The Active Rain October Challenge:
Keep Your Fork Honey, There's Pie!
I was at having lunch in a little café on the Sonka's Apple Ranch (now known as Cover's Apple Ranch) just Northeast of the Jamestown/Sonora areas of the California Gold Country over 25 years ago, enjoying their famous chicken pot pies made fresh daily. As I finished my meal on that cold, snowy December Saturday, the waitress came by to clear the table and pointed at my fork on the plate and with a wink said "Keep your fork honey, there's pie."
Now I hadn't ordered any pie, but given they were a working apple ranch, they were quite famous for their apple pies (of course)-made fresh daily, with their best seller (featured in the cover photo) known as the "Mile-High Apple Pie"!
When you ate a meal in the café' they gave you a free sliver of pie as a complimentary dessert; a very crafty teaser-piece, because 10 feet away was the bakery counter loaded with full-size fresh baked pies! They were so smart in how they attracted people in (lots for the kids to do e.g. petting zoo, train ride, apple picking, pumpkin patches, etc.) and how they marketed their pies!
(formerly) Sonka's Apple Ranch Home of The Mile-High Apple Pie
So what does all this have to do with one of my favorite blogging success stories? Long ago I discovered blogging to be the same "teaser-sample" concept as that sliver of apple pie given out for free at Sonka's; it's an introduction to our readers a way to experience a "taste" of my competence and character and intrigue them to pursue hiring my services and a way for me to build relationships and create advocates that would support my 100% Working By Referral business model.
My blogs have earned me friendships, networking power partners, closed escrows, a hosting job on a major Podcast for 3 years and multiple interviews including on our local T.V. news, ESPN Radio and for several well respected print and online industry magazines.
But may favorite story, because it created so many benefits with one blog, is the one I'm about to share. Inspired by a conversation I had with our very own Jason E. Gordon, I was fired up and wrote this blog post called:
NO GUARANTEES on March 26, 2012 as we were coming out of The Great Recession/Crash and it went viral on Active Rain and was also Featured here. Even better, it was circulated by my manager at Coldwell Banker (where I hung my license back then), which led to a closed escrow, see below...
Over 5,660 people have viewed it and 120 people commented on it. It found it's way into the hands of an Arcadia, CA Broker who phoned me and stated "Thomas, my daughter is about to buy a home in San Diego and the guy that wrote this blog needs to be the REALTOR that sells her a house. I need a guy like you taking care of my daughter." I was so flattered and honored.
1 Blog Post = $14,550.00 GCI
Two months later on 06/01/2012, Alicia closed escrow on her $485,000 home with a pool, I collected a $14,550 commission and I created what became a multi-million dollar referral source like few others in my career! Her Dad to this day sends me referrals and even used me to sell his own father's house a few years back. The blog was the "slice" that led to several "pies sold" and I feel "mile-high" about No Guarantees and blogging in general! So when it comes to blogging, hang in there, they do not all land a closed escrow, but just remember to keep your fork honey, there's pie! It's A Good Life!
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