Okay. let me break it down for the rookie mortgage folks just getting into the industry; not only is your timing bad, pursuing Realtors is not a very good strategy.

I've been pursued by title rep's, escrow rep's, home warranty rep's, insurance rep's, termite rep's and countless mortgage "pro's" and the bottom line is this - I DO THE SELECTING, NOT YOU!

I have two mortgage professionals who get all my business. One of them made a decent income last year off me, in fact, I made HIM more money than I made myself! I have chosen two mortgage professionals who never chased me because they understood the UNIVERSAL MAGIC SECRET TO SUCCESS IN ANY BUSINESS.

Rather than honing their pursuing skills and tactics such as co-op marketing strategies, pens with my name on them (wow!), four color flyers (with their name on them?) and tasty danish - they instead invested the time and energy to make themselves "pursuable".

Through the long and hard effort of self-examination, developing a high degree of personal integrity, becoming highly efficient, amazingly knowledgable, totally integrous (ethical) and developing a warm and pleasing (non-salesy) personality, I have decided to add them to my team!

Likewise, I have also selected the best Title Rep in town, the best escrow team in town and what I believe to be the best termite company.

All of these professionals represent MY business and me personally. They are my most valuable assetts, next to myself of course with my uncanny ability to choose great people to hang around and do business with.

Personal and professional development is what makes you survive and thrive in ANY business but particularly ours. It doesn't come fast and it doesn't come cheap.

It's true that what you think about you bring about, so be careful. If you're always thinking, "I need more business" or "I need this listing to sell", it's very likely that you'll just continue to feed the need by giving energy to it. The thought and feeling of needing means that you don't have something. Not having that something will only increase if you keep putting thought energy into the not having, and needing it.

Make sense?

I always pay attention to my "self-talk" and make moment to moment conscious efforts to shape it fit my intentions. By paying attention to the voices in my head I am able to correct them when they start to go needy on me. I say things not only to myself, but out loud to my clients all the time that sound like this, "The perfect house for you is right around the corner! If it's not on the market yet, it's coming soon" or, "the buyer of this house is going to have a large down payment, be willing to close according to our schedule and be a pleasure to work with - you'll see!"

Now, it's critical that when this "perfect" buyer comes along (the one I've attracted through the power of positive thought plus a little help from my bag of tools) that "I" show up in a way that makes them want to continue to be perfect and work according to my sellers tricky closing requirements - or whatever.

My coach, friend and mentor used to say it like this, "Chris, talk to me in a way that makes me want to serve you". Have you ever tried talking to the woman behind the mile long check in line at the airport whose obviously about to have a melt down in a way that would make her honored to serve you? I have, and I've gotten bumped up into 1st Class when the flight was full coming home from a business trip on the east coast!

"Who we be" and "how we show up" is, I believe, fundamental to a healthy real estate practice. Our clients notice and appreciate it so much so that they continue to not only use our services, but become actively involved in referring people to us because they want their referral to have the same experience they had.

I've studied the Japanese martial art of Aikido for many years. In aikido, there are zero attacks. In other words, you can't really walk up and "do aikido" on someone, yet is is extremely martial. If someone throws a punch or violently grabs you, aikido techniques could be used to instantly break an arm, hand, elbow or drive them into the ground face first. Aikido is a circular as opposed to linear art and is very beautiful to watch;perhaps the most technically difficult to learn of all martial arts.

The dojo mat where our training takes place is representative of the world we live in and our life in general. I've noticed that karate and other "striking" arts tend to create, or atleast reinforce a mindset of "I strike" - as opposed to "I will not be struck", which is Aikido. Again, the focus is on "who you be". I am not a striker or kicker of people; I am a person who will not be struck or kicked - it's very different. O'Sensei, the founder of aikido once said, "you can not wrap the world in leather but you can make leather moccasins".

How do we learn to walk in this often sharp and jagged world? The way seems simple enough to me.

If I want referrals, I be referrable. Want more business? Make the light of my authenticity and true desire to serve shine brightly and then put myself in front of people who need to buy and sell. I stop "needing" and start attracting through paying attention to who I be and KNOW that it is coming if I just keep knowing it.

Do I sound like someone you might like to hang around with?

I'll close this by saying that what I've just written is primarily a conversation with myself and to myself as I've been known to take offense when people "should" on me and do not wish to do so to others. If there is a ring of truth here or a little morsel you can walk away, you're free to have it!

1. I have faith in myself.
2. I have faith in all of us.
3. I have faith I will always continue to learn and evolve.
4. I have faith people will benefit from my knowledge.
5. I have faith people may succeed with my advice.
6. I have faith that the universe is an abundant one and that my needs will continue to be met as they have always been met in the past.
7. I have faith the universe supports my dreams.
8. I have faith in my love for others.
9. I have faith in others love for me.
10. I have faith that I can always work it out.

MY CUSTOM (AND SPENDY) IDX SOLUTION IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN OUR LOCAL MLS, WHICH IS PRETTY DARN GOOD! CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF AT HTTP://WWW.AREABEACHHOMES.COM AND PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT A) I DON'T REQUIRE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, ETC PRIOR TO LETTING YOU PREVIEW PICTURES OF HOMES AND B) THE CUSTOM SEARCH FEATURE FILTER WHICH IS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF REALTOR.COM, ZIP REALTY, ETC... I THINK YOU'LL LOVE THE SITE. I RECOMEND CHECKIGN OUT ZIP CODES 92037 AMD 92069 JUST FOR FUN - YOU CAN SEARCH UP TO $35,000,000 AND FIND HOMES - WOW!

I have faith I will always continue to learn and evolve. I have faith people will benefit from my knowledge. I have faith people may succeed with my advice. I have faith that the universe is an abundant one and that my needs will continue to be met such as they have always been met in the past. I have faith the universe supports my dreams. I have faith in my love for all people and all things and faith in others love for me.

These really do work so thank Joe Stumpf at http://www.ByReferralOnly.com and then repeat after me, "As your Real Estate consultant you can count on me to COMMUNICATE, NEGOTIATE and COORDINATE". Read my home page for more detailed use of these magic words. Make them part of your vernacular. Take them beyond mere words and make sure they truly represent what you do. Be able to back up those words with details and real life examples. Your clients will have a much better understanding of the value you provide when you're not holding their house open. Just my experience but I hope it plays out the same for you as well!

I thought about titling this blog "How To Insure Your New Listing Generates Your Next Three Transactions" but it was to long.

As I reported in my last blog entry, my FREE CAR WASH OPEN HOUSE continues to work wonders. I've taken one new listing and secured three new buyer clients over the past three weekends. I repeated the process yesterday and scheduled another listing appointment for thursday evening.

There are several key things at play here I've noticed. The yellow signs promoting a FREE CAR WASH next to all of my open house signs definately draw more traffic. Initially, it drew all the neighbors, which was geat since these are potential sellers or people who may know a buyer for my listing. The best thing however is that it creates an atmosphere that allows for and even inspires visitors to truly engage in a meaningful dialogue with me. They seem to no longer see me as "sales person" and instead see me as a thoughtful and creative guy who works harder and smarter than the average Realtor for his seller clients.

I call this "conscious positioning" and it stems from my understanding that it's not "what we say we do" but what people "catch us doing" that builds lasting impressions. I imagine most open house / selling environments are pretty similar, where people seem to be withdrawn and not wanting to be engaged, let alone provide us with their email address and other contact information.

In the environment I've created I find visitors immediately walk in with a positive expectation of me and a genuine desire to engage.

Now, how many different ways can our ActiveRain community members find to "create the environment" that inspires people to engage with them at an Open House? I'd love to hear what others come up with!

I wish you all the best of success out there!

Your San Diego Native Real Estate Connection.

PS- Search more than 22,000 currently listed for sale all across San Diego County at http://www.AreaBeachHomes.com - don't keep it a secret!

Our notorious June gloom gave way to awesome sunshine this past Sunday and so I decided to take full advantage of the weather and offer a FREE car wash to any one attending my open house. I hired the sellers teen age son and his friend, provided a bucket, sponges, soap and chamoise. I stuck a yellow corrugated plastic sign in the ground that said "FREE CAR WASH" in large black hand written text next to all 10 Open House directional signs (with flags) leading to my listing.

With 29 people through the event, the kids made $25 each for 3 hours work and I impressed all the neighbors and scheduled two appointments for possible listings plus signed up several potential buyers to my automated Market Watch campaign.

I think I'll be doing car washes again. I believe strongly that when neighbors see extraordinary efforts and amplified results it positions us way ahead of the agent whose simply been mailing them area updates every month.

Try it and let me know how it works for you!

I've spent a good ten years of my life letting go of my past. The result was more time available to appreciate being in "the now" and freed up space to worry about the future. I now practice not worrying about the future and am hopeful it will take much less than ten years to let those concerns go as well. I practice moment by moment.

As the depth of my understanding that the only real time is "now" grows, my future worries dissipate. Right now I choose to be happy and content with all my wonderful blessings. A fabulous son, incredible partner, wonderful clients and deep love for an awesome God that I have an all powerful faith in leave me in a constant state of awe and admiration for this beautiful, magical universe.

I feel joy in serving. I am open to receiving and know that the universe is an abundant one and everything I could ever desire is in front of me all the time and mine to embrace in every moment.

My light shines brighter all the time and therefore wonderful, appreciative, thoughtful clients are attracted to me like moths to a light. Solving their real estate challenges is a way of giving back to the world. I don't worry about getting. I focus on giving. It seems that there is an army of angels distributing my business cards throughout the universe for me - always.

The more I "be here now" and choose joy, the more joy is bestowed upon me. The market is always excellent. Business is always great. People are always wonderful.

Blessings to you all!

It's true that what you think about you bring about, so be careful. If you're always thinking, "I need more business" or "I need this listing to sell", it's very likely that you'll just continue to feed that need. The idea of "needing" means that you don't have something. Not having that "something" will only increase if you keep putting thought and energy into "not having it and needing it".

Does that make sense?

I always pay attention to my "self-talk" - and believe me, it's interesting! By paying attention to the voices in my head I am able to correct them when they start to go needy on me. I say things not only to myself, but out loud to my clients all the time that sound like this, "The perfect house for you is right around the corner! If it's not on the market yet, it's coming soon" or, "the buyer of this house is going to have a large down payment, be willing to close according to our schedule and be a pleasure to work with - you'll see!"

Now, it's critical that when this "perfect" buyer comes along (the one I've attracted through the power of positive thought plus a little help from my bag of tools) that "I" show up in a way that makes them want to continue to be perfect and work according to my sellers tricky closing requirements - or whatever.

My coach, friend and mentor used to say it like this, "Chris, talk to me in a way that makes me want to serve you". Have you ever tried talking to the woman behind the mile long check in line at the airport whose obviously about to have a melt down in a way that would make her honored to serve you? I have, and I've gotten bumped up into 1st Class when the flight was full coming home from a business trip on the east coast!

"Who we be" and "how we show up" is, I believe, fundamental to a healthy real estate practice. Our clients notice and appreciate it so much so that they continue to not only use our services, but become actively involved in referring people to us because they want their referral to have the same experience they had.

I've studied the Japanese martial art of Aikido for many years. In aikido, there are zero attacks. In other words, you can't really walk up and "do aikido" on someone, yet is is extremely martial. If someone throws a punch or violently grabs you, aikido techniques could be used to instantly break an arm, hand, elbow or drive them into the ground face first. Aikido is a circular as opposed to linear art and is very beautiful to watch;perhaps the most technically difficult to learn of all martial arts.

The dojo mat where our training takes place is representative of the world we live in and our life in general. I've noticed that karate and other "striking" arts tend to create, or atleast reinforce a mindset of "I strike" - as opposed to "I will not be struck", which is Aikido. Again, the focus is on "who you be". I am not a striker or kicker of people; I am a person who will not be struck or kicked - it's very different. O'Sensei, the founder of aikido once said, "you can not wrap the world in leather but you can make leather moccasins".

How do we learn to walk in this often sharp and jagged world? The way seems simple enough to me.

If I want referrals, I be referrable. Want more business? Make the light of my authenticity and true desire to serve shine brightly and then put myself in front of people who need to buy and sell. I stop "needing" and start attracting through paying attention to who I be and KNOW that it is coming if I just keep knowing it.

Do I sound like someone you might like to hang around with?

I'll close this by saying that what I've just written is primarily a conversation with myself and to myself as I've been known to take offense when people "should" on me and do not wish to do so to others. If there is a ring of truth here or a little morsel you can walk away, you're free to have it!