ONLINE NEWSLETTER FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 16 2010

QUOTE: "Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." - Mariah Carey


SOMETHING SPECIAL. I was featured on a CD published by Success Magazine. It was available to subscribers to the Success Magazine’s Success Club. The CD also featured Zig Ziglar and Jeffrey Gitomer, how cool is that? If you would like to listen, let me know. Gymbeaux

PERSONAL BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

All Hands on Deck: 8 Essential Lessons for Building a Culture of Ownership, A new book by Joe Tye

Special Offer this week with book purchase! Downloadable resources from Joe and other best-selling authors John Maxwell, Jon Gordon and Mark Sanborn. Visit www.allhandsondeckbook.com/promo.html for details.

No one ever changes the oil in a rental car. Why? Because they don't own it. Why invest in something that you don't own? What about your staff or those you lead? Do they own their work, or are they just renting space on the organization chart?

In his eye-opening and action-inspiring book All Hands on Deck, Joe Tye will show you why having a culture of ownership is the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. More than just why, he’ll show you HOW by providing a roadmap of action steps that you can take to build that culture of ownership on a foundation of value.  I had the honor and privilege of proof reading the draft of this excellent book and could not recommend it any more highly.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR, by Joe Tye. I am a huge fan of Joe Tye and subscribe to his Spark Plug Plus program. I have his permission to send the most recent Spark Plug to everyone on “fear”, it is short and very good information for you to consider: http://tiny.cc/hlb94

MAYBE THE BEST AND MOST MEMORABLE MOVIE CLIP YOU WILL EVER SEE. If you have already seen this, it is worth seeing again, if not, you are in for something special: http://ordinarywords.com/best/

AMAZING VIEW OF LOUISIANA, PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE IN REGARDS TO LAND DEVELOPMENT AND LAND LOSS OVER THE YEARS. You will want to keep this one: http://www.nola.com/speced/lastchance/multimedia/

TELEPHONE AUTO ATTENDANT, 6 month free trial. Don’t know much about it, http://home.evoice.com/s/r/eVoice_autoattendant_video?source_id=31214&sn=100

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PLAYS OF THE YEAR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij5E5GfJn6Y&feature=player_embedded

SELF EMPLOYMENT EXPOSED, GREAT ARTICLE: Two great articles in Zig Ziglar's most recent newsletter:  http://www.ziglar.com/newsletter/?p=688

HOW TO PREVENT BURNOUT FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS – EIGHT CAUSES AND THE SEVEN PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES (good article): http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/article/825/how-to-prevent-burnout-for-real-estate-agents-eight-causes-and-the-seven-preventative-strategies

HOW TO GET 3 EXTRA TRANSACTIONS IN 60 DAYS, by Joe Stumpf, don’t get any better than Joe: http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/JoeStumpf/videos/556

HUMOR: DON’T BUNGEE JUMP NAKED: This just goes to show that humor can be funny even when it does not contain four letter words: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=L1_W0LCHwK4

LISTING TOOL provided by Michelle Fradella, Picayune, MS: Here is that listing tool that helps to syndicate your listings (it pushes it out to over 40 real estate websites), and it's being offered for free this week (for a 24 month access). http://pinnacleaffiliatereview.com/sellpoint

BROKER BIT: Reminders.

• You should not go through life worrying about being sued but nor should you put yourself in a position of needless exposure. If you are constantly aware of the need to “dot your I’s and cross your T’s” and then dot them and cross them - you should be in a good position to avoid legal issues. One way to almost guarantee that you WILL get into trouble is to “assume” that an agent’s information on an expired listing is correct or that the square footage a seller claims their home to be is correct, or what school district a property is located in is correct, etc, etc, etc. Whenever you list a property it is your responsibility to make certain that as much of the information entered is correct and accurate and to do that you should take no one at their word. If that means you personally measure a home for square footage, you measure it. When you are working with a buyer you need to ask the buyer what their “hot buttons” are in regards to what is really important to them that they will make a purchasing decision. Once you identify the hot buttons, you either verify that information (example, measure the home for square footage) or you direct the purchaser to the proper location where they can verify the information (web site for sexual predators).

• Photographs taken by another real estate agent and posted to the MLS MAY NOT BE USED when you then list the same property.

• A frontal photograph of residential listings MUST be posted to the MLS AND the photograph must NOT contain a company yard sign in the photograph.

• You MUST post to the MLS a Residential Property Disclosure, failure to do so could result in a fine by the MLS service. The Market Center requires that you post a Property Disclosure for Land whenever you list a parcel of land. There is also a separate Commercial Property Disclosure that the Market Center requires on all commercial listing; such disclosures are to be posted to the MLS.

• The Market Center Listing Agreement Addendum is to be used on ALL listing, residential, commercial, land, and RENTALS. The Addendum is designed to insure compliance with the REALTORS Code of Ethics.

ANOTHER CRAIGS LIST INCIDENT reported by a member of NOMAR - An associate in one of our member firms has reported that their niece and husband responded to a Craigslist posting for a rental on the lakefront. When they showed up for the appointed showing, two cars pulled up, boxing them in, and robbed them!

We remind you once again to be cautious of Craigslist. Many listings are being scraped from public REALTOR websites and posted on Craigslist by scammers. If you have your listings used in this way report it immediately to Craigslist so that they can take them down and report any incidents to the local police as well as the Louisiana Attorney General's Office at CriminalInfo@ag.state.la.us or phone 1-225-326-6200.

Below is a reminder of a press release previously posted by the FBI-Columbia Division.

Craigslist Rental Scam Being Run From Nigeria? by Tom Royce on Aug 6, 2009

The FBI has released a statement that a new Craigslist Rental Scam is being run out of Nigeria. Famous for the Advance Fee Scam, or 419 fraud, the Nigerian con artists are now targeting renters in America to try to collect rental deposits on homes they do not own. Here is the FBI report of what is occurring. If you are using Craigslist to find rental property, please make sure that you are in contact with a real person in real life. If a deal seems to good to be true and the person only stays in contact on the internet, odds are that you and your money could be in peril.

Homeowners list their homes for sale with real estate agents, who will list the homes for sale in the Multiple Listing Service ( ) and also with public search websites, which allow individuals to query homes for sale via the Internet. Nigerian scammers find homes listed for sale on these public search sites, copy the pictures and listings verbatim, and then post the information onto Craigslist under available housing rentals, without the consent or knowledge of Craigslist, who has been notified. After the posting is listed, unsuspecting individuals contact the poster, who is Nigerian, for more information on the "rental." The Nigerian scammer will state that they had to leave the country very quickly to do missionary or contract work in Africa and were unable to rent their house before leaving, therefore they have to take care of this remotely. The "homeowner" sends the prospective renter an application and tells them to send them first and last month's rent to the Nigerian scammer via Western Union. The prospective renter is further told If they "qualify," they will send them the keys for their house. Once the money is wired to the scammer, they show up at the house, see the home is actually for sale, are unable to access the property, and their money is gone. Federal Bureau of Investigation - The Columbia Division: Press Release.

FAIL TO SUCCEED, SALESDOG NEWSLETTER, http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2010/nl0482.htm

5 PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE ME, by Jon Gordon http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-070610-5people.html

5 QUESTIONS, another gem by Jon Gordon: http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-071210-5questions.html

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS FELLOW PLAYING A VIOLIN IN WASHINGTON DC METRO STATION?

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $35 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

Gymbeaux Addition:  How many people do we come in contact with every day standing in lines, at the bank, at the drug store, at the grocery store, on the telephone, at a restaurant, while getting the oil changed in our cars, the list is endless and yet fail to go beyond saying "Good morning" if we say that.  Everyone one we have the opportunity to say "Good Morning" to we also have the opportunity to turn into a relationship and relationships turn into business!

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made. How many other things are we missing? How many special persons pass us by and we do not MAKE ANY EFFORT TO get to know them? How many opportunities have we missed?