The criticism of blogging that crops up most often from non-bloggers is that "blogging is fluff" or a "waste of time."

It certainly can be. I've been a member of ActiveRain.com for over a year. I signed up because our esteemed Jennifer Allan was a member, and whatever she thinks is cool is usually all right by me! Over the course of that year "In The Rain" I have seen a lot of fluff, and a lot of nonsense....BUT...

I have also learned from many, many great bloggers on AR some excellent things:

* how to produce QUALITY content (stuff that is important to the kinds of visitors you want to attract)
* how to make it search engine friendly
* how to operate your business itself: great technology tips, photography tips, customer service tips, marketing tips...

For every terrible real estate blog (i.e., a regurgitation of dopey jokes, recipes, copied articles from Inman News or Realty Times) there are others that are relevant and helpful to consumers.

Through ActiveRain I found other educational real estate blogs - RSS Pieces and The Real Estate Tomato. Using these along with ActiveRain has helped me build a lead generating blog.

No, it doesn't get nine million hits a day; I don't even have any subscribers except for other ActiveRain members...but...but...I am getting hits on key search terms, and when the users find my blog they are not finding crapola "fluff" but rather, they are finding just what they are searching for: info on local real estate.

I get leads on a weekly basis.

If you tried blogging and didn't get anywhere, perhaps you need to rethink the kind of content you had on your blog. Think about the readers you want to attract - and write for what they'll be searching for. Give them what they want, and you'll get what you want. Give them fluff, and you'll get nothing.

Nothing worse then seeing the same thing on every site you go to. Quality over quantity is always better. Take your time and enjoy yourself. Success will follow.

Nice post perky. I know exactly where you are coming from when it comes to fluff blogs on ActiveRain. For the most part, I would assume that the only reason you are seeing fluff blogs in the first place is to boost up points. A lot of people will say points don't matter, but I think everyone would like to be number 1 at least in their city or county.

There are definitely some good blogs on ActiveRain, but they may take some time to find. An easier way to find them faster is to search by group; that is how I found a couple of gems.

I always thought blogging was silly until I recently joined the RE World. Not only do I enjoy it but it gives me the chance to get to know other RE Agents and their local markets. I have learned a lot from blogs such as Active Rain and I hope that by having a blog presence I have more of a presence on the 'net than others.

Also it is due to PerkyRealtor that I blog, since she suggested it when I first started this process.