Christine Wade

There was a blog post made today by Michael Thornton called, You've Come A Long Way Baby, which was very cool and showed us the original posts made on Active Rain and how to see who our newest members are, but it also told us that we were close to our 1 millionth post with an approximate 140,000 members. The very first comment on this post was by Penny Hull - who "did the math" - and informed us that that was only an average of 7 posts per member. WHAT? How is that even possible?

I joined Active Rain on 6/12/2008, and did not post for the first two months...guess the kids getting out of school really threw me for a loop or something...but I have (as of this post) 70 posts on Active Rain in under a year, which I though was kind of slacking on my part, but at least that's more than a post per week. It is hard for me to write intelligent original posts sometimes...there are days when just nothing comes to me...but then I go back and look at my note on my desktop about blogging ideas or something will come into my email inbox that sparks my thought processes, or as was brought up here on AR this last week in a blog post by Diane Rice, a comment that I post on someone else's blog will inspire my own blog post. So, I figured that perhaps that's the reason why there are so few posts per member of Active Rain...maybe it's hard for them to come up with original post ideas as well.

So, I did a little research into the last few posts that have given out ideas. Here they are:

• http://activerain.com/blogsview/52419/Top-10Business-GeneratingThings-to-Post-on-Your-Blog
• Apparently Sue Argue suggested this site (can't find the post that she suggested it in though?): http://www.famousagents.com/content-ideas/
• http://activerain.com/blogsview/182652/Need-a-subject-for-a-blog-post
• http://realestatetomato.typepad.com/the_real_estate_tomato/2007/07/food-for-fodder.html
• http://www.rsspieces.com/a-yearrs-worth-of-real-estate-blog-ideas

Those were all found just by using the search feature quickly. And if they don't suit your needs, do your own search...search by season or general topic, etc...

Let's get those numbers up people...the only way to win the game is to play...and the only sure way to lose the game is to take yourself out of it by not participating. Participate in your membership at Active Rain!

That's the name of the article that I'm talking about from today's issue of High Rankings Advisor...Jill Whelan wrote a great article about utilizing Social Media (like Twitter) for business purposes. Jill made a point about how everything you do should not be about SEO (which is a crazy concept coming from a SEO expert!), that while you're on these social networks you should have already have found your target audience and should be relating to them...essentially bypassing the search engines, because you're already found!

I really encourage you all to subscribe to the High Rankings Advisor, it's a wealth of information about marketing your business through SEO and now apparently through Social Media.

In this article, "Heard It From the (Social Media) Grapevine", Jill details a great scenario about generating traffic to someone's website via @replies and explains how to track your results.

How do you use your Social Media, especially Twitter...do you just mindlessly post what you're doing in your little 140 character updates, or do you see a bigger purpose? Personally, I see both sides...people enjoy these sites for the personal interaction and there is just a ton of "fluff" (my word for useless nonsense) that does go on...but I have personally made valuable business contacts via Twitter and reconnected with some old ones via other Social Media venues as well. It's all about how you choose to utilze them and spend your time. This article makes some good suggestions, which I plan to make a more concentrated effort in following. Do you?

Enjoy!

This story has been going around the Internet for years, I know I have seen it at least 2 other times...but I am an intuitive person and believe in listening to the universe around you, so when it showed up in my inbox again today from a friend, I had to share the story with you all...I'd like to share the story with my children's classes, but I would have to swap out the beer for root beer :-) (Note: Original author / source of this story is unknown.)

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers....

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else... He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed...

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' 'The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.'

Hope you enjoyed this light-hearted but oh so true story :-)

I'm a contributing author over at RealBlogging.com, and I put up this article today that I wanted to share with all of you. Here's an excerpt:

Most business people seem to be struggling out there, what with the economic slowdown, but that’s absolutely no excuse to quit trying to make your business the best that it can be! Think of it like this…if you don’t give up at this critical time, but keep plugging away to improve and grow your business, keep marketing to clients (past, current and potential), then when this economy does start to improve…you will be out there ahead of the rest and looking good! Competition? What competition? All the competition gave up and went home!...

Click here to read the full article as well as see a great marketing resource at the end!

This article, in a more generalized format, was also published today in The Portable Business, you can read that edition’s archive here. Please sign up for The Portable Business to be delivered to your inbox every Monday!

I know these people need to make a living too...but this is the 3rd call I have gotten this week!

I am a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and they want me to turn over my list of hard earned clients to their call centers, get my clients to utilize their services (when I can't even understand them myself), get me to utilize their services on the sly and tell my clients that I'm doing the work, and not only that but they pass themselves off as having offices in New York or some other US destination when really they are in India or wherever!

Hiring cheap labor doesn't work if your clients cannot understand them (if you speak English perfectly, but have a super thick accent, it does not make for a pleasant or productive phone conversation since the person on the other end most likely cannot understand you!), if they don't have a grasp on the day to day operations of your industry, etc...

I have worked, through the electronic component procurement industry, with many, many countries besides the U.S.; however, most of that communication is smartly done via the fax machine or email, to minimize communication errors. I have many friends that live in foreign nations, etc...that's not what this is about. This is about trying to pass off a cheap, inferior substitute as quality customer service or professional administrative services - give me a break people - you want quality? Well it isn't free, I can tell you that, and quite honestly - it isn't cheap either! When The 4-Hour Work Week was written, I had mixed feelings. I think the overall concept is nice, but it's got everyone out there looking for something for nothing, or as close to it as they can get, and still dreaming that they are going to get top-notch skills and support.

Have I outsourced work to other countries? Yes, I have. Did it turn out well? No, it didn't. I know that some people have though - and I am really happy for them. But I have worked well with folks overseas before, and hope to again soon...but I look for quality...and don't mind paying for it.

So, the moral of my story is, if you think that you can get what you're looking for by going to O-Desk or eLance and waiting for the lowest bidder, be my guest; however, if you are looking for top VALUE for your money, excellent service, skills and communication - then contact me or go through a reputable trade organization like The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, where there are criteria and standards of excellence that must be met in order to be a member - that's where you're really going to get your BANG for your BUCK!

OH - and if you guys that belong to these shady outsourcing companies trying to pass themselves off as U.S. companies are reading this...DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN! Thanks!

Thanks for letting me rant, and rant, and rant...