"Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out."
-- James Bryant Conant, former president of Harvard University
A paradox of social networking sites is that although there are often many thousands of members, we limit our participation to a much smaller subset that fits our personal comfort zones. Man is a social being; blogging ia a social activity. Yet even behind the safety of our monitors, we still follow our natural instincts to avoid controversy, unfamiliarity and pain. We seek commonality, support and validation.
Just like the turtle, we all need to 'stick our neck out' once in awhile, take a chance, explore new ideas and surroundings in order to grow. The beauty of the blogosphere is that we can do this all from the comfort and safety of our own keyboards. New sites, new perspectives, and new online contacts are just a click away.
One great resource within ActiveRain is the Week in Review group started by Neal The Real Deal Bloom, based on an idea from Mark Flanders. Each week a different Rainer posts their top picks from ActiveRain, Localism, or mortgage topics. Another fantastic group is Blog Tourists led by Maureen Francis. Join them for "tours of member's other blogs off of ActiveRain."
Feeling a little more adventurous? Want to see what others are doing in the great big blog world? That's where the Laurie Manny Challenge comes in. It's a collaborative activity where we can all help each other expand our horizons and grow, with a little friendly competition and some points thrown in to make it interesting. I'm honored to be chosen as a judge, and thrilled to participate. As a sample entry, here are my three picks:
ProBlogger - 31 Days to Building a Better Blog
 | Darren Rowse has been blogging since 2002, and created his ProBlogger site in 2004. On the About page Darren says, "This site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium." After declaring August 2007 as "Build a Better Blog Month", Darren updated his original 2005 version of 31 Days. It's a series of daily tips that can be quickly implemented to improve your blogs. Having written 7 Days to Discover Your Blogging Groove just last month, Darren chose to focus the 31 Days tips not on content, but in three areas: finding readers, building community/keeping readers, and monetizing a blog. |
Chris Garrett on New Media - 10 Reasons Commenting is Good for Bloggers
 | Born in Calgary, Alberta and now living in Yorkshire, England, Chris Garrett describes himself as "a professional blogger, Internet Marketing Consultant, writer, coach, trainer and web geek." In "10 Reasons Commenting is Good for Bloggers", Chris talks about blogging as a conversation and lays out some great benefits to writing quality comments. He paraphrases John F. Kennedy ("Ask not what the blogosphere can do for you ...") and encourages bloggers to expand their perspectives with this insightful gem from tip #10: "If you are always among the same crowd you will find inevitably the same thoughts being reflected back over and over. Break out!" |
Altos Research Real Estate Insights - The Bloggers Connect series
 | Scott Sambucci, the new director of business development at Altos Research, shares what he learned from the panel discussions at Bloggers Connect SF 2007. In a series of brief, list-based posts, Scott gives highlights from these sessions:
Altos Research Real Estate Insights provides real-time research and observations on real estate. Altos Research's Market Widget won a 2007 Inman News Innovator Award for Most Innovative Technology. |
Take the challenge. View the contest rules here, and then submit your post by 10 PM EST on Friday, August 17. Winners will be announced on Monday, August 20. Good luck!!
(Photo of 'Tad Tortoise' from Tortoise Group - The Organization for the Protection of Nevada's Resident Tortoises, Inc.)
John,
These sound very interesting, I will have to go check them out. Thanks :)
Wonderful post, John ! Thanks so much for bringing these three blogs to our attention....I have bookmarked this for further reading and exploration of the recommended blogs later.
and kudos to you for being a judge in the Laurie Manny challenge !
Jo
Thanks for the suggestions, I already subscribe to Altos Research, but not the other two, so just added them to my feed and I'll be checking them out.
Great idea, John. I am finding my way through these recommendations. The articles on BLogger Connect were great adn really captured the informaiton the panels were sharing in a clear-succinct manner, IMO (and I was there!).
Jeff
John,
Nice selection and great commentary!
This is my weekend homework I am looking forward to the learning. I think this contest will be very educational for me.
Sandra - You're not the first one to get caught up reading blogs into the early hours. :) Let us know what else you find. Thanks for your comment!
Laurie - You're welcome! I'm really looking forward to discovering some great new sites.
Suzanne - Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to enter the contest with your recommended '3 Posts.'
Jo - Thanks for the compliment! I'm really looking forward to reading all of the Rainers' contest entries.
Colleen - I had an 'outside blogs' topic in the back of my mind, and this contest gave me the perfect opportunity to write it. Thanks for asking me to be involved!
Nick - You're welcome dude! One of the areas Altos Research covers is Miami/South Florida. Let us know what you think of their reports.
Joanne - Thanks for your comment! It's definitely a challenge keeping up with all of the great content. I'm eager to see what your '3 Posts' will be.
Tracey - Do you use any of the Altos widgets or reports on your sites? I'd be interested to hear how the response is. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Jeff - Thank you! The Challenge idea started with Colleen and Laurie. Would love to hear your takeaways from Bloggers Connect. Maybe you could work them into your own '3 Posts' entry.
Paul and Michelle - Thanks, glad you like it!
Rebecca - I've picked up a few tips just in writing this post. Can't wait to see what I learn from the rest of the contest entries!
Jim and Maria - Thanks for your comment! More reading means more ideas and great posts, right? :)
Kristy - You're welcome! Have fun with the links.
JR - There's always more to learn with blogging. The nice thing about this contest is that when we share what we learn, it reinforces that knowledge while also helping others in the Rain.
Sarah - You've got it! There are no shortcuts, but there are plenty of guideposts along the way. Thanks for reading my post.
John~
OK...It is now 11:00 PM...I guess I will be up (again) until 3:00Am...thanks for the BLOG tips and thanks to Laurie for the challenge.
Joan - Thanks for visiting my blog! There's always something new to learn in blogging, and this challenge provides a great way to do it.
Yolanda - Hi! Glad you appreciate the post. Let us know what your '3 Posts' are by entering the Challenge.
Lori - The blogosphere keeps getting bigger every day, so it's always nice to have the recommendations of friends to guide us. Let us know what your '3 Posts' are!
Carole - Thank you! I've found some great ideas on ProBlogger, too.
janeAnne - You're welcome! You can probably get through my picks in about 30 minutes, but there's a lot more great content on each of the sites. How about just visiting one new site per day?
John
Thank you for compiling that info in one place -- I will delve into it deeper manana(GOD willing).
I love to stick out my neck and yes sometime it hurts for days, but then the calls come from the people who like what I have to say! This a great way of looking at things, the comments bring us points, but I look at this way. The calls get me dollars! I do write a lot of blogs for agents, but I try to balance that with what I write for the public.