Here I am at Peets Coffee off Bollinger and across from Whole Foods in San Ramon, California. I’ve been coming here off and on for coffee since arriving in San Ramon last August. Today, Sunday, is the first day I’ve brought my laptop along.

I thought I would grab a cup, a muffin and a table and peruse the 60 blogs I follow – relax and write a post or two. I had thought I would maybe make it a habit – come here in the morning for my eye-opener and blog.

BUT Peets has no WiFi! Can you believe it? A coffee shop in today’s world with no WiFi. What’s up with Peets? This is obviously a choice for them.

I was out at Hacienda Crossing in Dublin yesterday and stopped into Barnes & Noble with my laptop. They have WiFi. Of course, like many businesses these days, B&N is using WiFi as a revenue stream – as is Borders across the parking lot from the Peets where I am writing this.

Yesterday, I walked out of B&N when I discovered they have blocked all of their electrical sockets so no one can plug in their laptop. And walking around Borders yesterday, I couldn’t even find a plug in their café area. They spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising trying to get your business, but charging your laptop or providing free WiFi is beyond their budget.

It amazes me! With all of the business being done these days in coffee shops and hotel lobbies you would think that the “brains” behind these machines would want to encourage and support their operations as the “Third Place.”

The Third Place is that comfy community spot that becomes your favorite personal place of business -  somewhere between home and the office. The place where you can network, set informal business meetings, and meet new folks in the community.

Glen Reyonolds in An Army of Davids, talks about the rise of the Third Place as the new business hub as more and more people move away from the traditional office setting. WiFi has set us free – some still do not recognize the potential of what that can do for their business.

The independents do. Invariably it is the small neighborhood coffee shop or bookstore that has FREE WiFi. I was attending a ten-day workshop on the Diamond Approach last November over in Oakland. Early every morning, I drove over to the Montclair area to beat traffic and had coffee and food at The Royal Ground Coffee Shop there. Across the street was a Starbucks and six doors down was a Peets. But my choice was obvious – free WiFi at the local independent coffee shop.

So, when I get home to “MY CONNECTION,” right after I post this, I am going to find all of the free WiFi spots in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton, CA. where we do business and take my business there.

Find free WiFi through JIWire and AnchorFree.

An interesting side note: While I was writing this, the other two members of The Harper Team walk in. Unbeknownst to me, they have a morning meeting arranged with a new agent we’re sponsoring into Keller Williams. They’re at the table next to me explaining why they chose KW over Intero Real Estate and Zip Realty.

Here are the reasons:

• Intero – it was all about them, how great they are. In forty five minutes there wasn’t one word about YOU.
• Zip – quotas and cold calls. Work like a machine for the machine.

Under the banner of How to Market You, I offer the pic me writing this post included in this post.

To support the concept, let me introduce you to Robyn White of The Pennsylvania Group. Robyn has started investing in real estate and also does a little property management. He’s so new, he doesn’t have a website yet. We chatted for about 7 minutes. I talked to him about blogging and a property we hope to list soon that might be a good candidate for his investing.

It’s just a darn shame that Peets has no WiFi.