ActiveRain!"
- 09/10/08 06:44 PM
Did I get your attention? Good!.... (Disclaimer: If you have the good fortune of having more business than you can handle, and have no interest in improving your business through effective blogging, simply click on through to the next post) ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ Never before in the history of our industry have real estate professionals been called upon to work harder and smarter. The demands of today's consumers, along with the current state of the market, require us to achieve and maintain the highest levels of expertise, … (97 comments)
activerain: The ActiveRain Learning Curve
- 08/06/08 01:25 PM
"Let Him who is without sin, cast the first stone!" the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John My first few weeks here on ActiveRain were a crash course on blogging. Prior to joining the community, my virtual writing experiences had been limited to MySpace and a few static portions of my website. Needless to say, I made my fair share of 'Newbie' blunders as I searched for my 'Voice.' I learned very quickly that it wasn't proper 'netiquette' to leave my blantantly self-promotional links within the comments of another member's blog post. it's considered 'Comment SPAM' and tends … (28 comments)
Providing Knowledgeable Empowerment and Relentless Representation of Real Estate Clients throughtout the Western Puget Sound, including all of Kitsap County WA, and portions of Mason, Pierce, and Jefferson Counties.
"Helping You to Successfully Achieve Your Next Adventure in Life!"
"Effecting Positive Change in the World - One Client and One Property, at a Time!"
Rich Jacobson Create Your Badge
I have to admit when I first caught wind of the purchase of ActiveRain by Ben Kinney, I was absolutely thrilled!....
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