beach: Old fashioned stand in the sun marketing - 07/05/09 03:26 AM
While I depend a lot on my Internet efforts to keep my real estate efforts going, I also try not to neglect more traditional means of marketing.
Yesterday was the Fourth of July. I spent the majority of the day, printing and distributing a flier.
The rental division of our company allows us to hand out information to people checking into their beach houses.
It is agreat opportunity to get in front of a lot of people who already love our area.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what type of flier would have some persistence.
I ended up … (3 comments)

beach: Late September on the beach - 09/24/07 03:19 PM
The beach season is winding down.  We have another month or so of casual visitors.  Then we will only see the serious beach lovers for a while.
Right now the waters are still warm with just a hint of chill when they first hit your feet.
As you can see there are no crowds.
The summer heat and humidity are also gone.
The fall fishing season is being eagerly anticipated.
It is a great time to walk on the beach and try to clear your head.  Sometimes just looking for shells can drain the thoughts out of your mind.
We are all hoping that with the coming … (1 comments)

beach: The draw of the ocean - 08/10/07 03:16 PM

 I think we have all felt the power of ocean waves.  I am not talking about being knocked down by them.  I actually mean the need we seem to have to get close to the ocean.
While there is pure beauty when look at an ocean wave, something more happens when you walk the beaches.
The sound of the surf often wipes your troubles away for a while. You realize how small a part of the world that you are.
The world seems almost endless as you look across the waves and see nothing but water. 
It is something is deeply rooted in our minds, … (1 comments)

beach: A different routine and some sales results - 06/07/07 05:19 AM
I recently had a really good experience with a client.  I put a lot of effort into my web presence and sometimes I wonder if I have the right balance, but a new client's recent comment seem to indicate that my web efforts are well worth it.
In earlier posts, I had talked about the challenges of working with City-data.  I spent a few days and re-created my websites, Southern Outer Banks and Coastal Paradise, on my personal domain.  As you can see if you click on the links, I stripped out all advertising.  It was a lot of trouble.
Yet by doing … (1 comments)

beach: Taking time to feel the waves - 05/24/07 12:39 AM
I promised myself that I would not let my career as a Realtor® consume me as much as my life in high technology at Apple did.  There I was often away from home for days, and a workday could easily be sixteen hours since I was managing people on both coasts.
Since finding buyers is so difficult these days even for established agents, I have been working really hard to get up and running.  Between the mailings, the online activities of maintaining my site and the thought that I might have to do some technology consulting again just to get through my … (0 comments)

beach: Making the mountains or coast decision - 04/07/07 02:58 PM
My wife and I are both native North Carolinians.  We both spent much of our early years in the Mount Airy, NC area.  The Blue Ridge Mountains were just a few miles away.  A trip up to the Parkway was a normal thing to do on a hot summer day.  The temperature was often ten to fifteen degrees cooler.  Taking a picnic up to the Parkway was a great summer activity.  Then there was the trip to Mount Mitchell with it spruce forests which were like another world.
Living on the side of the mountain was a dream for many of us … (0 comments)