Valerie Spaulding~Allyn~Belfair~Hood Canal & Mason County~WA~Real Estate~

Okay so it wasn't very silent! But it was sure impressive!!!

Anacortes, WA 2009 Oyster Run

Oyster Run 2009 in Anacortes, WA! The entire main street blocked off with 4 rows of bikes parked the entire length.I counted 100 bikes coming in every ten minutes. And just when you think you've got the coolest bike...

I don't know what kind of a bike you would call it, but it was suuuuuurree pretty! Not so sure it's for a long road trip! What do you think?

An incredible day with incredible bikes, incredible weather, and incredible people!......

So how was YOUR Monday? I don't care to have a repeat of today thank you.....

It all started out fairly normal. Monday's though are typically always little more hectic and this one turned from hectic to- maybe not hell- but pretty gosh darned close. I generally can pull it all together and get it settled down and done.... but today it was JUST NOT going to happen.

I had my scheduled planned as usual. It was going to be a tight one today between phone calls, paperwork to catch up on, errands to run, appointments to be met, signs to put up, pictures to be taken.... I think you get it. And that's just for my business, throw in home, husband, children and AAAARRRRGHHHHHHHH!!! CALGON PLEASE TAKE ME AWAY!!! And oh wait - was there time in there for me?? Not typically on a Monday.

But Calgon did not show.So I hustled and bustled and plugged along and as the day went on, the appointments got further and further behind, I was late meeting the sign guy so he left. I drove right by the house I was bringing flyers to for the flyer box. My camera batteries died after two pictures and someone took my extra batteries out of my bag (grandkids have moved in with us...);My car was turning over extremely sllllooowwww when starting -(how many more cranks will I get out of it?);the phone calls were running longer than planned which meant I had voicemail after voicemail (DID EVERYONE WAIT UNTIL MONDAY TO CALL??).... and so it went on....

I finally caught up with the sign guy, I decided the pictures were going to have to wait until tomorrow, I went back to the office in the hopes of finishing the paperwork and returning voicemails...

My phone rings. It is my daughter who is graciously cooking dinner tonight (It is her and her two children that have just moved back in with us) and she tells me that the barbecue is on fire....I take a deep breathe and ask her to explain.....

"the whole thing is on fire," She is not panicked but anxious I can tell (I am trying not to panic as our home burnt down in 2004). Is she exaggerating or should she be talking to the fire dept instead of me?.

We quickly determine that yes, grease has caught on fire and yes, the barbecue inside is ablazing but she has shut the propane off, hose standing nearby to protect my deck and house and it quickly burns out.... Whhheewwww. She laughs "dinners done!" Oh yes my children are quite humorous at times.

Okay back to work-but my mind would not concentrate with still so much to do and all of the interruptions... I finally said "that's it. I'm done. I can do no more today." Packed up my things and headed for the car...

I turn the key and NOTHING.... I should have known that I was not going to get one more crank out of the car today - I mean seriously- this was the puuuuurrrfecttt day for it to head south....~~~DEEEEEEEP SIIIIGH~~~

My husband is nowhere to be found. And now all of a sudden when I TRY to call someone - no one wants to talk to me and all my calls go to voicemail.....

After an hour waiting for SOMEONE -ANYONE- to answer their phone, my husband shows up to the rescue- Very apologetic that he did not hear his cellphone (uh huh).... and rescues me... THANK YOU!!!!

So How was YOUR Monday?? Because I don't care to have a repeat of THIS Monday anytime soon! If for some reason I did not get to talk to you today, or you left me a message - I'll be back tomorrow and pick up where I left off! But for now -

oooooh Yes - I do believe it is wine and hottub time! and I am counting on a terrific Tuesday!

HERE WE COME GLACIER NATIONAL PARK! DAY THREE!

Okay so I have to digress for a minute and tell you something first. When researching Glacier Nat'l Park for our trip - I was real leary about the roads and their condition near there at the end of June. And there's one road in particular that looked to be the most popular, but also the most scary.... GOING-TO-THE-SUN-ROAD.

Scary you say? Yeah scary. Like in winding, twisting, narrow, no guard rails, cliff hanging kinda scary- you know? And we were going to be on our motorcycles so I wanted to know ALL about this road before I got anywhere near it (this is the part where my husband would call me a sissy)! Go ahead read the link above....I'll wait.

So I did investigate and based on the info on their website it seemed that it would be better to come in from the east side of Glacier on it, than the West Side....That way I would be riding against the mountain not hanging in the outside lane cliffside. Okay remember that.

Here's the other thing for the most part, I am the navigator calling the shots as to which roads we're taking (eheheheheh - if only they KNEW)! So when I said we were going in on the East side - well we were going in on the East side.

Right- up- until -the part where my husband looked at the map and saw how much CLOSER the west side was!

See my theory was we'd come in from the east and since this is our turn around point, well we want to come out on the west anyway instead of backtracking right? Suuuuurrre! NOT Happening. They were both insisting on the west side and the razzing starts - "so you wanna ride with the big dogs or not? Oh that's right- you're just a 'baby biker'" and so on.... (uggghhh they're killing me here!) Nothing like the old confidence booster huh?

And so our trip goes....

If you'd like to read the previous blogs about how we got this far....

Here's the links: Going-to-the-Sun Road Part 2 Going-to-the-Sun Road Part I

See you on the road!

Valerie

Does your niche market reflect in your niche office? Virtual or not? To be or not to be.....

There is a lot of discussion going on regarding whether to be a virtual office or having a standing physical office location. Everyone has a different opinion and strategy and of course I do have my own opinion!

But my humble opinion is based on what has and is working for me. Your office, whether it be virtual or physical, needs to fit your niche market and what works for you, your clients and prospective clients. I am all for keeping up with the times and do implement where and when what works for me.

What works for me, may not work for you.

I think you first need to know who you are trying to target.

• DO you have a niche?
• Or are you looking for that niche?
• Are you looking for "out of thin air lead generation" or producing mass leads that you have to filter through to find "A" buyers and sellers?
• or working from an established database?
• Do your target clients require face to face contact?
• What type of community do you live in?
• What type of buyer does your community draw?
• Are you well known in the community?

There's a lot more to think about as well, but those are partly or mostly going to determine whether you need a physical location or you can be virtual...or maybe both is the way to go?(although I do think no matter what you do you have to also have a good online presence as well).

I am a huge, huge Customer Service person as well as a local resource. Being that local resource, it is important to me that when I am out in the small communities of Belfair, Allyn, Hood canal and Puget Sound, that they KNOW where to find me - whether it be on the internet or IN THE OFFICE. My presence is there for both.

I want anyone and everyone to be able to stop by and see me; ask me about the market, or just stop by for the "hello" and/or to ask a question. I also feel that I have a better chance at them stopping by if I have a centrally located professional office rather than saying "sure just stop by my house"?? Probably very few people who want to physically meet with me are going to come by my house.

And as for meeting in a location within the community, to me I would rather have the resource of an office where I know all of my tools are available and is a professional and quiet atmosphere. I want my clients to be able to focus on the matter at hand, not what's going on around us in a different location.

My niche market (although I like to think of my success market as my "niche "service") brings with it a fairly good following within the Belfair and Allyn community. Small communities also tend to be more "face to face" in general, where familiar faces walk and drive the streets every day- With that said, I base how I run and work my office for that niche.

My main focus is small town "Customer Service" and local resource. Sort of like a "live" person on the phone rather than 400 buttons and instructions to get to MAYBE a live person. If I am only VIRTUALLY out there in this community, I am not going to be very well known or looked for if I don't have a centrally located resource center (that would be my office).

We all have use of pretty much the same tools out there, but its how and what you utilitize that is important and tayloring it to fit YOUR needs and YOUR clients needs - not following what I do.

LEAD your business utilizing the tools that fit it. Just because "virtual" seems to be a wave of the future - don't give up on what actually works for YOUR business.

and that's just my humble opinion....

~~Valerie~~

If you would like more information about the Allyn, Belfair, Hood Canal and Puget Sound area and homes for sale, you can visit me on the internet at : www.valspaulding.mywindermere.com or my blog www.Belfairwarealestate.com; or if you would prefer to stop in and say hello or request some information stop on by at my LOCAL Belfair Office at 30 NE Romance Hill Rd, Suite 102, Belfair WA!

Our journey to The Road to the Sun~Day two -Doesn't bring very much Progress -but it IS progress.

Our first night of camping wasn't as bad as I expected. Except for the downhill slope we were sleeping on (nylon sleeping bags and a downhill slope do not mix), MY worry of the rattle snakes, the wind, and the bird that decided at 4AM it was time to really make some racket, I made it through the night!

Here's the link to the first leg of our trip if you want to catch up to how and why we ended up camping....

The neighbor campers were pretty impressed with the bundle of firewood my husband brought back on his bike (wish I'd taken a picture). There was actually a REAL bathroom too with running water (this was one of my pre-requisites with my husband-no bathroom - no campee for me). Thought the rattlesnakes were going to be a problem, but they kept their distance and I kept mine. We'd definitely stay here at this campground again- Make note Spring Canyon Campground- Grand Coule, WA on the will do again list.

But it's time to go... onward to the next stop and towards our final destination -Glacier National Park.

We packed up the bikes. Amazing how meticulous my husband is and what he can carry on his bike. He is CONSTANTLY reminding me that he has to carry some of my stuff... and yeah he got the tent back in the same little bag that it came out of! MIRACLE! (LOL)...The sleeping bags though seem to take up more room this time packing. Ben and his kitchen sink took a little longer, but with a little help we got all his gear back on his bike as well - bungee cord hell, but dam it was secured. We were ready to roll.

COFFEEE- I NEED COFFEEEEEE!!!!! First mission of the day COFFEE!!!. Course my husband will bypass every coffee shop for miles unless I flag him down or pull over....(I usually get my way one way or another)!

We decided to head towards Bonner's Ferry, Idaho rather than going south and up.This was going to be our stopping place for the night. We didn't want to spend buco bucks on a hotel but we didn't want to camp either. 500 miles later we need a shower and a soft comfy bed....

Only 200 miles today we did. But we were wiped. Figure it was from all of that wind that was beating us to death until we got to the Idaho border as well as the hourly uphill climb trying to sleep. Plus we don't want to ride too late - too many large animals start roaming around near dusk and after...

Time for a good nights sleep on a normal bed with a warm and soft mattress and best of all? A shower and COFFEE in the morning! WHOO HOO. I CAN SMELL THE COFFEE ALREADY! Life's little luxuries!

Cute cute place we find in Bonners Ferry. Log cabin motel. Small family run and recently redone. We hitched our rides up by the hitching posts, grabbed us a shower, some inexpensive supper and kicked back on the patio soaking up the last of the days light. Good drink, good food, good company. Another place to add to our "we can do places" in our journeys.

Tomorrow we should reach our turn around destination Glacier National Park. I hope you'll continue to follow as we share our tale of our trip to "The Road to the Sun" and beyond.