Back in January of 2008, I began a series of articles here on ActiveRain that served to expand and explain the ActiveRain Community Guidelines. It's one of those things, along with the ActiveRain Terms of Service, that is required reading for new members which they agree to adhere to when signing up for their account. Unfortunately, all to many times, people are rather anxious and eager to get started (can't say that I blame them!), and they tend to skip/skim over these required resources.
Now granted, I'll agree that the Terms of Service is a tad bit dry and doesn't make for very exciting reading. Unless, of course, you're one of those real estate types that really enjoys perusing exasperating amounts of legalese, ad nauseum.
However, the Community Guidelines are a different story. They offer a tremendous amount of practical, valuable advice to help you safely and effectively navigate your way through the various elements of this platform.
As you read through the ActiveRain Community Guidelines, you'll find that the main headings and each specific guideline are highlighted. As you click on these highlighted portions, you will be directed to an article that discusses that particular topic in greater detail.
These guidelines were created with the intention of not necessarily telling our members what they can't do, but helping to empower them for what they can do! By each of us striving to follow these basic principles, we ensure that this network will continue its profound positive impact for years to come!
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Broken Records Make for Boring Blogs
The last ActiveRain Community Guideline states the following:
"Do not post the same content over and over again. You are not awarded points for duplicate content. Please, only post any piece of information in your blog one time."
How utterly unfortunate and disheartening it would be if you spent so much of your time and energy contributing content to your blog, working diligently to attract interested readers, only to have them quickly leave because all of your content incessantly rambles on like a broken record, regurgitating the same stuff, over and over again. But sadly, that's what many people do, knowingly or unknowingly.
Equally sad are those who are selfish and greedy to earn some quick, cheap points, and publish post after post of rather monotonous, meaningless repetition, contributing little or no value to the collective voice of the network. It's a practice that benefits no one, especially the person who wastes their time copying and pasting most or all of the content from a previous post.
Having a signature or contact info at the end of your blog post is one thing, but simply writing one basic sentence of new content, and then copying in the rest of your signature/contact info doesn't constitute an original article.
Always put yourself in the shoes of the audience you're attempting to reach. What content can you publish that will be the most valuable/helpful/engaging for them? What kind of information can you offer that will help to better distinguish you from the masses of other service providers out there? Does your writing/content help to convey a sense of who you are and how you approach business? Does it reveal your passions, your perspectives, your personality? Or is your blog an endless stream of listings, dull statistical market reports, off-color jokes, recipes, or pictures? Not to say that these things don't have their place, but if that's all you publish, any readers who happen to land on your blog will 'yawn' and disappear quickly with the click of a mouse!
The whole purpose of conversational blogging is to attract, engage, inform, and connect with your readers. Good quality writing takes time, effort, and consistency. There are no 'easy' buttons for achieving success.
Editorial Note: Never heard of a record? Long before iTunes, iPods, mp3 players, CD's, tape cassettes, and 8 track players, vinyl records ruled the day. I remember sitting with my sisters huddled around our record player listening to the latest Beatles album. My youngest son, Luke, has an extensive collection of 'old school' record albums including Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bookends,' Led Zepplin's 'Houses of the Holy,' Pink Floyd's 'The Wall,' and Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors,' just to name a few. He has this humongous High Fidelity stereo cabinet that was given to him by his grandparents that takes up an entire wall in his bedroom!
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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional with Windermere Real Estate, providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SoundBiteBLog, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail: kitsapagent@gmail.com
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