My Projects
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
All three of Malcolm Gladwell book are “must reads”. The Tipping Point, Blink and now Outliers. They all look at success and achievement in very uniques and interesting ways. The good news in Outliers is you don’t need to be a genius to succeed at a high level. The bad news is that its going to take 10,000 hours of work/study/obsession to be in the game then the world must shift in in your favor. at least if your looking for Bill Gates level success. If you are trying to grow and succeed you MUST read this book.
Talk is Cheap
Talk is cheap and getting cheaper every moment. As we move towards more transparency we need to make a fundamental shift in our activities. As yourself this question: ” If the world saw what I am doing right now, would they see me as great agent?” Did you spend time looking at homes, studying the market trends, gaining expertise on short sales, actively working on a transaction.
It is very simple…do the activity that result in you being a great agent everyday. Then place yourself in an environment and structure that creates visibility to a large audience. The age of personal brochures and ads that highlight your mission, integrity, customer service etc. is over. The faster you embrace and leverage technology and social networking to expose your greatness the better.
Blog…engage with Facebook…start twittering…get a flip video camera and upload to youtube.
The world has shifted dramatically in the favor of the agents that are very active out in the world looking at homes, meeting with clients and being an active member of the community.
We are a commodity
I am an agent. I have always been a solid producer. I think I am pretty damn good at it. I have integrity I work diligently on my clients behalf. I have been involved in well over 100 transactions. I put my clients interests in front of mine. blah blah blah…I could go on and on why I am a great agent.
Guess what..if I quit tomorrow no one would care. There are hundreds if not thousands of agents in our area that are just as capable as I am that would have done a fine job with all of my past clients. Competent agents are a commodity. We don’t like to believe it but it’s true.
I realize I am painting us with a broad brush. There are many factors such as communication styles, area expertice, etc that go into whether an agent client relationship will work well. And there is a large population of agents who’ production is so low that they don’t have the experience to be a realy good agent. But I contend that above a certain level (experience, communication skills, work ethic, education,etc) we are all about the same and there are lots of us. We are a commodity with slightly different styles.
Transparency
Transparency has the potential to topple the existing Real Estate structure. Create a truly transparent view, give it massive exposure and the consumer will come. It is very easy to flippantly say that “We are transparent” but if one thinks deeply about this and adheres to the idea of real Transparency the implications for the Real estate brokerage and agent are staggering.
Transparency has been a guiding principle for M Realty, Homequest and Portland Octopus from day one. But in the new environment of high speed internet, blogging, facebook, twitter etc. the platforms and infrastructure to become transparent are in place. Now it is up to us to embrace the idea and run with it.
I can see clearly now
I can read
I recently turned 40 and my eyes have called it quits. I have a very hard time reading without my reading glasses and I usually can’t keep track of them outside the house or office. I recently bought the Sony Portable Reader.
I love it! the screen is very pleasing to my eyes and the ability to change font size helps especially in dim light or if I don’t have my glasses. I was a little concerned at first because the screen flashes black when you “turn” the page. After a few minuts I no longer notice. All the books I have purchaed so far are from the Sony store and are less expensive than the paper versions.
A new era in Real Estate?
I truly believe the environment is changing fast enough to create real opportunity for new brokerages. New models will emerge and may quickly gain dominant positions.
The brokerage(s) that provide an Environment that truly supports and enhances the ability of agents to significantly increase the quantity and quality of real estate related conversation will prevail. The ideas and some of the technology exists now…what is needed is a focused and persistent effort to innovate, consolidate and streamline technology, training and implementation. The winners will provide real value to the agents and a return on the investment needed to build the brokerage.
This is the big project we have chosen to work on. this blog will track out progress, ides, triumphs and failures.