Online Newsletter for the Week Ending October 7, 2011

QUOTE:  "Life is curly.  Don't try to straighten it out."  Susan Scott from Fierce Conversations; a great, great book that everyone ought to read.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE.  Barbara Willems sent this link about making a difference and stopping the victim mentality.  It contains several short videos, all very good and thought provoking.  Thank you Barbara.  www.MakeADifference.com/VictimNoMore

CHILLI CHALLENGE, OCTOBER 29, 11:00 TO 3:00 AT THE MANDEVILLE LAKE FRONT.  LOOK FOR FLYERS AROUND THE MARKET CENTER.  BETTER STILL, JOIN A CHALLENGE TEAM AND BRING YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

RADICAL RESILIENCE – IS NOT JUST BOUNCING BACK, a great article by Joe Tye (who else?):  http://tinyurl.com/3hyx2wg

ARE THINGS GETTING (SLIGHTLY) BETTER?  Jeffrey Gitomer asks, are you ready for when they do or our you like most of your competition, waiting for them to get slightly better?  If you are part of the 80% you are waiting:  http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3MP0KPJOQlgXA%3D%3D

SELLING WITH A PURPOSE by Jon Gordon.  A message that applies to everyone and everyone should read.  http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-100311-sellingwithpurpose.html

WHAT KIND OF DOG ARE YOU?  This is a personally assessment; kind of fun.  For everyone’s info, I am a Golden Retriever, Gymbeaux.  http://www.dogster.com/quizzes/what_dog_breed_are_you/

REFLECTIVE KELLER WILLIAMS YARD SIGNS:  Here is a link.  I used the reflective signs many years ago, they light up like Interstate Signs when headlights hit them at night.  They are made of metal so they can last for more than one listing and still look good especially if your listings sell fast.  If you have listings in the country or poorly lit areas at night, I would highly recommend you consider them.  http://www.reflectiverealestate.com/keller-williams

BROKER AGENT RECOMMENDATIONS:  Over my years in the real estate business I have received many calls from agents asking me to recommend one of my agents for them to work a referral.  Think about that for a moment and put yourself in my shoes.  How would you recommend one agent over the other 80+ agents and how could anyone consider my recommendation fair to all the other agents in the Market Center.  Therefore I have always taken the position that I would refer the agent to our company web site and suggest to them to select one from the list of agents on the site.  I also ask the agent how they would feel if his or her broker would pick one agent from the many at the expense of everyone in their office.  This information is being provided because I would strongly suggest you never ask the broker/manager of another company to recommend just one agent from their many.  It is your responsibility to select one and you can usually do that on the Internet.  In fact if you cannot find an agent via the Internet do you really want to refer business to someone who does not have an Internet presence?  The second reason is that you need to make absolutely certain that the photo you post on your web site is one that someone reviewing the list of agents in the Market Center can settle on you based solely on your photo because, fair or unfair, that is what people, agents and the public alike, do.  Then you want to make absolutely certain that the “landing” page the visitor goes to is very easy to read (like using bullets instead of paragraphs) and make the info instantly relatable.  As an example, if I were to market my own sight which I do not, I would make sure that I served in the U. S. Coast Guard would be immediately visible.  It would automatically attract military veterans and also boat owners without saying much more about it.  What are you doing to get people to focus on YOU as compared to 80+ other agents in the Market Center and over 400 agents in our area?