BLiz Biz: Warren County Ohio Area Real Estate

Ask An Ambassador: Commodity or Premium?

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0700

Gassing up our SUV can be a pricey endeavor, especially since it runs on diesel. If driving a few extra miles will give me a significant price difference on a tank, even when accounting for the fuel used to get there and back, then I'll drive the few extra miles. Fuel is a commodity. I don't care about brand or any other features, just the price.On the other hand, I don't look at tacos the same way! There's an entire universe between a Yo Quiero (avoiding naming names) drive through ground beef taco and the coconut fish taco from my favorite food truck (Alley Baby...I WILL name names) or the chicken taco from Mazunte (where the chef lived in Mexico to train and understand local food techniques). I'll happily drive further and pay more for the premium version.For real estate agents, the challenge is to prevent being lumped in the commodity agent category. With literally 1000s of agents in our market, how do we become the equivalent of the premium taco, someone who offers a special experience?One clear path to break the commodity cycle is specialization.Real estate offers many specialties.Go down the residential path or commercial?Traveling down the residential path, you can specialize by VERY specific locations, VERY specific types of houses, houses with VERY specific features, etc.What type of client do you REALLY want to work with?What do they need to be attracted to select YOU as their agent?What is missing from the market?What is under represented? Run those through the selection filters. Is there sufficient financial return for your time and effort?Are there enough clients to keep your car filled with gas?Do you need special tools, or just special knowledge? How long will it take you to build up the expertise and enough web presence to be found?Answer the questions, review your results and determine what opportunities in your local market make sense for you, then implement your plan.In time, you can get used to hearing "I found you EVERYWHERE" when the potential clients you want reach out to you. Pull marketing rocks!Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLiz Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Some Things Change, Some Don't

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 05:00:02 -0700

I haven't traveled much in years. The "zoo" we have means either Liz or me has to be home for morning and even feeding routines. Lots of senior furries, complicated medicine/supplement/feeding rituals, and have you quoted a pet sitter lately to take care of 9 Chihuahuas and 12 cats? So it's a pretty rare event for either of us to leave town, but rare doesn't mean never. A few weekends ago my sister was getting married just outside of Richmond Virginia, so I cashed in some of my Skymiles to fly in and out of DC. For the most part, the routine from my last flight in 2018 was still the same in present day. Security was a bit different, when did they add the camera taking your picture, comparing to your license and I assume running some kind of AI assisted facial recognition to make sure I was who I claimed to be. Otherwise, the seats were still just tolerable enough to get you to and from, picking a window seat didn't guarantee me a view (so seat 11D has no window??), WiFi now seemed to be pretty standard, and I now know getting the empanada in the DCA airport wasn't one of my best meal choices. And yeah, my memory had purged just how awful I-95 traffic out of DC is, and that two hour drive took way longer than two!I've been a real estate agent for 22 years now, and there have certainly been some significant changes in the business, and a lot of those changes are evident in my phone. Need MLS access? Click the app. Need to set showings? No more calling 5 different numbers for 5 listings and waiting for a call back. Use the app! Need directions? Google will lead you door to door (or close!).Which direction does the house face? If your mental compass isn't working, you probably have a compass app on your phone!And now we have AI opening up new possibilities.Technology has evolved, and will continue to evolve.But some things don't change.Being face to face with people still matters.How you're perceived by the public may be the difference in gaining clients, or losing them.Trust still matters.Knowledge still matters.And even for an engineer, personality still matters :)Sometimes it takes a multitude of intersecting things to put you in just the spot needed to be found and hired by the right clients.Understanding which fundamentals will continue to stand the test of time, and which things are just the latest flash and sizzle may be the key to maintaining your inner peace. I don't know about you, but for me, focusing on fewer key things allows me to do them better. There's only so much juggling I can do.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLiz Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: More Work Then Means Less Work Now

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:00:05 -0700

It's my nature to try and be efficient with my efforts. A lot of our pets are seniors, and just like humans, that sometimes means supplements and medications. And when you're dealing with pets in the 5-10 pound range, a full size pill may be too much of a dose. Cutting pills into halves (or even quarters) may be the order of the day. Now in theory I could just dice them as I go, but IMO, that's not very efficient. I'd rather take the pill cutter and go on a bit of spree, and cut enough of each pill to satisfy a week or two of demand. No repeat handling, no opening the same things over and over, etc.When I blogged, the same mindset applied. If you're going to blog daily (or even multiple times in a day), you'd best figure out what works for your personal style because we all know, time is in short supply.That might mean a certain work area, a certain photo supply site, a certain way of capturing ideas to safe for later, so when you're ready to blog, you can minimize your time and maximize your results.The longer I blogged, and the more work I put into it, the more I was able to count on it paying off for a long time after I posted. I'll say it again for the new folks, EVERGREEN POSTS ROCK! Write content that sticks around. Not every contact from those posts is going to convert to a client, but you'll regularly get affirmation that your posts written years ago are still being found.And an additional upside is that I don't have to spend as much time blogging today as I did years ago. I can do what I did this weekend. I had something urgent to do, and that meant leaving my laptop behind. I didn't log in to ActiveRain for several days (yes, it's possible, even for Rain addicts such as myself). I've done the work in the past, so I have less work to do now.Find what works for you, put in the work to make it worth your while, then take the down time you've earned.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: No Chance For Second First Impressions

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 05:00:05 -0700

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression". Will RogersIf you're a real estate professional, much of your success depends on your ability to master that first impression, and that first impression comes in many forms.Our first contact, be it phone, text, email or in person.Our website.Our business cards.Our blog posts and comments.Our social media posts and comments.Those impressions can be first and final at the same time.Over the last week I've watched Facebook posts by two of my friends. Both similar subjects, neither one political in purpose, but both noting the passing of a politician.You'd have thought by now most people would have learned that celebrating the death of another person is not the way to make a good impression on others. And since most real estate agents are connected to lots more agents, it shouldn't be surprising that other real estate agents are reading those comments. The reality is if another agent (especially one with a different political bent) wanted to make an issue out of that first impression, they could. Haven't we all heard enough stories of agents "seeking other job opportunities" after their broker found out about something posted?We can all argue "but I've got freedom of speech rights!!!", and while Uncle Sam is forced to recognize those rights, your broker isn't as restricted. With one click rules in place for brokerage identification, anything any of us posts is subject to how it reflects on the brokerage, so unless you're an independent broker, you have someone to answer to for your "first impressions".The reality is nothing is truly private at this point. A Members Only post can be copied and shared, as can that private message comment.A potential client that finds one of your posts is going to form a positive or negative opinion of you before (or if) they ever open a second post to explore further. In all you do, leave a positive first impression.And sometimes, that means pushing away the keyboard rather than typing what's between your ears.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: There's More Than One Way To Draft

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 05:00:03 -0700

You may think of a draft blog post as just a post you haven't finished (yet) and it can be that.But there's more you can do with the Draft feature of ActiveRain.Over the years I've used Draft posts to jot down a title and a quick note of an idea to explore later. Now I may never decide to write that post, but the kernel of a post is there.Saving to Draft frequently while blogging may prevent the ever dreaded POOF that happens with some posts!Other times Draft is where posts that just don't "feel" right go to wait. The concept isn't fleshing out the way I expected, the tone may just not be right, the flow just isn't there. Stick the post in DRAFT and consider coming back another day.Using the Draft folder is also a great way to produce a series of posts while you're on a roll, then stash them for later publishing.Other times, a DRAFT post may be a post that I know won't ever see the light of day. Maybe a rant. Maybe a "stick it up your southern end" response post to someone saying something that can even rile up an engineer's brain :) And sometimes, typing something out may be the just the thing to let off a little steam and go NEXT.Who hasn't seen a blog post or two where you're convinced that someone had a few drafts of the liquid variety and lost their blog filter? Those posts might have done better in the DRAFT file :)Here's the reality of blogging. Not every post is going to be an example of our best work. Things don't always click. Other things may be on our mind. So maybe the best action is an ALL STOP, put the post in DRAFT, and move on to another task.We never know when the post we write now will be the first (and maybe ONLY) post someone will ever read, so keep on drafting until you feel you've gotten it right.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Just In Case

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Blogging isn't everything. Real estate isn't everything either.That might seem to be strange statements coming from someone who blogged daily for over 10 years, and been dual careering for over 22 years, but from more than one perspective, it's a true statement.For years, if I left town for any reason, my laptop was coming with me. Just in case I needed to write an offer. Just in case I needed to prep for a listing presentation.Just in case I needed to blog.Just in case there was something urgent with my engineering job.Just in case...and the list could go on and on.So far this month I've made 3 trips, 2 planned, and one for a short notice emergency. Times my laptop came with me? Zero.The reasons for the trips topped anything else I could want or need to do that involved blogging or real estate. I tend to be a private person, so the number of you that know the WHY behind the emergency trip is small, and will likely stay that way.Sometimes, everything else can wait while ONE THING that truly matters is first.The ideas for posts will still be there tomorrow. Next week. Next month.Business can be referred.Appointments can be rescheduled.There will always be people buying and selling homes.Being where you're needed, when you're needed, that's the priceless part of life.And not being there when you needed to be? It can remind you that sometimes we need to examine our priorities, and make some changes. Some opportunities are one time offers.Keeping in short, perhaps there's somewhere else I should be.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLiz Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: How Do You Decide What To Post?

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Once upon a time in my ActiveRain life I posted daily, and did so for over a decade. Along with being semi-retired as an engineer, I'm semi-retired from being an "active" ActiveRain blogger, down to 1 a week unless some special itch just has to be addressed.How do I decide what to post?The basics that influenced me during the daily run are the same as the once a week post, a set of filters that prompts what ideas survive to clicking "Publish" and which ideas never get beyond the initial strokes of the keyboard.First and foremost, I have to decide who my audience is for the post?Rainers? Consumers? Friends? Other agents? Other parts of the real estate profession? Just myself? And just how broad is the audience?So audience established, I need to pick a topic that fits the audience.Personally, I lean heavily into writing to consumers because I'm more likely to find a home buyer or seller than an agent looking to provide a referral to my market.So what does the consumer need from me?Ideally something they can't find elsewhere, and the more pertinent to local real estate, the better. Long tail topics don't have to reach the biggest portion of the consumer audience, they just have to reach the section interested in what you have to write that your competition has missed. For me, the sweet spot has been posts about real estate niches, new construction, market reports, subdivisions, etc.After I've established the who and the what, there's still the HOW.What's the best way to present the information? Those that follow me regularly know I lean heavily into analogies. Take an experience that might not appear to be real estate related and then tie it to real estate. Now for someone else, it may be all about charts, graphs and other visual aids (especially if a market report is the topic du jour).And another part of the HOW is the tone of the post. Factual? Fun? FAQ?One of my key filters is I don't personally like to rant in my posts. Have I in the past? You bet. That type of post can't get lots of comments, but I've reached the conclusion that rants aren't in my best interest. What type of potential client are they likely to attract? Probably not the kind I want to work with. And frankly I can cause myself enough trouble without picking a topic that is likely to bite me in the hindquarters if I proceed with posting.So those are my key steps. Run through the decision tree, select, type, edit, post.Repeat, repeat, repeat.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Extra Hands Make A Difference

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Last week I made a quick trip to our new home site to deliver appliances, tile, light and plumbing fixtures, and some other miscellaneous items needed to continue the path to completing the build later this year. Most of Tuesday was spent picking up a 26' U-Haul, visiting the warehouse for the appliance load (more complicated than expected), then the tile warehouse for four pallets of tile/grout, then home to load up other items. It's a big truck and a bit cumbersome to squeeze down our driveway, but it fit (barely)! I didn't pack vertically, but did fill the entire floor by the time I was done for the evening.Driving this beast 8 hours added some new life perspectives regarding climbing mountains and finding a place to get gas that has easy entrance and exit, things I never have to think much about when driving our personal vehicles.But once there, I was fortunate that my brother-in-law Pete and his son Garrett were there to help unload. Pete had all the gear (dollies, come-along, straps, etc.) to help us get everything off the back of the truck and either into the house or into our on site storage containers. Things were going smoothly until we reached the appliances at the back. HEAVY. Like 600 pounds that didn't want to slide across the truck floor so we could get them down the truck ramp and onto the dollies. Fortunately a new neighbor stopped by, and while we hadn't met in person, we'd chatted via email for the last year so he knew I was making the trip in. Now under most circumstances, I'd have expected a quick "hi" from a new neighbor and for him to head home, but we have something in more in common than just our homes on the mountain ridge, we're both Annapolis grads (he was two years ahead of me). And I think this is true for any service academy grad, there's a bond that's not like other colleges and is summed up in by a verse in Navy's alma mater:"Four years together by the BayWhеre Severn joins thе tideThen by the Service called awayWe're scattered far and wideBut still when two or three shall meetAnd old tales be retoldFrom low to highest in the FleetWe'll pledge the Blue and Gold"So while he could have easily left, he stayed for the heavy lifting. It took us a couple more hours to wrestle the remaining appliances out of the truck and into the house without damaging them or us! Those extra hands were essential to finishing the job.Now while I didn't share four years together by the Bay with the ActiveRain community, there is literally decades of shared experiences here with you. Changes of ownership. Site crashes. The occasional personal drama. People coming and going (and sometimes coming back). Those shared experiences that give us the ActiveRain bond. While we don't have an alma mater to sing, we have Community Guidelines and that W word I can never pronounce and with that, the knowledge that if you need help, there are people here who will step up and give you anything they can. Want to bounce off a business idea? Tech questions?Need an honest analysis of a situation?That and plenty more is just a click/text/call away if you've built the relationships this place can give you.ActiveRain is full of extra sets of hands, and they'll help!Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Highest And Best Use Of The Rain

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 05:00:05 -0700

In my engineering job, I've been partnered with a young lady who has a different set of experiences and capabilities. She has coding capability and has helped advance our day to day work with various automation projects. Tasks that I used to spend hours on can sometimes literally be done in a few clicks and a few minutes. The reality is with the changes I can now do in my 20 hour part time work week what used to take me 40 hours or more. Between the two of us, highest and best use of each of our times is different. For me, it's doing the "grunt" work of writing the plans and reports, for her, it's the strategic work that enables improvements and increased efficiency. There's one resource I can't make more of: Time.So whether I'm in the Rain or in my "regular" life, the ongoing question is: what's the best use of my time for that moment?In the Rain, my best use of time has changed significantly over the years.Early on, there was a LOT of time being spent in the Rain. Learning the site culture, that Pay It Forward was a huge thing here. Building relationships, leaving dozens of comments each day. Learning to blog, 10, 12, 14 posts a week wasn't unusual while I figured out what would work and what didn't. (and what doesn't work for me MIGHT work for you!). Overall, that was time well invested.I've got a coast to coast network of referral agents.I learned who my peeps were :)I learned SEO, niche blogging, tech tools and a lot more.Flash forward and my use of the Rain has changed. My focus overall and here in the Rain is different.It's still touching base with other Rainers, but now, it may be via text, email, phone or Facebook messages rather than in a post's comment thread.Most of my blog work transitioned to our Wordpress site and IDX pages.I'm still here to write once a week.I'm still here to pick up tips and keep up with what is happening in each other's lives.But at this point in ActiveRain's life, I'm not looking for management to send us a Kerrie or Bob to train us, but we don't have to have that. There's an immense amount of knowledge in the Rain, and as long as the culture is to continue to share that knowledge, we can each in our own way find our individual highest and best use of our time in the Rain.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Bear With Me

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0700

While we're not moved to our new home yet, we do have a camera that sends a photo alert when the motion detectors are triggered. There are plenty of deer on the mountain, but a couple of weeks ago the camera gave us our first bear photo. Just a little after sunset, the bear was ambling down the street.The nickname Wild Wonderful West Virginia isn't just advertising based on wishful thinking, it's a reality. Our current home just north of Cincinnati doesn't have much in the way of threats other than coyotes and the occasional hawk that might think a Chihuahua looks like an appetizer. But where we're heading, black bears aren't uncommon, eagles, and the nope ropes come in copperhead and eastern diamondback varieties, so we do have to consider how we set up our bee yard and our dog exercise areas and keep the buzzers and barkers safe.Part of our real estate business is determining which expenses we want to continue to bear :)How many domain names do we REALLY need? With Go Daddy not the $9.99 shop they used to be and seeing some .info domains asking $42/year, is it time to stop "bearing" it and strip those off our expense list? Small bites in the big scheme, but small bites add up.As retirement nears, is there value in keeping two licenses active?Should I get a West Virginia license after we move? While I could learn what I need to, starting over in a new area with all that comes with that doesn't appeal to me at this point in my life. We'll test drive the referral only model for a bit for any customers from our patio home and IDX search pages, and it that doesn't work out positively, maybe a 100% retirement from real estate will be what's in the picnic basket for us.One of the perks of ActiveRain is you can see every type of business model and how to approach retirement from someone in the community. Keep going 100% or gear down anywhere between 100 and 0%, someone here is living that life and blogging about it.As it is, I'm doing more cherry picking lately about our potential clientele. I'm less willing to bear bad behavior than my early years in this profession. Life is busy, and those who are happy to waste time are costing me something I can't get back. There's a limit to how much I'll grin and bear it :)Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: When You Need Help

Tue, 26 May 2026 05:00:01 -0700

There's a pond on the neighbor's property just across the street from us, and it's home to various turtles. The other day as we left to run some errands, one of the turtles was in the middle of our street, so we stopped so Liz could move it to safety. However, just as she got out of our SUV, a delivery truck came down the street at a good pace. Very quickly, the turtle disappeared under the truck and we cringed and hoped for the best. The turtle was on its back and spinning like a break dancer on the pavement. At first glance we thought it would be RIP turtle, but the damage looked worse than actuality. As you can see in the picture, there was injury, but after a bit the turtle moved its legs and even moved its head out a bit. And while Liz has some good vet care skills, reptiles are not in our wheelhouse so we needed help, and not just any help.Querying the phone for local reptile rescues led to a nearby organization. Texts went back and forth with pictures of the turtle. We also reached out to another organization we knew of, and while waiting to hear back from the second organization, the first organization pointed us to a certified animal rescuer who could help. A 30 minute drive and the turtle was in the hands of a skilled nurse (literally, an ICU trained nurse who does animal rescue). She repositioned the shell quickly and said she'd apply some bone matrix to help maintain the position while the shell healed. The turtle will eventually be back to 100% and have a good story to tell the other turtles!One of the great things about ActiveRain is there is skilled help throughout the community, and chances are if you have a problem or question, there's someone (or a bunch of someones) who can help.Some issues are common and lots of people know the answer.Other things are more complex, and while the number of people may be fewer, it's just a matter of making the connection to the right person.There are people here who understand every nook and cranny of real estate. Short sales, probate, land sales, commercial, property management, etc. Pick a niche, someone here knows it, and they'll help, because that's the culture of this community.Need regional specific knowledge? That's here too.Tech questions? If Craig Daniels hasn't already written a post about how to do anything that has to do with AR, chances are someone else has.Tech stuff? Have you noticed all the AI info over the last year? Or any other bright and shiny? You'll probably hear about it first in this community!Help is here and free for the asking.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: How Do You Know Your Blog Is Working?

Tue, 19 May 2026 05:00:03 -0700

Is Blogging dead?It all depends on who you ask!I've seen plenty of people over the years state that their blog has never brought them business, and that can be true.Depending on the frequency of posts, topics chosen, the quality of the writing, the platform, SEO, etc, it's quite possible to blog, maybe even regularly, but generate no obvious business.So for these people, blogging doesn't work based on their viewpoint!On the other hand, sometimes that fact that your blog works isn't as black and white as a caller stating "hey, I read your post about Sailboat Pointe and I'd like more information".While those direct emails and calls from potential clients are the best evidence that you're making the write blogging choices, sometimes evidence can be more subtle.For example, if I had a buck for every call I've ever received looking for the property managers for various subdivisions, I'd have a nice stack of bills! Even providing notice on our web pages that we're NOT the property managers, the calls keep coming, and that's solid proof that our pages and posts are being found.More evidence that you're doing the write/right things? An incognito search as your target audience would search can show you if you're hitting page 1. If you're not on page 1, more work is needed. More posting. Better content. Different target audience? What's your competition?More subtle evidence that you're "doing the things"? A general improvement in your digital presence. Maybe you're showing up now in the real estate agent near me type searches. Maybe out of area agents looking to place a referral are finding you. Maybe loan officers and title companies are calling you when they have a question. Maybe other agents are finding you and calling you to pick your brain!Often, you're not going to get a one to one correlation on how your work is paying off. More often that not, a caller is going to give you a general "I found you on the Internet!" rather than mention a specific post or page, but they're finding you, and that's what matters most.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Are You Serving Something Tasty?

Tue, 12 May 2026 05:00:00 -0700

We've mentioned before our favorite local food truck, Alley Baby. We've been regular customers since discovered Alley Baby last September and it's been interesting following Alex's journey as he figures out what works and what doesn't work for his menu, his locations, pricing, etc. What I never doubt is the high quality and great taste of anything he makes.Cincinnati features one of the biggest food festivals in the US every Memorial Day. Taste of Cincinnati brings huge crowds to sample a huge variety of food served by restaurants and food trucks, and one of the biggest draws at the festival are the winners of the Best of Taste competition held a few weeks prior to the main event. And Alley Baby? In the food truck division, Alex bagged a gold award for best entree with his Coconut Chicken Taco and a silver award for best bites for his Tater Bombs (a gluten free cheesy potato bite with some garlic ranch dressing). Maybe he should have gotten two golds, but the judges might have been wary about giving out too many golds to one food truck! As it is, Alley Baby was the only double award winner in the food truck category! And while we're not serving home buyers and sellers award winning food truck fare, we do try to serve up something tasty that matches our business,In the Greater Cincinnati/Dayton corridor there are probably hundreds of food trucks, and each of them has to find the niche that works for them. Alley Baby isn't totally gluten-free, but most of his menu is. While we don't work with ONLY patio home and condo buyers and sellers, it's the bulk of what we do. It's a means of standing out from the thousands of other real estate agents in our market.The nature of a food truck is space is limited, and so is time. What can be on the menu that makes sense? And while Alex makes some of the best beans and rice I've ever had, he can't keep in on the menu as a regular item because making the rice is a bit problematic when he's offering tacos, burgers, wings, grilled veggies, etc.For us, we don't work with the entire spectrum of residential real estate. Property management? Nope. Investors. Nope. Multi-family units? Nope. We're better off staying in our own lane and limited the geography we cover.The success of a food truck rides on getting the word out and building a following. Sounds familiar, right? Real estate agents get more successful as the build up a client base, gain referrals from past clients, build up their internet presence (be it social media, blogging, Wordpress IDX pages, etc). We have to find what is "tasty" for our potential clients. Meet them where they are with the information they need.I think I'm going to have to visit Alley Baby for a taco and tater bombs this week :)Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Get Local For Results

Tue, 05 May 2026 05:00:06 -0700

Tonight was a sandwich night, but not a throw some lunch meat on Wonderbread kind of night.There's a nearby farmer's market shop that offers local goods, so this weekend we bought a sourdough boule made by a local baker (filtered water, bread flour and mineral salt...that's the ENTIRE ingredient list), some jalapeno flavored pimento cheese from a small batch maker just over the Ohio River, and bacon from a local farmer we bought months back. The only exception to being locally sourced was an avocado from Mexico (sorry, but Ohio is just not famous for growing that particular item). Toasted the bread, sliced the avocado, cooked the bacon, scooped out the cheese spread and put it all together and dinner was served :)And while the public is probably not searching for real estate agents who make pimento cheese sandwiches, they are looking for agents with specific local knowledge.I'm a big fan of creating specific local real estate content because IMO it's the one area an individual agent or small team can go head to head with the big gorillas of real estate and knock them off the top of the skyscrapers.Yes, there are some caveats to that, with a leading condition being the decision to go VERY local. Scale down even further than a city or town, to a smaller section of your market.If you go on Zillow can you readily search for a specific subdivision? Or get REALLY specific about a particular house feature?But as an agent, YOU CAN.Create a post about Subdivision X if it's a community you want to serve.X is too small and too little turnover?Then try many smalls to make one large.Subdivisions X + Y + Z may have enough to keep you busy, and it not, add A, B, C and so on. Page after page, post after post.In the last couple of months I've had two different buyers contact me because they want to live in a specific small patio home community. There's only about 30 homes total, and turnover is very low, but they've both in it for the long run. When something comes available, they're going to want to see it. It's not a pay me now, but a pay me later scenario, but that's the potential pay off for writing post after post and page after page at a granular level.Little slices of local add up.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: It All Started Here

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:00:04 -0700

We've been in the Rain for almost 20 years. A lot has changed in those years. Maybe there's not as many people actively blogging and maybe comment counts are down, and maybe SEO isn't what it used to be, and it's probably been over a decade since the last time I saw a post hijacked.But what hasn't changed is relationships that last decades can be formed here. The early days of learning to blog, sharing the latest real estate tips, learning about each other on a personal basis, all that provided a solid foundation to develop both professional and personal bonds. I've actually met a fair number of Rainers in person, and talked and emailed to many more.The interactions may have moved outside of the Rain as people come and go. Yesteryear's blog post comment chat morphs into today's texts and Facebook messages.The people I'll refer don't have to be active in the Rain for me to put in a good word for them if another Rainer needs a recommendation. Some of the people I respect most in this business haven't posted here in years and years, but the relationships started here.Trust was formed. Evidence of how they handle tough times and jackasses, and how they handle the good times too, all contribute to shaping a reputation that gives you confidence that you can trust your own reputation on their abilities.So if you ask me for a recommendation, I'm not just thinking about who's still in the Rain, but also those that made the right impressions years ago.It started here, but it doesn't have to end here.Keeping this one short!If you need help, just Ask Ambassador!Back with another edition next Tuesday, because that's a promise I made to someone who used to be here regularly :)Bill & Liz, aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Tido's Trust

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Tido used to be solid brown with no gray on his dome or muzzle, but he's a senior Chihuahua now. He sees well, but I think he wonders why we keep moving our lips and not saying anything!Tido aka Burrito Boy was our 2nd Chihuahua adoption. We don't know his full history, but let's just say he wasn't overly trusting when he first joined our pack, especially of me We assume some bad history with a male in his past, and that transferred to me. While he never broke skin, I got a few nips until he learned that he could trust me.Flash forward and Tido loves to have me pick him up and carry him around (so this is what it's like to be TALL??), and when it's bedtime he sprints down the hall to the bedroom and bolts into his furry dogloo. He's the alpha male of the dog pack, no matter how many times El Jefe tries to challenge him. Even then, we can trust Tido only uses as much force as necessary to flip the challenger and make it clear...today ain't yer day son, Tido is still in charge.In some ways, Tido and potential real estate clients are similar. They're looking for an agent they can trust.If we're lucky, a past client is putting in the golden word for us and we get trust by proxy. IMO nothing tops the good word of a person the potential client trusts. We can write 1000 blog posts, create 100s of IDX pages, but what matters most came out of someone's else's mouth.But if we don't have someone speaking for us, how do we gain trust? It starts with how we provide information. Be in direct mail, videos, social media, blogging or IDX pages, do we prove expertise and that we're in it for them more than us?Another IMO, but we're often being interviewed without us being there. Someone is checking out our posts and deciding if they can trust us.Obvious errors in our digital presence can put a stake in us before we get a chance to go further.Expressing the "wrong" opinion about politics or the daily topic of choice can be poison.If you clear the first hurdles, you've got a chance, but it's a chain of events to develop that trust.Do you answer the phone? Return the email? Do what you promised? And how long did it take you?And now, if you stack everything up right, a buyer still has to trust you enough to be willing to sign a buyer's agency agreement, and who knows why the Tido types of clients don't trust a real estate agent, but they do.So we strive for a digital presence that gives them a chance to bond, a chance to trust, and a chance to build a good working relationship. And when it works as intended, it's a beautiful thing.Woof!Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help!Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Bring Your "A" Game

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:00:03 -0700

Tonight my favorite hockey team was eliminated from playoff contention. They lost control of their own fate and had to rely on the team above them losing, and the other team didn't lose. Close the book on this year's edition and hope for better next year.The fans can point to many things with our amateur's understanding of the sport, but one thing you don't have to be a professional to understand is that the margin between winning and losing is often razor thin. How many pucks hit the iron with that loud KLANG sound throughout the season, some go in, some don't, and just a single goal more going in at the right time could have been the difference between gaining a couple of points in the standings and taking home a ZERO for the night.And there are other games where a team for whatever reason just doesn't bring it's "A" game. Things are just a little out of sync, the shots are wide, the defenders just a little out of position, the goalie just not quite quick enough, and a game that looks like an easy win becomes a blow out in the wrong direction.We've all seen instances where it's obvious someone doesn't have their "A" game working that day.And the reality is in the real estate business every person including us and everyone we recommend has to bring their "A" game to work every day.A miss by the loan officer might cost buyers their earnest money.The home inspector not realizing the dryer doesn't actually vent OUTSIDE the house? (you can't make this stuff up).Our blogging can't just be mailed in if you're trying to gain clients and referrals.Our websites need to be on point and filled with relevant content that holds attention for potential clients.Our tech tools need to work.This business is unforgiving, and why shouldn't it be? Consumers have literally thousands of us to choose from, so anything less than our "A" game gives them cause to click NEXT on their agent list.How do you bring your "A" game to work each week?Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Pay Attention

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:00:06 -0700

One of our cats is an alarm system of sorts. If there's a bug in the house, he'll spot it. He locks in. If it's within reach, he'll do his best to catch it. And when he can't reach it, his stare tells us we need to look where he is looking and find the bug!Our lives in real estate offer many distractions. Every week I probably get at least a dozen offers to put our website on page 1 for keywords we probably don't even want. Lead gen companies out the wazooooooo with all kind of special, limited time, silver bullet bright and shiny offers to open our wallet. People with their own agent calling to pick our brain about our niche.But if you can cut out the clutter and focus like our cat, you'll see opportunities.For instance, new construction can offer some prime real estate for getting found by potential clients.In particular, small and medium size builders can offer a big return on a relatively small amount of work. While the big national builders have a full staff of people filling their websites with pages and pages of floor plans, subdivision offerings, etc., and consistently rank well for their own communities, smaller builders may treat a web presence as a much, much smaller priority.If you've got boots on the ground, you may identify new construction communities that have little to no Internet publicity. Maybe the builder doesn't realize they need it, or figures word of mouth will take care of getting those lots sold, but that absence of information offers a gate for an agent that understands how to generate some Internet presence.Last year we found a new construction patio home community in one of our most demanded cities. And the builder doesn't have one word about that community on their own site. They have a listing agent with a couple of listings in MLS, but nothing beyond the basics.That's PRIME opportunity. Gather the pertinent information and create an IDX page for our Wordpress site. Your competition level is near zero, and your ranking on page 1 is almost guaranteed.For this particular community we've had buyer meetings with the builder 3 times (no contracts, but the opportunity was there). I've taken calls from at least a half dozen other agents with their own clients and pointed them to the builder because our web page was found. This week another buyer reached out and will be setting a future appointment with the builder. While none of this guarantees a seat at a closing table, it creates the possibility, and WITHOUT paying some lead gen company big or small for the right to talk to a buyer or seller.So take a look around your local market. Where are the gaps in marketing that you can fill?Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Making Adjustments

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Our Chihuahua Bunny is now 16 years old. She's long retired from her award winning days as a therapy dog. She and Liz made a great team visiting hospice, schools, VA medical centers and other places in need. The picture was taken some years back. Now, Bunny's eyes are a bit cloudy. While she's not totally blind, she doesn't have much vision left, but her hearing still picks up an American Cheese slice wrapper crinkle from across the house :)There's a hitch in her giddy up too, so she gets chiropractic adjustments. And the potty break area for the dogs? Out the back door and down 4 steps, steps that became a big problem about a year ago, so we bought a 6' foldable wheelchair ramp and added side walls to keep any of the Chihuahuas from bumping each other off the edge. Combined with some outdoor rugs attached for traction, that worked for about a year.But lately, Bunny's four paw drive just doesn't have the traction it used to, so she's starting to rush down the ramp and the risk of a bad tumble meant we had to make some adjustments. First trial of moving the ramp down one step to flatten the angle didn't work. Bunny took a leap rather than easing down, so I reversed course and put the ramp back to it's original position to the top stair, but added about 5" of lumber underneath the bottom to provide a more gradual slope. No more Bunny hops! She can now go up and down without concern.I'm now coming up on my 22nd year in real estate, and I've made some adjustments there too. Unlike Bunny, I'd say my time in real estate has improved my vision. It's a lot easier to see the red flags potential clients are waving right in front of us, all but shouting DO NOT WORK WITH ME!! While Bunny has a hitch in her giddy up, I sometimes have a hitch in my heartbeat (intermittent afib), so recognizing high stress clients is actually good for my health.Other adjustments? The old template websites (especially the broker provided ones that you do the work customizing to build the brand SEO and are left holding the bag if you change) was traded for our own Wordpress IDX site.Blogging adjusted too, from just about anything to a niche focused approach, to now weekly Ask An Ambassador posts (while the older long tail posts still work for us). We're continually adjusting. It's a key part of Life in general. Work with the facts in evidence, and adjust as new facts replace old assumptions.If something's not working, why not?Or better yet, is it even worth doing at all?But we've always done it that way doesn't stop you from adjusting tomorrow.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: I've Got An Idea

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:05 -0700

We had a great spring-like weekend recently, and some of our kitty condo townhomes (1 bedroom, 1 bath, unlimited food and water provided) needed a little cleaning. Take the extra stuff out (including the cats) and wheel the condos out to the back deck for a good blast with the pressure washer. It doesn't take long to get them blasted off, but that leaves a lot of water in the base pan and on the steel. Not hot and sunny enough for the water to evaporate quickly, and can't say the idea of toweling everything down was appealing, so why not take an idea from the car wash? At the end of the car wash are high powered blowers to push the remaining water off. While I might not have a row of high powered blowers to push the kitty townhomes through, I do have a battery powered leaf blower that can put out a pretty good blast! A few minutes later and the kitty condos were ready to come back inside! Leaf blowers, they're not just for leaves!Our real estate life, and life in general, are filled with opportunities to borrow ideas from one area and apply them elsewhere.Helping one client might lead to the idea that there's a niche worth exploring.Reading a post about how an agent in another state does something leads to an idea to adapt to real estate in our local market.Reading about someone's challenge may spark an idea of how to solve a different challenge.I borrow ideas from my engineering life for use in real estate (and sometimes even vice versa).Paying attention and being open to idea transfer becomes part of who we are. The fundamentals are always good, but there's always room for improvement.What idea have you had lately that came from an unexpected source?Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLiz Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Secrets To Climbing The Leaderboard

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 05:00:01 -0700

Caring about points and spots on the Leaderboard range from 0 to 10,000 on a 100 point scale (translation, some care not even a little, and IMO some care WAY, WAY too much).Some will have the epiphany that it's not the points, but the results of gaining those points that matter. Blog posts making laps out in the WWW just waiting to be found by the right person who needs that agent's help. It's a matchmaker business, I'll tell you about the type of home I want to sell and the type of buyer I'm trying to work with (no, those aren't the exact words used, instead, it's local market reports, subdivision posts and the like to narrow down the public's interest to my target market.Each time I write one of those posts I get 225 points (maxing out at 10 posts a week). That's "only" 2250 points a week, plus the 7 logins at 100 each, so at 3000 points a week, I'm no threat to catch the person above me on the Leaderboard unless they do way less than me! But the trade, every one of those blog posts has the chance to turn into a client (maybe even multiple clients).On the other hand, if I'm REALLY concerned about climbing the Leaderboard, I should be maxing out my daily comments. 25 points per comment, max 20 per day for points. 500 points daily for 3500 points a week.Do the math, 3500 commenting points a week gives you more points than the 2250 blogging points a week by more than 50%. The tradeoff? Commenting CAN be indexed, but the odds of a consumer finding your comments are slim. Not zero, but slim. The positive? Commenting points give you the chance to develop relationships, learn from each other, maybe pick up a referral at some point. CAVEAT: if your comments make it apparent you're a drive by specialist, no relationships, no referrals, no learning, just take your "empty" 25 points and continue your pursuit of the next higher spot on the Leaderboard.The reality is nothing says you can't do both (blogging and commenting). Especially if you're working toward your first 500,000 point milestone and want the free Rainmaker account.There are other point collection opportunities, but blogging and commenting are the big hitters. The one "secret" way up the Leaderboard. Invite other people to join ActiveRain and encourage them to participate. You get a bonus when they join, then 10% of their points earned each month as long as you're both active in the Rain. Again, the math: there's a Rainer who has 330,000+ points in her total SOLELY from me joining from her link years and years ago. She's had to do nothing more, and still gets points.You want to pass people and climb the Leaderboard ladder? Put in the work. Do the things. And gain all the other perks of participation. Or don't.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Not Every Point Is Equal

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 05:00:05 -0800

Some people in the Rain are all about that Point life. Working to be #1 on the Leaderboard is a vital activity. Blog, comment, reblog, follow, repeat the cycle every chance and maximize the point total.Kat Palmiotti recently wrote a post about earning points in ActiveRain and the value of participation in the community. To be blunt, HOW you earn your points probably matters far more than how many you have.Points (at least after you reach 500,000 and get a free Rainmaker account) are by themselves of no value. The only value they have is what we personally put on them and what other members of ActiveRain put on them.And in that same vein, not every point gained is equal.For instance, if someone copy/pastes 25 comments on 6 year old market reports to max out their daily quota of comment points, I'd personally consider those points of no value. It's faux participation in the community.The most valuable points are those that are gained by activities that strengthen your community presence, your Internet visibility, build relationships, etc.A sincere comment left may be the start of a friendship that will last decades. Tell me that isn't worth far, far more than 25 points??An evergreen blog post that attracts buyers and sellers and leads to commission checks for years and years? I'd gladly skip the 225 points.Sharing tips in the Rain may lead to others following you, and being top of mind when there's a referral for your market. My personal opinion, being high on the Leaderboard isn't what motivates me to still participate all these years. If someone wants to pass my spot, I'll pull over into the slow lane and let them zoom right on by :) Don't get me wrong, I'm as competitive as anyone, but how I feel about points today is significantly different than my early years in the Rain. I'd rather "sniff the flowers" of fewer posts and worry less about rushing to my next handful of points.But, you do you, I'll do me. It's ActiveRain, we each choose our own path and points.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: A Spark To Start

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:03 -0800

If my lawn mower is acting up, one of the things to check is the spark plug. Small engines need fuel, air and ignition, and without a good spark plug that combustion triangle isn't going to be complete.Blogging is much the same, there are different components that influence how easily we can create a post regularly. There needs to be a willing blogger, a means to publish, and an idea. If you're reading this, we're going to assume you're willing to post, and ActiveRain provides a means, so now all we need is an idea.Where do post ideas come from?Literally, EVERYWHERE, but you don't even have to leave this site to find sparks.Now while I might not follow through on every idea I see or hear, there's no shortage of idea sparkplugs.For example, this site's Q&A section offers ideas.One particular question this weekend could have spun off multiple blog posts:1. Should you put your political views in your advertising? 2. Can religion be part of your branding?3. What does your broker expect from you when blogging and advertising?4. Everything on the Internet is on your permanent record.5. You can say anything you want, but are you ready for the consequences?6. Should you pursue the entire consumer base, or just go for a fraction (assuming you're not violating Fair Housing).And that's just from ONE question and the answers.Need more ideas?The monthly contests always offer ideas. This month Lew Corcoran and Patricia Feager offer the opportunity to recognize your fellow members of ActiveRain. Need other ideas? Just cruise the blog roll. Whether it's your favorite bloggers or someone you've just found, ideas are there. Take the idea and make it your own. You have open house, new listing, sold and market report type posts to choose from. Niche bloggers? Pick a niche, there's probably someone working it. General thoughts on the industry? Buyer tutorials, listing tips, loan info, that's here too. Literally decades of material to explore. Search for a topic. Pick your favorite bloggers. Explore the Groups.The ideas are our there, take a look and grab your keyboard.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: When The Niche Misses

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 05:00:04 -0800

Our favorite food truck started off as a regular restaurant closer to downtown Cincinnati. However being a restaurant, even one that makes fantastic food, is a competitive business with thin margins, so a big rent increase meant the end of the brick and mortar version and a pivot to the world of food trucks.Now there's a huge difference in population from the immediate burbs of Cincinnati to our town halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton. The population of Lebanon is about 21,000 and growing. There are plenty of new subdivisions coming in the adjacent areas, and a decent number of restaurants of the chain and mom and pop types both. The running joke in the local FB group is anything new being built is either another pizza place or a Mexican restaurant. There are even a few food trucks regularly around town.Most food trucks develop a niche. Locally we've got shawarma, Indian, Chicago style hot dogs, German sausages and cream puffs, BBQ and a few others that come in and out of the area. Some operate more like a regular restaurant, always in the same location with the same hours, and others are more mobile. Being able to locate where they will be and when they will be can become a bit of a challenge.The challenge with a niche is it has to check multiple boxes.1. There has to be adequate demand for the niche to survive as a business.2. You have to be able to capture the attention of your target audience.3. You have to convert those eyeballs into paying business.Our favorite food truck started off as gluten free with a fairly big menu as food trucks go. But here's the thing, gluten free may be too small of a niche for a town our size, so the owner has to make tough choices to try to make the niche work. Narrow the menu. Go mobile to where there are more people.Adjust pricing.But ultimately, the niche was too "nichey". The ingredients for gluten free cost more. The number of people willing to pay $7 for a coconut chicken taco is smaller than the number willing to pay $5. Net, fewer orders, more ingredient waste, cutting into the margins even more.So what do you do? Remove some of the stuff that makes the niche too small. The food truck is no longer gluten free. Still great food, but if you need gluten free, that food truck may no longer be the ideal place to grab dinner. The menu has been simplified, prices adjusted down, and he's still working on the best places to set up (e.g. college kids are a great market for tacos on Friday and Saturday nights!).As a real estate agent, you may decide a niche is the way to go, but the same rules that apply to food trucks apply to real estate niches.There has to be adequate sales in your target market to support a specialty.You don't want to be the 50th "pizza place" agent in a market. E.g. how many agents advertise as "luxury agents"? Now how many of them REALLY walk the talk?You have to know your niche inside and out.You have to get yourself found (blog, social media, IDX websites, etc.)And once you're found, your product better have value.Unique. Relevant. Demand. And doesn't make you miserable!You can be one of thousands, or 1 of 1.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:

Ask An Ambassador: Bits & Pieces

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 05:00:04 -0800

Last week I had a new buyer lead, or at least that's what they would have had me think. They'd found us on Zillow and would like help buying a home. The initial email was a bit general (in Ohio, nowhere specific mentioned) so my sensors were on alert. A quick follow up email and a quick response from them confirmed: SCAMMERS. How did I know so easily? Because recently Margaret Rome wrote a post about scammers using a request link for a Zoom meeting, the exact same tactic these "buyers" wanted to use. I noped out of that conversation. Time saved and risk avoided.Here's the thing about ActiveRain, even if you never write a post or leave a comment, there's still valuable information to be gained on a daily basis. Sometimes it's a little bit of something, sometimes it's a HUGE bit of something.People in this community share what works for them. You can gain perspectives on how to use your blog to attract business.How to improve your search engine results.The power of niches.Neighborhood farming.New tech and old tech.AI and how it can pertain to real estate.Hundreds of examples of how other agents market their listings.Market reports.Insight into how other regions do the same basic tasks.We have specialists in every type of real estate transaction.Tips for improving your buyer's chances in multiple offers (e.g. escalation clauses, something I heard about in the Rain long before anywhere else).Dive into the Q&A section for a variety of topics and scenarios.Bit by bit, you learn more. Your tool chest gets a little fuller. Your value to your clients grows.Trade a bit of your time, gain a bit of knowledge. It's a fair trade, and then some.Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you have a question,Bill & Liz aka BLizServing Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas The Liz Spear Team of Transaction AllianceElizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747 William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109 Ask for us by name if you visit the office! Bill Direct: 513-520-5305Liz Direct: 513-265-3004 Fax: 866-302-8418 MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Search Homes: Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA: