My Friends Rock - 10/31/07 04:24 PM
So tomorrow is my birthday.  And I've already gotten an email from a couple of people, a card from another person, and a phone message from my friend Karin Hanna in Australia.  (She said that she knew it was half a day early, but she wanted to be the first person to wish me a happy birthday.)  And she sang to me.  I love that. 
Life is very, very, good. 
Now, I must be off.  I'm headed out to the mob scene that is Salem, Massachusetts to celebrate Halloween Witchy-style!  I'll post pictures tomorrow!
… (2 comments)

My Article in Realtor Magazine Online - 10/31/07 01:56 PM
Just wanted to make sure you got to see it.  It just came out today.  It's my Sales Coach Column article on goal setting in Realtor Magazine Online entitled:  Stop Dreaming, Start Doing.
Check it out!
Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and … (1 comments)

Real Estate Widgets for Your Website - 10/29/07 03:52 PM

OK - I know I've posted a TON today, but I'm on fire around this whole technology thing. 
I found this blog online when I was setting up my Google Reader (see my previous post on this).  It's all about the various and sundry widgets that you can add to your website.  There were so many and they all looked so cool that I thought I'd just send you to the blog too so you could see what they had to say.
http://www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com/real-estate-widgets-for-your-website
Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More … (7 comments)

Google Reader - 10/29/07 01:22 PM
Yes, yes, more stuff from Podcamp Boston 2.
So there's this cool new concept called Google Reader.  It's like the inbox on your email, but it's for the entire internet!  You can subscribe to blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, etc. as well as indicating what key words you want to track and Google goes out into the ethers and finds everything you've expressed an interest in and then plops it onto your reader. 
No more going to 50 different sites to see if someone has updated their blog or podcast.  No more searching the web for the latest updates on the real estate and mortgage … (2 comments)

MyBlogLog.com - Track Your Blog Stats and Integrate Your Profiles - 10/29/07 12:43 PM
Yet another post that can be directly attributed to Podcamp Boston 2. 
Have you been wondering what the deal is with the "recent readers" widget on the right side of my page?  Well, it's this cool thing from MyBlogLog that identifies people who are members of the site who visit your blog.  Back office-wise, it gives you statistics on where those people came in from (not who came from where, but an aggregate of where your visitors came from) and what links they clicked on.  It gives you much more useful statistics overall than just the ones we can get from … (16 comments)

Technorati blog code post (claiming my blog) - 10/29/07 11:56 AM

One of the cool things I learned at Podcamp was about Technorati.  It seems that this is a site that helps track your blog for you.  I'm posting my code here so I can "claim my blog".   
Technorati Profile 
UPDATE!!!
 OK - so I thought that this Technorati thing would be cool, but it's turned into a bit of a flaming nightmare.  I can't claim my blog, I've place a support ticket 4 days ago and to date no response yet.  I check the discussion boards and there are TONS of other people having the same issue. 
My advice?  Forget … (7 comments)

Podcamp Boston - 10/28/07 09:34 PM
I spent this weekend at Podcamp Boston learning more about the technology of podcasting.  It was a great weekend.  I learned about new technologies, made new friends, and found new contacts wtihin the real estate industry as well.  I even got a private audience with Jeff Pulver, mega entrepreneur.  where else can you go for free and get access to someone who has made millions? 
So over the next few days I'll be sharing with you some of the things I learned at podcamp.  It's all VERY cool stuff, so keep your eyes peeled. 
To the right is a picture of the … (0 comments)

What You Focus On Expands - 10/22/07 04:12 PM
Measure What You Want I recently gave an assignment to one of my coaching clients to do a weekly net worth statement and to track what her weekly income goals were vs. what she actually brought in. Since I had given her the goal, I decided to do it myself too. (I love being a coach – it keeps me on track too!) So I sat down and wrote up my net worth and income goals. And now I’m tracking them each week. By the way - this would be a good exercise for you to do too. But here’s the … (1 comments)

Don't Miss the Boat Like I Did! - 10/22/07 11:31 AM
Cycles Life runs in cycles.  Babydoll shirts and bell bottom pants are back.  And once they go out of fashion again, don't worry, just wait 20 years and they'll be back again.  Real estate runs in cycles too.  When I started in the business in CT in 1993 the market looked a lot like this one.  I cut my teeth on short sales, foreclosures, and 203K rehab loans.   
Hindsight is 20/20 What I didn't do is what I'm kicking myself for now.  I didn't invest in the properties that I was looking at.  There were condos on the market at … (1 comments)

Buckling Down - 10/19/07 08:41 AM
Some days, I just don't feel like working.  And for the last week or so, it has been particularly hard.  You see, Autumn has arrived in Boston.  It got cold for a while too.  So this week, when the warm temperatures returned, I just couldn't resist spending a little time (OK a LOT of time) outside enjoying the weather since it would be a long time before we could enjoy it again. 
But at some point, you just have to buckle down and work.  No matter what else is going on.  No matter how many distractions or dramas come into your … (0 comments)

Get Committed - 10/17/07 10:42 AM
In my last post, I referenced how I had been talking about getting committed and I went back in my blog to reference the post, but when I did I realized that I hadn't posted it here, it had gone in my newsletter.  So I'm reprinting it here so you know what I'm talking about there...  ;-)  Ooops! 
 --------------------------------------------
Get Committed!
Recently it seems that everyone is doing their own personal life review.  They are looking back in time and seeing whether they are where they want to be.  For many agents, the downturn in the marketplace has caused them to question whether they are going to stay in … (2 comments)

Commit, Ask, Motivate, and Reap the Rewards - 10/17/07 10:26 AM
I've been talking off and on about commitment levels and how important it is to decide that you are either staying in or getting out and then commit to a specific timeframe (not less than 6 months) in which to act as though there is no other option.  Now I want to talk about asking for help. 
Once you have decided what you are committing to, then it's time to ask for help. 
"The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours." - Jean de la … (0 comments)

Did You Ever Notice... - 10/16/07 03:23 PM
That there are patterns in the world? 
Today, I was driving across town and one situation after another caused the roads to be blocked or restricted.  First there was the very LARGE truck coming down the road that is barely wide enough for two regular cars.  Then there was the garbage truck stopping every few feet and keeping traffic from moving properly.  Then the UPS truck parked across from the only other parked car on the street, forcing the road into a single-lane.  Then there was construction everywhere and, on a residential side road, another UPS driver who decided that stopping … (1 comments)

What Language Are You Speaking? - 10/15/07 10:38 AM
I live in Boston within a few miles in any direction of some of the best colleges (Harvard, MIT, Tufts, etc.) in the country, so I never know what I'm going to overhear in the coffee shop. 
This morning I was in a coffee shop in Porter Square and as I passed by two middle-aged women at 9:30am, I figured I'd hear something about their husbands or what they were doing in their retirement.  Instead I walked past a detailed discussion of higher math.  Seems one of them expected an answer from a student that defined the limits of the question and … (3 comments)

Maintaining Balance - 10/11/07 05:52 PM
Today was a good day - even though from the outside, it really shouldn't have been.  You see, I woke up with a migraine.  My second one in two days.  (I've been eating too much sugar - it's entirely my fault - but it's still painful.)  Being in pain is never a fun thing and it can often put me in a foul mood, but somehow today it didn't.
Then I discovered that someone had stolen my debit card number and had spent over $800 on it yesterday.  Oddly, I wasn't really fazed by this.  In fact, I was a bit relieved … (4 comments)

Marketing to The Hispanic Marketplace - 10/10/07 08:44 AM
I published an article yesterday in RISmedia.com called How To Dig Up Leads, about selling to the Hispanic Marketplace.  I got an email today from someone who read the article and had a question.  I thought it might be good to share the response I gave her with all of you as well.
Question:I don't speak spanish nor do we currently have any spanish speaking agents in our office, how can we benefit with a program like this in our office, in order for our office to be able to tap into the hispanic market?
Answer:You don't have to speak Spanish to work … (5 comments)

Know Where You're Going Or You May Not Get There - 10/09/07 07:33 AM
Do You Know Where You're Going? Many of us think that we know where we're going, but if someone actually asked us to tell them exactly where that was, we'd be at a loss to say.   
Wishing Vs. Planning We often think things like "I want to do more business" or "I want to spend more time with my family" or "I want to take more time off".  The problem with these ideas is that they are wishes, not goals.  You can't make a plan based on wanting "more".  You need to know how much more and by when.    … (7 comments)

 
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Kelle Sparta, Real Estate Trainer and Coach

Somerville, MA

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Sparta Success Systems

Address: 17 Ibbetson St., Somerville, MA, 02143

Office Phone: (508) 243-6257

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Stop by for a wide variety of thoughts from Thought Alchemist and Author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent, Kelle Sparta. From real estate sales to personal growth, this blog has it all.

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