It is an easy question, but I think it is VERY appropriate as we meander into the 4th of July holiday. 

How can there be success without failure?

Our forefathers built a country that changed the world.  On these shores, anyone could succeed.  The Horatio Alger story could be real.  A poor man could rise to be an industrial or political magnate.  A black man from humble roots, raised largely by his grandmother could become President of the United States.  The son of a patent medicine huckster in New York could grow up to be one of the richest men in the history of the world... whose name is on hundreds of libraries because of his philanthopy. 

But, how could success like this exist without failure?  How could sweetness exist without sourness?  If all things were sweet, we couldn't recognize sweetness as a rare commodity.  If success were guaranteed in all pursuits, who would cook the fries? 

The thing is...

Freedom carries risk and requires responsibility.  Freedom to succeed carries the risk to fail and the responsibility to take care of one's self. 

Little things like making sure the family is fed... keeping up with your own health care... yearning to better one's self through growth and learning.  Those all go into being free responsibly.  And for most of our 233 years as a nation, most citizens did these things.  But in the last few decades, many have ceded those responsibilities to society... they feel that they are owed "the basic necessities" of food, shelter and medical care.  Instead of caring for themselves and their families, they are content to let the government do it... 

They aren't free, and they don't yearn to be free... they are slaves to the government and will give away any liberty in order to secure a few more "rights" at the expense of others. 

When I was a manager of a business, I had an employee that "couldn't afford" the company subsidized health plan.  It was too much of a hardship for her to be expected on her "meager" salary to be expected to pay the princely sum of $19.50 each two weeks to have health coverage.  She justified it by mentioning that she couldn't afford a car and had to ride the bus to work each day.  And yet... she had TWO cell phones with a combined bill of over $400/mo.  At the time, my wife and I had two cell phones with a combined bill of under $100/mo.  There was a flat rate company that had just started operations and offered unlimited air time for $49/mo...  So, she got a car.  I fired her because she still couldn't get to work on time and constantly needed to leave early... 

At the same time, I knew of an employee in a different location.  Her husband had been a medical doctor in a foreign country.  When they came here, his license wasn't honored... he knew that before he came.  He took a job in a car wash and she worked in a photo lab.  But they had the opportunity to be free... and the possibility to succeed far beyond what they could have elsewhere. 

We see it over and over...

People leave countries with "free" health care, "free" housing and everything else that would be "basic necessities".  Cubans strap together inner-tubes to try to reach South Florida.  Canadians and Britons and Swedes and overstay their visas.  Central and South Americans stream across the border.  All of them are in search of a better life and this is where they see that life. 

They want to opportunity that we hold up... and they are willing to risk it all to have any chance.  Meanwhile, those that have to risk nothing to be here only want someone else to take care of them. 

So...

As you lay waste to some hot dogs, apple pie and watermelon at the 4th of July picnic... ask yourself, What have I done to deserve this?

Have you seen the video? 

It seems that Air New Zealand has been plagued by one of the same issues as every other airline... bored passengers during the safety briefing... and why not?  I'm not an Air Warrior, but I could just about do the briefing myself... it hasn't changed in the four decades I've been flying.

But... safety is important, and many of us might be better served to watch the briefing every once in a while to keep the emergency information fresh.  So instead of just letting out a sigh and forgetting about it, Air NZ is being proactive.

What better way to be proactive than to strip the flight crew naked and film them!  Heck, I have never been on a flight with Air NZ, but I watched it... 

By the way, that is body paint... and if you didn't figure out, they were pretty modest about it for being naked.  If AirTran can get Danica Patrick to strip naked and do the safety briefing, I might have to fly someplace just to see it...

Beginning Sunday Night/Monday Morning, FaceBook began the second phase of their custom URL land rush. 

In the first phase, members were allowed to select URLs for their personal use and businesses with over 1000 fans were able to get custom URLs as well.  There were literally millions of URLs parsed out in just a few hours. 

In the second phase, businesses and others with "Fan Pages" were able to secure custom URLs if they had a minimum of 100 fans. Originally it was thought that no minimum fan requirement would exist, and then there were rumors of a 25 fan minimum. 

We returned to town late Sunday Afternoon.  When I logged in to FaceBook, I was greeted by pandemonium as friends were creating pages getting ready for the URL land rush.  I didn't know there was a minimum, but obviously others did... they were rushing to try to get 100 fans already before the deadline. 

I was sitting on one page with 12 fans and another with 34.  I was able to secure a few fans after midnight... when I figured out that I needed 100, but really wasn't able to go after it until Monday Morning.  As of 8:30 on Tuesday Evening, I have 60 fans on Lilburn, 89 fans on LaneBailey and 9 fans on Social Media Breakfast Atlanta (Ken Cook set it up, but we didn't turn it on until today...)

It has been fun, challenging and enlightening. 

• "Internet friends" from all over the country are helping each other out, "fanning" pages to get people over the 100 threshold. 
  
• At the same time, there is a competition of sorts for attention get your pages "fan'd". 
  
• Everyone is pitching their pages... 
  
• And looking for the hook to get themselves noticed. 
  

I figured out my own hook today...  And it is just right for the car guy...  If you "Fan" all three of my posted pages, and all three hit 100 fans by the end of the week, I'll send you a car!  Sure, the car is only a couple of inches long, but it will be FREE... and will get GREAT gas mileage. 

So... HURRY UP and fan my pages.  Win a CAR! 

BTW, I think that if we (especially me) applied some of the same vigor to marketing the rest of the time, we would have some VERY well read blogs and popular pages!

That is right... save the day, July 23rd, 2009... EARLY in the morning. 

We will be meeting at the Duluth Diner on Peachtree Industrial Blvd and Howell Station at 7:00am.  The program will run from 7:30-8:30.  The Diner opens to the public at 9:00am.  There will be plenty of time for socializing, in addition to a great program and Q&A on effectively utilizing Social Media for business. 

My partner for this even is the one and only Ken Cook of the JCKC Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio.  If you haven't been tuning in, you've been missing it... and that isn't good. 

We plan on bringing this format to a few different venues around the Atlanta Metro... if you are interested in hosting an even, please feel free to let one of us know. 

Be there... or be square...

I'm beating my head on a wall... 

Little did I know that I needed 100 fans in order to register a vanity page URL.  And I asked a few friends that are up on things... and they didn't seem to know that little tidbit either. 

So, here is the hot tip... if you don't have 100 fans, you can't register a custom URL for your Facebook page. 

And... I have two pages I would love to get registered... if you haven't already, feel free to become a fan of:

Lane Bailey

Lilburn Dwellings

Thanks...  and feel free to post yours here... maybe we can help you get the needed number of fans if you haven't already.

If the Director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program hates it, it HAS to be cool.  Daniel Becker, the person in that position said, "Shame on International for making this thing...This is a monster truck that only a Hummer could love, and it shows that without government leadership, the auto industry will lead us to more irresponsible, gas-guzzling vehicles." So, It has passed the first test.  And I would welcome Mr. Becker to hook up a 40,000 pound trailer to his Prius, Smart or bicycle...

And that is what the International CXT was designed to do...  tow 20 tons down the road in comfort... for racers, equestrians or RV enthusiasts... anyone that needs to tow heavy stuff without worry.  The curb weight is 14,500 pounds... and that puts it around twice the weight of a Hummer H1.

They say you want a Revolution, well-ell, you know...

-John Lennon

This is the biggest "car" so far...  And while it would be at home AT the track, ON the track would be pretty scary.  And even though it is slower than an economy car, and gets worse mileage than an exotic, the price is up there with the most exclusive cars on the road... these can go for upwards of $300,000...

Of course I would HAVE to be talking about an RV.  And the RV I am talking about is the Fleetwood Revolution.  These are amazing vehicles.  They are loaded with luxury and have tremendous utility.  And some serious power...  The Revolution has a 400hp Cummins 8.9L engine and can tow 15,000 pounds.  It has 1200 lb/ft of torque... that is a LOT.

Leather, wood, stainless steel, tile, flat screen TVs... all of the stuff you want in a luxury home.

The disadvantage is that these are NOT cheap to drive... but they are loaded with luxury and you only have to pack once.

Yesterday I posted about how some companies are adding junk fees to the traditional sales fees for both buyers and sellers. I think this practice is just plain wrong... especially the way it is usually presented.

In order to give my clients options and help them save some money, I offer three different fee structures and two different levels of service for home sellers. Here is the quick rundown:

• Flat Fee - $999 listing plan. This is the plan from our discount arm, WhatIf? Realty. This puts your property on the local MLSs, and gets you a standard sign, as well as a lockbox and flyers. I have a couple of extras, as well as some available upgrades that aren't shown on the company page, for my clients through this plan, so if you are interested, please contact me directly.
• Traditional Listing. This includes all of the traditional services, like full marketing, website, video, virtual tour, interactive floor plan, interactive design tools, custom sign, blog support and more. I don't believe that tossing it in the MLS and then shooting a couple of pictures with my cell phone is a "complete marketing package"...
• The Hybrid Option. This is new and experimental, but really exciting. Many sellers want more than they get from a Flat Fee plan, but they want to save a few bucks. In effect, they are looking for a full-service marketing package with a lower overall cost... So, after looking at how we could offer something to meet this need, this is what we came up with. This includes ALL of the services of our traditional listing and adds a staging consultation. In exchange for an upfront fee, covering much of the cost of marketing, we discount the total cost.

 

For more information, feel free to call.

One other thing to keep in mind is that most real estate agents are actually independent contractors. While we "work for" a brokerage, we aren't employees. In some cases, we have the ability to set our own rates, services and other aspects of our businesses. So, even agents working for the same office may offer different services or fees.

In the case of Diamond Dwellings Realty, we are a small niche brokerage... we have agents that specialize in different areas or market segments. And as a smaller brokerage, we have a LOT of lattitude to deliver the best fit for a client's needs.

My goal is to get YOU the best total deal.

I’ve seen an annoying new trend.  Buyer and Seller “Broker Fees”.  It may go by various names, but amounts to the same thing…  what Clark Howard would call a Junk Fee.

These are quite different from the other fees that may be involved in a real estate transaction, and there are a LOT of fees.  The lenders have fees, the closing attorney has fees, there are state fees, county fees, insurance fees, delivery fees…  Simply put, buyers and sellers are paying plenty of fees.  Adding some BS junk fee like a paperwork fee, transaction fee, administrative fee or broker fee is just adding insult to injury.

There is already a commission or sales fee that the real estate broker and agent are sharing.  There is no reason to add another official sounding fee on top of this that is after the negotiated amounts.

And, that is how it usually works… the seller negotiates the fee for selling their home, and everyone shakes hands… and then the agent mentions that there is a $495 paperwork fee or something along those lines.  They say it is required… maybe not saying that they are the ones requiring it…

In the case of buyers, after going through the buyer’s agency agreement and telling the buyer that the commission is generally paid by the seller, they hit the buyer up for a transaction fee… again, saying it is a requirement.

There are various reasons for this…  What it mostly comes down to is that people and companies in the real estate industry are hurting for income.  But, many of our clients aren’t exactly rolling in money… and even if they were, it isn’t right to tack on junk just because we think we can… Some agents are working for companies that charge US a closing fee for closing a transaction instead of charging a split and the agents are passing it along.  It should be part of their cost of doing business.

I just say NO!

No additional fees.  You will know EXACTLY what you are paying for my services prior to delivery and prior to completing the negotiations.  I try to deliver more for EVERY client than other agents… but that doesn’t mean I need to add junk fees on top of fair fee structure.

And there are some different options available for sellers… but that is another post.

Longtime readers of my blog may have noticed that I write many of my letters to my father here.  I lost him in 1997, but I still think he reads my blog.  I try to limit the online letters to him to just a few times each year... his birthday, Father's Day and a few holidays. 

Dear Dad,

I sincerely hope that you have had a wonderful Father's Day.  I know that not being with your grandsons is probably the most difficult part, but know that you are with them in spirit.  And you are with me every day. 

As I continue on this amazing journey of being a husband and father, I marvel at how easy you made it look.  Of course I remember a few times that you lost it, but I also remember some times (more numerous) when you didn't.  I recall the times when I pushed and tweaked as hard as I could... but you kept your cool. 

As an adult, I can see the sacrifices that you made for me and I can see the also see the pain I caused... even though I really didn't know it then.  I can also see, as a father, the joy that I might have brought as I learned to overcome obstacles and grow.  I remember seeing the pride you had in me... and I can now relate it to the pride I have in my own sons.  And I know that you would be a proud Grandpa with them. 

In short, thank you.  Thank you for setting such a high bar for me.  Thank you for letting me taste failure so that I would know the sweetness of victory.  Thank you for letting me learn pain to better experience joy.  Thank you for giving me so many wonderful experiences.  The summer vacations, the lake, the character building and learning experiences... even the ones I hated then, and love the memory of now.  I could not have asked for, much less had, a better father.  I hope that I can be half the father to my sons as you were (and are) to me. 

I know that you lost your dad early.  And now I wonder how you could have possibly been able to be such a guiding and mentoring father without an amazing example like you have provided me. 

I think of you every day. 

Love,

Your son