Ali Payne - Hopkins County, KY Real Estate

Broker Bryant Jumps through hoops to help us become better Realtors!

Ali Payne (not sure yet, still interviewing) — Sun, 27 May 2007 22:53:22 -0500

I am feeling a little guilty today. I have spent a LOT of time on active rain lately, but I haven't spent any time working on my own blog. I learn so much from the people here. I want to give something back. I don't know what I can give back though. I am so new to real estate. In fact, I am not even started yet. I have spent these last 9 months learning everything I can about being a Realtor. I spent several hours last night and this morning reading every blog that Broker Bryant has ever posted. I learned a LOT from those blogs.

I learned:

How range pricing works
The amazing secret to selling every listing you take
How to make a property shine by shining the property
How to save a deal with only a small sacrafice
Why doing the right thing is just RIGHT
The best way to make a listing presentation
and about a million other things...

As of this writing, Broker Bryant has about 25 pages of blogs. Do yourself a favor, go read them all. Read all the comments while you are at it. I may not have a lot of my own to offer, but I can defiantely steer you towards great people here!

Broker Bryant jumps through hoops to help us become better Realtors. (I am not a Realtor yet, but I will be SOON).

You should also stop by one of his more recent blogs for a good laugh.

Ali

Madisonville, KY Bicentennial

Ali Payne (not sure yet, still interviewing) — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:03:44 -0500

2007 marks the Bicentennial of Madisonville, KY located in Hopkins County, KY. As a proud resident of this great community I would like to encourage everyone to attend the festivities planned for June the 8th, 9th, and 10th.

The fun starts on June 8th with the Bicentennial Car Show at Friday Night Live downtown. This is a free event, sponsored by the City of Madisonville, Madisonville Renaissance, and Trover Health Systems. The event begins at 5pm with prizes being awarded at 8:30 pm.

This will be an extraordinary event with the music, food and fun you are used to finding at Friday Night Live and an extra treat with the car show. More information can be found on the City of Madisonville website.

On Saturday June 9th the fun will continue at the City Park at 10am. There will be lots of activities for the whole family to enjoy. To find out what kind of fun there is to be had please call 270-824-2100.

Sunday June 10th will see the end of the weekend off with homecoming celebrations at local churches in honor of the event.

I hope that you can all make it out to support our community and celebrate an amazing 200 years of growth for the city of Madisonville.

Beginning the Journey

Ali Payne (not sure yet, still interviewing) — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:28:21 -0500

There are several reasons I decided that I want to become a Realtor.

I thought long and hard about the decision, carefully weighing the pros and cons. Ultimately I decided that it was the right decision. My reasons are

I will be in control of my own earning potential.
I will be able to see my husband more than once a week.
I will be directly responsible for the service of my clients, not having to worry about who else might be getting involved in their sale on my day off.
I will not have to clean up the huge messes that my co-workers make when trying to sell things and they have no idea what they are doing.
I will get to be a part of what is hopefully the best investment my customers have ever made.
I will either be loved or hated based on my own talents and abilities (or lack there of) and not what others do in my absence.
I will be challenged on a daily basis.

I realize that there will be challenges in this career. I am facing many of them already. I think that is what excites me so much about this whole endeavor! I have been working hard to prepare myself for the transition. I don't want to come into this blind. I want to have as much ammo in my arsenal as possible. I spend all my free time reading blogs on active rain, reading books on real estate and salesmanship, reading the listings of the local Realtors so I will have an idea of what the local market looks like, reading.... well, just READING a lot. I am currently reading the Little black book of Connections by Jeffrey Gitomer. I think he has a lot of valuable information to share with us. I read his Little Red Book of Sales Answers a few days ago. Much of the information is geared towards corporate business to business sales, but the book still speaks volumes about the core of successful salesmanship. The books are short, to the point, and graphically interesting.

I know that one of the keys to my success will be my excellent communication skills. My past career as a freelance writer and permissions editor gives me a great background for writing and expressing myself. Unfortunately I have let these tools rust in the shed for the last five or six years. I think blogging here on active rain will be a great step towards sharpening these skills to their previous level. I really was a great writer once. I thought about pursuing a journalism degree. Don't laugh, I really did!

There are many others who are just starting out, or thinking of becoming a Realtor. Perhaps reading about my adventure will help them. If any of you have advice or suggestions for me along the way I will be more than happy to hear them.

All of you here on active rain have taught me so much already. I appreciate the opportunity to learn from so many wonderful people here at one time. It is such an awesome feeling to be a part of this community! Today is my 28th birthday, and you have all given me a wonderful gift. Where else could I get so much FREE mentoring? And from the full range of the spectrum from others just starting out as I am to those of you who are true professionals. I do appreciate it.

First post...

Ali Payne (not sure yet, still interviewing) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 11:03:55 -0500

So, this is my first blog post on Active Rain... I have dabbled in blogging in the past, but nothing serious. I know I need to do some work on my profile here. I really don't have much to put on it yet. I will have pleanty to add when I am finished interviewing and I figure out where I am going to go. I have two more classes and then I can go and take my license exam. I am really starting to get excited! I have a passion for selling and I think that I will have the drive and intellegence to be a great Realtor. I sure do hope so!

In the mean time I am spending a lot of time researching. I have been reading lots of posts on active rain and several other sites, reading books and planning. I am going to start an official business plan. I also plan to work on a pre-listing package and basic marketing plan that I can adapt to different properties. I have a LOT of work to do, but it is fun!