stats as of Saturday, September 19, 2009, early in the morning
Being a "Rainmaker."
As most of you know, being a Rainmaker here at ActiveRain gives you a few privileges. First, you get a nifty Rainmaker badge under your photo. Second, you get an outside blog. Third, you get the ability to post publicly and get all the Google love associated with ActiveRain. Let's look at that last one. What is the difference between a "Members Only" and a "Public" post? Does it make a big difference?
The screenshot above is a great example of why you want to be a Rainmaker. Recently, I have been posting quite a bit (just about once a day) and I've been watching my stats to see if I could find any patterns or anything that might help take my ActiveRain blog to a higher level (I am also doing the same analysis with my RErockstar.com blog). I've been trying to write on varied topics and see what seems to be sticking, what generates more views, clicks, and comments, and seeing if I find anything that I can improve.
The analysis.
There are a few posts that should be mentioned here, since they have some different aspects to them that need to be thought of:
A simple way to connect with your local world of real estate. - This post was featured. When a post gets featured, you're bound to get more views, clicks, and comments. It is also the oldest of the posts (most posts age like fine wine and are looked at more the longer they exist). Stats (in case you can't read the small image): Comments - 55, Views - 1124, Clicks - 733.
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf - Do the right thing (Or Do Something....and QUICK) - This was a re-blog of a post by Bob Stewart. The comment count is low as I always try to write a comment after posting that asks members to comment on the original post and not my re-blog. Then, I shut off comments. This is a great way to show the original author that you respect their writing and want them to see all the comments. Stats: Comments - 1, Views - 458, Clicks - 115.
Looking for San Antonio Neighborhood Information? New Neighborhoods At RErockstar.com. - This is a post written for my local market and for SEO purposes. My goal was to drive more traffic to my San Antonio Neighborhoods page at RErockstar.com. Using Google Analytics, I was actually able to track a spike in traffic coming from ActiveRain over the course of the next few days. Mission Accomplished. Comments are typically lower on posts targeted directly to the consumer (they don't comment quite as often as ActiveRain members do - when when does comment, get involved with them and build a relationship). Stats: Comments - 0, Views - 267, Clicks - 91.
When worlds collide - working to bring two parties together. - This post was written as a "Members Only" post. I wanted to accomplish two goals with this post. One, to get some rambling thoughts out of my head. Two, to test my theories in order to write this post. When you're a free member of ActiveRain, you can write "Members Only" posts to your hearts content and we will all be able to see them. Being a Rainmaker, however, allows you to post publicly. The stats tell the true story here. Although there are plenty of members out there reading posts, there are consumers as well (a fact confirmed many times over by my interactions with the public who "happened" upon my blog before we ever met). They will add to your stats. Although the above mentioned posts are slightly more seasoned, they still beat this post out in stats in their first 24 hours. "Members Only" posts just don't get seen or read by as many people. Stats: Comments - 3, Views - 25, Clicks - 11.
The conclusion?
It doesn't take a mathematician or rocket science to see the numbers and the affects the different posts have on them. "Members Only" is the true loser in this scenario. Of course, they have their place and purpose and many members use them a lot (take a look at Greg Nino's blog for a great example). "Public" posts are where the action is at. They are indexed by Google, they allow the public to read and comment, and you can use them to build your SEO in your local community. Seems pretty simple to me. A Rainmaker account wins hands down.
If you're a free member and have been writing local posts, remember...these posts are "Members Only." Although I love reading your market stats and learning about neat places all around the country, guess who isn't reading your posts? The people you're most interested in having as readers - the consumer. With a "Members Only" post, you might get some referrals from a member based on your blog, but you'll never have a consumer call you up and say "I was just reading your post about..."
As an ActiveRain Ambassador, if there's anything I can do to help get you started, just let me know. I'm approaching my one year anniversary with ActiveRain and when I joined (pre-Ambassador days), there were plenty of people who helped get me started. It's my turn to pay ActiveRain back by helping new members get comfortable and experience what ActiveRain has to offer.
The Ambassador Series is a concept I dreamt up in order to help spotlight some of the posts that I thought would be most helpful to new members. ActiveRain Ambassadors are encouraged to contribute to the series by adding "Ambassador Series:" to the front of their post titles. If you have something you'd like to see discussed as part of the series, drop me a line - I'd love to hear your ideas.
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