I've been here just a little over a month. When I first was introduced to Active Rain, I really had no idea of what a powerful tool it is or what I might learn as a member here. I had no idea of what blogging was or how to do it effectively. In this short period of time, I have learned so very much.
Here are just some of the things I have learned here on Active Rain.....
1. How to effectively blog. When I first started blogging, I was not very good at it. No graphics, no links, and not much content. Other members jumped right in and made suggestions that have helped my writing and my blogs to be much more visible. Karen Hurst has a group called Active Rain Newbies that offers some great information.
2. How to bring graphics to my blogs. One of the suggestions I first received was to add some graphics. I felt like a child going to first grade. This was a new world for me. Thanks to Kristal Kraft's post, I was able to learn a lot about how to do this. Kristal has many other articles posted here that helped me to figure out what I was doing.
3. How to link to other information. I had tried following different member instructions on how to do this but just couldn't get it to work. I emailed Betsy Talbot who was instrumental in describing the step by step process. I am so thankful to her as this really took my writing to a whole new level. I immediately noticed more readership and comments as well as a new skill to improve my website.
4. How to use animated graphics . Thanks to this post by Mike Mueller, I now know how to put an animated graphic in either my post or comments. Sooooo Cool. Thank you Mike !
5. SEO and content. Prior to signing up here on Active Rain, I knew very little about SEO, keywords and page ranking or how to change any of it. Again, a huge thanks to Laurie Manny who posted Do you SEO, which really gave me a kick start to working on my own website and my Active Rain home page. I haven't mastered it yet, but am on my way to getting my website on page 1.
6. Localism. com. I knew absolutely nothing about Localism when I joined. By reading member blogs and postings about Bend, Oregon, I became familiar with this very powerful consumer forum. I began posting articles, listings and photos of my area. Check out the localism content of Ann Cummings or Laurie Manny if you want to really "see how it is done", as they are both exceptional.
7. Resource. Did you know you have one of the most powerful real estate resources right at your fingertips? The Active Rain Network has up to date information on every conceivable real estate topic out there. All you need to do is search and you can find just about anything having to do with the business of real estate. Awesome!
8. Referral Business. I have been fortunate to learn so much about other agents and real estate professionals through this network. Consequently, I now have a huge database of agents and other professionals that I am comfortable referring business to. Extremely valuable information for clients moving to another area, this database might have taken several years to develop traditionally.
9. Connections. I'm not talking about professional connections, though those are very important as well. I'm talking about the personal connections, friendships if you will, that are formed here on Active Rain. I have met some of the most amazing people because of this place.
10. Voice. Now 21,650 strong. In a place where Appraisers, Inspectors, Agents, Mortgage Brokers, Title Reps, Photographers, Home Stagers, Investors, VA's, Real Estate Auctioneers and Other Professionals are brought together, our VOICE gets more powerful each day. Our common thread is our vested interest in Real Estate, it is the heartbeat of Active Rain.
I am very proud to be a member here. I have found that I am learning something each day from the posts and the members here. It is somewhat like a huge office meeting with many years of experiences to draw from.
All of this in just over a month, this network has undoubtedly exceeded my expectations. I had no idea of how much this would change my business, my outlook, my marketing and my life. It is surely much more than I could have ever predicted.
THANK YOU MEMBERS, FOR MAKING IT ALL POSSIBLE ! ! !
What have you learned from the Active Rain Network ?
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