FOUR referrals from My Active Rain Friends? I guess I must be doing something right!

I wanted to encourage those of you who have been blogging your hearts out wondering when/if it is going to pay off for you.  My opinion is that there are at least three ways to get business here on Active Rain:

1. Write about local stuff and consumers will find you.
2. Write about yourself and your life and you will make friends who will send you referrals.
3. Practice good SEO techniques in order to strengthen your outside website and get more leads there.

I started here actively in August 2007, and I am very happy to report that I have been successful in all three of these areas.  However, this particular post is devoted to the second item on the list above.  This month alone I have been the recipient of three great listing referrals from my AR friends, and I also have a solid buyer referral that came awhile back.  I just wanted to publicly thank each of these friends for thinking of me:

I met Sandy Noll (Woodinville, WA) on Active Rain back in September and we have spoken on the phone a few times.  She referred a close friend of hers to me, and I am hoping to meet with her friend when they come to town in the next month or so.  Thanks for being part of my early motivation to continue writing so much, Sandy! 

Dan Forbes of Bradenton, Florida referred his stepson to me, and I am scheduled to meet with them on Saturday.  This is really like two referrals in one, as they are also looking to buy a home on acreage within our market. 

Dan - Thanks very much for trusting me to handle a family member's business.

My good friend Jennifer Bukaty of Portland, Oregon referred a gentleman to me who is likely going to relocate out of the Austin area for job reasons.  I made contact with him yesterday via email, and I feel certain that I will have the opportunity to assist him if he moves away.  I truly appreciate the fact that Jennifer went out of her way to "sell" me to this potential client.  In his email to me yesterday, he said, "To have someone 1500 miles away vouching for you says something :)"  What a great feeling!

Another friend of mine, Bridget Armstrong of Eugene, Oregon (go Ducks!), has a good friend here in Austin who will be selling her home and moving back to Oregon.  I emailed Bridget today to see how she was doing, and she sent me her friend's information. 

I had actually forgotten about the fact that she had a referral for me, although she had mentioned it to me a couple of months ago.  I really just missed seeing Bridget around AR, since her last post was in late November.  She assured me that she will be back blogging in full force very soon.  Thanks, Bridget!

Not to make this like a lengthy Oscar acceptance speech, but I would also like to thank Shannon Lefevre, Brian Block, and Sarah Cooper, who have all promoted my name as well.  Shannon gave my name to a close friend who ended up looking for an apartment here in Austin.  She even tried to send me a local guy that she thought would make a good agent at my company.  Brian heavily pitched my name to someone within the Re/Max referral network looking for an Austin listing agent, and Sarah gave my name to someone at Twitter who was looking for an agent in Austin to help with a question on Yahoo! Answers. 

So, thanks to all of my Active Rain friends, and a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to try to send me business!  I feel like I actually understand what a "network" can do now.

To put it very simply, blogging on Active Rain really works.  I intend to make it a big part of my business plan going forward.