I see a lot of comments on AR about not being able to "keep up with it all". The fact that you're spending your time on AR and commenting to the point that you have hundreds of thousands of points (or wish to have that many) shows that you have some misplaced energy. Luckily there are a few AR bloggers that are kind enough to educate the unlearned, but why not try to educate yourself. So here are my steps to gaining your real estate career/blogging independance:
1) Step back from AR a little. If you're using AR as your main source of real estate education, blogging, friendship, and advertising than you should open your eyes a little more. AR is an amzing tool, but just as you wouldn't try to beat a nail into a board with a screwdriver or tighten a bolt with a hammer, you have to use the tool correctly to get the proper results.
2) Get an "outside" blog. You need a blog that shows your professionalism and commitment to this business as well as one that gives off a personal side of yourself and helps people get to know you. Note: this is not permission to blog about the death of your pet or any other such nonsense, I said professionalism.
3) Open a feedreader account. Google is probably the most common, I use Yahoo, and there are several others. They all do the same thing, it's just an interface and personal preference choice.
4) Subscribe to other blogs. Subscribe to your competition and any other agents who you find interesting and on top of their game. There are also hundreds of blogs about blogging and real estate that you try out.
In the beggining take it slow. Spend a few minutes each day reading the latest posts that catch your eye. Start with a just a few websites and spread from there. If you stumble on a new site with a good post, subscribe and see if they write more, if it turns out that it was a fluke and you haven't seen anything interesting or educational from them in a few weeks, take them off your list.
Here are my personal favorite blogs to get you started:
Problogger - Focused on ad based web profit, but still has some extremely useful information for all bloggers
Agentgenius - for agents, by agents - good information and well written articles on the latest RE technology
Real Estate Tomato - Lots of good guest posts as well as simple explanations of complex ideas
SEOptimize - SEO tips for bloggers to show up higher in the search results
Copyblogger - Better writing = better articles = more clients
This is not a complete list, but I've started you out with a taste of what's out there in several different arenas of blogging. These 5 sites have never dissappointed me and will also lead you to many other good sites. I guess I should warn you that there are no points for commenting on their sites, but you may find a personal reward for adding your two cents and continuing a good online conversation.
Tip: Don't limit your learning to simply the content of the article, but also it's layout, title, pictures, links, etc.
PS - Didn't mean to get on such an Anti-AR rant, I really enjoy this site, but think that a lot of agents are limiting themselves by focusing solely on it. I guess we'll see if the AR Gods approve and feature the article, but I'd like to think that they want you to be the best agent you can be even if that includes leaving their servers for a few brief moments to experience the rest of the web and share it with their other users.
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Thanks for the info, between my live and my job and AR I really do not have much time left.
Well, enough to sign up for a gym yesterday. . . . .
AR is working great for me. so if it is not broken, don't fix it.