I've had many conversations with bloggers about Active Rain blogs vs. "real" blogs; i.e. a blog hosted by Wordpress or Livejournal.
As a contestant in the Virginia Real Estate Blog Brawl 2, I was even beginning to feel "amateur-ish" with my Active Rain blog as my entry.
After trading a few emails with Bob Stewart today, I must say that I feel better than ever about my Active Rain blog.
Did you know.......
Active Rain gets over 2 million unique visitors a month and over 8 million page views a month. Of those 2 million unique visitors, just over 85% of them come directly in from search engine queries. So, Active Rain has about 1.7 million visitors a month that are consumers landing on ActiveRain blog posts because of some search term they have typed into one of the major search engines. The overwhelming majority of this traffic is landing directly on a blog post written by one of the Active Rain members.
What else do I like about my Active Rain blog?
Well, I get comments! I have written for months on my other, outside blogs without a single comment. I know they are receiving traffic; however, the comments have been slow to happen. It's lonely talking to youself for so long. I like the "instant gratification" I get from my Active Rain blog.
The community here support each other. While some people may be able to write into a black hole without any feedback, the majority of people need that feedback to keep going. I don't know the stats off the top of my head, but it's something like 97% of all blogs are abandoned in the first few months. The reason for that in my opinion is that if you think no one is reading, you're likely to stop writing.
My Active Rain blog doesn't cost me anything! With my Wordpress blogs, I have the expense of marketing them both with my time and money.
If I have a question or need help, I won't get sent to an on-hold queue. Someone ALWAYS seems to be available to help at Active Rain (thanks Brad Andersohn!)
There is also the whole networking effect inside ActiveRain. If you are blogging on ActiveRain, there is the likelihood that other professionals will be reading your blog and may refer business to you simply because they get comfortable with you as a person and a professional.
To me, the positives outweigh the negatives.
You can't do much customization to the Active Rain blog. Correct - however, they don't get overwhelming that way and look "junked" up.
You can't monetize the Active Rain blog. Well, you are probably right. But, I work as a real estate agent and that is my job. I have too many things to do to worry about making money from my blog. I am a professional real estate agent and trainer, not a professional blogger.
You don't own your Active Rain blog. Correct. But I do own my domain and have it "parked" at Active Rain. If I were ever unsatisfied, I could always move everything to a Wordpress blog.
So, there you have it. A blog is what YOU make of it. My blog has brought me incredible friendships, networking and business. I wouldn't change it for a thing!
Please don't forget to vote for your fellow Active Rain blogger, Tina in Virginia, in the semi-finals of the Virginia Real Estate Blog Brawl. You can vote now by clicking here. This Active Rain blogger really appreciates your support!
***UPDATE - THANKS TO YOUR VOTES, I HAVE MADE IT TO THE FINALS IN THE VAR REAL ESTATE BLOG BRAWL! VOTING WILL OPEN BACK UP TODAY, 11/26 AT 2PM EST. PLEASE VOTE! www.varbuzz.com
Tina in Virginia
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Tina Merritt and Assoc. can be reached at email: tina@tinamerritt.com or 757-287-6338.
Our Network consists of both buyer and listing specialists helping buyers and sellers in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson, Virginia.
