Matthew Jones

I thought it was kind of neat to see all of the NAR commercials running so frequently the last couple of weeks during the NCAA's "Road to the Final" Men's basketball tournament on CBS (even if my team did get booted in the Sweet Sixteen round.)

The timing seems great, not only with the warmth of spring here, but even to the extent that the content of the commercials seems right on, plugging the updated stimulus package ($8000 tax credit for first time home buyers, etc).

I believe we have to hand it to NAR on this one, as they're obviously trying to enhance the products and services we offer to our clients.

But not only that have you noticed that NAR is now offering many eProduct versions of the tools and services made previously available only "For Sale" - now for FREE on it's new web site Right Tools Right Now?

Many of you may find this a pleasant surprise because according to NAR "nearly 300 previously ‘for-sale' resources will be offered at discount or for free in the following categories: Education Tools & Publications, Conventions & Events, Technology Services, Research Tools, Enhanced Services, Online Training and Association & Board Resources. In some cases, new services have been created and offered at no charge to better help members in this time."

Just thought I would pass this along, but let me know what you think as well as some of the areas you find most helpful as you put it to the test!

How pleased should all of us at Keller Williams be, not only in our hearts, but also towards one another, that on the very walls of our business we have written and displayed the beliefs and values listed below?!!

As most of you at Keller Williams already know, we call them the WI4C2TS, but you have to make sure you read it the right way, as a question, in order to understand it properly. See what I mean? You have to ask yourself the question like this, "Why 4c 2t's"?

You almost have to ask yourself the question a couple of times to get the hang of it. So, let's give it a try together, alright? Okay, here we go. On the count of three, all together now, 1, 2, 3..

Why 4c 2t's?

Why 4c 2t's?

Why 4c 2t's?

Alright! That's good!

So, since you asked, let me take a moment to answer your question, "Why 4c 2t's?", and as I do, keep in mind that what I really want to touch on today is the "I" in our corporate belief system which stands for "Integrity". Here they are...

Our Belief System: WI4C2TS
Win-Win - or no deal
Integrity - do the right thing
Customers - Always come first
Commitment - In all things
Communication - Seek first to understand
Creativity - Ideas before results
Teamwork Trust - Together everyone achieves more
Trust - Starts with honesty
Success - Results through people

Everything that our WI4C2TS belief system stands for is important, but notice how the "I" in "WI" combines with the "W" to ask the question "Why?"?

So, why is that then? It's because the "I" in "WI" stands for "Integrity - doing the right thing", and it's by integrity and doing the right thing that our entire corporate belief system functions and flows!!!

Let me explain how and why by using a couple of examples.

Think about all of the wonderful accounts of integrity you're already familiar with from different times and different cultures, and even all the wonderful accounts of integrity you're familiar with from our own time and our own culture. In one way, it's only by looking at these accounts that we can truly learn and understand what integrity is all about.

Take Esther as an example integrity. Esther is a great example that comes to mind from the ancient Hebrew culture. Esther risked her life to save her people, the Jews, upon whom an edict of annihilation (a holocaust) had been decreed by the King of Persia. She unlawfully appeared before the very King that had decreed destruction on her people, acknowledging that, it just may be, that she had "come to her royal position for such a time as this". Casting off her fear she took action, saying, "I will go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Her decisive action resulted in a complete and supernatural reversal of the entire situation. One Night With the King - Movie Trailer

Yes, the very essence of integrity is all about - putting others first - especially when we have to do so at our own expense or peril.

Take William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army, one of this nation's longest standing charitable organizations, as an example of integrity from our own time and our own culture. (By the way the Salvation Army's motto is "Doing the most good" because 83 cents of every dollar donated is directly allocated to assisting people in need which is a phenomenal stat for an organization this type!).

At the turn of the last century, William Booth, by that time well into his 80's, and approaching the very the end of his life, having been asked to address his troops in what would be perhaps his last appearance, instead sent out that famous telegraph that summed up his entire life's work. And his one-word telegraph simply read... "Others"

So it's easy to see throughout history that integrity is what real leadership is all about, and that's why integrity is so important to Keller Williams Agents.

But there's also another way that we all truly learn and understand what integrity is all about. Integrity in real time and space is most often perceived and understood, not in terms of its presence, but in terms of its absence. And consequentially, if we as Keller Williams Agents ever cease to move in integrity, we don't simply diminish in power the impact we have on our customers and associates, as some may well suppose in their minds.

No, that's far too simple. If we ever cease to move in integrity we actually redefine ourselves in terms of an absence of that which makes us Keller Williams Agents at all.

Shouldn't then we all determine never to be absent in this regard? And isn't that also what makes integrity is so important to Keller Williams Agents?

Have you ever heard it said that in life there are basically three kinds of people? Well there really are you know.

There are people that WATCH things happen - and we call them Spectators.

There are people that MAKE things happen - and we call them Facilitators.

And then there are people that are just always saying, "WHAT HAPPENED?!" (and we call them "Taters" =).

Well for all you Facilitators out there, here's the latest:

NAR's new Green Designation which just became available in November 2008 may be the very best way to bring real value to your clients, not to mention your own business, your own home, and even the environment for that matter. And the impact this designation has really is in just that order - it impacts your customers, then it impacts you (your business and your family), and then, as result, you can be assured of making a long term residual impact, if you will, on the environment.

And that's what makes the Green Designation such an attractive option to a lot of real estate professionals, but not a lot have acted on it yet.

Naturally, there are those who may be hesitant that the term "Green" could somehow impose a controversial label on their business that they may end up being uncomfortable with in the long run, but keep in mind, the new Green Designation isn't mostly about changing weather patterns across the planet, it's mostly about bringing value and the ability to communicate that value to environmentally conscious consumers.

So by all means don't let any hesitancy that the term "Green" invokes in your thinking frighten you into becoming a Spectator (or even a "Tater" for that matter)!

The new designation is really about meeting the needs of environmentally conscious consumers interested in saving money while at the same time preserving the environment. The Green Designation will show you how to save green ($$$) with every innovation from bamboo flooring to passive solar heating, and allow you to become an expert in that area as you communicate these savings to environmentally conscious consumers with "just the right message, to just the right people, in just the right way, at just the right time."

To find out more about The Green Designation, and other related topics start with this article - Accolades Grow for NAR's Green Designation, and then, there's more at The Green Resource Council as well as NAR Accredited Designations & Courses .

Ok...so I feel a little stupid!

I was talking with an agent today and we were on the subject about how to communicate a listing presentation with a seller when the seller lives somewhere else.

My thoughts on the matter were to use http://www.gotomeeting.com/, which allows the seller to view your computer screen anywhere in the world and the seller and agent can phone conference in and do the listing presentation that way. I was feel pretty good about coming up with that solution...but then another agent had a GREAT idea that I have not thought of before.

The other agent said why not use http://www.skype.com/ and do a live video conference with the seller...so they can see you face to face. What a GREAT ID. I totally use skype for personal reasons, talking with my niece and nephew or talking with my brother or sister. But for some reason I never drew a connection with using skype for business purposes.

Sometimes the answers are right there in front of us...we just need someone to open our eyes to them.

If you have another suggestion as to how you communicate with sellers or buyers when they are out of state, please let me know...I am all ears!

Thanks much

WOW....so I got such a great response regarding "Cool Websites to check out", I thought I would post a few more websites that I thought were GREAT!....if you did not read the original blog....you need to check it out~

Anyway, here are a few more sites that I think are pretty cool!

1) www.eagentfeedback.com - This is the cheapest feedback site I have found....for less than 10/month you can get feed back for your all your listings....it allows your sellers to access the website to view the feedback that they have received. It also emails your seller with the feedback that other agents leave. This is a great site for the price...other sites charge anywhere from 15 to 20 a month! I love this site!!!!

2) www.google.com/maps- another name for this site can be STREET VIEW!!!! If you have not checked this site out you MUST! I can't stress this one enough! For your clients that are out of town, and want to see what the neighborhood to a house is like...all they need to do is enter the street address. Once the map has located the street. Click on the little yellow man in the top left hand corner of the map. Drag him onto the map and you can actually view the street from STREET VIEW. This is the coolest site I have seen in a long time! GREAT FOR THE OUT OF TOWN BUYERS!!!!!!!!

3) GOOG411- Oh my GOD! How great is technology today? So you can text GOOG411 with the name of a store, city, and state and it will return, by text the top 3 matches. How cool is that and best of all it is FREE!!!!!!!! Yes you heard me correctly, FREE I just LOVE GOOGLE :0)

So Until next weeks top 3 website, I hope you have a great time surfine the web. You can also check out my website and go to "websites to check out" to see past websites that I found useful.