You'd be amazed at who reads your blogs.  Comments don't equal readers!  I had a Buyer walk into my office and shared that, on a cross country train, he read every.single.one.of.my.blog.posts.  He felt like he already knew me and trusted me.    And, I hear this over and over.  People check us out long before they reach out.   Don't be afraid to get personal.  This isn't a business only platform.  When I share recipes, I also talk about my listings with great kitchens.  People like to read about the local restaurants I visit - gives them a sense of the community.   Pet people love to read animal stories . . .   it is endless what we can share and connect with the world.  Have fun with it and you'll be surprised how people reach out to you and your business!

Joe, I'd suggest reading Bob Stewart's post on niche blogging.  Finding the right niche and concentrating your posts might be the quickest way to blogging results.

Blog!  Local blogs, topical blogs.  This site ranks well on Google (not as great as before, but it still provides great SEO).  Be active on ActiveRain!

Getting more home buyers and seller sign on AR.

I was surprised to find most the heaviest hitter blogs* do not often show up during internet search, especially the neighborhood home trends.  If you can be found on "Kirland, WA realtor" or "top agents". That is a result of hit hard with blogs or real estate info.  Then your phone will start ringing.

 Hitter= Url links. I have 100s of clicks internally on AR. But few people

can find me when they type in Silicon Valley Realtors, or San jose, CA real estate trends.  We are here to get our name out on the www.

Hope that helps,

Sam

 Kirkland, WA 

Posting blogs!  Answering questions?  Commenting on other peoples' posts?

Wow not sure if I can add anything more to these great recommendations and advice. My take is write consistently from your heart it shows if you are real or not and recognize that just because you might get only a few comments you could have a huge readership outside of Active Rain and that could make the difference of getting additional business or not....Endre

Blog, comment, network, market, promote, participate in the life of the community. 

Writing good content will get your business from the public. Developing relationships creates future business with other members. There are a lot of referrals sent through Activerain.

bringing your personality into your writing allows the audience and peers know more about you than a print ad can deliver. 

Old school.

Develop familiarity by posting blogs, acknowledging comments, answering questions.  But that only qualifies you.

Then create reason to pick up the phone and CALL one AR member a day. When a number appears in that flag next to your name at the top of the AR screen, an AR member is saying 'I'm home.' What a great way to start your day. By the way, the FLAG is also the REASON.

I do not believe I need to list all the benefits to you and the AR member for going old school and adding people touches to your networking..

Liz and Bill Spear suggested the perfect reading for you! Best to make a decision on your niche when making your business plan for 2016. You're starting in real estate at a perfect time..the beginning of a year and 2016 is going to be a great year in real estate!

Writing posts that speak to their avatars and drive them to their landing pages.

by posting blogs, they try to increase their SEO ranking, get techniques from others to do more business, get leads and ref's. , make friends, its quite a complete package actually. ps... (just dont critisize the point system :) )

Such great answers from the AR experts.  Thanks for posting such a sincere question!

Get out there and know other agents in other parts of the country.

Check ActiveRain University for webinars & posts.  Read, read and read.  You will learn so much from fellow members.

be active, use key words,  Long tail type and see what happens.  all content need to be relevant.  

The best way that I've found to use Active Rain for business is to blog on this platform, and share it on all of the others (FB, Twitter, G+, and our website).  People read and then people call.  Good luck!  

Blogging about your niche and building referral relationships are smart moves.

Lots of great answers here. You need to be known online and offline. Interaction with others in both "worlds" will get your name out there.

One of my friends/clients just  sent me a link for a local post about a neighborhood. It happened to be from a person on ActiveRain. 

By writing local posts.

Just networking! Did 2 refferrals last year and they turned out excellent! One was a listing referral and it sold immendiately. The other was a buyer referral and the buyer was under contract in under 10 days! Have a list of qualified agents for all pars of Florida and other areas!

Post.  Consistently and with content that brings contacts.     

Lots of blog posts; Neighborhood blogs, market reports, how to by and sell articles, etc.

Great question, as I was wondering the same! I'll take all this advice, too!

For me, it's mainly through blogging/SEO and then secondarily from local agents.  (I'm not a real estate agent).

Hi Joe interacting and posting authentic useful content. I received a call today from a lender in Orange County looking for her client for oceanfronts. She's been seeing me on Active Rain.

I have found localism posts generated some following for me among the public.

Good morning Joe. Blog like crazy, on AR and other sites as well. Become an expert in your area.

 Right now, I'm working on doing some niche blogging on this platform as well as my WordPress blog.

Joe Tunney - Localism Posts can generate business for many broker/agents here. And so is true for some market reports, too.

You already have received a bunch of good answers.  One more avenue, for some agents, is getting more referrals.  Get to know people here, and provide good information about your market.  Referrals could follow.

Edit.  Get a Rainmaker account.

I believe networking is a huge way agents and brokers create new business on activerain. 

I feel like as Realtors, you have to be a "Jack of all trades"....marketing, blogging (being a good writer), research, technology, community, networking, volunteering (for a cause you love) and that's not to mention being schooled and contracts.  I have a hard time getting it all in.

Writing quality content and a variety of information.  Not everyone is looking for the same thing all the time.  Sometimes we need light humor and sometimes serious market studies.  

This was such a great question!  I'm sorry I missed it the first time, but I'm glad to have a chance to catch up.

Sorry Joe Tunney i hit the wrong button & think I reported this as spam...lol...i was on my small device.

Wanted to share with you that you NEVER post from web site to AR...that is a huge no-no.  You write first on your web site & then do a modified change post on AR... You want to always direct traffic to your web site.  Blogging on condo complexes & neighborhoods will bring you business...do videos too & post on YTube.  Comment on otheres blog with good comments too.

Wow.  You really have received a lot of answers on this.  That was a good and direct question.