Browsing through the pages of my blog today I am happy to find that I've met my ultimate goal after having surpassed 100,000 points. I can honestly say that I shook the old skool sales devil from my shoulder and have been able to turn my blog into an archive of information and motivation. These were not the sales tactics taught to me.
Here's the cliffnotes of my real estate story.
When I first entered the real estate industry 17 years ago I worked for a real estate attorney. I fell in love with helping people move into their dream home. Contract to closing was rarely easy and the deal was never done until you closed at the table.
Most of the time I won the table and the few times I didn't I tried like hell to go another round. These weren't betting games but people's lives and dreams. Those days my paychecks were extremely small but the gratitude I received was overwhelming. There was a rare end of the month when I didn't receive cards, smiles and hugs and showers of appreciation.
The best gifts were the feelings of self accomplishment. The knowlege I had done my job and done it well.
I went from a B2B and B2C real estate business into the world of online real estate. In order to keep up with the industry I had to devour real estate magazines and books to maintain the same knowledge I was able to have during practical application because my hands were no longer digging in the real estate dirt.
During those eight years of working for online real estate advertising companies I was taught to sell the sale. In the world of online real estate advertising and lead generation the one call close and guilt tripping were applauded, the consultative sale was frowned upon.
I did well selling in my own way, but in most of my positions (bar one 
I can think of) I went against the grain of push selling and marketing. When other sales associates wanted to learn how I was getting sales they were told to speak to other more pushy sales people. Management wanted dope pushers and high rollers, not sales people who wanted to give value and sell based on the actual needs of the customer. Everyone was a candidate for the product in many cases. No one should be turned away because they weren't a fit or the product didn't fit their needs.
I did turn some customers away because they weren't a good fit to be customers. That wasn't well received-----at all.
I soon became a miscreant. My shiny red nose was transparent. I couldn't join in the company's sales games so I had to leave the company I kept.
That brings me to now and my journey of 100,0000 points and reaching my goal of becoming a source of information and motivation. Everyday I blog I strive to put something up that will help someone in someway. I have been perceived by colleagues sometimes as giving away the store but I know better. My store is stocked chock full of ideas and practical application.
Everyday I learn something new that I apply to my business and my client's business and often in doing so I get an "ah ha" moment, some of which I share, some of which I stock my shelves with to help my clientele. I know better than to think that everyone is my client.
Anyway you look at it I win.
I win when I provide a value that grows my community by growing my readership.
I win when D.I.Y real estate professionals refer colleagues to me.
I win by getting direct business from the curious who turn committed.
I win by partnering with like-minded marketing consultants for referral business.
I win when consumers ask me for real estate advice because they feel I am approachable (of course I DO make appropriate referrals).
I feel like I have returned to my roots. I get to give freely and I've gotten so many virtual and real hugs and smiles (and a paycheck:-)) in return. I feel like I am back digging in the dirt.
People have asked me if I am worried. Why should I be? I could be naive.
I believe in Karma and I like to pay it forward. Beyond that all I have to say is I've got more. The window dressing is my blog, my storefront holds so much more.
I would rather shake the devil off my shoulder who says to push value through guilt and fabrication than to push value by being transparent and honest....by actually caring.
I don't want to look over my shoulder or go cross-eyed looking sideways. I won't lock up my know-how wares.
Screw CYA... for the next 100k points and beyond I want to strive even further to be more opensource.
**If you enjoyed "The Journey of 100k points: Meeting the Goals to be more OpenSource" check out these real estate marketing posts:
Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blog Archives
Balanced Bloggers Spin Timeless Classics
What are the timeless classics that live in the archives of your blog? Your blog should be well stocked with a 
variety of posts that will rock the prose of time. As you look through your blog can you pull out a dozen or more posts that a real estate buyer or seller can turn to for advice, inspiration, or information?
If your mission in blogging is to educate homeowners or buyers I bet you can find these posts.
Once you spin some timeless classics on your blog take these steps to gain traction and mileage from your hard work.
I was thinking last night about the first time I bought a house. Maybe it was because on one of the real estate forums I was browsing, I stumbled across a remark on a real estate forum that made my bleary eyes blink at midnight,
"Please convince me to buy a house".
It made me take a trip down memory lane to my first home buying experience. I was 22 years old and had been renting a townhome from the real estate attorney I worked for. My fiance and I were looking for room to grow and he was feeling the pains of non-homeownership kick in. If you have ever rented, you know what I mean: "Why am I paying someone else instead of paying myself?", "If I do any home improvements, the rewards are going to go in my landlord's pocket and not mine", "Working nine to five for zero return isn't all it's cracked up to be.", etc.
Are you feeling me?
I wanted a place to call home. My homeownership pains were not the same. I wanted a house for room for my impending family to
grow. I wanted a nice back yard for my kids to run around in and to fulfill a desire to learn how to garden and make things bloom. I longed for a space I could call my own and to be a true ruler of my destiny. To me, buying a house would mark a milestone and the beginning of the lifestyle I desired.
I got on the phone and called a local real estate agent I found in a newspaper advertisement. She agreed to take me around to see houses that weekend. I gave her my unchangeable criteria: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a yard. I also gave her some "would be nice if I could get it" features: a fireplace, a bathroom in the master bedroom, a fence around my yard.
I also told her if the house needed a little work in the way of updating, that would be OK. Well, my house hunting trip was devastating. I went alone, armed with my camera to show my fiance pictures of the gems that awaited us. After 10 houses, I was convinced that within my price range, there was nothing. I visited houses where the basements had flooded and the smell of mold was pungent to the point of distraction.
I visited houses that appeared nice on the outside but on the inside they looked like a war-torn, third-world country. I visited one house in which the ceilings were no more than 6 1/2 feet high, let alone the ceilings in the loft, where I had to bend down so my head didn't go through the ceiling.
It took me a year after that first house hunting trip to get back in the saddle and try again.
I did end up purchasing a house that year.
My price range was the same. My needs were the same as two years ago. What changed was that I was more educated. I worked hand in hand with a local real estate agent I had been referred to and pre-screened. I did some homework on the Internet to get a feel for the real estate listings in my price range. I asked my real estate agent to send me only listings that met my criteria and not ones that could only possibly make the cut--this meant nothing above my price range and absolutely no wayward houses.
The house we settled into to build a family did have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It did have a yard with a fence. The master bedroom did have a bathroom. I also got my fireplace and a bonus, a screened-in porch.
"The impossible quest can be your possible reality."
If I were writing back to the real estate buyer in the forum, this is what I would say.
"Although home prices in some real estate markets throughout the country have dropped, they may still seem higher than what you want to pay. You may be harboring fears about whether you will lose your shirt because you think you should wait until it has been declared that the real estate market has bottomed out. Or, the good deal you are asking for seems to lead you to REOs and foreclosures that make your heart heavy.
Ditch your dread and start getting an education. The right investment for you is a personal decision. It is about your personal finances, your personal needs and yes, your personal desires. Research house listings for sale online. Prescreen and interview local real estate agents until you find one who will listen and offer honest feedback.
Choose to invest in your dream by investing in yourself. The journey is much easier when you have the right support on your side.
6 Tips On How To Find the Lucky Blog Charms and Ditch the Social Grifters on the Worldwide Web
I started blogging nearly 2 1/2 years ago for a real estate 
internet advertising company after having worked online since 2000-2001 helping real estate agents market themselves. Although blogging was a bit intimidating to me, the more I read and commented on other blogs the more comfortable I became with my own writing voice. After months of writing, researching and topic hunting I turned onto a path on my journey where my mind was filled with visions of blog posts dancing in my head.
I became a student of my own blog voice that yearned to get out of my head and unto a blog publishing platform. My listening skills sharpened and the world seemed like one great road map of posts. Everyone from my butcher to my sister had a story to tell and I was listening.
It was evident to me very early on which blogs I resonated with and which ones I didn't. There were some posts I would read and my gut reaction was disgust, dismay, or a bitter taste. Shock rarely awes me, not much is awesomely shocking. If you've lived a little life you know what I am saying.
I guess I just can't stand blatant self promoters UNLESS you can VERY transparently see a golden egg behind the quacking goose. I often couldn't find a crack in the puffery so I decided early in my web 2.0 travels to ditch the blogs that tried to suck breath from kindred souls. I knew they would resonate with others but for me it was just a no go.
They are the social grifters of the worldwide web and I just don't have the time or the patience to give an audience to restless thoughtless provoking souls.
The GOOD NEWS that I would like to share on this St. Patty's Day is that also early on in my travels I came across some very caring individuals. These were the lucky charms whom I could gather inspiration, friendship, a laugh or great, useful information.
These folks aren't pushovers and they speak their mind but they don't take themselves so seriously. They are proud and they are strong, but they don't make a living bent on uselessness and they are willing to extend a hand or an arm. Far from boring their blogs have spirits and they got soul. These bloggers wouldn't back away from a challenge but they wouldn't challenge just to toot their own horn.
Here's how you find the lucky blog charms and ditch the social grifters on the worldwide web,
5 Lucky Charms. These bloggers who do just as much for their readers online as they do for themselves, if not more.
Katerina Gassett- While she blogs about SEO, short sales, and real estate scam artists she takes the time to connect with professionals personally by email, twitter and phone. My first email from a blogger came from Katerina Gassett encouraging my blogging effort and helping me out with the point system on ActiveRain.
Anne Marie Malfi- It's no secret I am a fan of this virtual assistant blogging lady. While Anne Marie is my friend, I also hire her to work on projects with me and she does a fantastic job. Her step by step blogs are selfless gifts and true knockouts.
Jeff Belonger- I am really impressed with his grassroots campaigns to help homeowners and home buyers. I bookmark many of his posts and appreciate the information he shares on mortgages, especially his specialty, FHA.
Gary Vaynerchuk- I've blogged about Gary before because his passion reverberates in every vlog. Gary's advice hits a home run with me. He will be the first person to tell his subscribers to follow their own drummer and march to their own song.
Greg Swann- There is logic in this man's controversy. Many of his posts are incredible words of actionary items for real estate professionals and there is no doubt in my mind that he loves and wants change, sensible change, in this industry he serves. Trouble is, when you challenge the status quo you become a target for controversy. Greg actually wears it quite well.
Happy St. Patty's Day. Have fun finding the lucky charms on the worldwide web.
Inquiring minds are coming on the internet in increasing numbers to ask questions and get answers. Here are some staggering statistics from Hitwise's March 2008 Report, U.S. Visits to Question and Answer Websites Increased 118 Percent Year-over-Year Yahoo! Answers receives 74 percent of all U.S. visits,
Is answering questions online a part of your social media marketing strategy? Travel the Worldwide Web and Answer Where Consumers Ask
31 Question and Answer Websites
BONUS: Question and Answer Sites for Your Reference and Research
askalibrarian- Ask your questions to a librarian
uclue.com - Researchers answer your questions.
Four Tips On How to Answer Questions,
expertise by choosing questions wisely.
Travel the worldwide web and answer where consumers ask.
The Makings of A Good Listener= Note to Self
This past Sunday I watched a story on 60 Minutes about a man, Robert Cotton, who was accused of rape and was in prison for some 12 odd years for a crime he didn't commit. He looked very similar to the actual rapist and was in the line-up which is where the rape victim, Jennifer Thompson, identified him from.
What was amazing to me was that often if the perpetrator isn't in the line up the witnesses will "tend to pick someone from the line-up who looks most like the perpetrator." As Lesly Stouts recanted after speaking with some experts on the subject of memory, "Memory is "mailable, full of holes... easily suggestible."
The line up system has two problems, Stouts explains,
1. It's often unreliable
2. It's highly persuasive to Jurors.
Gary Wells, the expert interviewed during the 60 minutes segment, discussed memory with Stouts and explained that recognition memory is quite quick. It normally takes about 10-15 seconds for recognition memory. In other words, if it takes longer than 10-15 minutes for someone to remember something then that person is most likely using something other than recognition memory.
Another problem with memory is that a reinforcement strongly alters memory, "dramatically". Take a minute to watch this video,
Fight or flight also causes flaws in memory. Stress has a deep effect on memory. A person won't forget the event happened but the details are unreliable when the person is faced with a stressful situation,
Now think about this when it comes to real estate and business. Think about REO's, foreclosures, divorced sellers, first time home buyers, short sales sellers and your communication with them. Do they take notes when you are educating them on the real estate process? If they aren't I would encourage them to do so.
In your client's anxiety and excitement how can their memory possibly digest and remember in sum total and with absolute certainty all of the advice and information you will be giving them?
Do you always take notes when you are interviewing clients or meeting with them either on the phone or in person? In your excitement to assist your clients and in your expertise having dealt with similar situations before (the ho hum syndrome) how can you be sure you will remember all the details exactly as they told them to you? How can you be sure that during your busy workdays you didn't overlook a detail a client told you or hear something differently than what a client said?
How can you be sure you can remember it all?
I take notes on every client call and on conversations with business associates. I highlight and scribble notes in the margins of books and periodicals I read. If I have a thought about something I read online, I will take a moment to scribble it down, even if I make a note on a document in my computer.
At a conference I attended last year the speaker teased those of us who chose to write our notes instead of type or solely use a hashtag and tweet them. She said it was cute. Oh I had my Smartphone with me and my laptop to boot. I knew though, that if I wrote my notes with a pen on "old fashioned paper" I would not only remember what the speaker said but I would remember where on my piece of paper I wrote the words.
Learning is fundamental, but listening and remembering can be tricky. I take my business seriously. I will now start asking my clients to please make sure to take notes for their own best records, regardless of my handouts, because I take their business seriously.
I will continue to hone my listening skills. My cute listening and memory basics have taken me to the bank many times over my competitors because my prospects were blown away that I remembered and was able to touch on the things they said to me. My clients can't believe how much I really listen.
I will always put pen to paper and write notes to myself.
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Real Estate marketing to help you employ personal branding, online marketing, offline marketing, blogging, and social media marketing strategies that are effective, profitable and that leverage your r
Are You Invisible?
On the internet, if you aren't everywhere, you are invisible.
If all you have is a page on your broker's company website or a personal static website you are invisible. Your name and your brand are just a postage stamp in a sea of letters online.....small, invisible and forgotten.
In an industry where 80% of homebuyers come online to begin the process of home buying and sellers expect superior marketing of their home, your business can't afford to be a postage stamp.
You have a brand, a name, and a unique service. Let them be known.
I have consulted with real estate agents for the past 8 years on their real estate marketing.
I have worked with real estate professionals for 17 years. View my online real estate resume.
All successful real estate agents have unique services and style. The trouble for many real estate agents is putting their personality into words and making their business proposition shine online.
You have a brand, a name and a unique service. Employ real estate marketing strategies that compliment your business proposition.
Over the years real estate agents have asked to employ my insight and real estate marketing services directly. Now through my real estate marketing consultant business I am able to assist real estate agents in leveraging their assets online and offline.
My goal is to have true relationships with my customers. No bull. 100% real.
If you need a real estate marketing consultant who can help you attract the clients you desire, provide you with focus, and help you see through your blind spot Call me at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.
I am passionate about my work. My services include consulting, training and onsite seminars at the brokerage or real estate association level for:
** I am available for speaking engagements, custom seminars, and workshops.**
I also consult with individual real estate agents and real estate agent teams on,
All of my programs have detailed systems and none of them are cookie cutter. Whether you are a real estate business or an individual real estate professional looking to stand out in the crowd Real Skillz will provide you with a plan of action that incorporate your real estate business goals.
If you treat real estate as a business than Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.
**New Addition to my Family of Services- BLOG TUNE UP For Real Estate Brokerages, Real Estate Agents, and Real Estate Agent Teams**
It's really simple. I need to know the URL for your blog, your greatest challenges, your biggest accomplishments and your end goal.
I will personally review your blog digging through it in search of,
I will also be searching through the internet analyzing how you are marketing your blog,
I will prepare an analysis and then a custom blog strategy. I will send this in depth report to you and give you a few days to review it.
You will also be provided with a blog writing and marketing strategy.
You will receive a one hour conference call. We will discuss any questions you have regarding the analysis, strategy, and beginning of your new journey. A 30 day check up is included with this service to make sure all the tires are in alignment and you're running along smoothly.
Any subsequent checkups will be at your discretion and your need. I am providing a customized program to you. It's a tune up not an indentured servant contract. My goal is for each professional/business who comes into my marketing shop for service is to leave feeling firmly empowered, gassed up and ready to go.
If you are seeking increased business, personal branding, and a blogging strategy that works for you rather than a one size fits all solution or throwing everything against the wall hoping some of your efforts will stick call me at #262-203-5231 or email: rebecca@realestateskillz.com
I have priced this service at a very affordable level and cannot take more than 30 blog tune ups a month because of the amount of work involved for each one.
Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com
OR Visit the Dedicated Website for the Real Skillz Blog Tune-up and sign up today.
I have taken a keen interest to real estate since the time I was 10 years old. Pouring over the Unique Homes magazines my parents had and studying the design of houses in different neighborhoods, I just knew that real estate excited me.
The world of real estate, and especially real estate marketing resonates in my core.
I started my career in the real estate industry seventeen years ago. In 1992 I was a legal assistant to a real estate attorney who also owned a title company in Mount Prospect Illinois. After 7 years and of being an integral factor in closing thousands of real estate transactions, I moved on to corporate relocation. I took a short break (3 months) when my second child was born, then returned to the industry in 2001 as a Director of Alliance Partnerships for an online real estate company.
I am a Gen-X'er, but wasn't born with a keyboard under my fingertips, so it was a challenge.
The internet managed to hold my fascination. I have been working in the online real estate industry ever since. I love real estate and the internet almost equally. I am always learning in both industries and love the way that one compliments the other. I am happy to ditch the typewriters and old IBM word processors and work on my laptop and cell.
Especially as a working mom with three young children, the internet has enabled me to work from home. It can't get any better than that.
It is thrilling to blog about real estate right now at a time where negativity pervades the households across then nation in the form of various media outlets: newspapers, television, and radio. I feel that while there are many markets experiencing challenges, these challenges will lead to corrections and a balance in the industry again.
There is something to be learned from every challenge. You can still attain your real estate goals through diligence, determination, and above all, a positive attitude. A positive attitude will attract positive results.
Take positive actions and share these with real estate buyers and sellers Encourage your clients to take positive action as well to help you sell their house or buy their dream house.
You can be real about current real estate market trends and values in your area without being another voice of doom and gloom.
Real estate buyers and sellers don't really want more bad news. They just want solid advice to make good decisions that will effect them positively.
If your interested in learning more about my services
Call me: #262-203-5231
Email me: rebecca@bloggingintherain.com
DM me on Twitter: @rebeccalev
I love helping real estate agents put their money to good use. My real estate marketing advice helps real estate agents save money where they can and spend money where they should.
Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com today. I'd love to learn about your business and see if we're a good fit for each other.
A GRANDSLAM CUSTOMIZED WORKSHOP FOR REAL ESTATE OFFICES TO SPRING AHEAD
*** REAL ESTATE BROKERS HELP YOUR AGENTS COMPETE AND STEP AHEAD OF THEIR COMPETITION- BRANDING SANITY WEBINAR**
Successful Businesses Have A Brand
Learn how to Create, Develop and Manage your brand in a 5 week webinar series, Branding Sanity,brought to you from a partnership between Malfi Marketing Solutions and Real Skillz.
Branding Sanity is an interactive webinar with a classroom casual style where you will build a personal action plan that will leave your customers and competitors breathless. Visit Branding Sanity for details and easy registration.
**Please note, these webinars are only offered to real estate agents through their brokerages, so if you are interested have your broker sign up for more information or call/email so we can discuss.**
Look for more joint webinars from Malfi Marketing Solutions and Real Skillz that will help you uncover your marketing prowess.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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