Bear with me. Before I explain the title of this post, I first need to tell you a little story. Thomas the Tank Engine has been "a thing" for me for a very long time. He's been around as far as I'm concerned forever. (Forever in this case being 30+ years). So when my son told me my Grandson was a fan, I smiled knowingly and said something like "some things are timeless." Because after all, Thomas is "a thing" for everyone, right? Wrong. In the last 24 hours I've had two conversations where I've told people that my Grandsons, (yes I have two now), are coming for the weekend. Parents in tow of course, (plus an Uncle who doesn't want to miss out), and we're all going to Boone, Iowa on Saturday to visit Thomas the Tank Engine. I bet you can guess by now what the response was. Yes, a blank look from one and silence at the end of the phone by the other. I was completely floored. Everyone knows Thomas, right?
So how does this relate to the title of this post you ask? I'm getting to that. It has to do with blogging. I'm an "old" member of ActiveRain, that is to say, I've been a member since 2009, which I think is a pretty long time. At some point I created my own Wordpress websites, (with the help of AR members) and before too long my blogging here became very sporadic. (It goes without saying that the whole thing with T and Z didn't help). That all worked well for a while, then I got stuck. I had plenty of business, but blogging, (even on my WP sites), became sporadic. It turns out that it's hard to contstantly motivate yourself to blog. It's even harder if you're busy! Something had to change. But how? Surely I've said everything every which way on my blog. Real estate is hard, but it's not rocket science. How many times can I write about what a seller needs to do before listing a home? Or what buyers should watch out for when they're buying a house? That's where Thomas comes in. I assumed everyone knew about Thomas, but they don't. There are just as many people out there who are clueless about what we do. They need constant reminders. If we stop reminding them, they will forget us and move onto the next real estate agent who writes a post that answers the question they had. Maybe I did write about it 3 years ago. But so what. When I'm looking for information online I'm not interested in what was written 3 years ago. I want someone to tell me what's relevant NOW. It can't be any different for buyers and sellers out there.
So here I am. Back on AR and getting back to basics. I know that when I blog that they will come. (Yes, I know I stole that from the movie Field of Dreams, which somehow seems appropriate considering it was filmed not too far from Iowa City in Dyersville). The fact is that blogging works. I already knew that before the episode with Thomas, but that's what made it really hit home. There is always going to be someone out there who is completely clueless about what we do and how we do it. Blogging gives us a unique opportunity to reach out to them!
The photo is provided courtesy of Mark Menzies on Flickr with a creative commons license. I got lucky finding it as he shot this photo in the UK, which of course is most appropriate considering where my roots lie when it comes to Thomas. It's worth clicking through the link for more details on the photo.
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