blog tips for rain drips: Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 06/03/11 07:36 PM
The following archived articles are from a series I began a while back entitled "Blog Tips for Rain Drips" and were designed to provide needed instruction in the finer points of blogging/social media, and to help our members derive the most benefits/value from their involvement here on ActiveRain.
"The Road to Remarkable"
"Rants, Rights, and Reputations - Lessons in Online Behavior"
"Embracing Change in the Rain"
"Jing adds Bling to Your Digital Conversations"
"Roost Media Toolkit for Facebook"
"Referrals in the Rain"
"Conquesting Creative Constipation" or "Overcoming Blogger's Block"
"Social Media Sushi - Developing a Social Media Strategy, Part IV"
"Taking … (71 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Taking AIM" - Developing a Social Media Strategy Part III
- 12/09/09 03:54 PM
"If You Aim at Nothing, You'll Hit It Every Time!"
~ Zig Ziglar ~
Okay, so the first two installments of this series helped us to better understand what Social Media is, what it isn't, and why we should consider using it to grow and promote our business:
"Social Media is a Conversation, Not an Advertisement"
"The 'WHY' of Social Media"
In this 3rd part, I want to begin to dial things down, and become much more basic and practical. If this is covering old ground for some of you, I apologize. It's always challenging to know where to start … (94 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: 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)
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blog tips for rain drips: New Series "Developing a Social Media Strategy" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 11/25/09 01:48 PM
I have to confess, I hesitated for the longest time in writing this series. If there's one thing I've learned over the past several years regarding the use of social media for business it's that 'One Size Doesn't Fit All.'
By that, I mean, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for someone else. Not everyone has the skill and ability to blog consistently and attract potential clients through their writing. Not everyone is sufficiently 'wired' to make Twitter a valued and meaningful marketing investment.
However, there are some very basic, foundational aspects to social media that can be applied to just … (66 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Hello? McFly! It's called 'Social' Media for a Reason!" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 11/15/09 09:39 AM
As we test the social media waters for the first time, we all make our fair share of naive mistakes and newbie blunders.
Yikes! Just go back through my early blog archives and you'll find boatloads of them! I wouldn't advise going there, though, it's pretty scary! There's been many times when I've been tempted to go back and delete a bunch of my early articles, but they're a good reminder of the lessons learned and the progress I've made along the way.
One of the most common mistakes that people make is trying to shove a square Web 1.0 peg in a … (86 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Perception vs. Reality" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 10/23/09 08:20 AM
Perception Versus Reality
I remember when I first began my career in real estate back in Lawrence, Kansas.
(Rockchalk, Jayhawk, GO KU!)
I was affiliated with Realty Executives/Hedges Real Estate, a franchise owned by Bryan and Laura Hedges, great friends and even better brokers. I had a wonderful experience there and it served as a solid foundation for the years ahead.
Follow the Leader
When you're a new agent, you seem to spend an inordinate amount of time observing what everyone else is doing. Right, wrong, or indifferent, we real estate folks have the habit of playing 'Follow-The-Leader' and simply … (44 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Don't Waste Your Time on ActiveRain!" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 09/17/09 10:23 AM
Many of my fellow real estate associates have historically scoffed at my blogging efforts or ridiculed me for my involvement on social networks such as Facebook, proclaiming them to be a huge waste of time/energy. They view such activities as being in the same league as AOL Chat Rooms or playing Solitaire. They often suggest that I should focus my energy on more viable and proven marketing methods - like buying ad space in Homes & Land, or calling on canceled/expired listings.
Okay, so let's face it. Participating on social networks can appear to be a waste of time to those … (98 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "There's a reason they call it 'Social' Media!" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 04/15/09 05:21 AM
Okay, time for a quick rant and to vent some recent frustration....
I was watching Bill Hemmer and Megan Kelly on Fox News the other morning (one of my rare TV routines after the morning gym workout with the wife), and Bill was interviewing some big wig with AT&T over the recent fiber-optic cable sabotage in Silicon Valley.
What was so annoying about listening to this guy being interviewed was that he totally ignored the questions that Bill was asking, and used the entire time to simply 'plug' how great AT&T was. Rather than apologizing for the inconvenience to their customers, … (44 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: Your Blog Stimulus Package - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 03/02/09 03:35 PM
Let's face it, 'Time is Money!' Like any meaningful and effective marketing effort, blogging takes time, resources, and consistency.
But if you've been faithfully posting article-after-article to your blog for a while now, with little or no results to show for it, chances are whatever it is you're publishing isn't working.
Hey, don't take it personally, Bucko! We're Realtors,...we're used to rejection, right?
There's been a lot of debate and discussion here of late regarding Content vs. Self-Promotion. You can catch up on the conversations by going HERE and HERE.
Obviously, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Too much … (80 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: Taking the 'Hype' out of Hyper-Local Blogging - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 02/28/09 10:06 PM
ActiveRain Founder/CEO Jonathan Washburn made a statement a while back in his ActiveRain blog article, "10 Steps to Localism Success":
5. Do not post a bunch of self serving marketing material on the bottom of your post: If a home buyer or seller finds your information interesting they will figure out how to contact you. Also, our editors highly downgrade posts with built in - self serving marketing messages.
I've covered this particular subject on a number of previous occasions:
"Removing Your Own SPAM" "How to Sabotage Your Own Blog"
"Don't turn Your Blog into a Refrigerator Magnet!"
Obviously, as you … (111 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "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)
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blog tips for rain drips: "And the Password is"..... Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 01/19/09 07:31 AM
Old school TV.
Growing up, I used to love coming home after school, grab a PBJ and milk, and watch all my favorite afternoon shows on our black & white RCA. One such show was 'Password.' One member of each team was given a word, and they had to try to give clues, using other words, to get the other member to correctly guess the word within a specified time frame.
Here on ActiveRain, the learning curve can seem incredibly HUGE and intimidating at times. People join our community with such a diverse level of knowledge and skill levels. We've tried … (19 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "When I Search My Name, Nothing Comes Up!" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 01/18/09 09:23 AM
Going through our ActiveRain Help Desk Tickets tonight, I came across the following inquiry:
Can you tell me what's wrong with my profile? Or is your search function broken? Something just isn't right! I am ranked 10th in my city, and 14th in the county, yet when I type my name in the Search box, nothing comes up! I've tried several different variations of my name, along with my office name, and city, but I'm not getting any results! Could you please help me? I don't see any purpose in being involved on here if people can't find me!
Here was … (75 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Points vs. Non-Original Content" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 06/20/08 04:38 PM
Becoming a vested member of this community requires a very extensive learning curve. There are so many varying features and benefits to take advantage of in the Rain, newcomers find the task of getting their blog feet wet rather daunting. Even those of us who have been participating for some length many times overlook/neglect some of the more obvious nuances.
Allow me to share one such nuance....
You craft your latest blog post creation. You carefully finish formatting, inserting relevant graphics, using spell check (if it's working!), and you're ready to publish.
But on the way down to the "Post Blog Entry" … (62 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Striking a Balance" - Avoiding the Lop-Sided Blog - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 04/27/08 04:35 AM
I'll keep this one short and to the point (okay, so maybe I'll just try hard)
"Is Your Blog Lop-Sided?" By that, I mean, "What are you writing about? Who are you writing to? Who is your target audience?"
I suppose a more foundational question would be, "Why are You here on ActiveRain?"
Please, don't take me wrong. I am not being critical of anyone in particular here. I just think it's a good thing to constantly evaluate what we do and why. Especially as it relates to our business and our yearly marketing plan. You do have a yearly marketing plan, right? Or … (73 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Molasses Going Uphill on a Cold Day" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 03/04/08 04:48 AM
Let's face it. We live in a microwave, fast food culture. We want/demand everything "NOW!" In fact, even 'NOW' isn't fast enough anymore. Getting our eyeglasses in 'about an hour' just ain't cutting it!
Nowhere is this attitude more prevalent than on the Internet. Just think of how spoiled we've become:
Remember back to the good ole' days of dial-up modems? Do you recall when 28.8K bits was the 'Cat's Meow?' And when 56K came out, you felt you'd died and gone to heaven? Did you ever leave your computer on overnight just to download a large file? How many times did you pray to the … (43 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "Don't Turn Your Blog into a Refrigerator Magnet!": Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 02/06/08 12:33 AM
One of the primary hallmarks of the ActiveRain Community has been the wonderfully warm and nurturing nature of our membership.
For many of us, the prospect of learning how to blog was daunting enough, but to be able to do so in a non-threatening and encouraging environment like ActiveRain is incredibly helpful to the process.
I remember making my fair share of mistakes early on. Fortunately, there were many extremely helpful fellow Rainers who kindly mentored me, and showed me the errors of my way. I've been tempted on numerous occasions to go back into my archives and delete some of those … (67 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "How to Balance Your Blog" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 01/18/08 08:23 AM
As I roam the Rainscape these days, I'm noticing a lot more property listings being posted to our Network. And I mean, A lot!
That's not necessarily a bad thing. As a professional real estate agent myself, it's nice having one more viable domain to promote my listings. But I think if you asked the founders of this community, they would tell you that it was never their intention for ActiveRain to become a Listing Aggregation site. There's enough of those already!
Nonetheless, published listings have become only one of many valuable features that can be utilized 'FOR FREE' by our members.
That said, I simply … (41 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "What You Talkin' Bout, Willis?" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 12/07/07 04:36 AM
This is the 2nd part in a Series on the "Art of Engagement" which began by asking the fundamental question,....
"Why do we blog?"....
Equally as important to that question is "Who are we writing too?" and "What should we say?"
It constantly amazes me what some people try to pass off as blogging. As is typical with the newest marketing fads or trends, many folks jump into the blogging fray with both feet and little knowledge/preparation.
(If you're new to blogging, might I suggest that you simply 'Lurk' for a while, and casually observe. Take notes. Read articles by the Top Point Leaders in your respective State. Check out the writers who are heavily subscribed. … (66 comments)
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blog tips for rain drips: "How to Engage Your Blog Readers" - Blog Tips for Rain Drips
- 11/30/07 09:39 PM
The night that I proposed to my wife, I had everything planned out perfectly. First, we would enjoy a really delicious meal at our favorite sushi bar over in Berkeley. Then, we'd drive over to San Francisco for some ballroom dancing at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Then lastly, driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, we'd park at the vista overlooking the city lights. And there, I would romantically kneel to pop the question....
Unfortunately, driving from the Hyatt to the Golden Gate, I got lost. As we drove around for what seemed like hours (men never ask for directions), my bride-to-be feel asleep. Finally arriving at the … (45 comments)
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The following archived articles are from a series I began a while back entitled "Blog Tips for Rain Drips" and were designed to provide needed instruction in the finer points of blogging/social media, and to help our members derive the most benefits/value from their involvement here on ActiveRain.
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