You just joined Active Rain after reading some posts and now you are ready to jump in and start participating in the Active Rain Community. 
So you spend time doing research on a post to write, you spend 2 hours writing your first post on your blog, you hit the publish button with sweaty palms nervous about that very first time!
Then you sit there at your computer refreshing your home page to see if you get any comments.
Alas! No one comes! Your post becomes lonely and you wonder why no one appreciated all your hard work, doesn't anyone appreciate what you just went through?
So the question becomes;
What should you do first?
Comment on other member blogs or write more content?
people will come to your blog to reciprocate to find it empty and void, they will move on and most likely forget to come back again.
people will not even know you exist ( except for a few that may see one of your very catchy and interesting titles on the Active Rain reader board for those split seconds it appears there).
It is like the age old question: what came first the chicken of the egg?
The very first thing to do is set emotions aside and do not take the response personal if you are writing valuable and good content.
The next thing that is very important to remember is that if you are writing content for your local market like market reports, information on the parks in your market, news from your community- those posts are just not going to yield a lot of comments, if any from members on Active Rain. But that should not deter you from writing this local content because the consumers, the sellers and the buyers in your market and from around the world will begin to read your blog eventually.
The consumers very rarely comment on the blogs that they are reading.
- The best way to gauge whether people are reading your blog is to go to your Active Rain statistics page and see your views for different posts.
- I also love to use mybloglog tracking because it gives me great ideas of what to write about based on the clicks and views that I can track there precisely down to the very words they used to find my blog.
- Another cool tool is to use the Clustrmaps to visually see all the people reading your blog from around the world.
Sidebar: We use this as a listing tool and it is very impressive!
Now of course if you are using Active Rain to just post your listings and write ads then don't expect any response from members or consumers.
You are NOT going to be getting any referrals if you use Active Rain and as a Dump Site for your listings.
You make friends who come to your blog and comment by commenting on other their blogs; meaningful comments that add value.
You keep those friends by writing articles that add value to the community, individuals and groups on your blog.
So the answer is that you must do both simultaneously.
What I do is that I comment on blogs in between phone calls, waiting for water to boil, in between activities to get at least 10 comments in per day.
Now when I first started blogging on Active Rain I made 30 to 50 comments most days and I made some of my best friends ever by just doing this.
I have friends that I can call on any time any day to come to my aid and I can depend on them to handle any referral I send their way!
Then since I am a night owl after everything is quiet in my home, my son cuddles up to me and I write the content for my blog.
I write 10 posts per week; 5 for Real Estate, Localism and Community information and 5 for my coaching business, helping the agents here to blog better, work smarter and follow their dreams to become all that they can be. I add a good amount of personal posts for transparency and building the relationship with the consumer and agent.
Do what is comfortable for you. Most of all have fun and enjoy the journey!
What Comes First? The Comment or the Blog Post? by Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset- Realtors®, CIPS, ABR, SFR, GRI, REOS
Great newbie blog and thanks for the info!
Good stuff here Nes...I don't have the same blogging formula. Mine is 3 to 1 personal passions over business. Remember the rule on sales. Know me, like me and trust me. I want people to know me and to like me...the business posts move to the trust me phase. This is a different formula than yours', but I like yours.
Larry- Hi there, Katerina here, I am the blogger of the team:)
In that mix of 10 posts are personal posts, some for agents and some for consumers. I was just trying to be general. I should go back and change that.
If you go through my posts 800+ of them, I think you will find a lot of personal posts! Hardly any market reports, I hate those, too boring, not a numbers person!
And here I thought it was just me! Thanks for an informative post for us "newbies". You kind of start taking it personally when you see posts with 45,973 comments and you get exactly, ah, er, ....none!
It's getting better. Hopefully I will!
Rick- It takes time to build the relationships, I have some tricks up my sleeve to get that done. I will share those in a post next week. Stay tuned, subscribe to my blog and follow the path! :) Don't give up.
Hi Katerina, great post - loved it so much tagged for feature because I think it has such great advice about putting yourself out there for comments, getting to know people and then having people come back to your blog (while providing great content) to keep them there and wanting them to return. Great points on stats too. Well done! Hope all is going well with your upcoming webinar - I'm going to have to participate in one one of these days. ~Anne Marie
Consider yourself "subscribed" and don't worry. I have been blessed with the underastanding that everyone has a right to my opinion and it's freely given! =0)
Katerina, you are so right---gotta do both and do both a lot!
Rick- That is a good one. An agent friend of mine, had this on her email: everyone is entitled to my opinion:)
Rick- BTW- thanks for subscribing!
Anne- Thanks! That was nice of you:) The SEO webinar starts on Wednesday, I keep getting better and better stuff that there is no way that I am going to be able to cover it all in 9 weeks. I am very excited we have a great group. There are still 6 spaces open so if you want to change your mind, you are more than invited:)
Charles- Yes, a lot! If you put in the effort and the time you will reap great rewards just as we have.
Robert- and thank you for making a comment:)
Nestor & Katerina,
I actually had some LoL moments while reading this,...thanks for reminding not to take this blogging stuff too seriously. :-) !
Katerina, again thanks for the great information. I am going to ad the cluster maps to my page, thanks for the links.
I think it is interesting that some people do think that AR is a "dumping site" for listings just to rack up points. I know a few, but if people really want to get the full experience and benefit of AR they need to participate in the community.
Katerina,
You have summed up what I have believed all along about AR...and yes, I have made such great friends.....Audrey who just commented....Debe Maxwell an absolute southern angel....and in fact Debe spoke so highly of you that I just had to find out more. Thanks for the information. And when I had a localism issue, Bob Steward took time out of his busy day to solve my problem and found that we have a great state rivalry to have lots of fun with! I truly believe that AR has a great deal to offer, but that it is a reciprocal relationship...you must give to receive...
Audrey- You know I used to get upset about that, but I don't anymore because if any of my competitors do that, I say, go ahead, hee, hee! It won't hurt me any and they won't get the calls!:)
Lori- Yes, you must give to receive. Givers gain, always, it is a law of our universe. I am glad that you have made some great friends. I am blessed because of finding Active Rain. And Bob is awesome! I am Debe's coach. I am glad she speaks of me in a good way:)
Angela- You are welcome! If you can't have fun in blogging or in business, then don't do it, that is my motto. Life is but a twinkle in time so I want to make sure I make the highest and best use of it.
Debbie- You are welcome! I love the clustrmaps. Have fun with it!
Katerina,
Thank you for the post! I appreciate the help learning the ropes! I have been commenting but wondered if you have any thoughts on how much to comment. Is there etiquette to follow for how short to keep your comments? I would hate to have someone mistake my interest for hijacking their hard work!
One of the things I've noticed is you reply individually to each comment. Others may reply to several at one time. What is your strategy with the individual comment reply?
Jay
Great advice. .thanks
It really is the chicken and the egg.I see it too, I do encourage folks to read and comment to build relationships but putting at least an introductory post up is important. I hate to go to someones post to reciprocate and nothing is there.
Thanks for the post. I started slow, just making comments and then got the courage to write my first blog and really have enjoyed both sides. I was very nervous posting my first blog and waiting for the first comment and now I'm much more relaxed but still learning. AR is a great resource where people seem more than willing to help a fellow agent. Have a great day.
Katerina, very informative to all ! Sounds like you have it down to a science which is great. You are right, a new person (and an older person) needs to do both... stay in touch and make connections via comments and publish some good and meaningful content along the way. I am going to look up that clustrmaps info - sounds very cool and I can see why that would look great for a listing presentation. And I need to go on our mybloglog more often to check the stats ! ~ Chris
Katerina, Great & timely post for me personally, I was just feeling what you wrote about in your first few paragraphs. Thanks for the encouragement.
Greg
Have you ever commented when you were logged out !! LOL
Greg
I approach my post to comments on my schedule and the mood. Having posted at varied times of the day, I have found that I achieve my best responses to post when there are more AR on-line. I also have expanded my Groups and try to tailor posts to fit some groups as well. It always amazes me on what strikes an interest. When I have finished some posts I think well, that was fun but really not that inspired and yet bingo lots of responses, etc. Then on some posts where I really felt like it was informative, thoughtful, inspired, very little response interest. So now I just go with the creative mood hits and don't try to worry about the responses. I feel that my posts are just as much to satisfy me as it is to get comments. Good luck!
Thanks for this info on tracking and I appreciated your larger type on the article- much easier to read than the comment section font size.
Katerina,
This is some very good advice for all of us to follow, whether we are new or seasoned bloggers. Thank you for your advice.
Katerina,
You are an amazing person! This is a wonderful newbie post and I would like to mention to any newbie blogger reading this, that 800+ posts is a feat in itself. (and not necessarily one that everyone ever gets to) The idea is to feel comfortable here with peers and still write good information for your potential clients.
A thoughtful post for newcomers and for those around a while longer. I wasn't aware of all those tracking tools so thanks for that.
Katerina, I try to keep up with commenting, still putting in about 40 a day...and let my own posts go. I have never been able to find a balance because there is only so much time in the day! Great post and congratulations on a well deserved star.
Excellent summary of AR for newbies! I am training a group of new members right now and will forward a link to this post to all of them. Great job!
Answer: The comment. A newbie first browses the network to see what kinds of articles are being posted so they can relate that to their first blog post.
To blog or not to blog is not the question but the answer
Katerina,
Thanks for a great post. As a newbie to AR, this is very helpful info. AR is such a great resource for agents. I hate that it has taken me so long to become active.
This is a great post (not only for newbies) and you have some great information here. Also, I admire you for consistently writing ten posts per week, that is awesome.
It seems like every time I am on AR, I pickup something new to learn about, explore and utilize. I didn't know about cluster maps, what a cool thing to use and see, and it can help reinforce to us (and potential clients) of the investment we have made in garnering exposure for our clients and as well as internally, to expand our knowledge, influence and potential business.
While I hold six professional designations, always strive to be a true student of the industry, learn all I can on regular basis, take way more continuing education classes than is required, I actually learn more on Active Rain than I do anyplace else, so blogging is much more than about garnering points or being noticed, it's truly about increasing our knowledge and sharing our knowledge, and if these two things happen (in my opinion), everything else will take care of itself.
Great post and thanks for the tips Nestor and Katerina.
Thanks for the great tips, it sounds like you have a good schedule set up.
Posting (in theory) always comes first. But sometimes I have to warm up to AR and get my metnal juices flowing before I blog away.
I love you quote about the dump iste for listings. It seems there is more and more of that. Of course these people are not getting much value out of the site.
Katerina, This is such wonderful advice and it's where I think the upgraded blog comes in to play too. Now I can easily check my posts by community so I know where I need to spend some more "local" time but I like to mix it up with personal things and community events too. Thanks again.
Great advice and good reading for all levels of experience at AR. I find that I can get lost in AR if I'm not careful and can while away a morning, afternoon, and/or evening. So many informative posts and so may interesting people.
Katerina - I wish this was a post when I first joined ActiveRain. It took some trial and error before figuring out what works. And I'm still trying almost 2 years later...although I think I have a better handle on it all. Thanks for laying it all out in an easy to read and understand way. I'm pretty sure the newbies appreciate you!
Thanks for all of the advice. My advice would be to use AR to read, learn and connect and post when you have somehting worth posting about. Don't force it. Good post.
Posting and commenting go hand in hand, and each empowers the other. I try to keep a balance between the two.
Great post with good information. I remember only too well writing that first post, being soooo proud of it and having ummm....a couple people read and comment on it. But, I have continued on with a mix of business posts (market updates and general area info) and some personal business posts. Have to admit that I haven't mixed in any really personal posts yet...but I can see that would be valuable too! Thanks!
Katerina and Nestor, Funny thing! I was half way through the post and not only thought of the answer that you added further down (doing both simultaneously), but realized you hit it spot on with the feeling and emotions of being a new member. Does that mean I understand? I suppose.....either, this is a great tutorial post with some cool stuff about tracking. Thanks for sharing
Bo
Katerina - What a wonderful post. You are always so very generous to share your ideas!
Everyone! Thanks so much for your comments! There are some awesome comments here so if you are commenting please read all the comments people have supported this post with. I will start to get back to you tonight and tomorrow night. I can't believe it, but I just woke up at 12 p.m. today!!!! I woke up to a star on this post and 45 comments already, what a way to make my day! I have been going to sleep at 3 and 4 a.m. due to the same IRS audit that has been going on 9 months now.
I am going to work on my SEO TO THE TOP webinar right now. I want to make sure the value is underpromised and overdelivered- then I will come back and start to return your awesome comments.
Know that I appreciate every single one of you and your comments.
Good tips for the newbie. After you get some good articles (blogs) posted, then I would say comment first, then post your blog (quickly). This way, you are at the top of the posts because you posted your blog last.
Regina P. Brown
Katerina - Thanks for sharing your tips! They're good for newbies and not-so-newbies... :)
Blog if you have more time and material. Commit when you just have 5 to 10 min.
As always, fantastic post! When I started, I really tried to just comment on as many blogs as possible and also just follow my AR statistics page. It keeps the morale up! :-)
Katerina,
Thanks for the new sites to visit! Your blogs ALWAYS have wonderful, informative STUFF!!!
I'm very impressed by how you manage your time!
Kathy Opatka, Re/Max Premier Properties, OCEAN CITY,MARYLAND
Katerina - You have been one of the best contributor here on Active Rain and I've learned a lot. I've learned over time that what's working is that you have to be comfortable with, even with market reports, which I love to do. Nevertheless, you are right when you say "you must do both simultaneously" - no doubt about it.
Hello, Katerina!
Thanks for this post- I agree, it's all about doing both. I truly enjoyed you sharing how you make time for blogging and commenting throughout your busy day. Consistency is what it is all about. Have an awesome weekend!
Wow, what a lot of great tips in one POST - in this instance, the POST comes first! But I hear what you are saying about consistency & a balance between both.
Dear Nestor and Katrina,
I wish I had read this post a year ago.
Thanks for sharing.
Barbara
REblogged you - this is a great piece on getting started. I'm sharing with others...
Jeff- THANKS for the REBLOG!!! Love that Reblog flag!:)
Hi Katerina,
This is definitely worthy of a re-blog, but that's already been done twice. So, instead, I congratulate you on your worldwide audience! After reading your comment below, I looked at your map. Very very impressive!
Another cool tool is to use the Clustrmaps to visually see all the people reading your blog from around the world.
Your posts are always good and interesting to read. Whatever you are doing it is working. All the best.
Among the blogging and the answering blogs, and the checking in on Facebook, we need to sell some real estate. :-) Hopefully all the time online is paying off.
Sarah in Nashville
I started reading your post a few weeks ago. They have been very helpful. I agree with everything you stated, especially the last sentence..... "Do what is comfortable for you. Most of all have fun and enjoy the journey"!
Thanks Katerina - I often think of which comes first, and then since I could not figure it out, I thought I should just do both and do them as good as I can and as often as I can... That is all I can say. Although right now I am having some trouble in figuring out how to make the text colorful. Do you have any suggestions or blog tutorial for it? Thanks!
I remember when I first joined and did not understand - I thought it was because my content was horrible or something...this post will be great for the newbies!
Hi Katerina, This indeed is the great dilemma for newbies. I advise them to start with a couple of posts with great content, put attention-grabbing headlines on them, and then go commenting like crazy. As they start reading more posts by others they will get ideas for more posts of their own. And since a lot of commenting is reciprocated, they will develop a following after awhile. I am disappointed when I try to comment on a commenter's blog and find out they haven't posted anything yet.
Thanks. That was helpful for a new blogger like me.
Thank you so much for these valuable tips; I am new to Active Rain and need as much as advice as I can get!!!
-Karin :)
I got a total kick out of that post. That is exactly how my active rain experience started out. By the way you are right you have to like it or you will never make it past the intial phase of no comments
Bruce- The clustrmaps that you see on our blog is just since December 2008. They archive every year in December or else the map would look like a huge red blurb. You should have seen the map March to December last year in 2008. It was very impressive. We printed it out and we put that in our listing packages. We have a lot from Europe and South America.
To be honest and fair, the views we get from Australia and New Zealand are mostly for people that live there that are searching for Wellington New Zealand, not Wellington Florida. Of course, I have made some friends down under because of that too!
Katerina - You set a fine example and many will benefit from this post. The key is to do what's comfortable, no sense in getting overwhelm and then disappearing.
EVERYONE! We just got back from the Battle of the Sexes Horse show tonight, I had no idea it was going to be an all night affair. What fun it was, I took video and photos and will post on it next week. I am going to go through the comments and answer the comments with questions first.
Great post here.. tha magic question.. Hmmm all depends.. some great post area created from a comment
Hi Katerina~ Great post and like the others, I would have loved to have read this earlier too! But, I have figured it out slowly but surely :)
As always, thanks for the tips! I had not heard of cluster maps, I am going to check that out.
Katerina, you're so right about commenting throughout the day. If you do as you go, before you know it, you've done at least 10 or more. I like Susan's suggestion about doing a couple of great posts so there's something for people to comment on when they reciprocate. This should be one of the first posts in the AR log of blogs for newbies!
Katerina,
You hit the nail squarely on the head! Cyber relationships become real relationships, and we make friends we can count on by doing what you've laid out here. I can't imagine I'd ever come to Palm Beach without calling you and Nestor! Speaking of which, do they still have the horse show in Wellington at the end of January? If they do, I'm looking for a Localism post! :)
Mike in Tucson
One more thing... until I googled Wellington, FL, I had no idea that this was true:
Hey Katerina-Your post is chuck full of great information and resources, thank you! Best to you in 2009!
Another thoughtful and very helpful post! This is great help and advice for the A/R Newbee.
Katerina, Nestor - good advice as usually. You definitely write the posts which your readers and friends enjoy.
Katerina - I like the question posed and the answer(s) given. I don't (most times) have a rhyme or reason when I post. Typically, if the mood strikes, I write. A balanced formula is simple, yet a nice idea to stay relevant, diverse, & shall I say... Not Boring! Which gives me the idea to start writing a series of Mortgage Posts on Should you Lock or Float on Interest Rates. Those are about as fun to read as the obituaries. It would be a challenge to make them interesting and somewhat readable, though.
On a gentle sidenote, when are we going to see this Nestor character blog;)
Thanks, I will use a lot of it
Thanks Newbie
Katerina, very well done. I learn something from you on every post it seems. The first thing an agent tells me is that they don't have the time for all this. I tell them, do you sit in front of the TV at night and watch sitcoms that you enjoy or just lilling time? Try sitting at your computer for a half hour and it becomes much easier. I like late at night also when it is quiet.
Nestor and Katerina, I have always appreciated your blog posts as they inspire me to get better at sharing ideas and writing with purpose. Keep up the great work and happy blogging to you!
Katerina, good info especially for the newcomer who wonders what to do first and how it all works. I must say you certainly do write a lot...10 post a week, WOW!
It just dawned on me that you have the same last name as Bill...are the two of you related?
Gene- Bill and I are not related. Nestor Gasset, my husband, has one T in his name, and is Cuban. I don't think that Bill looks or is Cuban:) Nestor's roots are French and Spanish.
Jason Sardi- You will never see Nestor blog:) He is a talker not a blogger. As it is, I have to edit his letters. He knows his strengths and me being the good coach that I am:) teach that we work on our strengths and delegate our weaknesses. My strength is writing, his strength is sales on the phone and in person, that is why we make a good team. His strength is follow up on our database, something I can not stand! My strength is in blogging and internet marketing. I do all our online stuff. He makes sure the expired letters go out, the houses get shown, etc. It works for us. :) He does give me ideas to write about and hands me the news articles to go and investigage on for Localism:)
Everyone- I came home from the horse show last night and ended up sick in the middle of the morning like at 3 a.m. I slept all the way through the morning, something I rarely do. I did not even get up til 1 p.m. and still feel under the weather. So I am behind on comments today. I will address your questions like I said last night as soon as I can get to them. Thank you for all your comments.
Jen- Your question is:
Is there etiquette to follow for how short to keep your comments? I would hate to have someone mistake my interest for hijacking their hard work!
Be kind, not offensive. Be real, not fake. Add value and answers. The length is not an issue. In fact I like the longer comments that really add value or make you think. It shows a sincere comment.
What I don't like and is also against AR rules and guidelines, is spammy comments, selling their own wares on my post, diverting my readers to their blogs or putting me or any of my readers down. Those are tacky. I don't delete them because it shows their true colors so everyone else will see them too. :)
Good question for a new post I will write next week.
Thanks, Katerina.... I know I haven't been commenting enough, and will definitely start doing more. I don't want to comment just be commenting. But it only takes moments to say more than "great blog." I very seldom read one that I don't find helpful!
Terrific post, Katerina! I'm writing this comment watching TV - not news! Empty brain candy movie reviews!
Thanks for the comments and I agree with the lack of replies from listing posts, but the listings dominate google searches and the number of people that click on them is absolutely outstanding......so there has to be a plus to branding in doing this.
One of the things I've noticed is you reply individually to each comment. Others may reply to several at one time. What is your strategy with the individual comment reply?
Jay
Jay- I have been doing that for a long time now. It is to edify each individual comment and make them feel special. I can not do this all the time. There are sometimes where I have to for the sake of time just list each comment in one comment block. But I do try to give each person their own response back.
Carole- While you do get google juice for commenting and a link back to your blog you need to focus on that blog post for business. While making comments is important to building the relationships here they do not do that much, althought they do some, to getting you clients from consumers. I always make sure that I am giving good content and commenting on other blogs first. I will then comment back to those who comment on my blog as time permits.
I always say your blog shouldn't be about comments, it should be about business and a commission check. If you are getting lots of comments and no business, than you need to rethink your blog!
Wow, you two, great article! I am a newbie on Active Rain and a newbie on blogging. I am trying to make every effort to get on and read some of these articles and respond but to be honest, its very time consuming and I don't know where all of you find the time to write such great articles, read and then blog! Thanks so much for your article!
Eve
Sycamore Real Estate, Georgia
Thanks guys for the idea. new to AR and ready to make it happen. Not so good on the techie stuff though. couldn't find instructions for AR on the clustermaps site. HAve my HTML code but not sure how to integrate into my page. Thoughts?
Charles- OK, you go to settings on your home page and add the html code to 'blog description' and paste your html code there. Katerina
Eve- It is all about having a plan. I also do not work with buyers and run most of my business right from my computer. I work with listings. We are a listing office. We do have a buyers agent. We carry anywhere from 40 to 50 listings at any time. Without the help of my husband and partner, Nestor, I would never be able to do all that I do. He does all the running around so I can be at home. I also homeschool. So my hands are full. But I spend about 2 to 4 hours per day on Active Rain.
Todd- and if you can get both more power to you! I get both but that is because I run 2 businesses from Active Rain, our real estate business and my coaching practise. That means the comments are very important to me to build those relationships so I can help more agents through my coaching and webinars.
Yet another Excellent Post! Wish you had written this back when I first joined ActiveRain, but it still very helpful. You guys are awesome!
Katerina,
I do agree with you. For agents that are not comfortable blogging I recommend to them that they start by reading and commenting. Just by doing this regularly you become more comfortable with publishing conversation which eventually opens up to a comfort of beginning your own conversations by blogging.
Thanks so much. your post is very informative. I am trying to get it all down but I need to take some baby steps. Its hard to get 10 post in a week. I am working on the 10 comments a day. Thanks again.
Rebecca- While that is what most agents do that are too uncomfortable to blog right away I do not recommend it because nothing is more frustrating than to see someone comment on my blog and then I go to reciprocate and they have nothing on their blog. They should do at least 2 posts, one to say they are new and another one to intro themselves if that is all they can get out. If they just read and comment, the relationship is kinda one way and they risk not being able to build on relationships. If I see one post, I will comment on it and tell the person not to give up and to keep blogging.
This was very helpful to me, I went and signed up for google analytics for my blog this morning after reading Brad's blog you referenced - not sure if I did it right, will regroup on it tomorrow or next day - too many meetings. Sometimes there just are not enough hours in the day... Thanks for helping all us newbies to have a faster learning curve, without people like you and Brad - I would be completely in the dark.
Your thoughtful and informative post shows why you get comments - you are a real class act!
This is terrific - I hope it was featured and plenty of newbies read it.