Christine Wade

As the holidays quickly descend on all of us, I am making a list of the last minute errands that I need to run before my family holiday begins, but what about the items that need to be taken care of before my business holiday begins? Have you thought about that, and made an active plan?

1. Have you called all of your active clients right now and made sure that you have done all that they needed or that you could do, before you switch over to family mode?
   
2. Have you checked all your files and made sure that none of your due dates fall over the holiday and if they do, have you gotten them in early?
   
3. Have you changed your outgoing voicemail message so that potential clients know when they can expect to receive a call back, when you will be back in town or in active work mode?
   
4. Have you created an auto responder for your email letting people know that same information from #3?
   
5. Have you made sure that you have proper backup, if you are leaving town, for any emergencies that might arise while you're gone?

This is just a quick list of the most important things to make sure are taken care of before you switch off of work mode and onto family mode this holiday! And of course, lots of these items can be handled by your Real Estate Virtual Assistant! Happy Holidays to you and yours as we all start to wind down for the celebrations!!!

I didn't do anything special, I just offered to help an industry leader / professional that I have the utmost admiration for, at a time when I knew that TIME was something she didn't have. I managed and organized the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce's annual Virtual Christmas Party this year (believe me, I had some help from other great VAs), since the founder had literally just moved overseas for a short time, and she wasn't sure how much time she would have or what her Internet availability would be. Also, this same person had asked me if I would modify a blog post, 8 Holiday No Cost Gifts for Colleagues / Service Providers in 2008, that I made here on AR into an article to be published in her newsletter...which I gladly did. Now this morning I got a wonderful email from her with the following surprise:

"...here is a little gift courtesy of your fantastic article (feel free to use as you please, wherever you please):

“Christine Wade has been of immeasurable help, support and assistance to me in 2008. As a member of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, she quickly established herself as a go-getter with a sunny, funny personality. She also demonstrates on a daily basis her competence, intelligence and skills. She has an open mind and is never afraid to learn something new, a trait that greatly contributes to her ongoing success and ability to work so well with clients and others. She’s sharp, creative, and quick-witted. She has no shortage of work and clients, and yet she’s always participating in things in meaningful, authentic ways and finds time to offer her assistance where she can. Smart, warm, engaging and highly skilled—she’s a rare, wonderful gem and any client who can get on her roster is very lucky indeed.” --Danielle Keister, founder, Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.

Very cool. People pay attention to how you treat them and others as well. Maybe we should all pay closer attention to how we treat others...not just over the holidays, but throughout the entire year as well! Happy Holidays to all of you!!!

Well, the industy catch phrase for this past year might be "Real Estate hates 2008!"...but that's ok because this coming year it's going to be "Real Estate Will Do Fine in 2009!" WHY? Here's why:

• Everyone is wiser. Everyone has seen what greed and excess obtained too easily has cost us as a nation and as a world.

• Everyone has tightened their belts. Those remaining in the industry are doing well on less...so when the market starts to turn around and all their hard work pays off...they will have greater profits to show for it because they didn't put so much money out to begin with. The saying "Work smarter, not harder" applies to spending as well. If you spend strategically you can spend much less and achieve the same net result.
  
• Everyone has more compassion. We've seen what the problems of the nation have cost people emotionally...and we now have more compassion for our neighbor's situations, which makes us do all we can do help them get into the right home that they really can afford for the long haul. And we really want to help our sellers get out from under those houses that they no longer can afford - so we work extra hard to make them stand out in the market and get buyers' attention.
  
• Everyone knows that what once came so easily to us is now like gold...those leads are precious and should be treated as such. We will return phone calls as soon as humanly possible, we will not judge potential clients by their appearance, we will do the utmost to provide superb customer service...follow up, follow through...

So now that 2008 is getting ready to cross the finish line, just remember what I've said above, and "Real Estate Will Do Fine in 2009!"

Meme: Seven Things You Didn't Know About Christine Wade

What is a Meme?

Mel Aclaro, a friend I met on Twitter tagged me...and now, because of him...you have to learn more about me than you ever really wanted to know :-)

The rules for these things are pretty simple in case you want to start your own meme:

1. Create a blog post with a link to the person(s) who tagged you.
2. List these rules in your post.
3. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
4. Identify seven of your friends or contacts whom you will "tag" to be part of this meme. At the end of your post, list their names and the links to their blogs.
5. Let the friends whom you tagged, know that they've been tagged.

Seven Things You May Not Know About Christine Wade

1. I have THE most beautiful dog in the world! He is 1/2 Rottweiler, 1/2 Boxer...and ALL heart! His name is Rider...and that's his beautiful mugshot you're looking at above :-)

2. Like Mel, I hate chainletters...but I will add to that...I hate all those forwarded email messages that everyone thinks they just need to add me to. I do participate in the Memes though because you actually learn something about others and I think it's a method of relationship building and therefore it's worthwhile.

3. I share my birthday with a famous musician / actor whom I had a major crush on in high school. Because of a letter that I wrote to him detailig where I lived, etc...his brother called me and invited myself and my best friend at the time to his birthday party up in Calabasas, CA. His name is Michael Damian. My parents actually drove us up there in our 1969 Firebird Convertible and dropped us off after meeting him and making sure it was an ok scene. I would like to think that I would do something that cool for my daughter, but I guard her like a hawk, so I don't know...

4. I LOVE salt & vinegar potato chips, especially the kettle kind.

5. I have lived for almost 2/3 of my life in Southern California; however, I was born and raised in Northern Central Vermont.

6. I once rode in a car, a JC Penney semi truck, a bus, a taxi and an airplane all in the same day! When driving across country with a friend a long time ago, my car broke down in Grants, NM. We were picked up on the side of the road by a JC Penney semi who took us into a garage to talk about my car, then we took a taxi to a bus station, a bus into Albequerque, NM, a taxi to the airport and an airplane home to San Diego airport!

7. I want to write my own novel someday...I have the title and the subject matter down...I just need to write it. I think that I am so worried about what happens after you actually write it, with the editing, finding a publisher and / or agent to push it, that I have backed myself into a corner of fear! LOL

Did you learn anything new about me? Please leave comments and tell me how wierd I am...or that you can relate...that would be nice too :-)

Keeping the theme of 7 alive, here are the 7 people that I am tagging to carry on the tradition. These are really quality people whom I hope you will take the time to get to know them a bit by visiting their websites.

1. Dawn Olinek - A wonderful virtual assistant, specializing in GREEN business practices while serving the construction, engineering and architecture industries.
2. Shelly Cole - Owner / Designer at BrassBlogs.com - I remember the look of her designs for years to come. If you are looking for a custom blog design, I highly recommend her services!
3. Dan Schuman - Operates a husband / wife real estate team serving the Greater Cleveland Area, specializing in the Eastern Suburbs. I just recently invited Dan to Active Rain, so let's make him feel welcomed!
4. Mikelann Valtera - I was introduced to Mikelann by Danielle Keister through a Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce monthly teleseminar. Mikelann focuses on empowering women to earn what they're worth! She has a great newsletter on her site you should sign up for as well!
5. Debi Boucher - Her style and spunk has impressed me on her Active Rain blog and I think we should all get to know her better, she is a staging Realtor in the Woodland Park, CO area.
6. Kelle Sparta - A great trainer / real estate coach, I have personally listened to several of her podcasts and I highly recommend her stuff. You can also find her on Active Rain at: http://activerain.com/spartasuccess.
7. Kim Hughes - A real estate virtual assistant who has been here since the beginning of it all. She has great real estate experience. You can find her on Active Rain at: http://activerain.com/kimhughes

OK - now those who have been tagged...it's your turn to carry the torch and have some "get to know me" fun :-)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

• Tip #14 - Set Your Internet Goals for 2009
  
  How does that saying go? We don't plan to fail, but we will if we fail to plan? Something like that! The Internet is such a huge part of the real estate industry now, that it's a huge oversite to not set specific goals pertaining to your Internet results. Once you identify those goals, then you can create a plan of action (with your Real Estate VA of course ;-) to achieve those goals. Here is a list of what some goals are that you could set for yourself in 2009:
  
  
  1. Capture XXX leads via your website.
  2. Increase monthly website visitors to XXX.
  3. Post a new blog entry every week (or day if you're really disciplined!).
  4. Update your website content at least once per month.
  5. Update listings on website within 24 hours of changes.
  6. Update profile on social networking platforms at least once per month.
  7. Participate on social platforms at least once per week.
  
  Now, some of these goals, it is really helpful to know what your numbers are now...but if you don't know that figure, please don't let that stop you...just keep pushing ahead to your goal for 2009!

• Tipsy #14 - Cranberry Almond Mimosas
  
  I don't know if any almond champagne is better than any other (I usually use Wilson Creek), but as with all alcohols, I say buy the best you can find! I also like to use pure cranberry juice, not cocktail...and you will definitely need to adjust your ratio of juice to champagne to your own particular taste buds, but this is the way that I like it. Pour about 1/4 of the champagne flute filled with the pure cranberry juice and then fill the rest of the way with the almond champagne. Garnish with a couple beautiful fresh raspberries. This drink feels very indulgent, but isn't too bad for you :-) [Note: I don't like super sweet drinks, so if this just isn't sweet enough for you, go ahead and switch to sweetened cranberry juice...it's the holidays after all!]
  
  
  • Almond Champagne
  • Pure Cranberry Juice
  • Fresh Raspberries, for garnish