What I learned In 50,000 Active Rain Points
I'm not celebrating a points milestone. I'm celebrating what I have learned in the process of accumulating my first 50,000 points. I won't try to parrot everything I've learned, but I'll touch on some meaningful things.
1. Active Rain Is Great
I don't remember exactly when I first came across Active Rain, but it was probably about three years ago. I didn't quite get it then. But over the last few months, I've gotten it. Active Rain has something a little different than any other real estate community. It's extremely engaging, addicting, interactive, educational, search engine juicy, credible and run by people who are trying hard to preserve the greatness it has, and make it greater than it already is.
2. Active Rain Isn't THAT Great
Growth is trouble sometimes. Costs (not just cash, but all types of resource demands) rise before revenues, and some upcoming needs are just plain darn hard to predict. The technical performance of Active Rain was terrible during a majority of my first 50,000 points accumulation. Even now, some pretty basic problems persist. I am frustrated that my real image doesn't show up in Localism, where I have sponsored several communities, and next to my name is a default image that looks like a girl. I don't have anything against girls, but I'm not one, and I don't understand how it can be so hard and take so long to make a headshot show up in places where my credit card gets charged every month for my presence.
3. There Are Helpful, Caring People Here
There are some helpful, caring people bending over backwards for the success of others here. I especially like what Lisa Udy and others are doing for Carolyn Capalbo. This is just one of many, many examples.
4. I Can Rank #1 In 5 Minutes
When I post a blog here, I can do a Google search on the title text of my post five minutes later (or often even sooner) and usually see my blog at #1 in the search results.
5. Movers And Shakers Are Here
People who are making things happen in real estate, from new agents with new ideas and fresh energy to industry journalists, executives, entrepreneures and a few troublemakers are here and paying attention to the conversations.
6. Real People Are Here
I met Glenn Roberts face-to-face recently, purely as a result of getting to know him virtually here. If even a tiny fraction of Active Rain members are as real, competent and unpretentious as Glenn, then there are a lot of people here who I want to shake hands with and chat with regarding real estate and personal interests.
7. Most People Don't Get It
I've invited quite a few colleagues to at least post a profile on Active Rain. A majority haven't, at least not yet. But what I've learned is that talking about what I get out of it enthusiastically (and equally honestly regarding the problems with it) keeps a trickle of these seemingly stale invitees eventually signing up to at least give it a bit of a try.
8. Points Are Important But They Don't Matter
What? I've learned not to try to explain it. I just understand what it means.
9. There Is Something Worth Blogging About Every Day
I have been a slow convert to the view that blogging is worthwhile. But some of you actually subscribed to my blog, read it regularly and often comment on the wide range of topics I write about roughly every day or so. I made you laugh about How To Fall Off Your Roof and scurry to check your statistics with Your profile has been viewed 1000 times. About 5,500 of you read about a Big Tax Credit Blunder but nobody ever commented (yet?) on I Love Showing! This is my 89th blog post, and I can't believe how easy it has been to come up with topics to write about. I never would have guessed, and never expected 20 people to re-blog what I wrote. I guess some of it is really worth blogging about.
10. Real Estate, Staging, Inspection, Lending, Escrow, Short Sales, REO, SEO, Etc., Etc., Etc.
The tidbits of advice, practical examples, eye-opening insights, and interesting facts I've picked up from your blogs are truly countless, and if I tried to list a representative sampling it couldn't do justice to the entire collection. I've improved my business as a direct result of being here and reading what you blog about, as well as A Thoughtful Comment that you have added to one of my blog posts every now and then. Thank you. I appreciate these things.
Comments(58)