Rainmakers

Two things happened today that made me pause and remember life as a real estate agent before I began my Active Rain Education. First, I took my first Active Rain Ambassador training session. I had to smile as I listened to phrases and words such as keywords, SOI, page ranking, and other technical terms tossed about. It was pretty cool to realize over the past twenty months I've earned an honorary degree in building a blog. It was hands-on, trial and error, intermingled with sweat and near tears, fear of the unknown (wondering whether I was wasting my time as I lost sleep and blogged away in the dark) and absolute euphoria when consumers began contacting me as a result of my Active Rain blog.

Secondly, I spoke with an Active Rain buyer who first contacted me nearly eighteen months ago. Yes, I've built a relationship with her. We will look at an Old Spanish house tomorrow in our pursuit of finding a home where she will be happy. I vividly remember our first contact. She called ( earlier contacts were made with email) and inquired about a new listing. During our conversation I asked where she heard about the property. She answered, and I asked her to repeat it. "Active Rain," she said the first time. "Active Rain," she said the second time! I went from a skeptic to an evangelical enthusiast with that direct call!

Oh, I had my doubts. It's Not Easy Building a Beautiful Blog was my 23rd post back in November 2007. I discovered many members never post more than a few times. Others struggle with what to write and others become frustrated with the enormous task of supplying fresh content-- and lots of it. Google is always hungry. There is no quick fix for a search engine's appetite.

I soon found out blogging is hard work. I made a deal with myself to blog for six months, then evaluate. When my self imposed time limit expired I knew my blogging efforts were about to balloon. My marketing expenses were shrinking, and my leads were expanding. Consumers, clients and agents were commenting on my blog. A relocation company chose it as one of the best of the best real estate blogs in Los Angeles.

After nearly two years, I'm still learning how to be a better blogger; as an Active Rain Ambassador I am looking forward to sharing, supporting and guiding new members as they become more active in the rain.

Norma Toering & Team RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty
(310) 493-8333 / Office Phone: (310) 831-0800

PalosVerdesLifestyle - Nominated by Relocation.com as one of the top ten Los Angeles area real estate blogs. Ranked by Technorati in the top 1% of all blogs. As seen in the Daily Breeze newspaper.

South Bay Los Angeles cities I sell real estate, property, houses and homes in: Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Long Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach.

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