Real Clues

[RealClues] #291: Future of Real Estate

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This week at www.LuxuryClues.com: If You're Not Selling Real Estate,
What Are You Selling? Will a "Bat Mobile" Be Your Next Real Estate
Car? Custom Building Series: I Need Your Help--What Are the Luxury
Buyers in Your Area Doing for Window Treatments? Jaxtr.com: A Cool
Way to Save Money on Your Phone Bill

*SNEAK PREVIEW of our new "Listen and Learn Real Estate" program "Get
the Listing Every Time Teleclass"
http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3508879

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Table of Contents:
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1. CoachingClues: A Glimpse of the Future from Real Estate Connect
2. Welcome Notes: Wow--Don't Miss This!
3. Reprise: When Markets Go Down, Short Sales Go Up
4. Create a Better Life: Stop Talking and Start Listening
5. Featured Products: Save Thousands on Coaching Services
6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
7. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: A Glimpse of the Future from Real Estate Connect
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What are the changes taking place today that will influence our
business tomorrow? Learn what the experts at Real Estate Connect
think the future of real estate will be like.

I've always admired Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.com.
Craig has a terrific sense of humor, especially when he referred to
himself at this year's Connect as "Eye candy." Craig is an amazing
model for our industry. For a man who is worth billions, he describes
himself as "just the customer service guy who answers the phone." I
have every confidence that Craig takes customer service calls. At the
heart of what our business should be, even in light of all the
technological innovation, is being of service to those who elect to
do business with us. Our business is not about just the numbers--it's
about making a difference to those who lives we touch.

Craig believes that people are basically good. He is now electing to
devote both his time and his money to creating peace in the Middle
East. In the past, we have heard more from the extremists in power.
What Web 2.0 offers is a chance for those who are "normal" to have a
louder voice than the "crazies." What does this have to do with real
estate?

Craig says that advertising today is about authenticity. It's not
about scripts or Madison Avenue advertising tactics. Instead, it's
real people telling real stories. It's time to stop apologizing for
who you are and connect with the world out there. Ultimately, it's
the personal chemistry that gets you the business--not fancy your web
site or your advertising copy.

Hugh MacLeod in his keynote echoed similar sentiments. According to
MacLeod, "The market for something to believe in is infinite."
MacLeod talked extensively about "social objects." A group of 1,000
baseballs could be identical. However, the one that Barry Bonds hits
to set a new world record has extreme value. It's not the object that
has value--it's the story. What matters are the conversations that we
have with others about the social object.

This dovetails with the work of Clotaire Rapaille, the marketing guru
for 50 of the Fortune 100 companies. Americans are not really buying
the bricks and mortar--what they're really buying is the dream of
homeownership.

Web 2.0 is about sharing our experiences. Coca Cola and Doritos
elected to have their customers compete to see who could create the
best commercial. Customers voted for their favorite. They talked to
their friends, argued for why their choice was best, and ultimately
created more buzz and word of mouth marketing than any well-executed
advertising campaign from an agency could generate.

We are already being inundated with stories and pictures from
numerous sources. A great video can give you an international
reputation in just hours. Sites such as Flickr.com allow us share our
photos. YouTube.com, HelloWorld.com, BlipTV.com, and Blinx.com are
places to share our videos. Blogs and social networks such as
Facebook.com, Linkedin.com, RealTown.com, and MySpace.com are
creating international communities of like-minded people where they
share their experiences and seek advice. Sites such as Twitter.com
allow people to share what they're doing this moment.

As computers expand from dual processors to quad processors or even
more, our ability to access full length, high quality video and even
three dimensional communications will follow. The new "maplets" from
Google allow you to populate those maps with gas stations, museums,
your listings, or just about any other information that you would
like to include. Microsoft's Virtual Earth is also moving into
providing the equivalent of 3-D imagery.

Here's the bottom line: our clients need us to provide them with a
stellar customer experience. They want us to be their trusted advisor
and a trusted source for timely information about current market
conditions. They want to interact with us in a fast, fun, and easy to
use environment. We must be credible; we must be authentic. We need
to help them manage their expectations about what they're buying.
They want their information now and they expect us to be mobile. The
business of the future belongs to those who are willing to step
forward and integrate these innovations in their business.

Perhaps this seems like a tall order for an industry that has been
slow to adapt to the web. If Craig Newmark believes Web 2.0 may be
the vehicle for peace in the Middle East, then is it too much to hope
for that our industry will embrace these changes to create an
entirely new way of conducting business in the 21st Century?

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues
provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and
your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment
to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the
business.

We are rapidly building our new on-line library at
www.ListenAndLearnRealEstate.com. The interviews so far have been
absolutely stellar. Here are just a few of the MP3 files we'll be
posting in September that you can listen to 24-7 on your computer or
download to your MP3 Player or iPod. Brandi Mahon discusses the
secrets of closing short sales as well as how she works with deaf
clients. Bloggers extraordinaire Jim Cronin and Teresa Boardman share
the secrets of how to launch a successful blog. Mike Kelly discusses
how to build your business using radio. Michael Edlen (with $110
million in closed sales in 2006) and Lester Cox (with $250 million in
closed sales in 2006) discuss the secrets of building a successful
team. I discuss 13 strategies to get your buyers off the fence in
this slowing market.

Also, because so many agents asked for it, each week I will do a
brief segment called "Positive News for Positive Agents." In this
section, you will get at least one or two nuggets each week you can
use in prospecting, whether it's in your newsletter, a postcard, or
in your blog that represent GOOD news about the real estate market.
Best of all, if you download the files, you can listen and learn when
you exercise, are waiting for an appointment, or any other time you
have access to a computer or MP3 player.

Our goal with this program is to build the most comprehensive library
of CURRENT real estate information in the real estate industry. Best
of all, you can have access to this constantly expanding library for
less than $1.00 per day. To sign up, visit
www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com.

Have a great week!

Warmly, Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com,
www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: When Markets Go Down, Short Sales Go Up
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Have you ever closed a short sale? If you've been in the business for
less than ten years, this may be an entirely new term for you. It's
also one of your worst nightmares as both a listing and selling
agent.

A "short sale" refers to a situation where the seller lacks
sufficient equity to close their sale. When this occurs, the seller
must contribute additional funds or ask the lender to reduce their
loan amount in order to close the sale. As you might imagine, earning
a full commission under these circumstances can be extraordinarily
difficult. To learn more about how to navigate short sales, click on
the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art200609_1short.html

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4. Create a Better Life: Stop Talking and Start Listening
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Listening to your clients' stories may be even more important than
you realize. This article first ran in 2005. Click on the link below
to learn six strategies to help you better serve your clients by
improving your listening skills.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20050404.html

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5. Featured Products: Save Thousands on Coaching Services
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**Agents: Coaching for only $149.00
Are you interested in hiring a coach but cannot afford the $1000 per
month some of our competitors charge? If so, RealEstateCoach.com has
a coaching program for all pocketbooks. If you are an agent and would
like to experience what coaching is like with a Master Certified
Coach, consider ordering our Get Balanced or Get Crazy audio CD
coaching program. Here's what one agent shared about the program:

"I'm having so much fun with this program. I can't write down all the
great ideas fast enough!"

Get Balanced or Get Crazy coaches exposes you to the six core
foundation pieces you would normally address during your first year
of coaching. Master Certified Coach Byron Van Arsdale coaches me
through the challenges I faced over the twenty years I was selling.
By the way, in case you think I'm a great actress when you hear
these--I'm not. We actually dug into real events. This program
consists of 6 hours of audio CD and is composed of 12 coaching
sessions. At the end of each CD, there is a series of 10 pieces of
fieldwork to help you cope with challenges you may be facing. Best of
all, it's priced at $149.00.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/getbalanced.html

**Managers--Save thousands on coaching services
Coach Your Real Estate Agents Like Crazy contains the entire Get
Balanced or Get Crazy audio CD set that shows you how to integrate
coaching into your management style. Also included is an additional
five hours demonstrating how each of six core coaching principles can
be applied from your point of view as both manager and coach. To
learn more, click on the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/coach.html

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6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business?
Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your
dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and
we'll help find the right coach for you.

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7. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please
e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to
subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2007, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com,
LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or
distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full
information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is
attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners,
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com,
www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and
www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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