Do you remember the lyrics to the old song?...Seems it never rains in  Southern California, it pours.  Well, last night in Del Mar, it didn't just rain...it poured.

What an incredible soiree Brian Brady, Mortgage Advisor of World Wide Credit Corporation  put together for us.  We had a lively group on hand to enjoy a great time of learning from some masters of the business and some social time of getting to know one another, too.  There was a mixed bunch in attendance--- from the blog addicted to those who were not yet afflicted with the blogging virus.

Brian kept everything lively by interviewing our two panelists for the evening, Roberta Murphy, REALTOR® from San Diego  and Jeff Brown, Real Estate Investments Broker of Brown & Brown, Inc. and contributing author on BloodhoundBlog.  Brian kicked off the evening by asking each panelist four questions:

1. When did you begin to develop an "online presence"?
2. What strategy do you use for your online marketing? (blogging, SEO, etc.)
3. What expectations did you have when you started online real estate marketing?
4. What results have you seen in the past 6-18 months from your efforts?

These questions prompted both Roberta and Jeff to share their successes and their "I can't believe I even tried this one" tales with us.   They graciously allowed us some big laughs at their expense.  Roberta Murphy gave us a brief commentary of some of her successes.  She is a completely unpretentious lady who insists she just stumbled into some of her success.  Sorry Roberta, I just can't agree with that.  There's an old saying, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."  All that success takes work and focus.  I think Roberta simply figured out what she wanted, thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it...and voila, the ideas kept coming and she kept implementing. 

One of the best pieces of advice any successful person can share with a novice like me, is what they'd never do again.  Roberta explained that she became interested in a particular niche of real estate and started writing about it.  She became such an internet authority on the topic that she keeps getting referrals and calls to do this particular type of business.  It's a niche that's labor intensive and less rewarding than traditional residential real estate.  So, a word to the wise, "be careful what you wish for...and what you blog about!"

Jeff is an open-book kind of guy who is willing to share everything he knows about SEO and internet presence...and Jeff knows a lot.  Jeff explained that he started out with a website that was keyword rich but unfortunately just under the radar.  Jeff's a good businessman and spends his dollars where they count.  He has a marketing consultant and a blog designer.  He also recommended Blogjet.com as a resource that will allow you to easily manage multiple blogs and truncate for placement on more than one blog.  Jeff spent some time giving me some incredible coaching on how I could build my personal business and where to focus my energy.  After we parted for the evening, I think I heard a voice in the distance say, "Hi Ho, Silver, Awaaaaaay!"  If Tonto had been there, I would have asked, "Who was that masked man?"  I really do feel like he left behind a silver bullet for me. 

This was just no ordinary Monday night.  There was magic and great synergy.  It was one of those evenings that you just walk away wondering if it had really all happened.  I walked into a room of acquaintances and walked out with some great new friends , especially the great organizer, Brian.  The very loving and giving Roberta and the give- you-the-shirt-off-his-back Jeff.  And, to share with you all that I learned from William Johnson would take a couple more lengthy posts indeed.  Be sure to check out William's post  "San Diego Soiree was a Blast"  as well for some great info.

So to each one of you who attended and played a part in making it such an extraordinary evening, thank you.   Until next time, remember...It never rains in California, it pours.