Wondering Why...

Lottie - I was curious, so I looked. Now... what should I DO with that information?

Lyn - In comparing what I learned about population trends this week with my own results, I see that themajority of my copywriting clients are in the states that are gaining population. So far this year, Texas and Florida are in the lead.

John - Many of my International subscribers are in Australia and New Zealand - so yes, coastal.

Kathy - That sounds like my neighbor. When his wife had a stroke and could no longer use her computer he brought it over and asked my husband to remove and destroy the hard drive, then he took it to the dump. BUT - when he needs something he still counts on the computer. He asks me to find it for him.

Terry - Thanks, and welcome!

Robert - Thanks to you too!

Patty - It looks like the consensus is: Population.

Shaffer - That makes sense. The slower the connection, the less fun it is to use the computer.

Hella - Now you've got me wondering if agents in small towns send prospecting letters. I know that very few do here in my own small town, but we're always years behind the curve. Since I sold my agency no one does much marketing. All they do is put an ad in the newspaper that says "I'm great. Hire me." Sometimes they advertise individual listings as well. That's where I go to read how "great" everything (yard, kitchen, floor plan, view, fence, etc.) is.

Gene - I expect that is the general feeling. What they don't know in those small communities is what can happen when do start marketing. I opened a new office which was #6 in a town with a population of 1,500 and total population in the county of about 25,000.

Word around town was that the other brokers said they'd have me out of business in 6 months. Instead of that, by the time I sold the agency, most of them had quit.

Because we marketed, within about a year and a half we were responsible for more than 50% of the "sides" transacted within our territory. And believe me, that pie chart went into our monthly (mailed) newsletter.

Nora - There are all sorts of people who will do editing work for you. But you have the best situation, being able to trade services with someone you know and trust.

Gary - So, more people = more agents = more agents who do self-promotion.

Thanks Vegas Bob. Yes you do, and a few others in Nevada are marketing as well. I recently wrote a whole website full of pages for someone in your vicinity.

Patricia - My firstborn child would agree with you about people on the coasts. He escaped small town Idaho for the Seattle area and loves telling me how superior it is. (My younger son disagrees.)

Thanks for including me in your favorites!

Praful - I'm always startled by out-of-country subscribers, and was more startled when I had a client in Singapore. I've done several web pages for him over the years and it isn't easy because I don't completely understand how they "do real estate" in Singapore. (And he's not good at answering questions.)

Stefan - One of these days I'm going to see if I can learn how many agents there are in each of the states. It would be interesting to me to know.

Donna - I'll cross mine too! I hope you have success beyond your wildest imagination.

Michele - Good to see another blogger from Idaho! You're definitely not the slowest - in fact, you may have just become one of Idaho's leaders.