Getting featured in a national newspaper!
And hopefully on Active Rain… (wink wink nudge nudge) 
I got a call on my phone on Friday and I was sort of taken back because the caller ID said Star Tribune. I thought for sure it was going to be some sort of solicitation. Little did I know it was! The Minneapolis paper wanted to interview little ol’ me about a single comment I had made on this post.
I actually waited until today to say anything because I thought for sure it just wasn’t true. I just started on Active Rain less than 3 months ago. I would say I have been pretty active but up until this point I had never imagined that a small town blogger could get published nationally.
A lot of people talk about blogging and wonder what they could be writing about. It is assumed if you are in real estate that you must have to write about real estate. Nothing could be further from the truth. You never know how your writing can lead back to you, no matter what your subject is. The point is that you are getting your voice out there which naturally leads back to you. I rarely write about real estate. In fact its hard writing about the subject because it always seems like someone else has either covered that topic or just written it better than you.
So I made a little comment about netbooks and then Steve Alexander wrote an article and it featured a lowly Eau Claire Wisconsin real estate agent. You can read the article here.
So you might wonder what’s the point of all this?
*besides bragging rights* 
The obvious, of course, is that you never know who might be reading your comments. If it’s a public post and Google has indexed it, then it can show up in someone’s search. I am assuming that’s how Steve found the original article. This shows how powerful the long tail can be. It also shows the seemingly impossible power of blogging!
There are a lot of different ways to advertise but I can’t think of anything more powerful than this. It also has a much nicer price tag; free!
But wait I'm not done yet!
The point of my rambling is…
So whatcha gonna do with it?
The first thing I thought of was using this as a springboard. I need to capitalize on this in a big way. So I called all 3 local area papers to see if they would carry the story. I think it’s just a neat article and why wouldn’t they want to pick it up? I know not as many in my area read a Minnesota paper so I have to get local readership.
But there is so much more to this. Now I feel great knowing the value of my writing and I can go with confidence. I can also use it to inspire others! So don’t ever think you can’t write something of value or contribute. The smallest thing can turn into something big. I just never thought a comment could be as valuable as the story.
Now that’s a story worth sharing. 
Shane O'Gorman "Buy or Sell, I'll Treat You Well!"
Search Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate! www.YourChippewaValleyHome.com
Read my blog about Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate and Chippewa Valley Homes!
www.BlogEauClaire.com
Eau Claire Realty, Inc.
Cell (715) 894-1001
Call anytime - I value your business
"Working 4 You!"
So are the other 3 papers gonna run the story as well?
I am hoping. I am waiting to hear from 2 of them yet. One said its not really their angle. That one is a very small town and they feature stories that are about the town itself so I understand why that wouldnt make sense.
This is a great story! Traditional journalists are finding many of their stories online from Digg, blogs, etc. Reminds us that someone is always watching (or reading).
Yeah it was really cool!