The ActiveRain RainMaker - It's More Than Just A Membership!
The Real Estate Industry has had a pretty rough ride these past few years and many Industry Professionals that remain are desperately trying to find new and creative ways to survive. Many are turning to ActiveRain because they have heard and seen that this is where they can learn how to use the Internet and Blogging to their advantage, and turn around their business.
ActiveRain is more than just a Real Estate Industry Social Networking community. In the past 2 or so years, the network has grown from 20,000 members to well over 150,000 to date. On average, 200 new Industry Professionals join each day. ActiveRain get more than 2,000,000 visitors each month, with about 80% being consumers. The community accounts for nearly 12,000 new blog posts each month, and currently hosts over 1.5 million Blog articles provided by members. The average rainmaker post gets over 500 views per month.
What do ActiveRain members get as Rainmakers?
- A Referral Network with Access to over 170,000 Real Estate Industry Professionals
- Exposure and Access to over 2,000,000 visitors to ActiveRain monthly
- Create Hit Router and Home Search Campaigns using your IDX
- A Personalized and Customizable Outside Blog including Domain Name
- 30+ Themes and Templates to select from to enhance your Blog
- The ability to add Multi-Authors and Contributors to your Blog
- Custom Created ActiveRain Widgets and Tools for ActiveBlogs
- Access to Localism for posting Hyper-Local Content - The NeighborPedia for Consumers
- Customer Service and Technical Support - Coaching, Consulting, and Training available
- ActiveRain SEO and a Hyper-local Architecture Optimized (raindexed) for Search Engines
What are the "Benefits" of a RainMaker Membership?
Many in our community have posted articles about their success and ROI (return on investment) from their RainMaker Blogs. We have seen countless testimonials from ActiveRain members who have experienced first hand the results and business that gets generated solely from their ActiveRain Blogs. Members share their "Real Life" stories of how effective Blogging on AR can grow your referral business, consumer business, and relationships within the network and within your local community and neighborhoods.
Here's what some have to say:
"When I first started on AR, I got many friendly e-mails and comments. I think this gives AR a personal touch. AR does work. I signed up for Rainmaker last month and will be writing a contract for a buyer who contacted me through one of my posts." Vanna Siackhasone
"I have gotten several clients and some agent referrals directly from AR and continue to learn from the posts of others, hoping that I can share whatever I can too." Susan Neal
"I have learned so very much from these wonderful people on AR! Best real estate site on the Internet, and I am happy to be a part of AR!" Ginger Moore
"In May 2007, I started walking in the Active Rain (ok, maybe crawling) and by the end of the year we had made tens of thousands of Washingtons directly from blogging leads." Erion Shehaj
"AR has helped my business tremendously to the tune of 11 closings to date." David Serle
"ActiveRain has put me on the map. I receive at least THREE calls each week, just because my name comes up on the first page of a Google Search. These buyers already know about me before they call. Those that want to make their business happen, will become rainmakers, and they will find the way to be successful." Don Bradbury
Here's some Recently written Blog Post Articles:
The Points are Nice - But I Really Like The $$$$ - By: Erik Hitzelberger
ActiveRain - You're Really Bugging Me - (34 Referrals) - By: Larry Bettag
ActiveRain Brings Business Success - By: Missy Caulk
Read 1000's of ActiveRain Success Stories - By: ActiveRain Members
What kind of Support can I expect from ActiveRain?
ActiveRain provides training and support for our RainMaker members. Learning how you can use geographic and hyper-local content to optimize your Search Engine Visibility and drive more traffic to your Blog and Website is the key. We can and will help you. You'll learn how using tools like, inbound links, outbound links, keywords both long-tail and short, along with photos and a good post title can greatly improve your search engine rankings and help your customers find you on-line. We provide Customer Service and Technical support via AR Webinars, Tutorial posts, and through our Community Builders and ActiveRain Ambassadors.
How Do I Become an ActiveRain RainMaker?
It's simple. You must first join ActiveRain and become a member here. Once you have setup your profile, and reviewed the "How To Get Started On ActiveRain guide" you can either upgrade your membership from your "My Home" page by clicking on the red "RainMaker Upgrade" link, (be sure you're logged in to ActiveRain first) or you can click below to...
ActiveRain is the TOP Real Estate Social Network in the World (source: Google.com)
Results 1 - 10 of about 60,100,000 for Top Real Estate Social Networks
ActiveRain is the ONLY on-line Network that offers this selection and wide variety of tools, diverse services, and solutions for the Real Estate Industry Professional. The RainMaker Membership - get value, get results.
ActiveB ! Great outline of the RainMaker benefits - and some great proof in the pud'n posts from some of our fellow members.
I'm a card carryin', happy-to-be-here, Rainmaker-badge-wearin' client too !!
Lookin' forward to many years of AR continued success :o)
Cheers !
Sheldon
Brad- Active Rain is by far the best marketing tool online for agents. I can testify to that! :)
Brad -- this is a great resource and I believe you have outlined the benefits in a easy and understandable fashion.
Well said...! Active Rain is so far the best return of my investment of my money and time! THANK YOU ALL in working so hard to make AR a great place to be, network and grow!
BRAD..I talk up ActiveRain to every agent I meet and am shocked to hear the have never heard of it..I have learned more on here than any continuing education class I have ever taken..not to mention all the bells and whistles you have already mentioned..THANK YOU AR
HELPFULHANNAH Loves ActiveRain
I've read blogs from both sides of the fence regarding the RainMaker program. But my decision is easy... since I don't have any extra money =P
Brad - the acolades say it all, and there are many personal success stories, including my own. IF someone wants to blog and will do so consistently, this is the place to be. For those who just enter a profile (you know who you are) or write a couple of artilces and stop, you are missing out.
Jeff
Brad,
You and the Team have really packed quite a bit into the package to make AR an extremely viable and visible way of participating in social media. :)
Steve
Brad,
AR can turn anyone's so-so mortgage or real estate or other career around into a successful one. Of course, you have to work at it, but the network provides all the tools and support to get it done. The best.
Hi Brad, A wonderfull and comprehensive post that we can all use to help those that are yet to be convinced of the many benefits of being a RainMaker.
Being a Rainmaker on Activerain is the ultimate place to be in a real estate career. Love how you put together all the great features!
The best part of being a rainmaker is having a place to go where interact with people like me: articulate, sharp, fast, clear spoken, right minded etc, etc., ...
Thanks Brad, very impressive post. Go, rainmakers!
Howdy there Brad
Being an ActiveRain Rainmaker, sure is a lot of fun. And it sure has helped, to get folks from all over the world to visit my blog posts. Besides local folks stoppen in to read.
Be all you can be! Be a Rainmaker!
ActiveRain rocks! I love being here, learning and blogging. There is no better place to be seen or educated.
Very timely post, I'll be emailing it to my colleagues that haven't 'drank the kool-aid' yet!
Brad,
Great educational place formulated by a great group of caring real estate professionals, who give their time and effort to make this a fantastic place for all Real Estate entities to succeed!
That would be my "Mission Statement."
Thank you.
Brad..You have it outlined very well... This tells the true benefits of Active Rain
Brad,
You nailed it; I love this place have made lots of contacts.
Brad ~ Wow -- Sign me up! (Wait, I'm already a Rainmaker, thanks to AR!) AR is the best networking tool I've seen, better than any other Social Media site I've tried. Just today I connected with some other AR home stagers across the country and had some great discussions on the phone. I can't imagine NOT being an AR member and having the great advantage of an AR Outside Blog.
Thanks Brad! I am trying out a lot of new things with my blogs and am really hoping that the hard work is going to pay off. I have heard too many success stories for it not to.
I'm proud to be a RainMaker!
Making it Rain with Restaurants for Sale
John Powers
Specializing in Selling Restaurants
Brad... I will definitely attest to how wonderful of a real estate networking site AR is..... between friendships and business, it's been a great experience. I could shower you with many success stories of my own. And thanks for the links to some of the things above, that are a benefit to a Rain Maker. I need to catch up on a few of these. Nice job and thanks.
Beautiful! I hope we can be Ambassadors without hitting 100k pts. This kind of material makes it easy to market (not that we didn't know this anyway, but YOU sure put it into great wording). Thanks, Brad!
One thing worth mentioning. . .as the name implies. . you have to be ACTIVE to reap the benefits
Brad, thanks for the collection of benefits. Haven't been here a year yet and I am learning, meeting and have bookmarked this article to share with fellow realtors when I invite them to join. What a great tool. thanks.
Brad, this outline is helpful. It serves as a reminder of all the great benefits that we sometimes forget about and serves as a good description of the network. It really is a great network. It really has a lot more value than most people can perceive until they have been active in it for several weeks.
Brad this a great post that breaksdown the benefits. I joined in June of last year, shy about starting and oh my gosh.."I'm so glad I stepped up and got involved!" Active Rain is the best marketing tool there is for anyone in the real estate field.
Just yesterday I converted another lead into a home buyer. They were searching the net in my area last week, and called straight through from my outside blog and said " can you help us?" Music to my ears! "
It's been two+ months on AR and I've learned so much from so many great people including you Brad!
I've had a blast on active rain and it's already brought in business, what's not to like. Great list of stuff that I'll re -read and give to the folks who are on the edge of what's next.
Thanks Brad for this post. It is clear and concise and gets the message out. Well done
Brad, the numbers are astounding! Thanks for sharing! And just like Steve, I've also been on for only 2+ months. And I've learned so much from you! Thank you! And I've also learned so much from other AR members! Especially from Katrina Madewell and The Somers Team who both got me on here! And, of course, MANY other AR members, too, who've not only welcomed me, but gave me great advice! I don't know what took me so long to join! I've been familiar with AR for a couple of years! Why did it take me so long to join! Well, I'm on my way now! And in return, I'm willing to share with other new ones what I've learned.
I have been on here about 2 years and LOVE IT. I love waking up to my cup of coffee & AR every morning.
Brad - I am amazed that AR hasn't grown faster as a place for all real estate agents, as well as lenders, home inspectors, etc. I have found it to be a great resource for information, and have met some really great people.
Brad: Great explanation of the benefits available to a rainmaker. Also a great place to point anyone who may not fully understand why they should be knocking folks over to take advantage of the rainmaker upgrade.
Active Rain is such a good place to be. I have learned more from Active Rain since November of 2008, than I have in many of the classes I've taken over the past 5 to 6 years. All of the information you need is on AR.
OMG - I am so sorry John, I accidentally deleted your comments, I'm calling you now..
Not to worry. I just want to tell you that as a new AR member and neophyte blogger in a rather incongruit niche, relative to the RE industry as a whole, I am very impressed with the hands on nurturing and leadership you've extended to us. In fact I must say that everything Il've learned about blogging I've learned directly from you and consider you my #1 mentor like it or not.
I have been repeatedly impressed with your late night replies to my questions, even once on a Friday evening about 10pm when I emailed you on an issue you responded in just minutes. And then yesterday (Saturday) you responded to me just a short time after I emailed you. Maybe I shouldn't be telling these stories but then I'm sure anyone who's had the opportunity to exchange with you has had similar experiences.
Don't you have life? Just kidding I know your very close to your family and are involved with a lot of activities just from the few conversations we've had. But like that old adage "If you want to get something done give the task to a busy person". Don't forget if you're ever in our neck of the woods don't get a hotel room. We would love to have you as a guest at our little beach in Leucadia. You'd love it.
Thanks Again,
John
Hello Brad, this is good to hear. As always a great post today.
Patricia
I joined in Jan.2007 and don't remember this. Do you need to join this to w2rite blogs in the Localism sections"What's going on in ...." ?
It seems like I am going to need to start using you as a resource, Brad! Thanks for the advice.
Brad - When I started AR I was in the first 5 or 10,000 members. My blogging started paying off almost immediately. From referrals to consumers I can truly say for a long while I stopped putting stamps on envelopes. Since joining AR my love for the platform has grown. I have not only gained valuable friendships, referrals, clients but a vast amount of education I would have spent thousands on anywhere else.
Being a member of Active Rain creates a snowball effect. Sort of like a listing leads to a buyer and a buyer back to a listing, AR creates the same snowball effect of : a blog leads to a consumer, the consumer leads to a referral and always back to another consumer. Both buyers and sellers are looking for " internet savvy " Realtors because they have learned this is how to buy and sale Real Estate. Active Rain is not only a one stop shopping for the consumer but it can and will become if used correctly the biggest tool a Realtor or alike could ever invest in.
I would be lost without Active Rain !
So great to know I belong to a great community! Thanks for the hard work!
Just discovering by reading other comments. What fantastic opportunities present themselves!
Brad, Excellent post. Thanks for sharing. Once I was Active Rainmaker, but didn't have time to explore and make use of it. When I absolutely find time to explore and make good use of it, I'll be happy to become rainmaker once again.
Brad, I'm reviewing all the great info you've posted. I hope to meet you tomorrow in Phoenix.
Rich - looking forward to meeting you, make sure you come up and introduce yourself to me.
Hopefully you can hang out for the AR Gathering after too. :-)
Brad, Thank you for the useful information.
I'm new to activerain and it's great to have people like yourself post this information.
I'm looking forward to see more clients come to me through activerain.
Martin - Congrats on joining the community, welcome aboard. If you need anything at all or there is any way we can make your experience a better one here, please don't hesitate to let myself or any of our ream know. Great to have you here. :-)
Hey Brad... I do have a couple of things....
I would like to know how to get my twitter and face book on both blogs AR and my outside page with the widgets or what ever they are...
and how do people subscribe to me on the outside blog so they know when i have posted something
and I still dont understand why how you get the gold stars... several of my posts have been featured with a gold star ...but I guess you need to be featured under the active rain banner not groups...
also on my home page... it says one less psot than on the blog page... don't know if that means anything at all but it is kind of weird... so one will say 102 posts and the other says 101... no big deal but just wondering why...
thanks for everything... I have really enjoyed my experience here on AR I feel like I have learned a lot and have a viable place to go for answers to my questions... I come to AR first before any other site to get answers to everything from tech stuff to how to be a better Realtor/broker...
AR has energized me to take another look at things and be pro-active in every part of my business...especially advertisng... the Nature and Marketing contest was great and the Neighborhood one taught me so much! SO thanks a million!
Hi Debra - there are a few ways you can accomplish this. Rather than responding here with the directions on the various ways, a phone call to you might be more in order, this way I can do a "needs analysis" and help you set it up exactly how you want it. I can explain the rest on our call. Be listening for your phone to ring momentarily. :-))
Thank you for the information on Rainmaker. I have been blogging for a while but never checked it out. Now I will
Scott - let me know if you need any help or if you have any questions. :-)
I must admit that I'm one of those who signed up for active rain, set up a bit with local info, then forgot about it for a while. I have been a rainmaker since the circular badge came out but never set up an outside blog. Now I need to catch up on how to get my blog "out there" and do some serious and consistant work on it.
Brad -- Did you repost this just for me? =)
I found this yesterday, actually, while I was scouring the site trying to find a way to fix my blog problems. This is a terrific post and is now bookmarked.
Thanks!
Aaron - you could say that I did repost this just for you! Actually, I have received numerous calls and email these past few weeks requesting more information about the RainMaker membership. I'm hoping this will help all those inquiry minds that "want to know!" :-))
NYC RainCamp had a great turnout.
Look for many of these folks who aren't already, to become our next RainMaker members.
#1 reason, closings and lots of them. Starting to lose count of the business this has provided me with.
Can't argue with the results!
Thanks for the post. Lots of good stuff here!
Patricia/Seacoast NH
Active Rain has a wealth of knowledge in real estate. I have learned a lot from other members' contributions. Even without generating business in the first few months, what I have learned has more than exceeded my expectations. Thanks to the AR team for all your support!
I'm so glad Active Rain came along and that my daughter convinced me to jump in early on. You are a life saver and a business saver. I look forward to many happy years on Active Rain.
C'mon be a Rainmaker! It is such a great thing to be! The tools and resources that are here for you at AR make it worth it each and every day!!
Great outline of the enormous resource activerain is for all real estate pros and even for the non-real estate pro like me! As I said in the past and I'll say it again...Much more than the price of admission! :-)
Brad - Did you do this post at 37,000 feet too? lol
It was great to meet finally and I know you know how we feel about this place call Active Rain.... Excellent job.. Only wished we had some more time to hang out and talk... So many people so little time...
Brad,
I'm one of those RainMakers who touted my ROI after just 7 months as a RainMaker. Without doubt,
RainMaker is the best marketing investment I have ever made. Period.
Brad, YOU and ActiveRain rock!!! Great post BTW. I love this place and absolutely hate it when I miss a day, and believe me, that hardly ever happens.
Wow it's all there free for the taking. Only works if you use it.
When I first heard about ActiveRain, I was not a believer. I couldn't understand what the benefits were. I understand now, and I'm a better agent for it (with more business!)
Hi Brad,
Thanks for confirming all of this. I've made tons of great pals at The Rain, including you :-)
Tomorrow the new college semester begins, and as I've done for the past two semesters, I will have a session where I pull Active Rain up right in the classroom, showing these brand new agents the power of the rain as they venture out to make their millions!
Hugs,
Tamara
Active Brad, woohoo, what a wonderful summary of the Rainmaker benefits. You are such a good ambassador/proponent of the network.
Am still pretty new to this but am loving it and learning from it. I can definitely see where it's headed. The handwriting is on the wall. Thanks for everything!
Brad:
You were always helpful to me.
Thanks
Richard
500 views per month! Wow...and the 80% figure fo consumers is interesting also!
I'm waiting...hoping there is enough action for you folks to come with Raincamp. If not....a nice little vacation for all! In any event, my success is attributed first and foremost...to my membership on ActiveRain....This has been the most productive and memorable time of my life...spent here....and there's more to come! .....I can honestly say....because of ActiveRain...I survived the storm ....in the Rain.
Brad.. Glad to see this post back on the top of the board... Great information for everyone.
Hi Brad, AR is how I start and end my day! I love it! :)
Brad, you have concisely outlined the benefits of ActiveRain. I have been using AR for over 8 months now and it has changed my approach to learning, networking and real estate marketing.
I know I've already learned a bunch about how to be a better agent. It's a great resource.
Sally - just fyi... your comment was the final inspiration I needed for my next post... "RainMaker Danced For RAIN!"
Mahalo Nui Loa~
Great outline of what a rainmaker gets. I have not done this yet so I am currently researching the information. Thanks Brad!
I am still waiting to take the plunge. But not long, I am waiting for my new website to be up and touch up a few things.
Brandon - let me know when your site is up and running, I'd love to check it out. Thanks :-)
I just noticed the update post. Is there any way for previously grandfathered in rainmakers to get that status back? I've been out of real estate & off of AR for several months, due to having a baby and then travelling to be with my dad as he took chemo, and just got back on and noticed that I am now limited to members only posts now.
Raine - contact Steven Graham at ActiveRain and see if they can work something out for you. You'll find his contact info at http://activerain.com/about. Tell him I sent you and explain the situation, I'm sure something can be worked out. Good luck. :-)