About Renfrew County, ON

In the world of real estate, to get your name out there is a must. Your career won't go too far if no one knows who you are! That's why advertisers make so much money off of us. In fact, I just had a guy in here a couple of weeks ago trying to sell me a small amount of advertising space on a board outside the entrance to a local grocery store to the tune of $800/year. Not having any stats or numbers to provide me with that would support any potential return on investment, I told the gentleman that I'd have to pass - but I knew that another agent would be only too willing to take my place.

Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, billboards, direct mail, internet, hell even the disposable paper placemats at family restaurants - if it can be used to promote a real estate agent, it will be.

Quite possibly the (hmmm, how shall I put this) "most interesting" idea for self promotion I've personally come across in the last couple years came from a company that came in to my brokerage one sunny afternoon. They gave a very lovely presentation in which they were trying to sell me a knife set that I could give as a gift to my clients after a sale.

Now you're probably thinking "A knife set? How impersonal" but you need to understand that this was not just any ordinary set of knives. No. This set was promoted as being extraordinarily sharp and would even come engraved with my name and phone number on it to create "top of the mind awareness."

Ooooookaaay.

‘Cause it makes sense that I would want to make sure that when you think of knives, you think of Paula Hartwick, Real Estate Sales Representative. When you accidentally slice your finger making dinner, I want you to think of me again. When you're sitting in the emergency room bleeding profusely, I can feel confident that my name will be the first that comes to mind...

‘Till next time,

Paula

So I was sitting down on Wednesday evening to watch HGTV's newest show "Realtor vs. Realtor" and it was great! I have to admit, based on the title of the show, I was expecting things to get a little more confrontational, however, both individuals remained professional and the ribbing that occurred was strictly in good fun. We'll see what future episodes have in store.

This program did make me think though. It seems that no matter what business you're in or what career path you've taken, you're going to run in to people who see things differently than you do. As my very wise Aunt once told me "different people have different personalities." Real estate sales are no exception.

My first month working at the brokerage, I was attempting to negotiate a deal on a property with another agent who didn't like my client's counter offer - felt it was too low. My client was the buyer in this situation and the counter offer was based on the recent sales of the comparables in the area which I had reviewed with my client. When I politely asked the other agent if they could explain to me the reasons why this particular property was priced so much higher than the others, the mood instantly changed. This agent became quite aggressive and starting attacking me verbally, criticizing the fact that I was new to the business (as though that was the reason for the property being overpriced). Although I was quite taken aback and could feel the words "listen, you douche" starting to rise up from my throat, I managed to keep my cool and hold my ground (as well as my tongue).

As cool as a...

A few months later, I was speaking with this same agent again (who incidentally no longer had the listing) and they confided to me that they did concur that the price had been too high.

While I have to give that agent kudos for attempting to get the best price possible for their client, there was absolutely no reason to chastise me for trying to do the same for mine. I firmly believe that one of the most important relationships you can have in this business is with your fellow agents and I always try to treat my colleagues with the same respect and courtesy that I would expect for myself.

A good reputation is very important in this business - not only with the public but also among your fellow real estate agents. Look at it from this perspective...imagine you've listed your home with a real estate agent who has a reputation among other agents as being *ahem* difficult to work with. Chances are, they'll show their client(s) every other possible option before showing your home, just to avoid having to work with that agent. What's that old saying again? Oh yes, "you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar..."

‘Till next time,

Paula

I absolutely love the idea of promoting one another when we can! As a result, I have a project called "Twitter Friend of the Week." Each week, I'll showcase one or two of my Twitter Friends so that you can "meet" them.

This week, my featured Twitter Friend is Erin Blaskie of Business Services, Etc.. Here's what Erin had to tell us:

What is your primary business?
My team & I provides businesses with online marketing solutions to help take an offline business online or grow the existing one to develop a much larger web presence thus increasing sales, building lists and achieving business goals.

What is unique about you or your business?
I started my business very young, I was 21, so I feel that I combine the perspective of someone who is young and immersed in the current technologies from head to toe with the experience I have through working with over 150 entrepreneurs around the world. We also come from a "doing" background as we were a virtual assistance company before we became a strategy and support company. While what we do now is similar, I get to use my experience with the tasks to help with strategies for my clients.

What is one fun thing about yourself that most of us don't know?
I can never be more than three feet away from a bag of Teddy Grahams :)

Do you work from home or an outside office?
I currently work from home but beginning this month, I'll also be sharing a co-work space.

What is your favorite computer application?
Wow... I have far too many to name just one! On a daily basis I always have open: Firefox, Dreamweaver, PhotoShop, SnagIt, Skype and Project Recon (Basecamp).

What is your favorite food?
Hmmm... I am one of those people that doesn't actually LOVE food the way some people love food but I would have to say sushi.

If you could be a super hero, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
Erin the Vibrant... My super powers would be to make everyone around me positive and happy regardless of their previous disposition.

What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to get into your line of business?
To just go for it... Have the drive, determination and tenacity to make it successful and you will. The only thing stopping you right now is yourself.

What is the follow link for one of yourTwitter Friends who you think everyone would benefit from following and why should we follow them?
@unmarketing - Stratten is hilarious, honest and opinionated as well as talented, intelligent and brilliant.

Erin’s definitely got it together! Check Erin out on Twitter at @ErinBlaskie. You’ll be glad you did!

Erin Blaskie
Business Services, Etc.
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Every Friday LIVE

Want to be an upcoming featured Twitter Friend of the Week? Follow me and then send me a message that you're interested! TFOTW - Gotta LUV Twitter! Gotta LUV Twitter Friends!

~Renae - Market 4 Real!
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