Rosie the RiviterToday I had the honor to escort my 91 year old mother to the Seattle Museum of History and Industry to hear a panel of 12 women who during WWII stepped up to the call of service. There were 12 "Rosie's" on the panel and each was asked to briefly tell their story. What wonderful stories they had to share. Stories about a black lady from Oklahoma that came to Seatle to help build airplanes for Boeing. Stories about a small town gal from Idaho that came from working in the logging camps to help the war effort. Women with little or no training stepping in to do what had been considered a mans job and doing it well. Many refer to this as being a "revolution" in the work place although when you talk to these ladies and the many "Rosie's" in the audience they just thought of it as something that had to be done. That it was nothing special. Well, special or not, these women were not only brave for stepping out on their own, leaving their homes throughout the U.S. and going to places like Seattle and many other industrial cities in the country - to work. They were a good example for all of us. They were also making way for todays women in the work place. Yes, the women (and men) in this country can do anything they set their mind to doing. We should all help preserve our history by being involved in groups such as this. This discussion was put on by "Women of Trades" who help the young women of today realize they "Can do anything they want." It is not about what sex or what color someone is that is important but how well they do the job that they are called to do. it could be driving a truck, building an airplane, building a house, or selling real estate, be it a man or a woman, it is how you do your job with knowledge, integrity, skill, and caring for others that really matter. As a real estate agent these things are very important. We are working with "people" and it is about how we treat the people we come in contact with that really matters. It could be our sales staff, it could be the first time home buyer, it could be the elderly couple down the street that must move into a retirement home, it may just someone you meet on the street, they all deserve your best. Let us all learn from the Rosie's of our past and do our best to help those we come in contact with. A special thanks to all the "Rosie's" of this country for the part you have played in this country's history. May there always be new Rosie's that follow your example.
Being an agent in 2008A recent email from Claudia Ollestad, Account Manager of Chicago Title in Seattle WA suggested several ways to survive in the market slowdown of 2008. Some of the ideas are more traditional and some are "new thinking." For those of you who are not on her email list here is a quick review of what was said. The first thing suggested is to find a niche and become very knowledgeable in that niche. This idea is not new although it is a proven part of developing our real estate business. This niche may be first time buyers, vacation homes, relocation, or luxury homes. It can even be a geographic area that you know very well - everything that happens in this area you know about - be the expert. The next suggestion was to not rely exclusively on referral strategies. Yes, referrals should be an important part of our business. To keep our business growing we need to utilize many tools and strategies including web based tools. According to the Broker of Brio Realty, Ardell DellaLoggi, one of these tools is the "blog." Another is the podcast although few real estate agents are using this technology. The next suggestion (at least to me something that should always be done) is to respond to inquiries immediately. Many of us do not get our email via our cell phones - if you do - respond as soon as possible. If you do not - your response should be the same day if at all possible. If you get a phone call respond immediately. If someone calls about listing their house or someone calls wanting to see a house set an appointment with them immediately - "We can get together at 4 p.m. tomorrow, would that work for you?" One of the last suggestions fall in line with what Ardell has been telling her agents - you need to blog. It is said that blogging is probably the best thing to do with the least competition at this time. Only 2 percent of real estate agents are blogging at this time. Not surprising - it is reported that the younger the agents the more likely they are to blog. Podcasting is one of the hottest new technology trends. Only about 1 percent of real estate agents are podcasting at this time. Podcasting requires more specialized equipment and a basic knowledge of working with sound and/or video files attached to web sites and email. This technology may take longer to catch on that blogging. We all know that the consumer of today is a lot more technical friendly - computer and internet friendly. They may even know more about what the market is like and what's available on the market than the agents do. Therefore, todays agents that are going to survive will have to be as technically proficient and as knowledgeable about the market as their clients. I think the key to surviving 2008 is to be hard working, honest, and client centered. We need to stay on top of the changing market and the ever changing technology that affects not only the real estate industry and business in general. Change is in the Air at Brio RealtyWhen I first came to Brio, Jonathan Washburn, the owner of Brio Realty and Active Rain was the Broker of Record. I found two things very attractive: the first was the lead capture program and the number of leads acquired throughout the State. I was also attracted by the promise of lots of company training. Having lived most of my life in Eastern Washington I was intrigued with the number of leads there and wanted to work with them. There is a lot of potential in Eastern Washington Real Estate and Brio Realty could lead the way. I have spent most of my time at Brio working to develop a long term relationship with buyers, sellers, and other real estate companies in Eastern Washington. I have come to know and understand the real estate market in North Central Washington. Being an internet based real estate company made Brio very attractive to me. Having used computers from old mainframes to modern laptops I understand that the future of real estate is tied to technology. I am still trying to determine what is the best way to integrate technology into the real estate business as technology changes faster than the real estate industry does. Eventually Pat Flynn became our Broker and I enjoyed the small group training sessions. The free flow of questions and answers back and forth was what I wanted when I was promised inservice training at Brio. I will miss the free flow of ideas back and forth with Pat. I liked being able to come into the office and just chat with him. With the slow down in the mortgage and real estate industry comes change. Most agents working today in the Seattle area have never experienced this type of slow down. To survive - one needs to expect change and adapt to this change. We at Brio are experiencing that change now with our new Broker - Ardell DellaLoggi. She has many years of experience in several parts of the country and is very involved in the technology of blogging which combined with her endless energy should generate new ideas to Brio. It's going to be interesting to see the changes coming our way and to see where Brio Realty is going in the future. Stay tuned - we are told exciting things are coming! eNeighborhoods softwareI recently was sent a copy of eNeighborhoods software with a trial period. I was interested to see what your program could do so I installed it on one of my computers. When I found out I had to send a credit card number to even try out the trial version I chose not to. I then uninstalled the software. About two days later I started getting sales calls from eNeighborhoods. I told the first person I was not interested. Then the next three days in a row I received calls from their sales force and each time I was either in traffic or in a meetig and unable to talk. The male caller was determined I was going to talk to him even though it was either not safe to do so or I was in a meeting he was interrupting. Yesterday, during a meeting, he called again and I told him to call me today which he did. I told him I was not interested and he kept demanding that I give him a credit card numer. I told him that I do not give credit card numbers over the phone to someone who calls me and I do not know, and I do not give credit card numbers out via the computer. Demanding credit card numbers in this day of ID theft and credit card theft is just not a good business practice. They can make their trial software expire at the end of a specified time unless you purchase it. This is a much better system. Adobe Software, Microsoft, and many others have the software expire after 30 days. So could eNeighborhoods. The salesman then got mad and started yelling at me that I should have told him this yesterday. I told him that I was in a meeting when he called and that I could not talk. I further told him that he had not been listening to what I said when he called in the past. He started yelling at me "not to yell at him" which I was not doing. I was talking loud as he would not let me say anything. He just kept yelling and continued to demand I gave him my credit card number. I ended up just hanging up on him. I tried calling back to talk to a supervisor and could never get through to a real person. When you pushed the correct number to get their operator you were given a message the operator was not available. I then tried to send an email via their web site and it came back as undeliverable. Hmmm? They can call you and demand credit card numbers before you can even try the trial version of their software but you cannot contact them. Makes one wonder? Unfortunately, I do not know the salesmans name, if he gave it I did not hear it. He just said he was from eNeighborhoods. I find this company not very professional and I do not recommend others to use their service - what ever it is (I never got to see what your software could do). If any of you readers have tried this software or are using it I hope your experience has been better than my experience was. My advice is if you need software of this sort look around and see if there is a more friendly company out there. If not, I would consider having a desktop publisher create your fliers. As to neighborhood information, most title companiees will provide neighborhood information. You can also get this type of information on the web for free. This is just my experience and my personal opinion. Others may have different experiences and opinions. ED Bartley Guns - even toy ones - in the work place are dangerousLast week I experienced an incident in my office I hope to never experience again - a tear gas gun that looked like a real gun. Let me explain that I am a retired policeman and I am used to being around guns, I own guns, and I KNOW how to handle them in a safe manner. As such I blew it.I was working in our shared office work room on my laptop and talking with a mortgage specialist that was also working in the same room when a young man who was one of our computer tech specialist came into the room. It was obvious he had a gun tucked under his belt in the small of his back and covered with a T-shirt. It was obvious what was under his shirt. He was joking with the mortgage specialist about the gun. Before I could say something, he pulled it out and pointed it at me and then waved it around. At the same time the mortgage specialist made a comment about the gun being a tear gas pellet gun. They were joking about it looking just like a real Glock auto pistol. The kid handed the gun to me to look at. I confirmed it was a gas pellet gun and then handed it back to him. He put it back under his shirt tucked into his pants. The conversation between the kid and the mortgage specialist continued and they both seemed to think that it was funny and nothing wrong with the fact that it looked like a real gun. They just thought the gun was a toy and that this incident was just a bunch of laughs - nothing wrong with having the gun in the office. I explained that even though the gun was a toy (which it is not as it shoots a pellet of tear gas) it looks like a real gun and that its presence can create a situation where it creates fear in the mind of those who see it - this is called "intimidation" with a weapon even if it is not a "real" gun. I explained that he could be arrested or shot if he tried to pull the gun on a policeman (even to just show it to the policeman). As the gun was a tear gas gun I did not say anything to the Broker in charge (I should have made the time to do so) as I had an appointment that took me out of the office. The more I thought about the incident the more upset I got, not only with myself for not saying something at the time, but that the kid brought it to the work place and that others thought it was funny. No wonder there are shootings in the work place. This kid is obviously very immature and may even have a psychological problem - i don't really know - but this incident is very serious and should have never happened. Mistakes make: 1- The Kid brought the gun to the work place 2- Several people knew he had the gun in the work place and thought it was funny as it was a toy but looked like a real Glock. 3- No one including me reported the incident to the broker in charge. 4- The Kid was friends with some of those in charge in the office and they apparentally know he has problems and that he apparentally has guns and look-like-real-guns. What this incident shows is that we never know what someone in the workplace will do. More important, it shows that those in the work place are reluctant to say anything about the incident. With all the school shootings and work place shootings in the past few years you would have thought that we would learn better. Well, we haven't. Even my response was wrong. I checked to see that it was a gas gun and not a real Glock. I lectured him on intimidation with a weapon even though it was a gas gun. I gave it back to him instead of taking it to the Broker immediately. What I should have done: 1- When the gun was handed to me to look at I should have taken it to the Broker immediately. 2- If I had only saw the gun I still should have reported it to the Broker immediately. 3- I should have called the polce and made a report. Shame on us all. We blew it. Someday this kid may hurt someone with a real gun or get shot by the police because they think he has a real gun. We should have gotten him help. I hope the "friend" in our office that has know the kid for many years helps to get him some counseling. If not this kid is headed down the wrong road and may get soemone or himself hurt or worse. We all need to be more responsible and this is a case where I blew it. Shame on me. Fortunately no one was hurt. I hope this kid gets help soon. edb
Am I a salesman?I have never liked high pressure salesman. They turn me off. I will go out of my way to not use them. I think car salesmen, insurance salesmen, and mortgage salesmen are the worst. I make sure that as a real estate agent I do not pressure my clients. I want to work with my cliens - not pressure them. I have a background of service to others. As a policeman and then an emergency 911 operator I was always helping others. My work as a teacher was just as rewarding - when my students became excited about learning something new I knew I had done something right. I am using all of these skills as a real estate agent. As a real estate agent I do not consider myself a salesman. My goal is to HELP others find and purchase a new home with as few problems as possible. To accomplish this I have many functions:
Throughout this process my job is to coordinate, problem solve, and educate my client on the home buying process. I do not push my clients to buy the first home that they like. I work with them to make sure the home is what they want and it fits their needs and budget. Ok, so am I a salesman? Yes and no. I am a salesman because I get paid by commission and I do sell homes. I am also an educator, coordinator, problem solver, negotiator, and advisor to my clients. I listen to what they want and need and what they can afford and then work with them to help them make the right decisions. I think my best skill is that of listening and understanding. I will let the reader of this decide if I am a salesman or what? edb
Creating FliersIn computer time I started doing publishing work in the very early days. Our first computer capable of good desktop publishing was the Mac SE30 and Apple Laserwriter printer that we purchased used. What a computer that was in its day. We could create all sorts of professional looking black and white documents and print them to the 300 dpi printer. Wow, we were having fun. The software on that computer was Aldus Pagemaker (before Adobe purchased Aldus), Illustrator 88, and a photo editing program called Digital Darkroom. What a long way we have come in a very short time period. Our computers (mac or PC) have gotten faster, more ram, larger hard drives, and much better software. Now, Photoshop is the industry standard for photo editing although there are other less expensive programs that will do the job for Real Estate needs. All you need to do to get good results is learn what the software you have will and will not do. Then, learn how to use the software - don't be afraid to play with the software and try new things. See what happens if you do this or that to an image. For most of us real estate agents Photoshop Elements is more than capable. For page layout - well my favorite is InDesign by Adobe although I still use Pagemaker when I am in a hurry. I grew up on Pagemaker. I used it as a word processor, and it would do almost anything I asked it to do. There are several page layout programs available. Among them are: Indesign, Pagemaker, Publisher, QuarkXPress, Corel Ventura, Serif PagePlus (not personally familiar with this program), Adobe FrameMaker, and Creator (formally Multi-Ad Creator). You can go to http://www.planetpublish.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=135 for a description of each program. Which one to choose depends on several things: cost, ease of use, what your output source is, and what your support group uses. Support groups are very important. They consist of the people you work with, friends, and even the user groups available in the community. I belong to the Adobe InDesign User Group and attend their meeting all the time. If your support group is Pagemaker oriented and you buy Quark you will not get the needed support. If the office uses software from Microsoft and you get Corel software guess what - no help there. Fliers can also be created in programs like Illustrator, Freehand, and even PowerPoint. Yes, I said PowerPoint. My daughter worked for the UW Medical School as a medical illustrator and made large 3 foot by 4 foot and larger posters in PowerPoint. It is what the school had for her to use. What I want you to understand is that you can create your fliers, etc. in what ever program you have if you are willing to learn what the program can and cannot do. Knowing how to use what you have is very important. Many computers come with software already installed that can bu used. Yes, even Microsoft Word. Did really say that? If I tried to create a flier in Word, I would be frustrated very quickly as I do not know Word very well - I just use it for simple word processing not page layout. If you are going to use a print house to make your fliers, you want to make sure that they can use your files without corruption or font issues. This happens a lot with Publisher files. If you are going to output to your inkjet printer and / or a color copier then which program makes little difference. What makes a good looking flier? Well, I will ramble on about that in another blog. Remember, our computers are just a tool and like most tools we must learn how to use them correctly. EdB Dare to be differentYes, I live in Microsoft land. I do use Microsoft programs. Does this make me different? No! What mekes me different is I am on a Mac.Now that Apple has finally come out with a computer - the Intel Mac - that I can choose what operating system to run on it - I choose to be different. When I go into the office with my Mac laptop, I get all sorts of comments and questions.
For work I run XP Professional on my Mac in a virtual operating system (so I can go between the Max OS and XP). I could have chosen to run XP by installing Apple's "Boot Camp" which lets you choose what operating system you want at startup. Instead, I chose Parallels to run XP under. This way I can have the best of both worlds as I can go back and forth between the two operating systems. Installng Parallels and XP was easy. In fact, this was the easiest install of XP that I have ever done. Print drivers install just as easy. What I do not understand is why XP runs faster and has never crashed on my Mac. I cannot say the same for my Dell Laptop. Yes, I still use my Dell now and then but my Mac laptop is fast becoming my main computer - I have several Mac's and PC's. Would I recommend my Mac to everyone? The answer is NO. I do think the Mac is the better computer. Unfortunately, for those who are not computer savvy and their support system are all PC then the PC may be the better choice. For everyone else then the Mac may be the better choice - even if you only run XP on it. The MLS software and Active Rain run great on my Mac. No problems during the two months I have had it. :) By the way, Apple has some of the best computer advertisements on TV. |
Ed Bartley Seattle, WA More about me… Brio Realty Office Phone: (206) 240-1352 Cell Phone: (206) 240-1352 Email Me ;) Links;) Tags (Tag Cloud);) Archives
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