This is my 1000th post on Active Rain.  I have been active on AR for just over 2 years now, and this week I expect to pass 500,000 points. (It would have been nice if I could have made them coincide, but I just couldn’t get the math to work). I thought I would share what I have gained from my time here.

SEO and Knowledge

I didn’t know what SEO stood for when I started in AR, let alone how to make my websites or my posts crawl to the top of Google.  Here on AR, I learned from people like Brad Andersohn and Rain Camp about the following items:

• Use a title someone would type into Google.
• Posts should be 300-500 words.
• Keywords should account for 2-4% of the post.
• Use anchor text for your links – “Costa Mesa Real Estate” not click here.
• Insert pictures, video or graphics to make it more interesting.

When I first came to AR, I couldn’t find my website for any keywords in the first 20 pages, and I had never heard of a long tail search.  Now, I am on the first page of Google for several major keywords and numerous long tail searches.

But, it wasn’t just SEO that AR taught me.  Every time there was a change in the real estate industry, I could read about it first here on AR.  Questions about procedures, marketing ideas, or anything else?  I would come to AR.  I believe it was Russel Ray who called AR a library, and it’s true.

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Relationships

AR is a place to create relationships and make friends. I have:

• A friend, Sharon Paxson, who should be a competitor who lives and works down the street.  She and I have helped each other learn about social networking and technology and continue to help each other grow.
• A friend, Debe Maxwell, who has way too much in common with me down to coffee drinks and phones.  She is so knowledgeable, so willing to share and so upbeat.
• A friend, Billie Hillier, who started by helping me with my marketing and became such a good friend that the first time I met her IRL, it was to stay at her home for a few days during Rain Camp.

These are just a few of the examples of friendships built here in the Rain.

Social Media is Good for Business and Makes Me Money

Some of you are probably saying to yourselves this is all great, you’ve made friends and you’ve learned to write blogs, so what? The so what is:

• I’ve taken what I’ve learned here and done 6 deals as a result of FaceBook in the last several months.
• I regularly get calls and emails from my websites as a result of the SEO knowledge I have gained here and the Google juice that AR provides to my site by blogging here.  This leads to more leads, more prospects and more clients.
• I have developed a new website and am in the process of developing a side business as a result of a post here.
• I have received clients directly from posts on AR.
• I have received referrals from other members on AR.

There is no doubt that the last 2 years and 999 posts have been time well spent.

There’s so much more that I’ve learned and gained here, but the other thing I’ve learned is that most people don’t like a wall of words, and this post is too long already.

If you’re wondering if AR is right for you, stop wondering and jump on in, the water’s find, and the people are friendly. If you have questions about how to use Active Rain for your business, please contact me, one of the other ambassadors or the AR staff.

FCC Disclaimer – As an Active Rain Ambassador, I may be remunerated for my efforts here.