After 16 years, I say goodbye to RE/MAX

First let me say that this is not a rant, nor is it going to be a condemation of the big bad corporate entities in real estate called franchises. Everybody has to be someplace, and that someplace has to give you a comfort level, and a sense of being in the right place. For me, that all changed at Inman News in January 2008. There I met Jim Cronin of the Real Estate Tomato and started training in blogging. I listened to Jay Thompson, Kris Berg, Teresa Boardman, and others talking about how they took individual control of their business. Then I spent September through November in Houston getting medical treatment for cancer, and I continued my online education, and starting blogging on Active Rain in November. 130,000 plus points later in eleven months, here I am. It was a great ride with a great organization. It just didn't meet my requirements any more. So let me go down the list in no particular order of my decision making process.

Number One. Broadband internet connections empower the individual. We can now do business in real time, so the world wants there information now, and an individual can move quickly, but large organizations move slowly. Even if it is a mistake, I can quickly take a chance, and just as quickly stop it.

Number Two. Web 2.0 applications let an individual look big but act small. Everyone wants us to act like they are our only clients. First I can with online presence find the clients. I don't need a big organization feeding me. Second, my team can work quickly to have a direct connection. If I am on five times on page one of a search on Google, I look really big. If I act quickly to a response, I am small and personal. For a potential client, that's big.

Number Three. I want to control where the money is spent. Yes, contributing to a national ad compaign creates branding, but it isn't my branding. Recently I decided to do a $150 per month Google pay per click program for certain search terms. Within thirty days I average 40 email captures per week at an average cost of 80 cents per email. If it didn;t work to my satisfaction it is easy to change. It works.

Number Four. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Active Rain, custom web sites, Diverse Solutions IDX, Altos Research, etc. Tools for the times. For me it is fun and proactive. Too often we criticize our franchises, and our brokers for not creating more opportunities. I don't want to be that way so working towrads this goal, creating a more defined database with action plans, creating the marketing, this was mother's milk. I know that people here on Active Rain are in franchises and creating there own business, and I am not trying to say you are wrong. What I am saying is that I am doing what is right for me and my team.

Number Five. Great support. It starts with Cherie Young of www.cherieyoung.com, who does custom sites, interactive maps, and SEO. Besides the Tomato I give kudos to Patrick Kitano and Kevin Boer of www.domusconsultinggroup.com. They can take you to the next level of social media, and at an incredible value price. This kind of help is invaluable, and help you build the courage to make a change.

RE/MAX did a lot for me. They have always stressed education, getting designations, and networking. I would not have been able to be in this place without this help. So to RE/MAX, my great brokers Victoria and Ruth, the many firends i still have at the old office, thank you, I love you, but I will not miss you because I have not really left, I have just changed locations. We are at 500 W. 15th Suite 300 Edmond, Oklahoma 73013, and the office numner is 405-216-0020. Everything else is the same.