Active Rain - Where everybody knows your name (or do they?)

I was thinking about this phenomenon that is Active Rain, and I have heard stories of agents getting business from consumers reading their blogs, finding their listings, etc.  I have also seen successful referrals occurring, which motivates me to continue writing and "paying it forward" to help others here.

I have an idea which may help to increase the referral side of this activity for all of us.

There are a number of people that I really like within this community, and I want to remember them if I have a friend or a client who is moving to another part of the world.  With that goal in mind, I am planning to start a personal spreadsheet with every state listed.  If I come across someone who impresses me in another market, I am going to add them to my list so that I can easily reference it for referral purposes.  For now, there are a lot of blank spots to fill, so I would probably just go to AR and start looking in a specific area if the need arose. 

Currently, there are about 40 agents that I would feel comfortable including today (maybe more).  Obviously, my list is growing literally every day.  However, I need to look and see where all of my friends actually work, as I haven't really been paying attention, with a few notable exceptions.  So, I would highly recommend learning where all of your buddies live and work.  You might be able to help each other make some money.  If you enjoy someone's writing, take a few seconds and make a comment or rate their post.  This will help them to move up the ladder for their region and may lead to additional leads or referrals.  Very cool!

Although there are states within my sheet that would be blank right now, I feel that Active Rain has given me a "first source" if I am looking to refer a client outside of my market.  By the way, if you are looking to make a sheet of your own, I would be honored if you would place my name in your "Austin" slot. 

Another really good point was raised in the comments and I felt that it was worthy of including in the post itself: If you have a potential buyer moving to your area, why not pay close attention to where they are coming from and try to introduce them to one of your AR contacts if possible?  Again, this is a win-win scenario, as you could produce income for both of you.  I'm sure many friendships could develop this way. 

I have always had opportunities to refer business elsewhere, but I have missed some of these chances because I didn't have an agent available that I could confidently use for this.  Well, that is about to change!  I am excited about the prospect of referring business to an AR friend.  I hope to talk to you soon -