Dane Findley

Are you in charge of your day, or, is your day in charge of you? So many of us who work in the real estate-related professions live the typically busy lifestyle of today's professionals (and when I say "professional," I am also including stay-at-home full-time parents: the ultimate pros)!

Unique lifestyles require unique solutions. The more hectic life seems, the more important it becomes to "stay on track," and get the most productivity from each moment -- whether that's quality relaxing, or quality workflow.

One-third of our nation's workforce are members of what is currently referred to as "the Creative Class," because they create for a living -- as entrepreneurs, as knowledge workers in education and technology, and, of course, within the artistic professions.

Many people who work and create in these areas are extremely busy. I know this first-hand because I work with a talented team of real estate professionals who are also journalists; they are community experts who reach out and connect with their neighbors through their hyperlocal blogs and online social networking channels.

There is a constant temptation for those of us who keep extremely full schedules to fall into a state of unawareness about how we organize our days. In other words, we forget to periodically work on our days, instead of just in our days.

Oh, the excuses we create to keep from taking a hard, honest look at how we organize our time and prioritize our projects! My team and I have found it useful to get together and have "accountability groups" where we support and challenge each other to improve our personal productivity, and to be the best we can be. I hope that you find within these videos something that might be helpful to you, or spark an idea that might light the way toward a new solution that will make an improved difference in your own week!

I invite you to share, in the comments section below, any thoughts you have about how best to navigate effectively through an especially busy week. What works for you?

Dane Findley is Marketing Director at Partners Trust.

You can follow him on Twitter via @danenow.

Community blogging is increasingly providing connection, value, and interest to people of all ages. In fact, many people now have a favorite social media channel -- whether it's YouTube, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, or Flickr. Which one do you use the most? Which could you not live without? Your answer may depend on your age, or where you are located, but you might already have an opinion about it!  Likewise, your clients -- and potential clients -- are moving online, too, and they also have their favorite social media channels.

Perhaps the hardest part of being a Realtor is working on your future business each day, while you're also working on your current transactions.

If you've been hearing about this crazy new thing called 'Social Media' or 'Online Networking' but have been reluctant to try it, you might find the following short videos interesting. Almost all of us who have our own Facebook page -- myself included -- at one time thought we would never have a Facebook page! That's just human nature: many trends seem frivolous when you first hear of them and before you fully understand them in the context of the cultural shift in which they are occurring. Same goes for Twitter:

When Twitter first appeared it was merely a way to broadcast status updates about what you were thinking or doing in any given moment. It has since evolved into a highly entertaining way to share information and converse on interesting topics publicly. You can even jump into an ongoing conversation! When Facebook first appeared, it was a way for college students to talk about what happened the night before at that campus party. It has since evolved into a giant, virtual bulletin board on which you can post news, stories, hellos, check-ins, and even videos.

When blogging first appeared, it was a sort of online journal or diary. Now, it has become a way for individuals, and even companies, to connect with their neighborhoods, start dialogues, and share stories and helpful information.

Whether you are retired, or a business owner, or a college student, an entrepreneur, or if you work for a company that provides a product or service -- it doesn't matter -- you can still use social media channels, to connect with your fellow human beings and become part of an online village. And if you happen to be a real estate professional -- what an entertaining, authentic way to share your expertise with your neighbors! I mean, please, it's more effective than bus bench ads! Do you have any questions (or opinions) about this new world of social media? What channels do you use? Flickr? Facebook? Twitter? What's your favorite so far? Please use the comments below!

Dane Findley is Marketing Director at Partners Trust. You can follow him at Twitter, via @danenow.

Today, we have a guest blogger: Nick Segal, President of Partners Trust in Los Angeles, California. Nick is looking toward the future and telling us what he sees, and how it might impact you:

by Nick Segal

Real estate brokerage houses are in transition. Big transition. And ironically, it is the big brokerage houses that are about to suffer the biggest set back because of it.

Broker basics are as follows: the life blood of any brokerage house - the agents in the field - produce the deals and the company takes their percentage for supplying the offices, managers, advertising opportunities, and the power of market share. “Big Brokerage" has always promoted that deals are secured because of the power of the brand -- that the brand is what consumers know and therefore that is why they call the agent within that company -- thus, establishing the value of Big.

But here is what’s changing.

Real estate is a relationship-driven business. Historically, leads have been generated by individuals, not the company, and because of this, agents are beginning to realize their own power and demanding that they be honored. And so the erosion begins.

Big now has to offer more to each “rainmaking” agent with bigger office spaces and more associated perks in order to keep the agent that supports the “market share” that powers the Big. Problem is, the number of sales are way down and so Big is suffering both internally and externally: internally, because each agent costs more and more to keep happy; and externally because there are fewer deals.

Cue the squeeze.

In order for Big to manage costs, they must start to burden their “life blood” with fees and other revenue-producing programs that are extracted from each deal the agent produces. And with fewer deals out there, each agent feels the sting that much more, hastening the splintering resentment that causes the producing agents to look for new opportunity where they can either keep more of each deal or surround themselves in a more supportive environment where they feel cared for with greater services and forward-thinking programs designed to help them make more deals in a more “boutique” climate.

Thus the transition from Big to new broker business models is underway and gaining momentum by leaps and bounds. My next segment will look at the types of models that are springing up and the key ingredients that agents are looking for in the brokerage of 2010 and beyond.

I welcome your comments and stay tuned as I continue examining the dynamic transition of real estate companies as we know them, and how Big has got their work cut out for them.

 

Part of a continuing series on real estate entitled "Life in the Startup Lane."

Read "The Paperclip Consciousness," "From Theory to Practical Application," and "Competing with the Bigs."

 

 

This is Part Three in my ongoing series on utilizing a personal assistant effectively.

In Part One of this series, “When Is It Time to Get an Assistant?” I explored how an assistant can help you be more productive, accelerate your career, and grow your business. In Part Two, I shared the 4 qualities to look for, and cultivate, in an assistant. Now it's time to strategize about how an assistant can free up more of your time, so that you can spend less of it on clerical tasks, and more of it on generating revenue.

First things first, you're going to need an updated to-do list. If you work remotely, in the field, from the home office, if your company has several branches, or if your office has a large sales staff or is particularly busy, then your to-do list will probably need to be a digital web-based list that can be modified in real-time from your laptop or smartphone.

If you "kick it old school," and have only one quiet office and your assistant is at a desk nearby, then you might be able to get by with the traditional pad of paper and pencil.

In any case, in order to get the most from having an assistant, you need a system for capturing all of your tasks, next-action steps, and projects as they occur to you.

Here is a short video that explains what to do next. Be sure sure to chime-in with your own ideas, questions, or experiences in the comments section below.

 

 

Dane Findley is Marketing Director at Partners Trust. You can follow him at Twitter, via @danenow.

 

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For many of us who work in the real estate business, we are busy as bees, and one of our favorite parts of the month is when we cash those checks, not only because of the money itself, but because of the feeling of accomplishment and ceremony that comes from "depositing" -- knowing that we are being compensated for our skills, efforts, talents, and a job well-done.

To thrive in the broker business -- to succeed greatly at advising people on home-buying and home-selling -- it's important to find more joyful moments "in the work" than just those check-cashing moments!

What is your favorite part of the day?

What weekday is your favorite of the whole week?

These are important questions. Where I work, the culture of our company is of utmost importance to us. We believe everything hinges on how happy our Associates are. The happier they are, the better service they provide our clients. It's the classic win-win.

It's not enough to talk about the importance of company culture. Everyone has to be into it. It requires vigilance, commitment, and, frankly, joy.

For this reason, we have lots of get-togethers at my brokerage, Partners Trust, in which we exchange ideas freely, offer each other encouragement, and "brainstorm."

We discuss such matters as how to provide added value to clients in between transactions (also called, "aftercare"), how to film great videos, write great blogs, how to present professionally, communicate effectively, be more organized, take great photographs, negotiate brilliantly, understand contracts backwards-and-forwards -- you name it.

I know, it sounds intense, all of this training. And it can be. Fortunately, we laugh a lot, too.

In this short video, I share briefly at one of our meetings about what I call "the internal shift." The Shift is something good that can happen inside of ourselves as we're tempted to feel oppressed by all the tasks on our task list that need doing!

 

Sometimes, all that's required is a shift in perception.

Approaching a new creative project with a light heart and a sense of play can sometimes make all the difference.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the 47 individual tasks that the entire project requires, pick the one you believe should come next, and focus only on it. Forget the other 46 tasks. For the time being, the task before you is the only one.

How did I learn about this "shift?"

As a seven year-old boy, I was obsessed with the movie Mary Poppins. I thought Dick Van Dyke was the coolest thing since ice cream, and I wanted to be a professional chimney sweep when I grew up. But something confused me.

I didn't understand what "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" had to do with the story of two children growing up in Old England (still very young, I was unclear on the whole concept of 'metaphor,' and thought the song was literally about table sugar and cough syrup). On one of our long walks, I asked my big sister about it, and she explained, "I think what they mean is that, if inside of your mind you turn something difficult into a game, it makes it more fun."

I remember, in those moments after her explanation, feeling something shift inside of me -- kind of as if someone flipped a light switch on.

Little wonder that as an adult I became fascinated by the topic of personal productivity!

What is the culture of your company like? What makes it works well? In what ways do you find it enjoyable?

Feel free to share your tips in the comments section below. Maybe we can implement your suggestions in our own company!

 

Dane Findley is Marketing Director at Partners Trust. You can follow him on Twitter, via @danenow.