Yesterday was our first class on BLOGGING for the Solano Association of Realtors members. As the Technology Committee Chair, together with Mike Mueller from Patagonia Finance, we introduced BLOGGING and Active Rain to around 40 Realtors. Each Realtor paid $5.00 to attend the class. The money collected was donated to the "Teachers Wish List", a local charity that raises funds for local schools.
The Real Estate Professionals in this group just wanted to know -- What is a BLOG?
They were not dissappointed, we covered:
We will be having follow-up training to teach each of the new Active Rain members in the Vallejo, Benicia and Solano County Areas. Future classes will include how to navigate, utilize Active Rain for BLOGGING, networking, building referrals, and understanding search engine optimization (SEO).
I am very grateful to Active Rain for all their support and guidance with these Real Estate Tools. The members are great, the support with this new technology is unbelievable, the networking is priceless, and the benefits are awesome. All this and it's...FREE! Since I joined the Active Rain Network 3 weeks ago, I have achieved the following;
If you're new to Active Rain, don't do like I did, and miss joining the Newbie Group. I'll save you alot of time...go there right now!!
Helping Build Community, Relationships and Business through Social Networking & Blogging. Expert in Real Estate Technology, Marketing, and Internet Strategies. Committed to "People helping People!
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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For those of you just checking this out, please see the difference between the original post and this one.
Brad was a good sport about my suggestions for improving his writing and we worked together to fix his WALL OF WORDS. I hope that you can see the improvement and join me in Congratulating Brad!
This is great! It's good to see an Association working to educate its membership in an area which is becoming so vitally important. Best wishes for continued success in your educational efforts.
Thanks Coach "K"!! There's a lot to be said about an individual who takes the time out of her Sunday afternoon, to help a newbie like me! Thanks for helping my posts be the kind that represent Active Rain professionally, the way it was intended to be. You have taught me so much, and words can't express my gratitude. (at least not without a "wall of them") LOL!
This is my first GOLD STAR! That might not seem like much to some readers, but to me, it means the world!! Although I cannot give you a star in return for your kind deeds, I can and will help someone else, just as you've helped me. One day, maybe I'll have the authority to issue the "AR Gold Star", until then, I leave you with a moon...so that you may continue to shine for others like you did for me in the dreary nights of creating and writing great posts. You're the BEST!!
Wow! Even my comment almost became the great wall!! :-)
A little birdie also told me that the AR gods are working on a How to page of sorts here on the Rain.
How cool would that be?!? Tell your birdie not to forget about me.... :-)
Brad -- You are most welcome! It was a pleasure helping you! I look forward to you next post!
Great job Brad and Congrats on your first gold star! It's also nice to hear you doing something so positive in your community. Nice post : )
Brad, now that you mention it, I guess that I'll have to ask TAPCO (our local association or realtors) if they are planning a class on blogging. They'll probably say "What's blogging?" Good Idea though.
I just moved from Solano to WA cool to see you guys out there catching on
Blogs are the greatest. Who knew something so fun can also help your business.
This is a great idea. Many agents in our area barely have websites much less know how to blog. I consider it to be fun and it is making me become a better writer. What is the "Wall of Words?"
Your post has been included in the week in review.
I asked Brad, in front of the class, to estimate how many new people he had a conversation with since joining A/R. People he normally wouldn't have had the chance to meet or talk to.
His guess - Around 70!
To put this in "Realtor Perspective", that's like having 70 people walk into your open house (one at a time) and you having the time and opportunity to have a good, quality conversation with them.
It's all about connections, people to people connections.
Wow -- what a difference. This post is a great improvement over the first one. Very nice! I found that there is a lot of helpful information on AR.
Lizette - A wall of words is just that. Hundreds of words in a blog post all jammed in there and hard to read. For a sample. see the cmment at the top with a link. It's the one with the gold star in it. There is an example of my first post "Wall of Words" compare it to the one above. The support staff at AR is absolutely incredible!! Thanks for your comment.
Hey Ethan, where in Solano were you? Would love to chat, send me an email or give me a call. You can also find me at www.TheEscrowGuy.com! Sorry no link...we don't do that!!
TAPCO needs to do a BLOG class. Would you like me to call them for you and make it happen? Thanks Roger for the comments, I hope your board will see the value, maybe thru the eyes of some members like yourself. Good luck to you.
Kuddos to you both - Brad for a great job on his post before and after and Colleen for her exemplary coaching skills.
Brad, The presentation of your first post had good words; the presentation of the final post made me want to read all that you had to say. Your use of bullets, enlarging the photo, and your links gave this such a professional appearance. Here are gold stars for you and Colleen.
What a wonderful example of mentoring. "If everyone is a mentor and if everyone has a mentor... the world would be a better place" You two exemplify this statement!
Brad let me know if you are bringing the show to the East coast.
Thanks Robert, Colleen is an absolute angel. She took the time to help me repost in a much better format. I hope my future posts will reflect her appreciated time and efforts. She's awesome and I really do appreciate her. Thanks for your comment. Enjoy your weekend!
Thanks for the Double-Star Margaret! They both should go to Colleen for her wonderful attitude and the support she provides us members on the AR Network. If I make it to the East Coast any time soon, you'll be the first to know. With todays technology, maybe a free web-conference is in order.
Ok Brad, give both of those stars to Colleen and here's one just for you!
A free web-conference sounds good. And hoping you get to the east coast soon.
Thanks Margaret, I will Cherish my star! It means even more now.....sincerely, Thank You!
Have a great weekend and maybe we'll see you on the East Coast sometime soon. Brad
Oh By the way, When is the National AR Conference? I hope one day we can have one!
Maybe when we hit the 50,000 member mark, we should all get together and celebrate! :-)
This a great post Oh by the way i am never too busy for your notheast referrals.
Paul, thanks for your comment. Oh...By the way, I too attend the Brian Buffini Turning Point Retreats. Brian used to be a First American Customer before he hit the Big Time. So, you know I am never to busy for you or your referrals as well. It's a good life, have a blessed day!!
Brad , I continue to find you in every subject that I look into you are the best
Mike
Brad , I continue to find you in every subject that I look into you are the best
Mike
This was my very first featured post EVER on ActiveRain, funny that you brought it back to life with a double comment! :-)
Brad, I can see why this was featured back in March of 2007. Have you ever counted how many posts you have had featured since?
Margaret - that is so funny that you ask, I was just asked this yesterday by another member. This was my first feature on AR and it was the one Colleen called me on a Sunday to help me with. The original post was just a wall of words. She walked me through creating a better looking and more readable post. Then as a moderator, she featured it.
She planted the seed in me about "paying it forward" which has become my passion on this network ever since. I have written 285 posts here, 103 of them have been featured and I have to give credit to Colleen for helping me. This post represents why I have such an inspiration and passion for helping new members here.
Having friends like Colleen and YOU are the real reasons I have stayed here in the rain! :-)
Brad, Having such a high percentage of featured posts, shows how much you are appreciated here on the Rain. Thanks for the lovely words. I look forward to reading more of your blogs.
Thanks Margaret :-)