Category Archives: Personal View

robots-taking-over-the-world

On The Brink of Existence

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I recently attended the National Association of Realtors Rethink event in Minneapolis. There were many different types of agents there. All generations in our industry. It was very interesting to hear everyone’s opinions on our future.

There was a lot of talk regarding certain generations and how younger generations could change the way we live. The generalization of a certain group of people changing it all is disturbing to me. I have never felt like my generation as a whole has defined who I am.

You could look at my son as an example. Most would say his generation is screwed. They have supposedly been given everything they have ever wanted. I have to disagree. I try to teach my son that money and things are not important. I know there are days that I know he has a hard time understanding why some kids have more toys or games than he does. This is something that every kid has faced in every generation. I know that in my son’s case, what I am teaching him is starting to sink in. This became apparent on his birthday. He received $140 from gifts. He was very excited to spend it. Yet, when we went shopping, he spent $25 on himself and used the rest to buy gifts for his cousins. This gives my so much hope for his future.

One big issue that was brought up was with the way our world is changing now, will we exist in the future. With every piece of information out there for our consumers, why are we needed? Could our industry turn into the next eBay or amazon and people simply being able to add a home to a shopping cart and click order.

It made me think of the plot behind the movie “Terminator”. Is our future doomed by the possibility of Machines taking over? A similar plot is also portrayed in the movie “Wall-e”. Will we over consume to the point to where we need to leave the planet? How could human contact ever be replaced?

I remember a conversation my grandmother saying to me years ago that she would never want to live in the world I live in. This was coming from a woman who lived through war, recession, ect. This statement seemed to live with me my whole life.

Yes, the world is changing. Over the last several years, we are doing more with less. I can’t help but think that this is a good thing. I think about my grandparents and how their life was more about raising a family and not about selfish insecurities and thoughts of appearance. Are we heading back down this road? People are generally making less, doing more with less and they are forced to adjust their lifestyles to deal with the hard times. Yet we still dream of our ideal existence…. Money, fame, success, love, peace and all the SHINY objects we think we need.

So what is the American Dream?  I heard this over and over at the REthink event. I think the typical American dream has changed.  I truly believe that we as a whole have been able to see what our overconsumption and lifestyle choices can do to us. We have adapted and become stronger. We need to get back to the basics of simply “living”.
Nothing else matters anymore.

2012 Self-Evaluation

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In the early stages of my career, I never took the time to see what was really working for me.  However at the end of 2011, I made the decision to hold myself completely accountable and frankly….kick ass in 2012.

I spent the last couple of weeks of the year self evaluating every detail of what I did in my business.  Obviously, 2011 was a little different due to my little hiatus I took over the year.  But nonetheless, there were some victories and some failures.  I took a step back and learned from them all. This helped my create my plan for 2012.

This is what I decided I have to do in 2012:

1. Blog every day starting today.  Blogging has always been my thing.  I was blogging before blogging was cool. I slacked of within the last year and I had to deal with the consequences. My many blogs have brought me a lot of successes and I am committed to making it a priority.

2. Continue to be active within the local and national associations.  I have found that by being apart of association committee’s has helped me be able to serve my clients better.

3. Get back to the basics.  Yes, social media has worked for me. But it’s not everything. In November and December I really focused on calling my sphere. It has helped my land a new listing coming on the market and 2 pending sales in the last week or so. I guess it really does work. I have also been sending weekly emails to my investor clients. There are so many amazing deals and my emails include the best of the best deals. From the responses I have received from them, I can tell its sparking their interest.

4. Learn something new. I am so over the whole social media stuff.  I get it. I need to focus on finding new ways to grow my business that doesn’t involve updating my Facebook status.

5.  Be Thankful. I’m still here and kicking.  I have a lot of cool people on my side

I can honestly say 2011 ended well and its flowing thru into 2012. This is going to be a great year!  I am going to push myself as hard as I can to make all my goals this year come true. Cheers to 2012!

Developting A Connection

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My feeling about people who fail with their social media efforts is that they lack the ability to obtain a true connection with someone. How are consumers supposed to trust you if they know nothing about you.

I recently commented of a status of Jimmy Mackin where he asked the question “What percentage of your Facebook Friends have you met in real life?’.  My answer was 80%.  I am not on Facebook, adding random friends. I am meeting someone first and requesting them later.

My main focus in my social media efforts is simply “being real”.  I don’t try to pretend I am a certain way.  Some things I may say may not mesh with everyone but it’s who I am.  By doing this, when the few people who I havent met IRL do meet me, I am the same person they got to know on any social media site.

Personally, I value my friends whether online or IRL.  I try not to be fake. Most of you that know me very well understand this.

While at the NAR conference I attended this past weekend, I met Jared James for the first time IRL.  We had known each other for years on Twitter and Facebook.  You would have never known by us meeting that we hadn’t met each other previously.  We chatted like we would have any other time.    We didn’t have that awkward feeling when you meet someone for the first time.

It’s all because of how we connected in the first place. We had conversations.  We took the time to get to know each other.  You have to take everyone you meet online the same as if you met them in person. Ask questions, figure them out.  It’s really not that hard

The Effects Of Positivity

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I recently made a huge change and went to a different brokerage. Prior to meeting my broker, I hadn’t even thought about a change. I was perfectly content where I was.

We got the chance to connect at a couple of events and really got to know each other.

After getting to know each other, I felt it would be the perfect move for me. My broker was just this super happy, positive and supportive person. I felt I needed that.

I always see these somewhat obnoxiously happy people and wonder how that can be real.  How can you be that happy all of the time?

After being with my new broker for a little over two months now,  I get it. This has been the best couple of that I have had in a long time. I am thinking big. I am being more creative and I feel refreshed.  The biggest change I have notices is this:  I am more connected to my clients, friends, family and tweeps. Being positive and being in a positive environment has completely helped my confidence.  If you were to see me in my office, my chin would be up and I would have a smile on my face.

So this has to mean something right?  Being positive, brings positive things? I have to think that it does. My business is already improving just because of me simply having a positive attitude.

So my plan is to keep the positive attitude. It can only get better from here.

My office VP recently told me a this and I thought it applied to my current situation:

“I do truly believe that attitude is 90% of success.”-Brian Bolier

mepic

BREAKING NEWS! Going back to my roots!

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Ok…So I seriously wanted to use “Breaking News” just once in my life and well…here’s my excuse.

As many of you know, I have been taking a deep look at my career path. I’ve gone back and forth about whether or not I should stay in the business. It weighed on me deeply.

However, a couple of months ago, I ran into Brian Bolier at Rebarcamp.  I had known him since my title days but honestly never knew what he was all about.  We had the opportunity to chat a bit. We seemed to have the same ideals as far as our business goes.

After many conversations with Brian, I felt that Coldwell Banker Burnet-Woodbury would be the perfect fit for me. I feel that Brian will be a great mentor for me and can help me improve my business. In return, I hope to share my knowledge with him as well.

I look at this as a fresh start. I feel it’s a good, positive change.

I do want to thank everyone who contacted me recently and offered to help. It was truly humbling and I can’t even begin to express my appreciation. I am so lucky to have such a great group of friends and colleagues.

I also want to thank Edina Realty for all the support over the years.

I am looking forward to my new adventure. I have a feeling that there are great things to come!

New Focus, New Attitude, New Drive

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There are many things that I have let hold me down in the past. I let this happen by my own choosing. I have now made the choice to not let the mistakes I have made in the past leave a shadow over what I am doing now.

Its time for me to reinvigorate my business.  I have a new focus. Not to be selfish, but its all about me. I’m not scared to start over.

Lucky for me, I have so many colleagues available to give me advice .  Dont be afraid to ask for help.  There are plenty of people out there that are more than willing to give you a push.

If there is something not working in your business plan, re-evaluate it and make changes as you go a long.  Look at people who are successful and try to see what they are doing.  Look at your failures and makes sure you don’t repeat them.  People in any business fail from time to time, so don’t be hard on yourself.  Be confident in yourself and don’t give up.

thankyou

Wow, Thank You!

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I published a post on Tuesday about a pretty personal situation.  I was sweating bullets right before I published it.  I had concerns about how people may perceive it.

The next morning, I found several messages from people.  I couldn’t believe it! The pouring in of support was amazing.  I had a hard time holding back the tears.  I felt very humbled.  I would have never expected a bunch of agents being so supportive.

So thank you to all of you that sent me comments.  It’s great to know that so many agents could sympathize. It’s hard to explain how much it meant to me.  I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you!  Thank you so much!

My Emotional Take On The NAR Dues Increase

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It’s very weird to me to even discuss what I am about to in a blog.  I am a very private person. This is something that is extremely personal.  However after talking to someone at NAR about this, they recommended I blog about it as it is a real life issue of why the dues increase will affect me and so many other agents.

Most of you probably have no idea because I have not made some social media press release but I am currently going through a divorce. What does this have to do with the increase? Well, my average sale price is $90,000.  I could close many of these within a year and still not pull in a significant enough  income to support my family.

A lot of things have weighed on me. I really took a deep look at the costs I incur as an agent.  I looked at many of them and thought “these are just stupid”.  Then I got to thinking about the dues increase.  While you could say 40 bucks is 40 bucks, when you are someone like me, its enough to make me concerned.  In order for me to stay in the business, I not only have to increase my sales, but I have to pinch every penny.

While talking to a friend within NAR, I was told to tell this story as this is the kind of story that NAR should have heard prior to the passing of the dues increase. While I am glad that I didn’t have this story to tell prior to now,  I wish I had heard stories similar to mine.  There is no way that I am the only person who feels this way.

I guess you could say the dues increase affects me more now as I wonder if I’ll be able to stay in the business. While its extremely hard for me to imagine not being an agent, I have my children to think about.  Letting my license go is something that is not out of the question.  I will do anything for my children.  At the same time, I’m a deeply saddened by the though of giving up my career and everything I have worked so hard for.

So my dear friends a NAR, this is my story.  While the issue no longer matters now, I wanted you to hear my story.  I wanted you to understand what I, as well as many other agents feel about it.

Leadership is about sharing

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I look at fellow agents sometimes.  I see how successful they are.  Yet I don’t understand why some of them are true leaders. 

To me leadership is about they wealth of information you provide to the public.  Why not share valuable tools to help improve your industry at large.  This is not something that simply applies to real estate, it business in general.

I take a lot of pride in trying to help others when I can.  If someone asks me a question, I answer them. I would rather have better, more knowledgable agents in our industry. It will in turn help my deals run more smoothly. 

So don’t be selfish and share your experiences with others around you!

Peace!

The Little Dream That Came True

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You may have noticed some new posts from fellow agents on this site.  I am enjoying getting different perspectives for you.  I hope you are enjoying them as well. I have to give a shout out to Emily, Sarah and Seth for the great post they have written.

Recently I have noticed from the site stats that people are actually searching for this site now.  This is huge to me.  All the hopes for this site are coming true.

I began this site back in 2007.  Not really sure what I planned to do with it.  I was just frustrated with being a new agent and not knowing what the heck to do.

As I began blogging and people began reading it, I received comments from other agents thanking me.  At the time, not many agents were blogging about real life experiences.  Speaking the truth has always been something I am good at! I think agent valued the fact that I didn’t hold much back. It was something you really could not get at a training class.

It was then, I realized what this blog was all about…LEARNING.  I began working harder to bring agents information that I thought they could use. At the same time, I was learning and growing as an agent as well.

I decided to take on the new authors to get different views.  This is in an effort to bring you more.  I hope you are enjoying them.

To those of you, who have supported the site, THANK YOU!  I do not do this out of vanity or trying to build some persona. I do this because I genuinely want to help.  This has become something that is very important to me and I hope to continue providing valuable information to you!

Thanks to all of you for helping me realize a dream.  I have truly enjoyed the experience.