Why I Will Be at Raincamp Philadelphia
Active Rain has a special place in my heart with all the wonderful people I have met in the community - 
both bloggers and staff. With consistent blogging and learning over the years on the Active Rain platform with all of the incredible resources, the combination of building an effective blog really helped elevate Stephanie and I to be one of the top producing agents in Philadelphia in a short period of time. Further, that production lead to the opportunity to become part owner of RE/MAX Access in Northern Liberties. It is pretty amazing when I think about it !
Our initial goal several years ago was to "re-invent" ourselves through branding and enhanced exposure. We hired an amazing marketer and website genius who together worked with us to create our website The Somers Team. We were very happy with this, but at the same time, I kept on reading in industry magazines something about these "mysterious blogs" and kept wondering if this was something I could do ??? It was finally an article in Realtor.com or Broker Agent News that inspired me to go on Active Rain and check it out, as the article quoted an agent recommending this platform.
And once I went there, I was pretty much hooked. I immediately saw all of these blogs and all of these amazing topics. I was pretty much in awe. It did not take too long to set up an account and a profile. I do not recall how long it took before I did my first post - Vitality of the Philadelphia Real Estate Market - in June 2008, but what I do recall is getting those first comments with folks I did not know saying welcome to Active Rain and congrats on making that first blog post !
So after a few more posts I thought I was on to something, but my marketer did not think it was a good idea for me to blog !!! She was concerned that I had too many typos in the blogs, there were some grammar mistakes, she was concerned about the time commitment involved and how most blogs fizzle out and so forth and she just did not see it working out due to the risks involved. I, on the other hand, really had a vision, of combining The Somers Team with a blog . I felt it was necessary not to have just a static website but something that was more interactive or at least linked our website with a blog. I pushed her on it. And my wife Stephanie was very supportive. Her quote was simple: "Chris, if you want to do the blog, do the blog". So I did, and so did she. So now we both do it. And we both love it. And our marketer is glad that we did it ! And she loves it too !
What is amazing about it is that it has only been a little over 2 years since we have been doing the blog. Our content has grown enormously over that time period. What is even more incredible is how our business has grown over those 2 years through our blog. Countless buyers and sellers have become clients as a direct result of our blog or the blog was an important piece of the puzzle combined with the overall branding strategy with our main website, The Somers Team, and so forth.
So long story short ?
When there is an opportunity to learn more from the Active Rain geniuses, especially at an all-day affair in the City of Brotherly Love, it is a no-brainer. Stephanie and I went to RainCamp NYC in January 2010 which was also great.
And of course what makes RainCamp Philadelphia so special to us is that it is in our city. What is surprising is that not too many Realtors or other folks in Philadelphia take advantage of the Active Rain platform or have blogs at all. More people do in the counties - Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and so forth. I find that a little bizarre in that Philadelphia is gaining traction in becoming a "techie" city but in the Realtor industry, there is not much competition in the blogosphere. Which is good news for us. And good news for anyone else that wants to jump in !
Active Rain - we love you ! We look forward to seeing you on the 30th !
Also for the people that are coming and want to hook up the day before, please check out:
Your Pre-Raincamp Agenda in Philadelphia 2010
Raincamp classic post: Brad Anderson's What is Raincamp ?
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