No, I will NOT give you back 2:16 minutes of your life.

Why is it that you are completely compelled to watch some things, even if they have no relevance to your real life?
If I had to make a list of things that are relevant to me it would probably be this:

Motherstuff Real estate Writing Friendships Marketing Social Media

Cows and their various permutations aren’t anywhere on the list, yet I couldn’t stop looking at this video. I think it has something to do with the element of the unexpected – of wondering what was coming next.

Maybe there is a parallel between this video and real estate, but I can’t come up with one right now ;)



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I spend a good part of my life pulling myself up by my bootstraps, figuratively speaking. Some rare people seem to be able to lift their own spirits, but I am not one of them. I find that I need positive people and ideas around me.

We are all on the same road. I know that I get too hung up on what is going on at my feet – the bumps and pebbles – and I don’t focus on what’s going on around me and the road ahead of me enough. Like John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.”  This is it!

Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.
Zig Ziglar

It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.
Lillian Hellman

Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.
Andre Malraux

All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.
Earl Nightingale

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.
John F. Kennedy

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.
Lily Tomlin

Think off-center.
George Carlin

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
Mark Twain

It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.
Warren Buffett

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar

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Jenny was raised in front of a cash register. Ever since she was little she has been greatly interested in Lemonade Stands, Yard Sales and Flea Markets (caps intentional).

Lately, however, standard sales are not good enough. She has been adding hooks to increase profits.

The first thing that she came up with was this:

That was pretty effective, and she turned a tidy profit with that trick down at her father’s store.

Her next scam – um, idea- coalesced after she heard somewhere about families with cursing issues setting up a “Swear Jar” in the hopes of collectively breaking a bad habit. You swear, you are fined a quarter. Why not, she wondered, apply the principle generally?

So she brought a “Swear Jar” down to her father’s store. Let me interject that she has heard me discuss lead generation and its importance on the top line of any business, and not content to wait for business to come to her, she decided to try a little lead generation of her own.

As each customer came in the store, she asked, “What’s your favorite swear?” When the victim – um, customer- replied, she whipped out the jar and fined them .25.

I would have to say that anyone who would tell an eleven year old his or her favorite swear deserved the fine levied, and she surprisingly earned a tidy bundle – close to $10 one afternoon. This definitely highlights the value of lead generation; she wouldn’t have earned that kind of ice cream money had she waited for the results to find her.

Enter social media. I posted a snippet about this on Facebook, and a few days later a letter arrived in the mail from one of my friends (Dan Cummings, @runningrealtor on twitter). Thanks, Dan!

So this is what I am walking away from this with:

A little hustle doesn’t hurt. Try new things and new approaches.
Social media increases your reach.
Don’t swear around Jenny.

Not content to rely on her parents to put her through college, Jenny is taking matters into her own hands. She is not afraid to think outside of the box. Property in video can be seen here.

I have seen status updates on Facebook floating by lately from people who want potential friends to explain exactly what they will bring to the table.

Facebook has been making it easier and easier to one-click your way into a friendship, so I do understand the need to be cautious. That said, I am not going to send you a preliminary paragraph with a friendship request describing what, if anything, I will being to your table.

This whole friendship screening issue reminds me of when I was driving across the country one summer with my children. Each child had a different theory that they applied when choosing a place to stay.

Rebecca felt that you should drive into a town, look around at what was offered, and choose based on no other research than that. She felt that it added to the adventure of the trip.

Peter was the opposite. Do they have a pool? Are they located near restaurants? Are there balconies from which you can drop water balloons? Speaking of that, how lax is hotel security?

Both approaches have their merits. But the point is this: we stayed at some great places using both methods, and we also stayed at some truly crappy places. Peter’s method was safer, and yielded fewer surprises, both pleasant and un-. Rebecca’s  method yielded more stories and introduced us to some places that we would never have visited otherwise.

I guess you can make friends with people who are already on your radar – old friends, people you went to high school with. Maybe you will create new stories with them, and you can definitely retell the old ones.

But I will have to say some of the best friends that I have made were made using Rebecca’s eclectic theory. In my opinion, choosing a place to stay and choosing friends are a risk. And you aren’t going to love all of the results, no matter what your screening methods (or lack of same) are.

But you will really love enough of them to make the risk worthwhile.

If you want to be Diane’s friend, she makes no promises that she will be interesting.

We have had a wet March. Apparently it is one of the wettest since they began recording rainfall amounts, and there has been quite a bit of flooding. On my way to pick up my daughter at school, I saw a sign “Road Closed” and below it, in typical New England fashion, the caveat “NOT KIDDING!” was spray-painted.

Around here, this is probably necessary. Everyone thinks his or her vehicle is second-string Duck Tours material. Until they find out that it isn’t.

I am reading a book right now called The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Many of my friends have already read this; I am about 2/3 of the way through it, and am pretty upset. The book discusses the providential effects of being born in certain times and places- I have clearly been derelict when planning my birth year and location. When I went to my class reunion, the committee tried to find the most famous of us. They had to settle on the one who looked the most famous. I admit that she was hot, particularly for 10 years out of high school, but I can’t remember her name for the life of me.

But luck aside- and luck plays a big part in dictating whether your school provides a decent education for you, or whether you make the cutoff for a sports team or get popped into the next group making you one of the oldest and best coordinated- cultural and familial factors play a huge part in whether you are successful. I messed up there, too, by having parents who were both authoritarian and deferent to authority figures, and who never felt in control of their life situations.

Growing up, though, I have always felt that hard work mattered more than talent (and it does appear to matter more, although talent and hard work are a deadly combination). Those were the two variables that were, in effect, the x and the y axis of success. Probably, I held to those because those are two variables that you can control. You can decide how hard you are going to work. You can do some soul-searching and hone in on what you are most talented at. But overcoming the culture that you have been steeped in from before birth… that seems like something that would be nearly impossible to do on your own.

Have I not reached my full potential? I wonder if success and potential are like comparing apples and oranges. “Success” is a cultural definition- a certain level of fame, or money, or even notoriety in some cases. It is an arbitrary point, and while fluid it isn’t abstract.

Potential is more abstract. It’s not like a vase that can hold a certain amount of water, and then the water spills out- the point of attained potential is always beyond the tips of your fingers. I think it’s safe to say that work increases potential. The harder that you try to become competent at something, the better that you prepare yourself to master that- and something else. So maybe the best you can do is too fluid to attempt to define- the container itself is elastic.

There probably comes a time when you need to stop trying to define these things and just drive into the flood. Wish me luck, and tow me out if I get stuck, would you?

This was reprinted with permission of the author Lesley Lambert- one of the best bloggers I know of.

As I did my normal perusal of Facebook today I noticed something very odd. Many of my friends had a color as their status update. Just a color…nothing else. My page was rife with: green, white: plain white, beige, black, leopard and even a champagne.
I thought it was strange, but it was a limited group at first, so I brushed it off. Fast forward a few hours and when I look at Facebook all I see is colors and I now have some Facebook messages inviting me to join. The messages said something like this: “Some fun is going on…. just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men …. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the women have a color in their status…”
WHY DIDN’T ANYONE POST PINK?
Now, the really amusing thing was that many of the color updates that I was viewing were posted by men. So much for keeping them in the dark (and good for you for being secure enough to come out with your bra wearing habits boys!).
Let me say straightaway that I am a HUGE supporter of breast cancer awareness. I had my first mammogram at age 30 because of a family history that includes both my mother and her sister. My aunt passed when she was 38 from breast cancer. I actually put my $ where my mouth is…..btw.

That being said…I am not really clear how this update business will help fuel Breast Cancer awareness. I went ahead and posted this as my Facebook status: “I am a huge supporter of breast cancer awareness, but I don’t think anyone really cares what color my bra is….or that telling you will make anyone more aware. If you are interested, just use your imagination: I am sure that will be more exciting than the reality.”

The responses came in and were plentiful. Many people were confused about what was going on and were thankful that I put it out there so they got some answers. My response to them is: Why are you too chicken to ASK? I went on Twitter and said WTF is going on with Facebook statuses being all colorful and got the answer right away.
Many people agreed with me. But one person didn’t agree, my Twitter friend Melissa Case DelGaudio (@startabuzz), and she came right out with a very valid point: “As silly as it might seem, I submit that EVERYONE is talking about this right now. So whether anyone actually cares what color anyone’s bra is, it’s got people talking about awareness, which was the whole point. :)”
My opinion on this topic isn’t swayed by her point…I still don’t see how Breast Cancer research will benefit from knowing what color my bra is (and I am still not telling you dirty lecherous beasts). I do see her point and I get that it brought this to everyone’s attention, BUT what it brought to my attention was THIS….
SOCIAL MEDIA IS FAST.
Before you get too deep into “duh Lesley”….I knew this already, you did, too, but I mean REALLY REALLY fast.
How powerful is this tool? How amazing that someone (and do we even know who started this bra nonsense anyways?) decided that today would be the day to post your bra color (tee hee hee) and suddenly WOOSH every woman (and many men-not that there is anything wrong with that!) were doing just that and within hours it was a huge topic of conversation.
What does that tell us?
Well, it tells me that my grandmother was right…clean underwear all the way. Cuz if I get in an accident I don’t want you all going viral with the fact I died in dirty underwear.
What it tells me (really this time, no REALLY I swear) is that social media is becoming the most powerful marketing tool in history.
People, fasten your seatbelts: this is the best ride ever!
oh and ps. Go donate to Breast Cancer Research.

Posted via web from heyamaretto’s posterous

Peter is 18 now. He made this in PreK- it has lost a pasta piece but I love it!

Thinking outside the box, and in some cases there’s no box at all. The funny thing is- what is startling and innovative today will be commonplace tomorrow.

Here’s one that I think less sells the home and more sells the Realtor- which isn’t a bad thing. I fell a little in love with her when she showed up with the tie or scarf around her head:

Here is a clever one by Mike LeFebvre of Hallmark Sotheby’s International in MA:

It won two prizes, and Mike said that it was directly responsible for selling the house.

This video “showcases” what would be a fairly typical REO home in our area.

It caught my attention, and I have shown hundreds of these homes. And the little piece at the end? She is telling me what she will do for me, and it has already been underscored by the fact that I have watched the entire video and feel predisposed to her.

I think this video really works because the humor is fairly cutting, but it doesn’t feel to be mocking the house. By using a lot of common real estate jargon, she keeps it very light-hearted.

Three different videos; three different homes. What I feel they have in common is that- through humor- they absolutely humanize the agent.

This was when it wasn't that bad

I came across this old post of mine while searching for something else today. It is funny how that happens; I had nearly forgotten about the ice storm that we had, and how everything was brought to a standstill around here. Several local high schools were commandeered as emergency shelters for people without water, heat and electricity. I still have trouble with one zone of my heating system because of the extended time without heat.

Reprinted from January 2009:

I live in Eastern Massachusetts, where we have been hit hard with an ice storm. The exquisite beauty that the storm brought us also tore down trees, and many places have been without power for days, with more of the same to come.

Still, at least as far as I am concerned, it could be worse. Here is my Top Six List. I tried to come up with ten, but apparently the caffeine hasn’t kicked in.

1. You have to appreciate the Pilgrims. Can you imagine landing here, looking around, and saying, “We are about the same latitude as England- how bad can winter get?”

2. You burn more calories when you are cold. I’m wearing my “skinny” jeans right now.

3. I have been able to leave my business card at all of the places I’ve showered. Note on back: “Your bathroom really looks wonderful with the updating! Have you ever thought about listing?”

4. You have no choice but to get at least 8 hours of sleep if you have no contact with anything that will keep you awake.

5. You give thanks for water, light, and the children’s ADHD medication.

6. On a serious note, emergencies bring out the best and the worst in people. You really see a lot of the best. Emergency crews have been out around the clock. All manner of people have been extending the hand of friendship to each other.

Just a note: If there are any people in need because of the storm, or if you have people who you need to be checked on in the area, please call us. We have a network of people who can help.

I was not happy without heat- we never left the  house for warmer digs. But like everything else that seems horrible at the time, it ended and you learn. And the kids still talk about it as if it was one big adventure- which, I guess, it was.

I'm really not

Lately there have been a lot of discussions about Social Media Gurus, Real Estate Mavens and other assorted Influential People. I have seen lists and lists, and while there is some agreement in who should be included, it appears there is more discord when it actually comes to the choice.
I was speaking with @joespake, and we decided that the word Guru is hugely overused. We propose that these people be called Real Estate Jedi, since they are really leading the vanguard of change in a firmly established Empire.
Now- how to choose this list of Jedi? I suggested on twitter that a small fee would weed out the riff-raff and less serious, and maybe buy me a Big Mac meal as side benefit. We had a few takers:

• @andykaufman wants his money in escrow until he sees his name in print
• @tomallen1965 is willing to extend me $2 credit to his Cort stores
• @billlublin wants to be in the top 5- will pay cash. Cash is good.
• @rerockstar thought $5 would get him the Number One spot- think again. This isn’t REO.
• @mattdollinger confused the hell out of me by talking about financing the $2 over 30 years

And @jsheehan200, @propertynut, @CatherineGrison, @agent21 and @aPlaceOnTheLake weighed in on the discussion. @mayaREguru took exception to the dismissal of the word guru, and offered me $10 by DM to be left off. They win spots (except Maya- I bought pizza with the payoff) just because they engaged me and each other. Actually, “just” isn’t a good modifier. Engagement is what it is all about- in real estate, in social media and in life.
I think the big #fail of the other lists is that no one was asked if they wanted to be included. Being included means mentoring a bunch of neophytes whose stats aren’t great, who may pull you down in the rankings of some programs, and who likely will pester you with questions like, “What does RT mean?” “I need to spend HOW much time blogging?” and “Hashtag?”
So- this is what I am suggesting. I already have the first few for my list. Who else wants to be included?
Criteria:
• You have time to help new users
• You believe that various avenues of social media are actually valuable to Real Estate and business as part of a complete marketing program
• You are online and you tweet more than 20 times a week outside of DM (that’s only 4 a day, for crying out loud, with weekends off- correct me if I am wrong, @mattdollinger)
• You don’t score more than 30 on TwitBlock (www.twitblock.org) or you have a good reason for it, Britney
• You promise to not refer to yourself as a visionary, guru, illuminati, or demigod, recognizing that Jedi will do.
Add your name below and let’s see what we come up with.
This post may be reposted.

ShadyCat

In response to Mike Mueller of areweconnected.com:

This is in regards to the post by URLesque. I have no problem with the objectification, personification or any other -ation of cats for my amusement. Cats do little enough by way of amusing anything else; why not have them contribute, at least through manipulation of their photos, to the collective happiness of the human race?

I mean…really.