Kelowna, BC

"How am I relevant?"...is the question that I cannot stop asking myself!

I ask myself this question relentlessly on a daily basis. Every time I go to pick up the phone, jump online or whatever it is that I am doing I want to be productive! I need to remind myself that everything I do during the workday should be of some relevance to my real estate business. Otherwise, how do I expect to grow my business if I don't keep myself in check? I am a dedicated online real estate agent and that is where I spend essentially 100% of my time marketing myself and my clients homes. It is because of this large amount of time and effort that the temptation to play on the net is always there. Having sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace to name a few can be so very easy to get sidetracked and not be productive. Please do not think that I am advocating not having fun or down time, I simply know myself and what I need to do to keep moving in the right direction.

"How am I relevant?"...is the question I ask of my SEO and marketing efforts!

With my deliberate decision to focus my business to online presence, SEO is everything to my business! I am extremely passionate about squeezing every drop of "juice" out of the Google machine. Can I be found everywhere? Will potential buyers and/or sellers seek me out because of my onlne presence? I am constantly on the lookout for new sites that can further promote my business to a very visual online real estate world. There is so much more for me to do before I reach a page rank worth writing home about.

"How am I relevant?"...is the question I ask of all my blog posts!

Active Rain certainly has given me a lot to think about in terms of the art of blogging. Surely, everyone on AR can agree that we all glean so much just from being on here and sharing ideas. I truly believe that a good blog can produce tangible results in terms of lead generation and ultimately sales. I am driven to learn how to blog effectively and produce something worth reading. Like any artist, I really want to get better at my craft.

This question that is so ingrained in my mind will likely never be satisfied or quenched! Although, it may seem like I am obsessed I am simply passionate and driven to succeed. I am haunted by the question of relevancy by choice as I want to excel at my profession. I will never compromise my family for success and I am truly grateful for my wife and children as they keep me grounded in my everyday life!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

I typically don't make New Year's Resolutions as I find for myself it is no more of a motivator to achieve whatever promise I made to myself! You know historically at this time of year more people purchase gym memberships with the best of intentions to get into shape. However, a few weeks into the routine boredom, lackluster results and life in general tend to derail things! Sound vaguely familiar? Does this remind you of trying to achieve certain goals in your chosen profession only to see them fall to the wayside after months of frustration? I won't lie to you all, I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I certainly have experienced this and much more in the real estate industry. Sometimes, I felt like I was more of a thoroughbred race horse coming strong out of the gate only to struggle to finish the race all together. So, what have I done to get back on course you ask?

Here are a few practical ideas that I have found to work in my business plan:

Small goals achieved equal the sum of one large goal. - Simply put by having a series of realistic smaller goals in place, it will be much easier to achieve your overall larger goal(s). An example would be taking your target commissions for a year and breaking it down to the number of ends needed and then further dividing it into a twelve month calender. I find this takes some of the immediate pressure off when initially coming up with a yearly commission goal.

Talk to your colleagues, even your competitors. - Some of the best ideas I have ever implemented into my business have been from conversations with other agents in my office and across the street. It seems at times that agents want to hold their cards close to their chest out of fear that "someone" might steal a good idea and run with it! How selfish in my opinion. Look at all the idea sharing and help that is found right here on Active Rain!!! A site like this would not be where it is today without the building of community and the networking that takes place as a result.

Do one thing well as opposed to several things just so-so. - I made a decision over a year ago to be strictly an on-line agent in terms of the marketing of myself and my clients homes. Please visit my site at JasonNeumann.com and let me know what you think?! I can honestly say that it has been the most challenging but rewarding decision I have ever made in my real estate career. By finding something that I believed in and could put all my energies into, it really did help me to keep focus.

Talking to people tells them that you are in business. - A colleague of mine showed me how amazingly easy and practical this can be. He was new to the area and within a short period of time became one of top producing agents in our office! He did it by talking to everyone he came into contact with throughout his day, whether it was at a gas station, grocery store or local Starbucks (that is one place that can be a veritable gold mine). After a while he became known as a "neighborhood expert" in his own backyard. This lends credibility to the idea of doing one thing well. While I realize not everyone is comfortable with doing this type of thing, the results will come I can promise you that!

Blogging will generate business. - This may still come as a surprise to some but blogging is the future of successful business. I say that with complete conviction as I strongly believe and have seen the net results that blogging can bring an agent. The on-line world is more competitive than ever and blogging is the edge that is needed to succeed! A buyer looking to relocate to your city will certainly appreciate getting a sense and feel for a neighborhood based on your blog post. Pictures may be "worth a thousand words" but a well written blog post is the "entire book with pictures." People genuinely want to be informed about things that matter to them and blogging is how most of them are getting that information.

These are just a few ideas I have found to be successful in helping me to work smarter instead of harder!I hope this may be of some help to you or a facet of whatever business you are currently involved in.

Remember to have a great 2009 and best wishes of success to you all.

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

For Christmas I treated myself to "Guitar Hero Aerosmith" for the Wii system. The thought was to try something different and have some fun in the process. I have watched kids and teenagers play this game at our local Wal-Mart and thought it looked easy enough to do. The primary mistake I made in my evaluation of the game was that I could pick it up and excel at it right away. Ah yes, ignorance can be blissful! So off I go and pop my Wii remote into my cool looking guitar and start jamming, er should I say "butcher" my first song and score a 22% completion rate. No biggie, I decide to take a shot at another song and well...an abysmal 27% completion rate and Steven Tyler angrily kicking over his microphone stand in disgust at my performance!!! Yikes! I don't know what went wrong I honestly thought I was a rock-star and that brings me to my point...practice makes for perfection!

I have been a real estate agent going on four years now and have learned so much in that time. When I first entered the industry I had my ideas and thoughts on how I would grow my business, and then there's the reality of how this business actually works. In some ways I felt you could just learn as you go, but the truth of the matter is knowledge comes in many ways, shapes and forms. For instance, when I first picked up my guitar and wanted to jam perfectly, I didn't take enough time to understand how to be more proficient at playing the game. I personally have found chatting with other agents to be the most beneficial thing in learning and avoiding pitfalls in the real estate world. Or as my managing broker puts it "staying out of real estate jail!" Guitar Hero has reminded me that as an agent I strive for perfection in all of my dealings with my clientele but not everything goes as planned. Just like in the game when you see the notes before you are supposed to click them out on the guitar, the warning signs of deals that could go sideways are there in plain sight most of the time. It comes down to being prepared and anticipating these potential hurdles on the road to success in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoy the challenges that this business seems to present on a regular basis and always want to keep an open mind for learning from the experience.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and have an exceptional 2009 in real estate! By the way, I will make Steven Tyler proud of me one day soon!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

Check this out! Area Rug Sale 75% off all Accent Carpets at CARPET ONE Kelowna

A terrific lavish Holiday gift for someone special - could be yourself! OR Stagers add to your inventory stock with this opportune buy as CARPET ONE clears the way for new stock and new prices. Thoroughly browsing the collection, I found these Accent Carpets of exceptional quality and design.

CARPET ONE has everything to fit your flooring needs.

CARPET ONE 1788A Baron Road
Kelowna, BC V1X 7G9, Canada

I UNDERSTAND THIS SALE IS WHILE QUANTITIES LAST ON EXISTING STOCK ONLY

FOR MORE INFO USE MY EMAIL CONTACT AT RIGHT.

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert Einstein

YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Deborah Pearce is a Kelowna Business Woman & webmaster established with locals and internationals in various aspects of Interiors, Art, and Business for over 20 years, including complete space planning and supply, window coverings, furniture, flooring art and accessories.

LIVING SPACES features over 140 ARTICLES on Staging, Art and Interiors.

Deborah's blog frequently features interior design, real estate, community, environmental, internet, travel, art and human interests.

Sometimes a change in my environment doesn't quite sink in for awhile. A previous post, 'Goose Poop Park' - The Geese - or the Park? dealt with the issue of Canada Geese 'messing' up Waterfront Park in upscale downtown Kelowna.

The following spring on my usual walks through the Brandt's Creek reserve area and the waterfront, I noticed FAR FEWER babies. Catching my attention, it puzzled me. It was later that someone told me about the 'authorities' - the city, I suppose would make the decision, to disrupt the nests.

Aerial view of Kelowna downtown and Waterfront Park. Adjacent to the north, which would be at the bottom of the photo, is Brandt's Creek, wildlife reserve and bird sanctuary.

This whole area actually is the natural habitat of waterfowl and other water creatures.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg67/Chrislavoie/double6.jpg

The resultant disappointment was the fact of not only fewer babies this year, but also almost NO Canada Geese at all. Nest disturbance effective indeed.

The tragic irony is the fact of the reserve, supposedly in place to protect wildlife, and fought for by locals wanting to preserve these natural habitats, which doesn't seem to have as much value as high density revenue.

Well these majestic creatures have more sense than to hang around places where their precious eggs will be destroyed.

You tell me who is the more intelligent here??!

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k122/monguy123/geese.jpg

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert Einstein

YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Deborah Pearce is a Kelowna Business Woman & webmaster established with locals and internationals in various aspects of Interiors, Art, and Business for over 20 years. LIVING SPACES features over 140 ARTICLES on Staging, Art and Interiors.

Deborah speaks on a variety of subjects. Her blog frequently features interior design, real estate, community, environmental, internet, travel, art and human interests.