Online Newsletter for the Week Ending January 20, 2012

QUOTE:  "No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. (So you think you do, so some believe you can wait until tomorrow)  Success depends upon using it wisely--by planning and setting priorities."  Denis Waitley (Motivational speaker/author)  (Gymbeaux Note:  I added the extra part in parens because on February 17, 2011 I thought I had a lot of tomorrows to do the things I wanted to do and then in just a very short minute my world changed when I had a heart attack.  My tomorrow turned out to be lucky; some others did not.  You can never be guaranteed a tomorrow so use what you have wisely today)

MEAT FROM JEFFREY GITOMER:  “Results from networking don't happen in a short space of time. Your best results will come from consistently showing up and giving value.”   Jeffrey Gitomer The Little Red Book of Sales Answers!  WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?  AND WHAT THE GOAL FOR NEXT (THIS) YEAR? http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3OvEPP5Jx2c%2Bg%3D%3D    “It's okay to celebrate achievement and revel in victory, but that's just a reflection of where you are at this moment. The wisdom you gained and the associated lessons learned are what will get you to tomorrow.” Jeffrey Gitomer

2012 TEE OFF FOR SCHOLARSHIPS is underway!  We need help in the form of committee volunteers, sponsorships, door prize doners, cash donations and players for the 2012 Tee Off For Scholarships Golf Tourney from which we hope to fund at least 5 College Scholarships, one each from the 5 Slidell area High Schools.  Don’t wait, jump in.  Need all the help we can get.  www.TeeOffForScholarships.com.

READ FOR A CHANGE NUGGET:  Here is the deal.  I want you to take whatever is bothering you, great or small, put it in your right hand and make a fist and hold on to it as hard as you can.  Really, give this a try.  When you are thinking of nothing but your problem, click on this link and watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ46Ot4_lLo&feature=related.  Now open your hand.  Quite possibly, actually probably, your problem does not seem as great as it once was.  We tend to spend most of our lives in and out of thoughts that someone is out to hurt us, the world is against us, or we just find ourselves complaining about anything and everything.  Do we really have it that bad?  Are our lives really in that bad of shape?  Pretty amazing video.

PUTTING THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE:  Unless you live under a rock or in a cave, you must have heard about excessive government spending.  This video takes a look at it from a slightly different perspective but does it make a point:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Li0no7O9zmE

MICHAEL DUNN WEEKLY WISDOM:  What you focus on expands.  You reap what you sow.  You sow with your thoughts and that creates your future.  Think of negative thinking as an attack on your dreams, your family and your finances.  Then make a decision not to do it, but to focus on the good you want to reap in your life.    http://michaelpdunn.blogspot.com/

FROM ANDY ROONEY:  I've  learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

CALENDAR EVENT:  Mark it now!  The 2012 NABOR Awards Luncheon will be held at the Tchfuncte Country Club in Covington on March 29, at 11:30.  Watch for details on how to make your reservations.

SOUNDING DELIBERATE OR DESPERATE?  Telephone techniques; sound familiar?  From www.SalesDog.com    http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2012/sales_training_nl0560.htm#newsletter

2012 MANDATORY CE COURSE:  Advertising Rules and Regulations – How They Relate To Social Media And Teams In General. This 4-hour course must be completed by December 31, 2012, as part of the 12-hour continuing education requirement for license renewal.  If you are a new licensee, remember that completion of the 45-hour post license curriculum does not relieve you from completing the mandatory topic course.

NEW MARKET CENTER SITE.  Our Slidell Calendar site is/has been changing to the new site created by Keller Williams Realty International.  You will if you have not already receive a daily email listing important dates, times, posts, via an email.  This will come automatically from the site.  When you receive it play around with it; see what it can do.  There is a section, the primary section that will appear to be like Facebook where people can enter posts that others will see.  You will be able to see not only our Market Center Calendar but also the Regional and International Calendar of coming events.  You can access the site directly through your KW eEdge Dashboard once the link has been made operational. Check it out when available.  At some point we will convert www.SlidellCalendar.com to the new site or we may create a different URL for that purpose and keep the old site open for as long as we can.  The link will currently take you to the present site.

IMPORTANT COMPLIANCE ISSUES:  We received our first and hopefully our last “Cite & Fine” notice from the Real Estate Commission.  The Commission was on CraigsList looking at a listing and then linked back to the listing agent’s web site.  The site failed to include “Each Office Independently Owned & Operated”.  This oversite cost the agent $75.00 OR the agent can fight it out with the Commission.  The reason they call it “cite & fine” is that it is almost impossible to fight against the facts as in this case, the words were simply not there.  Everyone’s site was visited over the past weekend and it is believed that all sites are in compliance.  It is still each agent’s responsibility to insure that their site(s), emails, faxes, blogs, anything electronically transmitted are in compliance with Louisiana Rules & Regulations.  In this regard, everyone is strongly encouraged to take the REQUIRED 2012 Mandatory Continuing Education Course SOONER RATHER THAN LATER at the first opportunity it is given to help insure your compliance with advertising.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN RIPPED OFF?  Cool site, www.RipOffReport.com.  You can enter a company you have done business with or are looking to do business with.  Hopefully YOUR name is not in the list of reports submitted.  You might be surprised.  I work with a company that I absolutely love and have had nothing but great rapport and service from yet there were two reports on file in regards to their customer service.  Just goes to show you that you can’t please everyone all the time.  There are over 600,000 Rip Off Reports on file.

5 WAYS PEOPLE WILL MISREAD YOUR BODY LANGUAGE:  From www.SalesDog.com.  If there is one thing I can personally attest to it is that the people you communicate with (1) do not always hear what you say; (2) read far more into what you said than what you actually said; and (3) mis-read your body language when you communicate.  For example, I am personally very comfortable when my arms are folded but to a body language expert that means that I am in disagreement with what is being said.  In my case, just not true.  But does that matter if you are working with a customer?  Absolutely, you must be aware of how people perceive you and especially your body language.  This article is spot on.  You must be aware of these things when working with your buyers and sellers both in THEIR body language and especially in your own body language.  Good stuff!  http://www.salesdog.com/newsletter/2012/sales_training_nl0559.htm#newsletter

REAL ESTATE COMMISSION CHANGE TO FIRST TIME LICENSEES.  Effective January 1, 2012, every applicant for a new real estate license will have to have a background investigation taken.  This is a significant change so in case you are questioned, now you know.