3rd Grade Geography! - 09/29/06 09:51 AM
 
It’s fun Friday at my office today!   And here is our quiz of the day.  How well can you locate states on a map?  I readily admit Geography has never been one of my strengths.  But this Geography Quiz can be a good teaching tool!   And hey, we need to be able to locate all those referrals we send out. (That was a poor attempt to make this real estate related.).  
Get Ready, Set, GO   How well can you do?
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On the road again... - 09/29/06 07:44 AM
I’m heading off to Phoenix next week for a RE/MAX  Conference.  The thought of an almost 6 hour  flight from Connecticut to Arizona and another 6 hours back already has me going stir crazy.  I’m thinking of how to best use the time since “Relaxing” for 12 hours just isn’t in my vocabulary. I do have a portable DVD player so I know I can watch a movie or two. (Any good DVD suggestions – I’m thinking chick flick?)  I’ll have my laptop…I once spent a whole flight cleaning up my email.   But my thought is to pick a couple of … (10 comments)

Still Together After All These Years - 09/28/06 06:20 PM

Angus blogged today about Mentoring Groups   It made me think about the Cyberprofessionals, a mentoring group with a history of over 10 years.  They Cyberprofessionals got their start in the summer of 1995.  They met chatting on the old RE/MAX Compuserve forum and had an idea, meet in person and share ideas. Only 9 agents attended that first meeting in Stamford, CT and they arrived by car, plane and train.  Each of the attendess presented a topic and the idea of presenting "15 minutes of fame" was born. In Stamford, and the meetings that followed, the group continued to share ideas, … (8 comments)

Track your visitors on VisiStat! - 09/26/06 07:27 PM

I just started using Visistat to track the web traffic on my website.  The traffic reports are very detailed and better yet, they are real time.  I especially like the Georgraphic Information right down to the visitor's city! The very coolest part is the live StatCaster which you can keep open on your desktop and watch visitors enter!
Very cool!
 
 
 
 
 
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ONLY 46 MORE DAYS!!! - 09/25/06 09:22 PM
The Mother of all Trade Shows and my favorite real estate event of the year is coming!!  Yep, it is The National Association of Realtors Expo and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.  With over 600 exhibitors and tons and tons of cool stuff, I formulate a plan each year to see as much as I can see in the 1 ½ days I spend on the Trade Show Floor. Comfortable shoes, a good convention bag, and a compatible shopping partner are all I need to celebrate Christmas in November.  Ooops, did I mention my credit card and some cash?  
  While … (9 comments)

This is a shameless, cheesy self serving blog.... - 09/25/06 09:45 AM
But I have to ask.  Tomorrow I’m heading down the highway an hour or so to give a presentation on blogging to an office meeting of about 100 or so.   I’ve given the presentation before so I’m well prepared and my hand-outs are just about ready.  The first time I gave this presentation, I realized that most folks don’t even know what blogging is so this is not a highly technical presentation.  I talk about the free blogging sites like blogger and the more expensive alternatives like Real Estate Blog Sites.  And of course, I talk about Active Rain ,now that … (23 comments)

The Power of Short Notes - 09/24/06 08:19 PM
  I’ve attended the Howard Brinton Conferences for a number of years and have listened to his Star Power Tape Series for even longer.  One of the ideas that has stuck with me since I heard it …. Star Bob Wolff’s routine of writing notes every day to not only clients, but to average people he came in contact with.  He has some amazing stores of how a simple note “touched” someone enough to create future business for him...a waitress, a cab driver, the gas attendant.  I’ve tried to keep up the routine of writing short notes and encourage my team … (6 comments)

Marketing with Pets - 09/24/06 08:07 AM

                         No Room in the Inbox
I've had an office pet for a few years now.  Our most recent additions are these two girls, Lily and Molly.  We use Lily and Molly in our advertising and many of our marketing pieces.  Lily and Molly have even sponsored "Ledyard's Best Pet Contest", where residents posted photos of their pets on our website.  We had over 30 pet photo's submitted. 
 
We adopted these 2 cuties from a local animal shelter.  We market by saying "We found Lily and Molly a new home, we can help find YOU a new home too!. About once a … (11 comments)

What does your business card say about you? - 09/23/06 04:46 PM
    
 There have been a few blogs of late from newbies (I say affectionately as we were all new once.)  looking for ideas of how to increase business.  When agents start in the business one of the first things they do is print up business cards.  The second thing they need to do is actually give them out.  If your business cards are sitting in the box they came in, they are not doing what they are supposed to do.  Keep them in every vehicle you own and every purse or wallet.
 You should put your business card in any correspondence you … (6 comments)

Gotta love the competition! - 09/23/06 08:10 AM
I just sent an email to a local agent with some information about an offer I was putting together on one of her listings.  I received an “auto responder” saying she was out of town and wouldn't be returning emails until  after the 27th.  Period.  (That’s 5 days from now).  Wow!  While I understand everyone deserves a vacation or some downtime occasionally, wouldn’t it be prudent to include who is handling business while she is out of town?
  I don’t expect everyone to be obsessed with keeping up with emails like I am.  Heck, I was returning emails on the … (7 comments)

Closing Costs Around the Nation! - 09/22/06 08:38 PM
Bankrate, a nifty little site full of interesting information, recently reported on a closing cost comparison study.  For the 2nd year in a row, New York "won" the title of the state with the highest closing costs.  Missouri was reported as having the lowest closing costs. The average cost was $3023, and didn't include prepaids etc.  My state of Connecticut, always ranked high for anything associated with taxes or payments, ranked #6.  To see where your state ranks, visit Bankrate's Study.
 
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Paperport - A must-have for your Technology Took Kit - 09/20/06 09:44 PM
I’m not sure why I was born organized. I guess it was my “gift”.  While the others kids in the neighborhood were taking piano lessons and attending football camps, I was making lists and multi-tasking.  It’s no wonder that I love Paperport – a great organizational tool, whether you were born organized or just want to be. Although I can’t claim to be paperless, I can say that I no longer carry home a “paper box” full of files on the weekend. All my listing and sales files are neatly organized digital documents.  I once had a huge box of CMA files … (7 comments)

Who should be present at a home inspection? - 09/19/06 08:29 PM
As a listing agent, I typically avoid attending the home inspection and advise my seller to do the same.  I've had more than one seller who couldn't stand to stay away, and ended up getting themselves in trouble at a home inspection.  I had one nervous seller following around the home inspector and then volunteered to correct every little item that came up, including some items that the buyer would have been willing to correct themselves.   If there would have been a way to gag him, I surely would have.
On the other hand, I've had sellers stay in the background, available to answer any questions that come up.  … (13 comments)

Real Estate Agents Eating Well in Eastern CT - 09/10/06 05:31 PM
Inventory continues to build in Eastern CT, as it has in many parts of the country. Along with an increase of inventory, comes an abundance of "Brokers Opens".  Every Monday,  fax machines begin to hum and email inboxes begin to fill with invitations for free food.  The menus are a virtual smorgesboard of delights!   From Lobster Bisque (yes, this is New England, you know) to gourmet wraps, there are no boring lunch meat platters here.  With so many listings, agents are joining together and hosting "progressive" Brokers Opens.  Each stop along the way offers a temptation with the dessert finale at the last … (5 comments)

And so it began.... - 09/04/06 08:18 AM
The last 10 years have brought revolutionary changes to the real estate industry especially as it relates to technology.  I'll never forget the first website I built in 1995, the same year as Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 1.0 and Windows 95.  Of course, there were very few people looking online for information about real estate.  My site was more of a resource - a link I could email potential customers with information about the area.  As far as finding my website, search engines were still in their infancy and Google  wasn't officially born until 1998.
It is hard to believe that only 10 … (7 comments)