Honk if you love ActiveRain.

photo courtesy of Yogi

I was still half asleep, but there he was.

I've been following the tale of Richard Bowman lately as he blogs about his daily work on the streets of San Antonio.  Richard is a local agent, just like me, but he's opted to do something a little different in order to generate interest, leads, and clients.  At first I thought it sounded a bit crazy and odd, but the more I read his blog, the more I started to think of the simple genius that his idea really is.  For those of you too lazy or too busy to run over and read through his blog to understand just what I'm talking about, Richard has been standing on a local (very busy) street corner with a sign proclaiming his status as an agent and stating his intention of looking for more work.  When I first thought about it, I thought it sounded a bit like he was out there begging and it might look bad.  The more I read Richard, the more I saw the potential in what he's doing as he's got the right attitude and approach.  He's not out there crying about the economy and saying how bad things are...he's out there interacting with people and getting names of possible future clients.  He's handing out cards, smiles, and waves.  He's disseminating brief bits of his real estate knowledge when someone has a question and works to get the follow up call or email so that he continue opening up that conversation.  Like I said...simple and genius.

So this morning, after I stopped in Valero to get my cup of coffee, I started on my way to the office.  I take the same route everyday and had spotted Richard from a far more than once.  Today, I didn't see him.  Not at first.  Seems Richard is still out there, he just had a bit of a change in plans on position.  So when I saw him, I gave him a honk and a wave.  He waved back and I could see he recognized my name on my car signs.  He strolled over as I sat at the red light and we had a brief conversation shouted through my open window.  It was exciting to me to speak with a guy who's blog I had been reading.  Someone who's up to something a little different.  Someone who got me thinking of ways to stand out from the crowd and do things just a bit left of center.  It was a mini-ActiveRain meetup, right there on Bitters Road and 281.  He even mentions it in his latest post, which I think is one of great things about ActiveRain...Richard may be the competition, but there's no need for us to not share our thoughts and ideas.

Thanks Agent Bowman.  I'll see you tomorrow.