Real Estate Social Media Blog

Resources for ActiveRain Training and Support

Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:06:17 -0600

Resources for ActiveRain Training and Support

Are you a new member on ActiveRain? Are you looking for the manual or guide? Do you have questions, feel lost or overwhelmed by all the cool stuff ActiveRain has to offer? Help is here, but do you know where to find it? Many of the questions, calls, emails, and tickets I receive always start off with, "How do I.....?"

Here are some of the best resources for ActiveRain training, coaching, and support.

Getting Started on ActiveRain - A post to help you get started
The "Getting Started" link located on the main ActiveRain Page

ActiveRain Training Webinars - Webinars for new members
Webinars held Tuesdays and Thursdays - Here's the Calendar

ActiveRain University & On-line Campus - "Live" support webinars.
Training, Q&A, Support, Presenters, Guest Speakers 3 X per week.

Real Estate RainCamps - "Live" Conference for Members and Non-Members
RainCamp.com teaches you more in a day than you could learn in a year

The Help/FAQ Group - Multitude of member contributed tutorials
Help/FAQ group provides members a place to share and learn

ActiveRain Newbies - A Group every new member should join
ActiveRain Newbies Group 9366 subscribers - 20,518 posts

The ActiveRain Guide - Blog featuring multi-authored Instructions
ActiveRainGuide.com culmination of members posts to support YOU

The "Search" Tool - Keyword or Phrase Search Tool for members
Searching ActiveRain couldn't be easier using the AR "Search"

ActiveRain Ambassadors - Local Ambassadors Reaching Out
Experienced members helping new and existing members

Member Services - The ActiveRain Team and Support Staff
These are the folks at ActiveRain keeping the heartbeat pumping

The ActiveRain Manual - Blog posts written for members needing help
This is an eBook I have been building since I joined ActiveRain back in 02/07

Technical Support - support@activerain.com

Now that you've seen all the places to learn and get support, are you still unsure where to start? Here's my suggestion. If I were brand new to ActiveRain, or had signed up a while back and were just returning, I would make it a point to at least visit each of the above links to become familiar with what help, support, and training is available here, then I would go sign up for one or two of Steven Graham's Training webinars.

For details on what's covered, here's a link.

We are constantly trying to improve and enhance the Network and Community. We will continue trying to provide you with the support and necessary tools and training to help you make the most and best use of your time here. If you are new to ActiveRain, we welcome you aboard. If you're a returning member and notice things look a bit different around here, then this post is for you too, and we welcome you back. I'm excited and looking forward to witnessing your growth and successes in the "Rain!"

The ABC's of ActiveRain

ActiveRain Blogging Can Deliver Excellent Feeds Google Harnesses. Individuals Journaling Knowledge, Literally Manifests Numerous Opportunities Producing Quality Results. So Try Utilizing Various Wisdoms, X-ert Yourself Zestfully! Wow, that was kinda fun! :-)

Download The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for your Browser

ActiveRain University Calendar Real Estate RainCamp The ActiveRain Manual

We Are in The Age of Social Media!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:33:43 -0600

The Age of Social Media

The Age of Social Media has changed the way we think, how we communicate, and how we function. Now instead of Emailing, we Text. And instead of texting, we tweet, so that a large audience can be reached in just seconds. Imagine if a highly acclaimed restaruant reviewer who had a HUGE following on twitter (say most people in the area who eat food) went to your business, ate your food, and because the food was bad and service wasn't great tweeted about it, and within 10 seconds the 20,000 people who got the message were told to pass over your restaurant? That could shut your business down! As a business, we thrive on sales, on business, and on a positive reputation.

Because of the Age of Social Media, we are reverting back to the doing business the old fashioned way, by word of mouth referrals and suggestions. Back in the 1800's you went to a store because someone said it was a great place to shop, get a hair cut, or buy that fancy new automobile. The price was right, the service was excellent, and the product was fantastic. Because of Socal Media, blogging, twitter, and messaging to your sphere of influence can have a drastically postitive or negative effect on whatever you choose to write about, endorse your name on, or slander.

The way agents and professionals are taking advantage of ActiveRain is through blogging. Your blogging is an extension of your knowledge and experience as as real estate professional. Without a voice on the internet, you are just another person in the sea of possibilities for potential customers. Blogging gives you that voice, and if written properly, can let your voice be heard in the search engines like google, yahoo, and bing, and let you stand out, increasing your visiblity and increasing your business. Your able to do this as a Rainmaker on ActiveRain. If you're not a Rainmaker, we offer training and a trial here at ActiveRain so you can learn how to blog, and appear on the first page of google organically through your blog content!

At our recent raincamp, we showed this video for all our guests, depicting how the Age of Social Media has changed the way our world functions. It certainly has changed the real estate industry! This video will open up your eyes to how powerful social media has become. And the fact that you're part of ActiveRain, means that you're in step with this. Watch this and enjoy!

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for Your Browser

Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:43:28 -0600

The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for Your Browser - was created to help members and non-members find important pieces of information in and around the network, and to give additional assistance to newer members who aren't sure where to look or find help in the ActiveRain Community. It's an additional "help" source available for you if needed.

In this post I'll breakdown each section of the toolbar and show how it might be helpful. The "Toolbar" is not just for AR members, it's also for anyone who wants to keep up with what's happening in the world of Real Estate on and through the AR Network. It works on Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers and it's FREE.

The first section of the toolbar allows you to access AR with a single click on the logo. Next to the logo is a pull-down menu where you can login to AR or Join. You can also search by member "category" which helps save time if you're looking for a specific type of Industry professional.

There are 28 Industry categories to choose from, this makes it quick and easy for members and consumers to access any category with the single "point and click" option.

The "Read" button IS for ActiveRain members and those interested in joining the network. Unlike most boring community guidelines and terms of service, ours is unique and is a "must read!"
Can you say Weltanschauung?

The "Help" button and pull-down menu gets you access to the ActiveRain Manual, The ActiveRain University, The ARU Training Calendar, the Help/FAQ Group on AR, Information about Real Estate RainCamps, and member contributed guides and how-to articles and posts. This is one of my favorite parts of the toolbar and may be the most useful part for members needing "help" and tutorials about ActiveRain.

The "Daily Drop" is for those who want to be kept informed via AR's Daily Newsletter. Click To Subscribe.

The "Featured" pull-down menu gives you "live" real-time access to what's "Featured" on ActiveRain right now. You can browse ALL featured posts right from the toolbar and do it from any website or page you're on. Whether you're a member of AR or not, this is a great tool to be kept informed of what's going on in and around Real Estate all over the Country and Canada. (Your neighborhood included)

The "Blogs" button is a direct link to ALL AR Blog posts which can be sorted using the built in ActiveRain sort options. This makes getting to the newest and freshest content fast and easy.

Many networks, blogging platforms, and social media sights make it difficult to try and reach staff members. With this button, the entire AR Team is only "one-click" away.

Member support on ActiveRain is something we take seriously and are very passionate about. Our members' satisfaction and our reputation have been built on how well we support our friends on AR. The "Support" button pull-down on the toolbar shows we listen to our members, and we care. You are literally one click away from contacting AR support, making suggestions, sending us your feedback and comments, and emailing us directly.

The "Message" button is for communicating important messages. This will ONLY be used to make important announcements. IE: New AR features, Upcoming special events, RainCamps, Trainings and Classes etc. The message board has its' own set of built in tools for users to manage and respond to incoming messages.

The "Facebook and Twitter buttons" give you direct access to ActiveRain's Facebook page and to our "live" Twitter stream. No need to even leave the toolbar to see our latest tweets, but to become a friend or fan on Facebook, you will need to click the Facebook Icon.

This covers most uses for the AR Help Toolbar. It is completely customizable for each user. You can remove/hide any of the above predefined components that you don't need or aren't using by selecting the "toolbar options" in the main menu and checking the box next to those items you'd like hidden. If space on your browser is an issue, there's a "shrink toolbar" option that will minimize the space used. I hope you'll find it to be a useful addition to your browser tools and an efficient source for interaction and help on ActiveRain.

Select your browser below and install the ActiveRain Help Toolbar.

Download The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for your Browser

ActiveRain University Calendar Real Estate RainCamp The ActiveRain Manual

Why Active Rain is a priority in my life!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:39:02 -0600

Via BethAnn Long, Realtor, e-PRO Spokane Wa Real Estate (Coldwell Banker Tomlinson):

I stumbled upon Active Rain two years ago when I literally had no idea what blogging was. I set up a profile and kind of poked around. I started blogging, and getting comments. Since then I have become a regular here, and I want you to know why!

Active Rain connects me to the broad world of real estate professionals and it is truly amazing to feel connected to people all over the country!

Active Rain is very therapeutic.I can share my challenges and triumphs in real estate and gain insight from others as they share theirs. It is therapeutic just to write about my listings, experiences and reading what is going on in the market all over the country makes me a better Realtor!

Active Rain is very good for business! I got a referral just TODAY from Active Rain! This agent said that reading my profile was very helpful, and he chose me to refer some great clients who will be relocating here soon. Yipee! My listings get quite a few views on the virtual tours I post here on Active Rain, so all around, Active Rain gives me great exposure!

Active Rain is very educational!There are dozens of posts that relate to pertinent issues for our industry. While I don't get " clock hours" for all of the reading I do here on Active Rain, I find a huge amount of great information here on ALL spectrum's of real estate from financing to staging!

I am truly glad that I found Active Rain one cold Januray day in 2008. It has enriched both my personal and professional life.

Blogging has become apart of my business plan, and is a priority to me because it has added alot to my life.

Thank you to all of the wonderful folks on Active Rain, and stay connected!

www.SpokaneRealEstateVoice.com
BethAnn Long ~ Spokane Realtor

Coldwell Banker Tomlinson South Inc.

...there's no place like your home!

www.BethAnnHomes.com

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

Free Google Juice...plug your website.

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:13:41 -0600

Free Google Juice!

Find this Blog on First Page of Google?

ActiveRain has far more SEO and Free Google Juice (Search Engine Optimization) and Ranking with the search engines than other blog platforms such as Word-press, Blogger, or Real Estate Tomato. The reason is our network being JUST Real Estate, when Google indexes your content it looks at two things:

1. Original Content

2. Relative Content to the Keywords Being Searched

With over 2 million Original Real Estate blogs, Google and Yahoo see ActiveRain as a powerhouse of Real Estate information, and because it all the same type of content, rewards it a much higher ranking and more Free Google Juice than if you were to post the same content on a general blog platform such as wordpress or blogger.

The other thing we do with our blog content that no other network or blog platform does is index it by geographical location. When you write about the Beltown neighborhood of Seattle, we will literally index your content prior to Google seeing it so it is seen as more relevant to that physical area. (i.e. Washington State - King County - Seattle - Beltown) This RainDex that our network is built on generates a whole lot of free google juice.

When you piggyback this SEO on our site, and get trained by us here at AR on how to optimize your blog writing your content will pull on the first page of Google and Yahoo.

We do Training here At ActiveRain where you can learn to Blog Optimally for $5.

If any of you would like to take advantage of this training, as well as our ActiveRain 101 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, feel free to sign up for rainmaker for only $5 for your first month. It will allow you to get upgraded and enrolled in our incredible training! Let me know if you do so I can personally welcome you to the public side of activerain, as well as walk you through setting up your outside blog, and make sure you get connected with our training!

1. Login to your AR Profile

2. Visit the below URL:

www.arpromo.com/training Will get you the discounted first month. LETS TEACH YOU HOW TO BLOG!

3. Fill out the Billing info and click upgrade to get setup, then email me @ joel@activerain.com And I'll be your personal help through your training!

It's as EASY AS 1 - 2 - 3!

Via Jeff Rainwater (Skyline Properties, Inc.):

Learn about google juice and get some for free!

Everett Washington Homes

So I thought I would do a community service and give you all some google juice. What the heck is Google Juice you say? Everyone is getting google juice from their blogs right? Well if you're not, you should be! Check it out...

See that photo of me at the bottom of this blog? See it? And you see those links next to it? Yeah it's giving me google juice! YUM! See, all my blogs have that so those links are linking back to my website www.JeffRainwater.com where people can do things like search Homes for sale in Snohomish County. Every time I link like that, the search engines think that someone searching for Homes for Sale in Snohomish County will likely want to see my website. (THEY SHOULD!) This is known as GOOGLE JUICE and it gets you a higher ranking on the search engines.

SO....today I'm giving away free google juice! Here's what to do....

In the comments section below I want you to put exactly this....

"Hi Jeff! Thanks for teaching me about Google Juice and thanks for giving some Google Juice to my website www.JeffRainwater.com where people can search for Homes for sale in Snohomish County Washington!"

Put exactly that but change the website and the two links to link to YOUR website instead and change the location to wherever YOU sell homes! BAM! I just gave you some google juice! If you don't have a website, make a juice comment linking to your activerain profile, or heck, juice mine up some more!

LETS SEE THOSE JUICEY COMMENTS!
For all your real estate needs, contact the local real estate expert for your community.

Jeff Rainwater - (425) 238-4247

Your local expert: jrainwater@gmail.com

Contact this Real Estate Consultant for answers to your real estate questions

Skyline Properties Inc.

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

ActiveRain Training and Support - Our New On-Line Campus

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:57:51 -0600

1. Login to your AR Profile

2. Visit the below URL:

www.arpromo.com/training Will get you the discounted first month. LETS TEACH YOU HOW TO BLOG!

3. Fill out the Billing info and click upgrade to get setup, then email me @ joel@activerain.com And I'll be your personal help through your training!

It's as EASY AS 1 - 2 - 3!

Via Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain):

ActiveRain Training and Support - Your Virtual Classroom

We are now offering RainMaker members an opportunity to join us for some "informal" on-line training and support. Our ActiveRain Training and Support Program is where you can phone in, join a classroom environment, ask your questions, see live examples and get detailed tutoring on "how it all works!" The best part is that you can do it from the comfort of your home or office computer, and classes will be available three times a week for your convenience. Time for the teacher to give YOU an apple.

There's no formal agenda, no formatted sessions, no rules, and no reason for you to not be getting the most out of your experience here on ActiveRain. We'll go over any requested details, and provide you information on how to use many of the AR tools and services. We want to show you how to get the best results from areas of AR that you may not understand or just simply need some help and support with.

This is a great opportunity and chance to learn anything you want to know about ActiveRain, and do it in a non-threatening and fun environment.

Training and Support sessions will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for approximately one hour each day. *Holidays, *RainCamps, and other *Real Estate Industry events that conflict with our ActiveRain training and support classes will take precedence, sessions will not be held on or during those dates and times.

Our dates and times selected for the first come first serve training and support this month are as follows: (ALL Times listed below are PST)

ActiveRain Training and Support Calendar for February 2010

Mon -2/1 @3:00pm / Wed - 2/3 @10:00am / Fri - 2/5 @8:00am
Mon -2/8 @10:00am / Wed - 2/10 @1:00pm / Fri - 2/12 @3:00pm
RainCamp Week - No Classes
Mon -2/22 @3:00pm / Wed 2/24 @10am / Fri 2/26 @8:00am

TODAY'S SESSION - ActiveRain Q&A

"RainMaker" Special - Signup Here for New Member Discount
Visit RainCamp™ - "Because The Way We Do Business Has Changed!"

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

Success in the Rain

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:24:02 -0600

This is a great Blog of how much success you can have when you are public on the network!

Via Kerrie Greenhalgh (ActiveRain):

ActiveRain has been a great source of success for many members. Now, you may think I am biased as being part of the AR family....I could sit here all day and tell you about the amount of success you will achieve until I'm blue in the face. I believe showing you individual stories from members new and old will have a longing effect.

I urge everyone to update their profile by adding their own success story. Simply go to your profile page and click edit located next to My Profile (Edit). Scroll down until you see the spot designated for ActiveRain Success Story. Keep in mind this will not show on your AR profile but will be available to view on the ActiveRain Success Stories link. Not only is it a sleek way to share your own success but you will be rewarded with 500 points!!!

You'll find some great Success Stories Here: ActiveRain Success Stories

Jonathan Bell (Keller Williams Realty Partners, Inc.)

"Before I started to blog on Active Rain, I had never really blogged before. Actually, I HATED blogging. However, since I have started blogging and promoting my Active Rain blog to my Sphere of Influence, past clients and friends & family I have seen my leads increase significantly and I've even made one sale because of it. The amazing thing is that it all happened within the first 2-3 weeks! I LOVE ACTIVE RAIN!"

Duane Murphy (Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group Inc.)

".......two days after activating my profile and taking time to edit my information I received a call from someone wanting me to list his property. After being on Active Rain and starting to get more active I have noticed every time I "google" myself or my website that I am now showing up first page consistently.... It does take a bit of time to get your "points" going so that you show up a bit higher in the search results but I figure that with anything that takes time if you stay persistent the payoff will come. I almost hope that no one else in my office finds out how well this is starting to work. Don't need to help the "competition" level the playing field!"

Pascack Valley Real Estate, Lisa and Robert Hammerstein (Coldwell Banker)

"We Love Active Rain!.....Active Rain has become an integral part of our business plan since joining in October 2006. Localism is my playground and has brought me Google juice galore.....This network offers all the news on the latest technology and ways to apply that technology to your business. We’ve found groups to join to share ideas with colleagues and that has been fun as well as extremely helpful. Active Rain is the first place we go to find agents across the country when we need referral contacts. The search engines like Active Rain and that really helps to boost us so the public can find us.....What did we do before Active Rain?...."

Terrie Leighton , Realtor (Northern Nevada Real Estate)

".......Blogging was something I had never considered until I ventured over to the ActiveRain site and started reading blogs written by other real estate professionals.......I joined immediately and have never looked back! By participating in this community, I feel, I know, I have become a better real estate agent. Sharing, teaching and helping each other is just a small part of what the ActiveRain community has to offer........Thank you ActiveRain! You have truly changed the way I do business!!"

Linda Jandura Realtor North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist (Raleigh Cary Realty)

"Joining Active Rain has been one of the best moves of my real estate career......The wealth of technical & SEO information could not be found anywhere else, at any cost. Whenever I put up a blog my website traffic increases tenfold, at the minimum!......by searching on certain key words my website is now on the first page of Google whereas it had been buried so far down I couldn’t find it....The best part is all the “virtual” friends I’ve made have made over the past year......Thank you Active Rain."

Bob Foster (Century 21 Lanthorn R. E. Ltd. Belleville, Ontario)

".....As a new realtor, in my first year of this career, I have found that I have two main sources of information......One is the advice of my colleagues at the office, and the other is the ability to search the blogs here on ActiveRain.....As I have said to others who are also getting a start in this profession, imagine having a huge staffroom where you can draw on the collective knowledge of more than 130,000 real estate professionals and get great answers fast. It exists, and it's called ActiveRain!"

Each week I'm going to highlight a few of our members stories so you can see the kind of impact ActiveRain is having with our Active members. I hope you'll enjoy these success stories as much as I've enjoyed reading and sharing them.

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

Add a splash of GOOGLE JUICE to your Blog!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:33:23 -0500

The First Page Challenge!

I have seen many people on ActiveRain get a bit clueless when it comes to writing their content. People wonder why their blogs on AR aren't showing up on the top of google results. Well there are several reasons, the first would be they aren't a Rainmaker. But for all of you Rainmakers out there, if your content isn't giving you the results you want, try some of these guidelines with your next blog to give it some extra Google juice!

Everyone wants to be on the first page of google. The last handful of people that I trained followed these guidelines to the tee and had their blog content show up on the first page the same day or within 24 hours. If you are a Rainmaker, then these Tips are a MUST!

1. Make sure your blog is between 300-500 words in length. (too short, not enough content, too long, Google and people lose interest.)

2. REPEAT YOUR KEYWORDS! Keyword density is a major player in your content's SEO. 1-4% of your content should be your keyword or key phrase.

3. Have 2 pictures in your blog content. Click on the insert/edit image button on the toolbar to upload images. People like having visual stimulation! We are like 3rd graders with ADD when we are surfing the web, if we don't see pictures, we usually back out and go on to the next website. Your potential audience will too! Make your Blog stand out!

4. Have at least 2 links to your website. Doing this will naturally raise your websites ranking, as well as your blog.

5. Bold and Underline your Keywords or Key phrases. This will help with your ranking.

6. Make sure your Title is Geographically Specific (if possible), Short, Concise, and State your Keywords.

7. Make sure your Title and Content compliment each other. (i.e. Your keywords in your title are maplewood condos, repeat and re-enforce maplewood condos throughout your blog. Stay on topic, and keep it local.)

8. Write Hyper-Local Content! Not your city, your neighborhoods and communities! A good example would be instead of Seattle, write about Ballard. Google Ballard, you will see it's a neighborhood area in the greater Seattle area. Read this recent blog Bob wrote to get a better idea of Hyper-local content.

Following these guidelines will give your blog content the boost it needs to shoot to the top!

Read this blog for some more info!

If you have a success story of having your Blog on Page one after following these tips, I want to see a comment with the search term! We love hearing about your Success!

Until Next Time,

Active Joel

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

Happy Holidays From "ALL OF US" at ActiveRain - To ALL of YOU!

Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:46:53 -0600

Photo Created and Courtesy of: Craig Rutman in North Carolina (Thanks Craig!)

(Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

ActiveRain, ActiveRain, Active all the way,

Oh what fun, it is to ride,

To the office Everyday <HEY>

ActiveRain, ActiveRain, we have but one request,

that you enjoy your Holiday,

and your New Year is the BEST!!

From our family to you and yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

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ActiveRain University Calendar Real Estate RainCamp The ActiveRain Manual

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from ActiveRain!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:10:05 -0600

Merry Christmas from ActiveJoel!

I just wanted to take a bit of time out of my last day on AR in 2009 to say happy holidays to all of the ActiveRain Community! Here at ActiveRain we like to be festive, and when I say festive, I use this term lightly. We go crazy! :) We did a company contest where whoever decorated their desk with the most Christmas Cheer won. Needless to say the competition was tough.

This year has been a crazy one with ups and downs, but over all ActiveRain has grown and become even better than ever! I've made great friends with those of you on the network, helped countless Real Estate Professionals come to the knowledge of social media, and have changed lives as a result. For that I am truly grateful. The holidays are a time to reflect on what is most important to you, to be with those you love, and spread the spirit of love, joy, and peace to everyone around you. I wish everyday all year carried the same emphasis that we do during this time of year. But alas it does not. But I guess if it was like this, it would lose it's special touch in our lives? I mean, what would we look forward to if everyday was Christmas right?

We all were really competitive because we wanted to win and of course we wanted the office to be festive! Here are some photos of what our cubicles look like right now!

Merry Christmas from everyone here at ActiveRain, but from me ActiveJoel in particular! See you in 2010!

~ Active Joel

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

It's Friday at ActiveRain!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:50:05 -0600

TGIF! It's Friday at ActiveRain!

Via Claire C. (ActiveRain Corporation):

Hello, happy ARians! Someone asked the other day if I'd been let go, because they hadn't seen me post lately, but ...no... I've just been OMG super busy.

Luckily for me, the boys gave me something to share with you today... Click play to see these yahoos dancing on a Fun Friday morning to the Chipmunks! :)

Enjoy!

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

RainCamp is Coming To San Francisco

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:19:50 -0600

RainCamp is coming to San Fran! DEC. 2ND! You can't miss out on this opportunity to learn from the top speakers from across the country on Social Media, and ActiveRain. You can expect to learn how to dominate your market using Blogging, ActiveRain, and other ways of Social Media, such as Twitter, along with a whole host of topics. Reserve your spot today, spots are limited to the first 500 people!

Via Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain):

RainCamp is Coming To San Francisco

The ActiveRain RainCamp Tour is Official! Our first ever RainCamp in Seattle was sold out in just two weeks. Now there's a demand by many of our members and non members to bring RainCamp to cities all across the Country. As you can imagine, this is a huge undertaking for our staff and team. There are so many details that go into setting up this event, but our members and guests are not only worth it, they deserve it.

The "Rainergy" and "Buzz" that comes from a RainCamp is like no other event I've ever experienced. You have to witness it for yourself to understand and grasp the full value and impact it will have on you, your Business, your relationships in your community, and the industry. Here's what a few of the folks from RainCamp Seattle had to say:

RainCamp is coming to San Francisco on December 2nd, 2009 for a full day packed with great content, presentations, and some of the most useful and applicable ideas and processes that you can implement immediately into your Social Media, Networking, and Blogging Business Strategy and Plan. The Location and Venue we've selected is once again a "Top Notch" off the hook spot.

How is RainCamp different from other Conferences?

Assess how you stack up in the modern market.

Listen to people that are practicing what they preach, and having outstanding success doing it.

Learn the methodology of a newer agent who has leveraged the Internet to become a 'Mega Producer'.

Walk away with executables you can put into action immediately.

Hard core real estate technology education. This is not a fluff event!!

What Do You Get?

An Action Packed Day: At a State-of-the-art conference and meeting room is just the beginning of our package at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF. They have Gorgeous meeting rooms with City and Bay views. Great layout with plenty of seating, wireless Internet Access, and much more. All the comforts and ammenities of a 5-Star Resort. "This is one of San Francisco's only full-service conference facilities."

San Francisco

Date: December 2nd, 2009

Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm
(registration 8:00am)

Location: Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF
1675 Owens Street, Suite 251, San Francisco 94143
GOOGLE MAP | Yahoo Map | Mapquest Map | Microsoft Map

Facility: Wireless Internet Access and Power Available

RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW!

There will be approximately 140 seats setup classroom style (with tables) reserved for attendees with laptops. It is all open seating so those seats are first come first serve the day of event. There will be On-site paid parking available, street parking and/or complimentary shuttles from the BART and Caltrain stations. If you're wanting overnight accommodations, here's the Unique Venues Site.

RainCamp tickets are available NOW at a retail price of $159. However, we have reserved 50 tickets for our "early adopters" at a price of $99. This is a great value, so make sure you register right away before they're gone, it will sell out.

"When is RainCamp Coming To Your Town?" We'd love to come to every Major City, and may do so eventually, but currently we are starting in San Francisco, then in no specific order, we'll be in Miami, Washington DC, Dallas, New York, Atlanta, Arizona and more. I'll be announcing those date and locations soon. We're still working out all the calendar and venue details.

This is our last West Coast event planned for a while, and we are really looking forward to coming to the "City By The Bay" and bringing the "Rain-Storm" with us. Just like in Seattle, we'll be hosting another exclusive "VIP" event/gathering after RainCamp, we'll have more details about that coming up later. It's going to be a day you'll never forget, I hope you can make it to join us. We put a ton of heart, soul, preparation, and passion into RainCamp, and we don't want anyone to miss out. So RSVP NOW! :-)

Check out the RainCamp.com Blog. Also follow the twitter stream using #raincamp.

Photo Source: UCSF Mission Bay

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Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.

ActiveRain Voices - Members Speak Out

Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:19:15 -0500

When I returned home from Inman's Real Estate Connect in San Francisco last week, I searched through my notes, videos, photos and handouts looking for something to post about that might be unique. There were so many things that I learned this year, some really great topics and technologies, wonderful panels with experienced speakers, it was fantastic. I was a bit challenged on what to post and share today.

Looking back, the one thing I came away with more than anything else this year, was the impact of the people and all the friendships I have made. Socializing, Networking and Connecting with People.

There are so many reasons why people in the Real Estate Industry join and stay on ActiveRain. You'll find many here that have written about their personal rewards, benefits, and successes on their Blogs. There is a common thread and purpose behind each and every reason people love ActiveRain. As I walked the halls and meeting rooms in San Francisco, I had one question for other ActiveRain members...

To see the full length 5 min video on youtube, CLICK HERE.

"What is the Biggest Benefit or Value you get out of the ActiveRain Community?" I was very fortunate to catch these members friends comments on video. They shared their voices, and their experiences publically and I am so grateful to be able to share that. It's an honor and privilege to be a part of this video, the three day event, and most of all, a part of their lives.

Thank you to: Rich, Desiree, Cindy, Kristal, Richard, Jeff, Missy, Gena, Kim, Tracy, Ginger, AJ, Brian, Jeff, Mara, Tom, Nick, Tisza, Mary, Teresa and Mike, each one of you for sharing your thoughts and for helping make this idea and video possible. Your voices will be heard and I hope viewers will come away with a greater understanding and idea of what Social Networking and ActiveRain is really all about.

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The BEST Search Engines - Competing, Compared, and Combined

Erin Oertli (Active Rain) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:59:31 -0500

Hey all! Brad Andersohn wrote this blog and I wanted to make sure it got the exposure it deserves!

Via Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain):

The BEST Search Engines - Competing, Compared, and Combined ~

Search engines are the most powerful tools on the WEB in my opinion. They are trusted and held accountable for providing the "BEST Search Results" and information to the surfing consumer. Search Engines play a critical role in the responsibility of connecting people to other people and businesses. There are millions of searches being driven every single day. Maybe that's why they're called engines? haha~ Understanding how they work is important, but not showing up on them could be harmful to you and your business.

Search Engines are the "Driving Force" on the Internet

Today's Tip ~

Writing great content and in the proper format, can and will get you discovered by most of the search engines over time. One suggestion I would offer is to submit your Blogs and sites to at least these top 3 Search engines, it could make a significant difference in your search results. You just never know what search engine a consumer is loyal to and using on a daily basis. With all the changes and new Search Engine tools out there today, it's hard to say which one, if any, will ever win the competitive battle for "King Of The Hill!"

In the meantime, Submit your Blogs and sites to these Top 3 Search Engines

Submit Your Blog To GOOGLE - Click Here

Submit Your Blog To YAHOO - Click Here

Submit Your Blog To BING - Click Here

Google Update ~

Is the Power of "Search" and "Results" really Changing? Yes. Most of you have probably heard about some of the changes going on at Google. They announced that for the past several months, a large team of their staff have been working on a secret project. It's called "a next-generation architecture for Google web search."

"It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits under the hood of Google search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences."

If you're interested, you can preview Google new infrastructure at: http://www2.sandbox.google.com

Comparing The Competition ~

Microsoft's Bing is a BIG player in the Search Engine scene, and is doing a pretty impressive job creating a BING Buzz. Here is a site that allows you to search both Bing and Google side by side to compare the results. BING vs GOOGLE Since many consumers know or are finding out about this stuff, it's important that you keep up with all the tools they're using too.

Combining The Power of Top Search Engines ~

Each search engine has its own group of committed users and followers, but what if their powers were combined to make an even greater tool. Some third party sites and developers have taken the "search" concept to another level. Knowing that Google, Yahoo, and MSN will never consolidate and unite as one, there are a couple sites that are engaging and blending them behind the scenes. They are changing the way searches are getting results. Webcrawler.com combines the power of Google, Yahoo, Live Search and ASK into one.

Another one is Tattoodle, a customizable search engine that combines the power of Google, Yahoo, and the MSN Bing Search engines. You can customize the browser with your own themes and photos, but the real power is in the combination of the three working together seamlessly to find its users the most accurate and relative content.

Searching ALL The Search Engines ~

Now, if you wanted to search all the most common search engines, check out 20Search.com. They allow you to search 20 of the top used sites including Netscape, AOL, Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves, Excite, Lycos and 14 others. Even though there may be a much smaller percentage of users on these other "Search Engines" it's a percentage you may not want to miss. 20Search.com also lets you submit your Blogs or sites to many of these other search engine sites.

See where you are, do you show up on these others? Search them using the keywords and phrases that you are wanting to be found with in your geographic areas. Each engine will be slightly different. It's worth taking the time to look for sure.

Don't Get Left Out In The RAIN ~

Lastly, don't forget about our very own search engine right here on ActiveRain. Not only our members use this tool to find other members and Blog posts on AR, we have quite a few visitors using our search tool as well. In the last 30 days, we've had over 44,000 unique visitor searches done right here in the Rain. I think I use this one more than any other to be honest. 40,000 of those might be me. lol~ Many of the questions you may have about AR can be found and answered right here using our custom built in search engine.

While many of the search engines will continue to compete and change, new sites and tools will emerge. Regardless of what search engine is the best, or will be the best one out there, the fact remains that your efforts to show up on ALL of them is important, and is a key component to the success of your business.

May you find ALL that you are "searching" for, and do it in good health and happiness. :-)

New Rainmaker and On the First Page of Google in 3 Hours! FLEX your ACTIVERAIN MUSCLES!

Joel Kruse (Active Rain) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:21:06 -0500

For those of you who are skeptical of ActiveRain's Sheer power, I would like to present you with:

Exhibit A.

Champagne, a real estate agent in Manhattan Beach, CA upgraded her account to post her blogs publically this morning.

I trained her this morning, and we posted her first blog.

Posted Today, 7/24/2009 at 2:15pm CST

I came back from lunch, not 3 hours later, and her Manhattan Beach events and activities blog is #1 on the First page of Google!

This is what we want all our members to do! This is why you should blog on ActiveRain. And if you aren't a Rainmaker, this is why you should be!

Upgrade Your Account!

Call me @ 425-636-3315 or email me joel@activerain.com here at ActiveRain to setup your account for Public Viewing, and to get some one-on-one Training!

Joel Kruse

Member Services

ActiveRain Corp.