The woman who owned the parked car came out about 20 minutes after the accident to find that her car was probably totaled.  She threw her hands up in the air and announced that this was just one more thing that had gone wrong with her life that week, starting with losing her job and her unemployment check being delayed.  She had that desperate look of someone life has just hit too hard. 

I thought about it though.  Sheâs lost her job.  Her unemployment check is delayed.  Her car gets totaled.  I see the final one as a gift.  You see, we live within walking distance of a subway stop and two blocks from the bus route.  She has easy access to alternate transportation.  With this one fell swoop she has been freed up from the need to pay for car insurance and gas.  It was an older model car, so itâs likely owned it outright.  Sheâll get the settlement check within a week â which is probably faster than her unemployment insurance could show up.  Itâs not one more thing that went wrong, itâs the universe finding a way to smooth the way for her. 

But thatâs my perspective.  And you could say that my perspective is skewed given the fact that they missed my car by inches and it wasnât my car that was totaled.  But I will tell you that when I was going on my walkabout a few years ago someone broke into my car and stole my laptop computer.  Thankfully, I had just backed it up, so I didnât lose much data.  And it was an old computer that had been given to me by a friend who had upgraded.  It was worth about $50.  But my insurance covers replacement value, so they gave me $1700 for the computer.  I used the money to pay off my car loan and to fund my trip.  It was truly a gift from the universe.  And in the moment it happened, I knew that it was a gift.  I wasnât sure how I knew, but I did. 

The key was for me not to be attached to how things were.  If I had replaced the laptop simply because I was used to having one, I would have been much worse off.  But because I was willing to let go of having it, other avenues were available to me.  If the woman across the street from me is open enough to accept not having a car for a while, sheâll have some money to tide her over until her unemployment check arrives.  If she is attached to getting back to her comfort zone, then sheâll probably have more expenses to deal with since replacing a car is almost always more expensive than the settlement money they provide. 

Where are you attached?  What is your comfort zone?  Are things breaking down around you?  Before you work too hard to replace what gets broken, think about whether you really need it.  Perhaps you could simplify your life instead.  For everything new you want to bring youâre your life, you will likely have to let go of something else to make room for it.  Sometimes thatâs an easy sacrifice, other times itâs more difficult â but we usually have a choice.

Remember, everything around us happens because it happens.  It is a function of the energy we put out.  Our perspectives are what make things seem âgoodâ and âbadâ.  What perspective do you choose today?

If you are interested in attending, let me know ASAP.  We'd have to find a location in or around the Boston area (I have a few leads I could explore if people were interested).  It's a full day program for $99.00 per person, maximum of 12-15 people depending on the room size. 

If we can tell her that we have enough people, she'll book the flight from Cincinatti.  Otherwise, we'll be out of luck until March when she can make it again.  Call me ASAP if you're interested.  Or make a comment to this post with your contact info.

I got up and decided that I wanted to do something fun for my birthday, so I went online to do a google search to find something cool to do.  In the process, I opened my email and found - to my great joy - an email box full of birthday wishes from people I knew! 

Now I know that almost all of these people had automatic reminders set to to tell them it was my birthday.  And I know that many of the cards I received were stock cards.  But the fact remains that they all put effort into creating a card for me.  They picked which card to send, they personalized the message.  It IS the thought that counts. 

So this morning, I got an email box full of love and good intentions.  Happy Birthday To ME!  Happy Birthday To Me!  Happy Birthday to Me!  Happy Birthday to Me!

Woot!  Whee!

After apologizing for the miscommunication, offering a refund, and promising to fix the language on the partner site, I had solved his problem, but I had not managed to salvage the relationship.  This was his first experience of my company and it was a negative one.  Simply refunding his money was not going to be enough to ever win his business, so I went one step further.  I gave him a free copy of a product that would actually fit his needs.  I took the opportunity of his phone call to give me the chance to "Wow" him with my response, and now I have the chance that I will be able to do business in the future with him.

The fact is that none of us want a client to be unhappy.  Those of you who, like me, define yourselves by your level of integrity, know that having that integrity questioned is never a pleasant experience.  But when confronted with an angry client, it is easy to get defensive.  You will never be able to effectively "Wow" a client when you are feeling defensive because to truly "Wow" them, you have to think in broad, expansive terms from a place of truly wanting to deal with them again.  When we're defensive, we go into survival mode which is a short-term thinking process designed over millenia to simply get us out of a dangerous situation and away to safety.  The last thing we want in the moment of being defensive is to ever speak to that person again. 

So how do you avoid getting defensive?  The first thing is to de-personalize.  I had a client telling me that my product was terrible.  I wrote that product.  I could have taken that comment very personally.  And yet, I realized that it wasn't the quality of the product that he had an issue with per se, but the fact that it was not the advanced level product he had expected.  From the perspective of looking for an advanced level product and getting one that was a starter product, anyone would be extremely disappointed no matter how good the starter product was.  There was absolutely no way that my intention for that product would have ever met his expectations because I didn't design it to.

Understanding this fact, I could take it out of the context of being about me putting out a bad product (which I know it isn't based on many other happy clients who had the proper expectations set), and put it into the context of someone being upset that his expectations had not been met.  That no longer made it about me and now I could get into the idea of what I could do to help him feel better about his interaction with my company.

The first thing I needed to do was to apologize and take responsibility for the issue.  If you place blame, you can't ever hope to maintain your integrity - or to bring people's anger levels down.  And a simple "I'm sorry, it's entirely my fault" goes a long way.  I had not checked the copy, therefore it was my fault it was wrong.  Period.

Second, I needed to make it right.  The copy had been misleading, so I refunded him his money. 

Third, I needed to help him see my perspective so that he could see that I wasn't trying to pull one over on him but was actually putting out a useful product for the right consumer.  I pointed out that most people who purchase that product are start-ups who don't already have something in place.  He agreed that the product would be useful for that purpose. 

Fourth, I needed to "Wow" him.  I provided him with a product that would be useful to him as my apology for him having had such a bad experience. 

Fifth, I needed to check in with him to see if he was OK now.  I told him that I really wanted to make things right and that I hoped we could do business together in the future.  He agreed to review the product I had sent him and let me know what he thought of it.  Given his level of discontent at the beginning of the call, this was a huge positive step forward.  I hope that after reviewing what I know to be an excellent product for his needs, that I may get the opportunity to work with him again. 

Remember, simply solving the problem is usually not enough.  There has to be some compensation to the consumer for the trouble of having had to make the phone call or having been upset.  The more upset the person has become, the more above and beyond you need to go in order to make them happy. 

For someone with a small problem that you can resolve instantly, a quick fix is usually sufficient, especially when combined with a sincere apology for the inconvenience.  For larger issues, a larger apology is required.  And really, it's all about the apology.  You must say "I'm sorry" and you have to really mean it.

I'm finding that I am no longer defining myself as a couch potato.  I'm defining myself differently.  Now I'm a city person.  This means that I walk places.  This means that I go to coffee houses in the evening just to hang out and see who's there.  This means that I stay out late and go to clubs and sing karaoke a couple times a month.  I am literally changing my definition of who I am as a function of having moved to the city. 

I even hired a personal trainer the other day.  Who knows?  Perhaps you'll be seeing a lot less of me soon.  I know I'll be seeing a lot more of the world.

Having just been through this experience, I really feel for those people who are shut-ins.  Consider who you know who doesn't get out much.  Drop by for a visit this week.  They will really appreciate it.  I know that my friends who stopped by to see me during the last week were the brightest moments in my days.  Everyone needs a personal connection.  Share yours today.

The interesting thing here was that once I got past the pain and began to be aware of my surroundings again, I realized that there were a bunch of people surrounding me.  Even after the EMS and ambulance arrived, there were bystanders asking me if I needed anything.  Since completing the hospital visit where I discovered that I had partially torn my achilles tendon (nothing that a few days of bedrest won't cure - but it hurts like the dickens), I asked a friend to pick me up from the hospital and help me get my car out of the parking lot in Arlington before it got towed.  We managed to get me home and up the stairs to my second floor residence where I have not budged from since.

Being housebound has had some interesting implications for me.  I've been forced to sit still for a while.  Even the act of making phone calls has become a challenge as my phone is in a different place than my computer.  This has forced me to sit still long enough that I've started looking at my life and my business and realizing that I'm not doing as much of what I enjoy as I would like to be doing. 

What do I enjoy?  I enjoy people!  I love talking to entrepreneurs like you who want to take their businesses to the next level.  I love helping you identify what patterns are getting in your way, what skills you have that can help you move forward and providing you with tools to get you there.  That's what really gets me jazzed is personal interaction. 

That's why I'm going to be making a few changes in the way I do things.  Don't worry - I'll still offer the great products and online training that I've always done, but I'm going to add in some more stuff that gets me into personal contact with you.  I'm in conversation right now with a company that will be marketing some webinars for me.  That's right - for all of you who have been waiting for me to come to your area, I'll be doing it via the web within the month.  I'm also going to be offering telephone coaching - both in a group setting and one-on-one. 

I want to talk to you!  I want to get to know you.  All of the things I teach about are things that I loved doing with my clients and I want to do the with you too. 

So keep your eyes open in the coming weeks for the announcements as I roll out these new items.  The one-on-one coaching is available now if you're interested.  I'll even give you one session for free to see how you like it.  Just click here to find out more...

Thanks for listening - I look forward to talking to you directly soon!

It's important to mark major life transitions.  It helps us to mentally and emotionally step into the new space and out of the old.  It makes things feel more real. 

Your clients are going through a transition of some sort in their lives - even if it's just moving.  How can you help them mark that transition?  What can you do to help them note the passage from one era into another?

One-On-One Coaching
Also wanted to tell you all that I'm beginning to do some personal coaching - one-on-one with people.  If you want to hear an example of the type of coaching I do, listen to this week's podcast.  I do some coaching for an agent on that call.  If you're interested in coaching, I'm doing a special for my subscribers and readers only - a free session to try it out.  You have to email me though.  Send in an email with the subject line of "Sign me up for free coaching!" to info@spartasuccess.com.  Or leave a comment on the blog here.

Upcoming Events!
Tomorrow I'll be in Brockton, MA at the Holiday Inn at 195 Westgate Drive starting at 10:30am.  I'll be teaching "Turning Ring Ring into Cha Ching!" How to convert buyer calls into clients!  This event is free.

Sept 20th, I'll be in Chelmsford, MA teaching "Don't Miss 67% of Your Market - How to Market to Other Realtors".  This is a half day event starting at 9:30am.  You can find out more by clicking here.

Back From Podcamp
I went to Podcamp this weekend.  It's a convention for podcasters to meet up and learn from one another.  I had a great time and learned a lot.  But mostly, I got to network with and meet other podcasters.  I also met Suzanne Falter-Barnes who was in town to speak about building a brand.  Don't tell anyone, but she has promised to come onto my podcast sometime in the near future, so keep your ears open!

That's it for now.  I've been buried under boxes, so I needed to catch you up all at once.  Hope your days have been going well and I'll speak with you soon!

Do you like the training youâre hearing online?  Check out the audio products Kelle has for sale in her store.  Or, sign up for her online training classes!

Want some help on how to improve YOUR business?  Join our experienced agent group coaching call

Want to know more about the topic of this podcast?  Check out Kelleâs book The Consultative Real Estate Agent. 

Visit Kelleâs Website:  www.spartasuccess.com

Try Coaching For FREE!

On this week's podcast Kelle coaches an agent through a sticky situation. If you think you might like to get private coaching with Kelle, we invite you to sign up for a FREE initial coaching session.
Kelle is expanding her offerings and is now making a free initial consultation available to her podcast subscribers.

To sign up for your coaching session, drop us an email at info@spartasuccess.com with the subject line "Free coaching session".

For more information about this topic, see Kelle's book The Consultative Real Estate Agent

Want some help on how to improve YOUR business?  Join our experienced agent group coaching call

As part of my everyday practice, I take some time to notice the patterns in my life.  Recently, everyone around me has been doing a great deal of personal growth work.  This is not terribly surprising to me since I have been doing a great deal of that as well.  I'm only about halfway through the process that I started in January to open up and be more available emotionally and authentically to the people around me.  It has been a scary thing to do.  I've been convinced that people wouldn't like me if I told them the whole truth about who I am, and yet that has not been the case.  The more I share with people, the more they share with me and the more loved and appreciated I have felt.  And yet the process has been a hard one. 

Anytime you deal with core, foundational issues, it tends to throw you off balance and make you re-evaluate your life.  As part of this evaluation, I decided to move.  This has been a stressful process and one that is not yet complete.  Like most of the changes I'm working on making, it is taking longer than I had hoped. (I guess I shouldn't be surprised with 6 groundhogs/woodchucks living in my back yard - they are signs that things will take longer than expected). 

Recently, the woman who was running my women's group last month decided that we had all done a lot of work already and, despite the fact that we weren't done yet, she thought it was time to appreciate ourselves and each other for what had been accomplished already.  We all thought that this was a great idea.  So she decorated a high-backed chair with beautiful fabrics and put a pillow on the floor at our feet - making us royalty for the moment.  We each took a turn in the chair.  In that chair we received praise and appreciation from the other members of the group and from ourselves.  There were things that were said to me that I never realized people appreicated about me - things that I thought were often challenges in my life.  And I got to see from other people's eyes how much I had accomplished.  I also got to find more love in my heart for all of the women in the group because I went looking for things to appreciate about them.

So here's your thought for the day.  How much have you accomplished in the last month?  I bet it's a lot.  Before you go to bed tonight, look in the mirror and say out loud all of the things you've accomplished (don't forget that taking much-needed time off is accomplishing the goal of being loving towards yourself).  Tell the person in the mirror what you appreciate about them - what aspects of their personality most impress you.   And then, in the morning when you're feeling well rested and emotionally fed, start practicing this with your friends and family members.  Remind your spouse why you love them.  Tell your kids all the things they do right every day.  Tell your friends what you appreciate about them.  Tell your parents how grateful you are for the life they gave you. 

Opening our hearts is a scary and challenging process.  It takes practice.  But it is one of the best things we can do in care of ourselves.Share your heart with someone today, as I have shared mine with you.  Thanks for reading.  I appreciate all the support you all give me.

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The World's Most Unusual Therapist

by Dr. Joe Vitale
www.mrfire.com

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane?

It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more.

I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does. The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility.

His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist. He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely," he told me. "Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed."

I was in awe.

"Not only that," he went on, "but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed."

This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: "What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?"

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said.

I didn't understand.

Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life - simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life.

This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy--anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho 'oponopono means loving yourself. If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone--even a mentally ill criminal--you do it by healing you.

I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again," he explained.

That's it?

That's it.

Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, your improve your world. Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message. This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, "I'm sorry" and "I love you," I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying "I love you," I somehow healed within me what was creating him.

I later attended a ho 'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive. He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.

"What about the books that are already sold and out there?" I asked.

"They aren't out there," he explained, once again blowing my mind with his mystic wisdom. "They are still in you."

In short, there is no out there.

It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the depth it deserves. Suffice it to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you.

"When you look, do it with love."

This article is from the forthcoming book "Zero Limits" by Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Len

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Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here. His latest title is "The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) From the Inside Out." Register for his monthly complimentary ezine at http://www.mrfire.com/

His Executive Mentoring Program is described at
http://www.joe-vitale-executive-mentoring.com/info.html
 
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Copyright  2005 by Joe Vitale. All rights reserved.
You may forward this in its entirety to anyone you wish.

Hypnotic Marketing Inc.
121 Canyon Gap Rd
Wimberley TX 78676

When dealing with First Time Buyers, fear is the catchword of the day.  They are afraid of everything â mostly because they donât know what to expect.  The key is to give them a sense of control.  And to instill in them a sense of confidence in you and your abilities so that when they donât know whatâs going on, they will have faith that you do. 

Want to know more about the topic of this podcast?  Check out Kelleâs book The Consultative Real Estate Agent.  Hereâs a recent quote from a reader of Kelleâs blog about her book.

Kelle-

I just wanted to drop you a line to say your book is awesome!! How could you have only sold 1600 copies? Every agent should have one!

I do not know how ANY agent, regardless of their experience, could not find your book anything but extremely insightful, and sometimes downright inspirational!

Your candid way of writing, combined with your "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" ideas make it an indispensible part of my reference collection.

As an agent of just over 2 years and some moderate success, your ideas have hit me at the right time, and have changed the way I think about client interaction, all for the better. Keep up the great work!!

posted by: Mike on Tue, 8/22 09:21 PM EDT

When I started this search, I wasn't sure what I wanted, and that has caused much of the challenges along the way.  I knew that I didn't want to live alone.  I am a social person and I will tend to hibernate and be miserable or never be home and be miserable if I live alone.  I have lived in a home with many roommates in the past and really enjoyed the sense of community that came with that environment.  But I may be getting a bit too old to deal with the inevitable drama that comes from living on top of others.  So I have finally weeded it down to the idea that I want no less than one and no more than 3 roommates.  It took me several weeks of looking at places and feeling through the options to come to this decision and that has taken a lot out of me energetically.  Now that I know what I want, I can focus more clearly on accomplishing the goal.

This is going to be true for your buyers as well.  Often times buyers want to look at too many towns (more than three) or too many options (single family, condo, multifamily, etc.).  When you're not comparing apples to apples you end up driving yourself crazy trying to make a decision.  Encourage your buyers instead to choose one set of criteria and look at all the options in that set before moving on to another set.  Have them pic their top choice first and then work down the list.  It will become apparent in the process if this set of criteria will be a good match or not.  That way, if you're going to eliminate something, you're eliminating an entire set, rather than a single property. 

Remember, buyers can't make a decision when there are too many options.  You have to narrow the options before the brain can wrap itself around any one solution.

Now I'm off to go and look at other places that would fit my 1-3 roommate scenario.  Toodles!

It's funny how the markers in our lives affect us.  I am humbled at the thought that over 3500 people have read my book since October.  I am happy that I could be of service in this way.  Thanks.

â Be able to listen â to the text and the subtext of the conversation
â Let go of judgment
â Get out of your head and into theirs (30 Days TV show âIn God We Trustâ)
â Empathize but NOT sympathize (feel for them, but donât own their feelings)
â Have tools at your disposal to help them get through their particular change of life issues
â You canât be attached to being ârightâ â get out of your ego
â Be in integrity with change â you have to have done your work before people will respect you enough to do   theirs with you

When you expand your ability to understand people and to engage them on a deeper level, you expand your ability to do business.  When you share more about who you are with your clients, you make it easier to refer people you will work well with.  What do you need to learn to be a better person and a better coach for your clients?

The Consultative Real Estate Agent

        What services do you need?

        What will they cost?

        Do you want to bring on other agents?

        Do you have the management skills and reputation to bring in other agents?

        What will your company brand and value proposition be â both for clients and for agents?

        Will you have a physical location or be a virtual office?

        What is your marketplace and where will you be located?

        Will your form partnerships with attorneys, mortgage officers, and insurance agents?  If so, will you share your physical location with them?

We also interview Nina Udwin of Rosebank Realty about her experience opening her office this year.

Show Links

Steps to Success - New Agent Coaching Program

Mastering the Art of Working With Buyers â Worcester, MA

 Are you working with buyers more often these days?  Are they driving you crazy?

Do they want to see every house on the market and then they still won't buy?

Learn How to Take Control Of Your Buyers And Get Them To Make a Decision!

 In this full-day class you'll learn how to:

• Create instant rapport with ad callers and open house attendees
• Separate the lookers from the buyers
• Convert prospects from ad calls and open houses into buyer clients
• Give a killer buyer presentation that gets them to sign every time!
• Why buyers are NOT liars
• Get buyers to buy quickly - without seeing 100 houses

Kelle Sparta, author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent, shares her insights on how to get buyers to commit to you and to buy a house - in any market. Kelle spent over 6 years in a down market working with buyers for 70% of her transactions.

Here's What People Had To Say About Kelle's Events:

"Well done. Gave a very different perspective/tactic on how to handle call-ins. Many would not think on how to handle callers in that manner." - Ken Phillips, Attorney and Broker, KBP Law, Natick, MA

"Very Interesting Information. I really learned things and brought back others." - Helen Johnson, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Natick, MA

"Great Presentation." - Kathy Lewis, GRI, CRS, Realty Consultants, Needham, MA

"Extremely Worthwhile Presentation - Very Informative" - Kathy Iovanni, William Raveis, Wellesley, MA

Who Should Attend

These are the thoughts that have been running through my head of late.  I have been looking at how I can bring me more clearly into my business.  how I can leave behind the "business person" personality and just show up as myself.  Is it possible that I could find a group of clients who would truly appreciate me for who I am - all of me?

I believe that there is.  And in an effort to bring myself more clearly into focus for you, my readers, I have added a page to my website that gives a little more information about me.  I call it my "Random Bits of Kelle Trivia for the Terminally Curious" page.  In it, I share lots of things about myself, from my love of music and singing, to the fun and exciting things I have done in my life.  All in an effort to tell you more about who you are choosing to do business with.

As part of this journey for me (being the teacher that I am), I have also created a new program called "Grow Yourself to Grow Your Business".  This program is a group learning and coaching program.  I'm also expanding my business to work with all types of small business owners, not just real estate agents.  I'm excited about this new process.  I think I've finally found the piece that I have been missing in getting into relationship with all of you.  I'd love to share the concept with you. 

I'm going to be looking for ways to do just that.  I may offer an MP3 files of a coaching class.  I may do a free teleseminar introduction.  I may do something else.  Who knows?  I'm in process on it.  I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

In the meantime, think about this.  What can YOU do in your business to bring your personality more clearly into what you do?  How can you draw people to you who will truly like you and appreciate what you have to offer?  Are you willing to be really seen by your clients for who you are?  How would your life be different if you could just show up as you - all the time?  Think about it.  And then tell me your thoughts.  I'd love to hear them.

Weâll also be talking with Mark Rosenquist of SPI Data Solutions, a lead generation company, about the VERY INEXPENSIVE services that his company provides.

Youâre a new real estate agent, just getting started in the business.  What can you do in the first 60 days to maximize your chances of success in this very competitive and difficult business?  Kelle Sparta, author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent, speaks with Joeann Fossland, Real Estate Coach Extraordinaire, about this very subject.  The two discuss their top 10 lists for what makes new agents successful. 

This week weâll also list out some Confidence Builders.  How you get your confidence level up when you know you have no idea what youâre doing.

This program was so engaging, that it went really long, so weâve split it into two parts.  This week we build on the lessons learned last week.  Tune in and get started on your personal road to success.

Joeann Fossland

Real Estate Coach

Relaxed Real Estate for Magnificent Agents

www.joeann.com

My mission is for my clients to experience JOY, EXHILARATION and ABUNDANCE in their lives and careers.

Podcasting for Fun and Profit
by Kelle Sparta

Are you looking for a low-cost way to increase your sales over the long run? Consider podcasting.

This week weâll also discuss The Fear Factor â how it gets in the way of many new agents, and how to get around it.

This program was so engaging, that it went really long, so weâve split it into two parts.  Listen this week and put some of these items into practice.  Then come back next week and do some more!

Joeann Fossland
Real Estate CoachRelaxed Real Estate for Magnificent Agents
www.joeann.com
My mission is for my clients to experience JOY, EXHILARATION and ABUNDANCE in their lives and careers.

The one I was fascinated with today was my Geomap Overlay.  It tells me where the people who visit my site are from.  There's this little map of the world and there are dots on it to represent the visitors. 

Well, the US is covered in dots which is something that makes me happy, but does not surprise me.  What got me were the number of dots from around the world  So I decided that this blog would be my chance to give a shout out to the people from other countries who have come to visit my site.  Here's a list of the cities for the last week.  I've listed the countries where I knew them, but the map doesn't tell me, so I apologize if I miss some.  :-)

Putatan
Kampong Seri Medan
Seoul, Korea (I've actually been there once)
New Dehli, India
Lahore, India
Muscat
Sandton, South Africa
Renos, South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Istanbul
Kingston (islands off the American coast - can't tell which ones - map is very small)

I was excited to see this list.  I thought you guys might be interested to see it too. 

Have a great day!

It's true that I am someone who has always helped people through change.  It's what I do - it's who I am.  But my coach is right, I have always approached it from a more aggressive perspective.  A midwife doesn't push.  She will occasionally encourage the mother to do so, but she herself is simply a coach to get the mother through the process and a safety to take care of emergencies if things go seriously awry.

But how does one step into this energy?  How do I get... softer?  I've been sitting with this concept for a couple of weeks now.  It has followed me on my journies into my personal growth work.  It has haunted me in my day-to-day activities.  I have been practicing stepping into this energy; and, as much as I can feel that it is more truly who I am, it is also alien to my comfort zone.  But I am practicing.

I have also been looking at the ways in which I have not been trusting in the universe around me.  Perhaps you know this, perhaps you don't, but a few years ago I went on a spiritual pilgrimage.  I gave away everything I owned and stepped out in faith that I would be provided for.  I spent six months on the road staying with the people I was drawn to meet along the way.  I have never felt so safe in my life. 

A few years before that, I got divorced.  After years of agonizing over the decision, I had finally made it and was waking up every morning in such gratitude for my life that I walked around every day saying "I love my life!"  I have never felt more in the flow of things than I did then.

I remember the feelings I had when I was in those spaces years ago.  I know that it is time to take those spaces I remember and marry them with the kindler, gentler me.  I am sitting here trying to figure out how to accomplish that task within myself, but also how to bring that shift into my business.  Now that I have finally stepped into that moment where I am truly sharing myself and what I have to offer to my clients, how do I share this change with you as well?

My best guess is to share my journey.  To let you in behind the curtain.  To tell you what is going on with me.  So, here's the plan.  I will be changing some of the ways I do business.  You will see this reflected in my marketing, my website, and my writings.  I have no idea what form this will take.  I haven't even figured out how to be this person I am trying to become.  But I am working on it.  And as I discover her, so will you. 

Thanks for taking the journey with me.

Whatever the reason, it's always a good idea to take stock.  Ask yourself the following questions and see where the answers take you.

1) Am I doing what makes me happy every day?

2) Do I love my work?

3) Is my home something I look forward to leaving work for?

4) Are the relationships in my life feeding me?

5) Am I the person I would like to be?

6) Do I treat myself as well as I treat my clients and family?

7) Am I where I want to be financially?

8) What am I putting up with that I don't have to?

9) If my life were perfect, how would that be different from the way it is today?

10) What one action can I take today to improve my life?

These questions will help you determine how you are doing in creating a life and a business you can love.

Are you where you want to be?  Most of us aren't.  Richard Bach in his book Illusions (one of my favorites) has a saying - and I'm paraphrasing here:

"If you want to know if you're done with your work try this simple test.  If you're still here, you're not done."

If you'd like to make sure that you stay on track in getting closer to where you want to be in your life, then consider joining us for our weekly coaching calls. 

Here's the link for more information.

 Developing Great Client Relationships

This past year I took a class from The Nurture Institute on how to cultivate clients more effectively. This is system works well with any client, but particularly well with the affluent. Today, I want to talk to you about this form of marketing in regards to working with your past clients.

The concept is simple really. Don't ask for anything until you've made multiple deposits into your client's emotional bank account. What is a deposit? It could be many things. It is something that adds value to your client's life by providing them with something of value.

Deposit Ideas:

• Information about the tax law changes

   

• A copy of their HUD1 Settlement Statement for last year's purchase

   

• An article on how to increase their home's resale value

   

• Tips on house maintenance

   

• Coupons for discounts from local businesses

   

• Personal notes or cards from you

   

• Client Love Letters telling them why you love them as a client

   

• A copy of the picture you took of them at closing

   

• A gift certificate to a restaurant

   

• And anything else you can think of that your clients might find of value

   

The important thing to remember with these little deposits...

Read the rest at

http://www.principalbrokeronline.com/articles_new.asp?art_id=324&section_id=3

I'm all fired up and ready to start the coaching programs coming up soon.  You won't want to miss these.  We're going to be doing a lot of great work - both on your business and on you to get you ready for that next level in your development.  It's going to blow your socks off. 

Don't know what I'm talking about?  Here's the links:

Steps to Success - New Agent Coaching Program (Starts August 9th)

Experienced Agent Coaching Program - (Starts July 17th)

The public is beginning to take notice...  If you're using our system or subscribe to the values I've described in my book, it may serve you to advertise this fact in your marketing materials.

I'll be back for a couple of days and then I'm heading out for July 4th weekend for another break at another event camping with some friends and just relaxing. 

In both spaces, there is no cell service.  I highly recommend this type of vacation since I (like most of you) am tempted to check in if I actually have the ability to do so. 

Perhaps next year, I'll try a cruise....

Have a great week!  (I know I will.)  :-)

The goal here is not to lie to people, the goal is to program your brain to look at the positives.  There has to be something going well in your business.  Perhaps you learned something new.  Perhaps you met someone really cool.  Maybe business has been so slow that you finally got your desk organized.  The goal is to look at the good things in your business and share those with the people who ask you about your business. 

This accomplishes two tasks at once.  First:  it lets the person you are talking to know that you are a positive person and you have a good attitude.  And second (and more importantly) is that it programs your subconscious mind to look at the positives.  Because what we focus on is what we create, we want to speak what we want, not what we don't have. 

So the next time someone asks you how business is (and maybe you're a little slow and want more business), don't say, "Well business has been slow. I could really use some people to work with, do you know anyone looking?"  Instead, say something like: "You know I love this business!  Sometimes it's crazy where you run like mad and you're busy all the time, and other times it slows down some and you get a chance to breathe and catch up.  I've finally gotten my desk cleared off from the last blast of business and now I'm ready to get back out and start running again.  Who do you know who's looking to buy or sell?  I'd love to help them!"

I know you can see the difference in the energy between those two comments.  And the person you are talking to will see it too.

Now get out there and sell something!

 Here's the Original Article----------------------

Fake It Until You Make It I know we've all heard that phrase before, but it's true. You have to believe you are successful before the outside world will believe it. You have to put the energy out into the world.

When someone asks you how business is going, answer "Fabulous! Awesome! Tremendous!" even if it's not. Especially if it's not. What we focus on is what we create. If you don't have any leads, then the worst thing you can do is to focus on that. Instead, focus on getting more. If you want to ask for help (and I encourage you to ask), then say "Business is awesome, but there's always room for more! Who do you know who's looking to buy or sell?" It's important not to put forth an image that you don't want to be true - to others or to yourself.

Consider your self-talk for a moment. How do you talk to yourself? Are you kind and considerate? Do you give yourself credit for big wins? Do you encourage yourself and tell yourself how much you believe in you? No?

The fact is that most of us treat ourselves terribly. We focus only on what we did wrong, what we haven't accomplished, and how bad we are as people. Honestly, if someone else in our lives treated us as badly as we treated ourselves, we'd never speak to them again.

When you catch yourself saying something bad - in your head or out loud - cancel it and immediately replace it with a positive thought or comment. So it would go something like this.

"I don't know what I'm going to do - the rent is due next week and I've got nothing on the horizon. I'm such a loser!" The minute you catch yourself going down this road simply say "Cancel that - I take that back. I'm most certainly not a loser. In fact, I'm a winner. Look at all the things I've done well in the last few months. Look at all of the things I've won at." And list all of your accomplishments.

It's important not to beat yourself up for being negative. That only perpetuates the cycle. Acknowledge that you did it, change it, and then give yourself credit for making progress in changing a very ingrained habit.

Want some help in the fake it until you make it category? Ask a friend whom you trust to participate with you. My friend Robyn is my cheerleader. She and I have shared our goals with one another and we constantly speak those goals to the other person as though they had already happened. It feels amazing to have someone else tell you how successful you are. Try it sometime.

I've teamed up with the guys from SalesRoundup.com to create a new show.  We'll be part of an up-and-coming group of sales-related podcasts on the PodSalesNetwork. 

We're transitioning the format of the show and changing the name.  So, starting with the next podcast, we'll be called The Agent Roundup Podcast.    We're expanding the show to be 30-40 minutes long.  We're going to be doing interviews, new segments, and exploring new ideas.

We're also going to specialize a little more.  Each week will have a different theme. 

Week 1 each month will focus on New Agents and the issues specific to them

Week 2 each month will focus on Experienced Agents, skills building, advanced techniques, and business-building.

Week 3 each month is dedicated to helping people who run real estate offices grow their businesses.  So we'll be talking about issues of brokerage, management, recruiting and training.

Week 4 will be a Vendor Showcase.  Since we have so many vendors out in the industry with so many products to sell (there were over 500 vendors at the last NAR Convention), we thought we could bring you a selection each month that told you about the vendors that are out there and what they do.

Bonus Weeks!  Since there are two months every year with an extra week in them, we'll be doing a special show on those weeks.  Perhaps I'll open up a controversial topic for debate.  Or maybe we'll brainstorm how to create more pillars of income in your business.  Or maybe we'll do a segment on the current marketplace and what to expect from it.  You never know!  You'll just have to tune in to find out.

Since we are changing the name of the podcast, you'll have to subscribe to a new feed to get it.  We'll give you the details about how to do this as soon as we've got the feed established.  (In fact, Joe has promised me a tutorial for the website with pictures and everything explaining how to subscribe.)

In the meantime, you won't hear from me for a couple of weeks while we get the new show recorded and the format set.  But when we come back, you're going to love it.  We've already got some great content for you.  Can't wait for you to hear it. 

Talk to you soon!

Regarding FSBOs

I think the challenge is not in the offering of options or in who owns what company.  The challenge is in the comments above where people referenced the "useless"ness of real estate agents.  Everyone seems to think that selling property is easy.  The consumers believe it, and even many of the new agents who get into the business believe it.  That's why there's such a high turnover in our new agents.  No one, but those of us who have done this for years, knows how hard it is. 

Every year there are more laws put in place, more complications created, and more challenges to work through.  Especially now, as prices start to drop, people come after the agent's commission.  The problem is, that the agent has already taken a pay cut when prices went down.  They get paid as a percentage of the purchase price.  Plus, they're selling fewer houses, so they're getting it both ways.  And yet sellers still think that asking the agent to cut the commission further is the answer.  Agents work harder in difficult marketplaces.  They should be paid more, not less.  That's how it would work in other industries that are based on per-hour basis.

But the problem is that the consumer doesn't see the value.  They have no idea how much work goes in behind the scenes.  And that's the agent's fault for trying to make it a seemless process.  The better they are at their job, the less the clients appreciate how much work there was to do.  Agents need to let the client in on how much they are doing for them. 

There are many details that have to be handled in the standard transaction. 

1)  Pricing the home properly (a place where many FSBOs fail miserably)
2)  Writing good ad copy (which is an art)
3)  Posting information on the MLS that makes the house look attractive to the right buyers (another art)
4)  Creating and maintaining good relationships with other agents so that they are inclined to show your houses first
5)  Having great communications and problem-solving skills for dealing with issues that may arise in negotiations, inspections, loan approval, appraisal, etc.
6)  Being able to soothe bruised egos and smooth over ruffled feathers when emotions run high and risk destroying the sale for no good reason
7)  Having relationships with good contractors so that needed repairs can be done in a timely fashion so that they don't delay closing
8)  Having good relationships with town officials so that issues there can be resolved quickly

There are many other skills that come into play on only a few transactions each year, but on those transactions, these skills are critical.  Much of the work agents do is ongoing non-transaction-specific (like the relationship development and management), but they are still time-consuming. 

When you hire an agent, you're hiring them for their expertise in the industry, not just to put your house in the paper or on the web.  You are investing in the knowledge, experience, and problem-solving skills of that person.  A good agent can mean the difference between your house closing or the deal falling apart at the closing table when all of your possessions are sitting on a truck waiting to go to your new home which won't close because your house didn't sell.

Some FSBOs are experienced enough to do the majority of the work themselves.  Most aren't.  This is why 85% of them end up listing with an agent eventually.  The problem isn't the FSBOs.  It's the lack of appreciation for how much work it takes to sell a home and to keep the deal together through closing.

Kelle Sparta
Author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, and founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training and tools company that focuses on helping agents and brokers create lives and businesses they can love.  www.spartasuccess.com

Start a Junk Company:
Many of us have houses filled with lot of great sellers' castoffs including plants, furniture, lawn equipment, etc.  There is much more too that sellers leave behind that we just can't fit in our houses. 

Consider starting a junk company.  You could have a mover you work with locally who will pick up the items, deliver them to a warehouse or storage area.  You could partner with someone who sells on eBay and let them do the selling of the items while you go on with your business and split the profits with them.

That's about as close to free money as I can think of.

Have a great day!

Being in a service business, it is often difficult for agents to think about how to create another source of income.  You are probably overwhelmed with the work you're doing now.  But consider this - come the winter time, your business will slow down again, and you'll be wishing you had something to pick up the slack. 

Many agents do the obvious and invest in real estate.  This is certainly a good option - especially given the tax incentives.  But once you've invested in real estate - now what?  How can you leverage your knowledge to create even more income? 

There are a couple of options that I can imagine.  You could write programs and reports that you could market and sell to buyers and sellers across the country on the web.  You could take those leads and refer them to agents across the country to get referral fees.  In this way you would get a double bang for your buck.

Or, perhaps you'd like to help your fellow real estate agent.  Consider writing a program or sharing a tool you've found useful.  Could you compile a package of all the ads you've had success with over the years and sell them to other agents?  Sure you could!  In fact, if you don't want to go through the trouble of marketing the material yourself, let us know.  We're always looking for good material that is in alignment with our values structure.  If we like your stuff, we'll rep it for you to the real estate world.  Then, you can sit back and collect the commissions.  What could be easier?

Can you think of another way to leverage your knowledge of the business?  Share it with us!  I've been doing some creative thinking on how to make life easier for agents.  I'll be doing some brainstorming on the subject with others as well.  I'll let you know what I come up with.  But in the meantime, share your ideas - we'd love to hear them.

Have a great week!

There's No Excuse for Having No Leads!

This is going to be a great event for getting you to think outside of the box in terms of your prospecting.  Click here for more details.

The thing I love about ballroom and latin dancing is that it's so non-meat-market.  I can go to one of these events by myself and I don't feel out of place.  People talk to me, they ask me to dance and they are open if I ask them to dance.  I go out, have a great time, meet some new people, and get a lot of exercise.  What could be better? 

Of course t