Cool Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Reclaiming my "rookie" enthusiasm...

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:18:51 -0600

I have been working from home most days lately, which is a real blessing in my opinion. I could go to the office, but many days my work involves catching up on emails and perhaps a few phone calls (and blogging, too, of course). As a result, I often get my writing inspriration by watching or playing with my children or from some conversation with my wife.

Tonight, I noticed that my six-year old daughter was in the upstairs bathroom playing in the sink area, since I can see that room from the place where I typically blog. She was kind of quiet, so I went to see what she was doing. As I approached, she was energetically smearing lathered up soap all over the counter. She looked like a master artist, perhaps Pollock?

I asked her if she was planning to clean it up, and she said that she would. I then asked her about how her very first piano lesson went, since it was today. I have not seen a child that excited in awhile. She began energetically jumping up and down, and she yelled, "It was great, great, great! I loved it!"

My daughter's enthusiasm for the simple joy of soap suds and the absolute joy that she shared with me over the piano lesson inspired me to write this post.

I have been in real estate almost eleven years now, which seems hard to believe sometimes. At any rate, I realized that when I started, I used to get listings just from being hungry and excited about selling homes. I don't know when that stopped being the case, but I don't feel that fire in my belly nearly as often. Maybe this comes simply from being a veteran of this industry, but something tells me that I could do better.

I am not leaving it at that. This is just a starting point for me.

If you follow my blog, you know that I have a lot on my plate right now. Even with that in mind, I am planning to take a fresh look and a fresh approach to my business and my career starting today:

I am going to treat EVERY lead with care, even the ones that are not thrilling.
I am going to stop procrastinating when it comes to follow up with past clients.
I am going to seek that energy that I had in 1997, when I was geared up everyday and anxious to sell something to somebody.
Clients will sense this in me and they will look forward to working with me, and ONLY me.
I am planning to treat every day as important - I don't ever get one back. Once it is gone, it's gone.

Every day that we are here is important, and every day should be treated as such. I have a friend who is very sick right now, and if he can bear it out and make his life count, then I have nothing to complain about, and I should be squeezing the most from every single minute of this life.

I have my health, a beautiful wife, awesome kids, enough money to keep my head above water, my own business, freedom to choose how I spend my day, and the list goes on and on. I need to be jumping up and down! I am going to make it....playful.

This business is unique in so many ways, and I truly feel that this is where God wants me right now. I can look back and see jobs and experiences that I had as a younger man that ultimately all served to prepare me for this moment in time. I feel like my skills and my personality are perfect for real estate, and I am uniquely talented as a salesperson and as a broker, teacher, and manager. I am not bragging here - just evaluating. My real point is: I can do better with the gifts I have been given.

This may sound odd to you, but since I started blogging (about three months ago), I have been better able to express myself to my friends and clients. I was already okay in that department with my family, but writing is a kind of catharsis that allows me to organize my thoughts sometimes. Consequently, I have seen a benefit when dealing with issues of everyday life. I feel more centered, and I feel accepted. This may be a bit melodramatic, but I assure you that it's genuine. I plan to use this newfound gift of communication.

Where am I going with this? Check back with me sometime in the upcoming months. You might just find that I have become a new man.

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If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!

Blog Carnival of Real Estate - My First Time to Host! Winners Announcement

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:06:38 -0600

Not long ago, I was asked by my friend Mike Price to host the "Carnival of Real Estate", which is essentially a gathering of blog posts each week about our industry. Sounds like fun to me, so I said a hearty "Yes!". Since I've held lots of contests during my blogging career, I have a little experience in this arena. :)

First of all, if you took the time to submit something this past week, I thank you all for your submissions. We all take pride and a great sense of ownership of our writing, and I know firsthand that it can be a personal thing. With that in mind, I appreciate you all giving me a chance to review your hard work. This is my first time judging this particular competition, and I consider it an honor.

There were just over 20 submissions, and there were six that I felt really stood out:

First Place - Searching for Real Estate Made Easy: Geo-Fences Plus Mobile Phones by Chris Thorman of SoftwareAdvice.com. This is simply an awesome blog post. It has many solid elements: it’s informative, current, and well-written. It has helpful graphics and good organization. The anecdote at the beginning makes the post more interesting and draws the reader in. Everyone loves technology, and the internet is certainly the best place to come up with new ways to use it. Kudos.

In Second Place, I would put this rant (if I may call it that): Can I get proof of a competing offer? The answer may surprise you by Jay Thompson, the Phoenix Real Estate Guy. For those of you who know Jay already, it should come as no surprise that he wrote a terrific post on a compelling topic. If you haven't had the situation Jay describes come up yet in your real estate career, you will! I myself have written/ranted on the same subject, and I think it’s a topic most of us have some opinion on. That fact, and the opener mentioning “slam my head into a wall” draw the reader into the story. Jay also expresses some strong opinions in his post, which makes it more interesting and comment-worthy. His structure and grammar are clear and accurate, and he makes good use of the medium with his tone and subject.

Third Place: What are Mortgage Accelerator Programs? by Jim Wang

This is an article-type post that is truly informative. It’s conversationally written and Jim doesn't talk down to the reader. It seems well-researched, and the advice it gives seems wise. It's also well-structured and well laid out.

Fourth place goes to 10 Most Common Mistakes of 1st Time Home Buyers by Robert Buchholz. This is a very informative post that could actually help some new buyers, if they follow the advice therein. If I were a rookie Realtor, I might print this out to give to my buyers, and Robert Buchholz’ name would be there, too, which can only help Robert’s business. That’s part of the “big idea” of blogging!

Honorable mentions: Hey You Pessimists (Yes you, homeowners): It’s Not Quite That Bad… by Amy Bohutinsky and Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License? by J. Scott. Both of these are well-written and informative posts. “Not Quite That Bad” has some very interesting & encouraging research with a “killer” graphic. Which of us could not do with a little good news these days? “Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License?” attempts to give a brief yet through review of the issue, and seems very helpful.

All in all, there some terrific posts for the carnival, and it made my decisions difficult. In fact, I had to call in some help (my wife read them, too). I applaud you all. Keep on making the RE.net a more informative, interesting, and helpful place.

Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelzimmer

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Facebook Workshop with Mike Mueller - You will NOT want to miss this one!

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:13:18 -0600

Facebook recently had its sixth birthday. During the same week, they announced that they had crossed the 400 million member mark (how's that for a bit of alliteration?). Facebook has morphed from a college photo sharing site in 2004 to a mega-networking platform with multimedia capabilities. Basically, it's THE place to be these days.

If you aren't yet sure how to use Facebook for business, I might have a nice solution for you next week.

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17th at 2pm Eastern time, 210 Consulting is hosting a Facebook workshop with our good friend Mike Mueller. Mike will be teaching us how to create custom Facebook business pages. Mike has created roughly 200 custom pages for his clients, and we are honored that he agreed to teach this for us.

Included among the topics next week:

How to build a Facebook page
How to fully customize your FB page once you have it built
Creating and adding custom tabs
The differences between the page categories and which information is displayed with each

The session will last 90 minutes, give or take. We wanted to make this phenomenal instruction affordable for our clients and friends, so we are only charging $49. I promise that you will get more value than you pay for this session.

Seating is limited, so be sure to go ahead and register now if you're interested. Visit http://budurl.com/fbworkshop to save your spot. I'm sincerely not sure when or if this will be offered again online. Mike has taught these techniques in person to individuals around the country, but not online in this way before. He graciously agreed to do this for us since he is our friend. This is (for now at least) an exclusive offer from 210 Consulting only.

If you have any questions at all, let me know.

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7 Secrets to Facebook Page Success- Webinar with Mike Mueller

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:41:17 -0600

We are at 50 registered for this free class. There still is some time left to sign up. You don't wanna miss this!

Via Jeremy Blanton (210 Consulting~ Social Media Advisors):

7 Secrets to Facebook Page Success

I am sure by now we all know that Facebook is an absolute must for your business, but you may not understand why this is so important. Allow me to share a few statistics that might make it more obvious why everyone who is in business needs to have a Facebook page.

General Stats

More than 400 million active users on Facebook

50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day

More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month

More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week

More than 3.5 million events created each month

Many though get confused by the personal profiles and Facebook Pages which are designated for business. If you weren't aware, Facebook frowns heavily on the use of a personal page for business purposes. In fact, I have heard of profiles being shut down because they were being used for the wrong purpose. A client of mine the other week ran into restrictions on his profile because it had too much business dealings taking place for their liking. They made it almost impossible to add friends, join a page, or even attend an event. The other thing with a personal page is that you are limited toonly 5,000 friends. Facebook pages allow you to have unlimited fans and talk about business as much as you wish. Because of these rules that are in place on Facebook, not only are more and more people joining daily, but so are businesses setting up a page is growing at astronomical rates.

Take a look at some of these stats on Facebook Pages:

More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook

More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day

Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

In a constant effort to provide the best content for our clients, 210 Consulting is bringing in one of the most proficient people on the planet about Facebook Fan Pages, Mike Mueller. Mike has created over 150 custom Facebook pages for clients and is constantly keeping abreast of any changes to Facebook. He has also traveled around the country teaching hundreds the basics of Facebook pages and how to use them successfully.

We are excited for Mike to join us for this FREE 60 minute webinar titled "7 Secrets to Facebook Success" on Tuesday, March 9th at 2PM EST.

To register for this free class, simply fill out the form below. Seating is limited and is on a first come first serve basis. We hope to see you there!
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I am the Co-Founder of 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors. If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog, please contact me directly.

Feel free to subscribe to my blog to keep up to date with my latest posts of tips & tricks to enhance your experience on ActiveRain. If you would like, you can sign up to receive updates via email directly in your inbox.

Also, lets connect on these great social networks:

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Pflugerville Texas Used Book Store - Beth's Book Box - Cozy, Friendly and Inexpensive

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:54:04 -0600

I was on my way home today via a different route, and there was a sign that caught my eye - "Book Box". As a voracious reader, I rarely pass up the chance to visit a used book store, and this was no exception.

I am happy to report that Pflugerville now has a quaint, comfortable used book store. Frankly, this is the kind of place where I am likely to become a regular customer. With prices on the discount shelf at $1 or $2, and most other prices in the $5 and under range, this is my kind of place. They also purchase and give store credit for used books. My wife and I are known to spend entire Saturday mornings perusing garage sales for books, so this store is a dream come true.

While I was there, I spoke for awhile with Beth Lee, the owner/manager. She is an engaging, down-to-earth lady and I love the fact that she is following her passion with this business.

There are a few extras that will surely grow the business over time, including free coffee, free wifi access, a kids' section with some toys, and some VERY comfortable chairs set up for reading. The store features art from locals and kiddos, too, and Beth told me that they repaint the ceiling tiles (currently featuring kids' artwork) every few weeks. They offer a storytime that is geared to kids 2-6 on Thursdays and Saturdays at noon, and they are open to having church, scouting, and other community events or meetings.

In a nutshell, Beth has done a very nice job of providing a casual atmosphere that could become a terrific venue or hangout for smaller groups. While I was there, Beth accepted some items for donations to our troops, which reinforced the fact that she is making an effort to be an integral part of the community with her venture, and I applaud this.

Beth's Book Box first opened about six months ago, and my sole complaint is that I didn't manage to find it sooner. Books are my vice, and I left with a couple of good reads today.

Beth's is located near the corner of Windermere and Pecan Street, on the north side of Pecan. There used to be a Greek restaurant in the space, which makes for some interesting architecture with the store layout. The physical address is 15803 Windermere, and they can be reached at 512-989-7324. Their primary website is http://bethsbookbox.com.

They are closed on Mondays, open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sundays 12-5pm.

If you are a book addict, I highly recommend checking this place out.

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Are you coming to the Austin Real Estate Barcamp? I am! It should be a blast!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:40:32 -0600

On March 11th, which is the day before SXSW Interactive starts, Austin will be hosting a very cool RE Barcamp event downtown. I plan to be there helping with check-in at the beginning, and probably hanging out at the after party, too. :)

If you don't know what a Barcamp is, you have to come and find out. Basically, it's a day to network, learn, and hang out as we discuss social media, technology, and other online tools to help your real estate business. It's also called an "unconference", which means that ANYONE can show up and lead a session.

Who should come? Realtors, lenders, title reps, escrow officers, appraisers, inspectors, virtual assistants, home stagers and anyone else in the real estate world (or any other world -- PR, Marketing, etc) who wants to improve their social media game.

There is space for up to 300 people, and so far over 60 have signed up. If you are within driving distance, you cannot miss this one. I'm thankful that it's only about 20 minutes from my house! If you have to make special arrangements and bump appointments, I still think this day will be a memorable one for you and worth the trouble. After my first Barcamp in Houston back in 2008, I have loved the concept behind these events.

One of the best parts is the cost: it's 100% FREE to participants. How can you pass this up?

If you know anyone interested in sponsoring, I think we still need 2 more sponsors to make everything happen. Sponsorships are only $250 each, and that will get you on the t-shirt, etc. The last I heard, we need to know by Friday about any additional sponsors in order to ensure that you will appear on the event shirt.

If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them. I hope to see you there!

To RSVP today, visit http://rebarcamp.com/austin and click on the tab to register. You can also click on the "Who's Coming?" tab to see who has currently signed up to attend.

See you there!

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Austin Places on Forbes Top Ten List for "America's Best Housing Markets"

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:54:56 -0600

Well, it appears that Texas remains one of the strongest real estate investments around, as evidenced by a new list released by Forbes.com last week. In fact, ours was the only state to place more than one city on the list (3 total!).

Austin is #10 on their "America's Best Housing Markets" list. For those of us who live and work here, the only surprise in this story is that we weren't at the top! However, Houston appears at #3, and Dallas/Fort Worth is at #9 this time around.

The criteria used for this particular list were:

Low foreclosure rate
Rising home prices
Continued affordability for people in median income range
Areas without much excess inventory

To see the entire story, visit: http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/19/best-housing-prices-personal-finance-real-estate-affordable-homes.html

Here are the top ten best housing markets for 2010 according to Forbes.com:

Pittsburgh, PA
Louisville, KY
Houston, TX
Minneapolis, MN
Indianapolis, IA
Memphis, TN
Columbus, OH
St. Louis, MO
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
Austin, TX

If you're considering a move to Austin or if you are interested in investing in Austin TX real estate, let me know. I would love the opportunity to help. You can call me anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email jason@austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualistimages/3723339227/

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Home for Sale in Sonoma - Round Rock, Texas - 2012 Solitude Cove - Offered at $207,500

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:30:08 -0600

Nestled on a cul-de-sac street in one of Round Rock's most popular communities, 2012 Solitude Cove offers a terrific, functional layout with nice space at an affordable price.

If you get a home under contract by April 30th and close by June 30th, you may qualify for one of the federal homebuyer tax credits, too!

Details:

4 Bedrooms PLUS study with glass French doors
2130 s.f. per builder plan
One-story floorplan flows well
Wood floors through entry, kitchen, and breakfast areas
Granite counters and nice tile backsplash
Large master bedroom separate from other bedrooms for privacy
Master bathroom with double vanity, garden tub, and separate shower
Custom side door leads to stone patio and HUGE oak tree
Enlarged back patio
Professionally landscaped back yard
Surround sound system to convey with home
No neighbor behind you! Backs to neighborhood street
10' Ceilings in main areas of the home
Sonoma neighborhood was named, "Best Master Planned Community"
Elementary and Middle schools are within easy walking distance of the home

If you have any questions at all or if you would like to set up a time to take a look at this home, feel free to give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com. If you are interested in searching all Austin homes for sale, visit my website at www.austintexashomes.com.

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Back by popular demand! We're teaching encore social media classes!

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:32:22 -0600

After attending Raincamp Dallas, I received a number of requests to re-teach some of our recent classes. Jeremy and I will be offering both of our initial 210 Consulting webinars next week once again.

"How to Chug Google Juice AND Get 15 Years of Fame" - Monday, March 1st - 1-3pm Eastern

The primary topics for our class will be:

How to write posts on your blog to increase your inquiries (and sales)
How to get Google and other search engines to pay attention to your blog
Dominating Google for your desired keywords
What a longtail keyword is, and how it can send you oodles of potential business
How to garner more subscribers and a loyal audience for your blog

In essence, your blog should serve as your "home base" online with any social media marketing plan. With that in mind, we can help you shape your blog into a cozy and fun place to hang out.

How would it feel to see other people start to spread your content and writing around to their friends?
What are your goals with regard to blogging and social media? This session is an absolute must for anyone who is new to blogging, or to anyone who feels that they aren't optimizing their efforts with their blog....yet. We promise to share what has worked well for us.

Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/581158260 - Cost is $60 - use discount code "activerain" for $10 off

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"Cashing In on Your Social Media Investment" - Tuesday, March 2nd from 2-4pm Eastern

During our (approximate) two-hour session, Jeremy Blanton and I will share a number of items that will help you to better leverage your online marketing efforts.

For the upcoming class, we will be providing lots of details on specific tools that we have used to make it easier to engage with others. We can also show you some tricks using Twitter and Facebook to connect with others in your geographic area and to find potential clients. We will also cover Flickr, YouTube, and Posterous.

We will be discussing the following topics in a fun, laidback atmosphere:

How to effectively listen in order to identify potential clients
How to add valuable content to engage with those around you
Some basic "etiquette" for Twitter, Facebook, and blogging
Techniques for promoting yourself and your events

Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/581176314 - Cost is $60 - use discount code "activerain" for $10 off

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If you're interested in taking both classes, we are offering a package deal for just $90 for all four hours of training. Please email me directly at jason@210consulting.com to take advantage of this deal.

If you're unsure about paying for the classes right now, but you want to get a taste for our teaching style at 210 Consulting, you can also check out our FREE 45-minute webinar this Thursday at either 12:30pm Eastern or 1:30pm Eastern.

The topic this week will be "20+ Social Media Tools for Your Business". Seating is limited to 25 people per session. If you're interested in the free sessions, simply fill out this form and we'll be in touch with more details soon:

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So, You're Going on a Listing Appointment? How to Win Almost Every Time

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:35:37 -0600

Over the years, I have gone on hundreds of listing appointments. These days, it seems as though I am competing less and less often, since they probably found me through a friend of mine or a past client. When I do compete, I haven't really kept track of the percentage of times that I win the listing, but I would estimate that about 9 out of every 10 choose me. No, I am not exaggerating.

Why have I had such a strong track record with listing appointments? Hey, I'm glad you asked. You did ask, right? Well, either way, you may find this post useful.

I have a few tips that I have developed which may help you during your own appointments. Feel free to use or discard whatever you like from my list.

BE HONEST. This is probably the primary key to success in the listing arena. Sometimes that includes painful truths, such as changing décor choices or making necessary repairs. You can also enlist the help of a professional stager on some of these items. The hardest part is being direct and upfront about pricing, especially when it might mean that they will clearly lose money on their home.

DON'T USE A CANNED SPEECH. I have never been one to use PowerPoint or to force a potential client to endure a spiel of mine as we flip slowly through a listing book. I do have a listing book that I take with me, primarily to illustrate previous homes that I have sold and advertising that I use. It has been my experience that we may or may not even touch the book until the end of our talk. Do you enjoy hearing a pre-prepared sales speech when you are buying something? Neither will your clients.

SET THE TONE YOURSELF. Upon arriving at the home, I usually ask them if I can put my book and folder somewhere while we look around the house. When we sit back down, I tell them that I have brought some information that I plan to leave with them, and some info about recent comparable sales. I also go out of my way to tell them that I don't have a planned presentation (see above), which tends to make them more relaxed. I have a conversational style and I may spend more time just listening and "interviewing" them in order to understand their goals.

BE CONFIDENT. If you are confident (or if you lack confidence), it shows. When I started in real estate, I had no problem listing luxury homes even though I was in my mid-20's. Why? Confidence (and a dose of hunger, too). Often times back then, I was really just winging it, and they probably realized that, but my willingness to look them in the eye and be direct and forthright worked wonders in my early career.

GO THE EXTRA MILE. I can promise you that most other agents will not offer to do this, but I have found that clients respond well when you offer to show them their current competition. Put them in your car and show them the homes that are the closest competitors. Sometimes, that is all it takes to get them to a more realistic place when it comes to pricing and condition. I have often said something like, "We can certainly try your price, but we will probably have to wait until ____home sells before yours will." No one wants to think that they will have to wait.

TELL THEM HOW IT IS. This may sound like just being honest, and it is, but in a more detailed way. If I know that there are three other agents competing for their business, many times I will leave a parting comment such as, "Whatever you do, don't choose an agent based on the listing price that they give you. Just because someone says that your home is worth more, that doesn't make it correct. The market can only bear a certain price." Even though they may do it anyway, at least you have given them food for thought.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO TURN ONE DOWN. Sometimes, it simply doesn't make sense, either because of the pricing or because you get a bad feeling for some other reason. If this is the case, you don't have to be abrupt. I usually say something like, "Because of _______, I don't feel like I would be the best choice to market your home." Typically, this is because of the price.

IF YOU DON'T WIN, BE A CLASS ACT. This one is probably not necessary to mention, since I'm sure you are a true pro, but I might as well throw it in as a bonus tip. On the rare occasion when I have lost a listing to someone else, I always react in roughly the same way. I simply say, "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope things work out well with your agent. If not, please keep me in mind." Sometimes, I am the second agent for them, when they have been through the wringer and they are more anxious to sell.

I hope you found this list of tips helpful. Clearly, this is not an exhaustive list, but it should provide a good start.

Please feel free to ask any questions, either here in the comments or via email or phone. I would love to be of assistance.

Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this post!

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Do you want to help my daughter AND our troops? Read on...

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:54:57 -0600

I wrote yesterday asking my local Austin-area friends if they would be interested in helping my 8-year old daughter by buying Girl Scout Cookies from us. Many people said that they would if they could, but it's not practical to ship them to other states or cities. Others mentioned that the large cookie photo I used made them drool on their keyboards.

At any rate, if you want to support our cookie sales efforts, but you are:

worried about your diet
too far away, OR
a crazy person who doesn't like the taste of the cookies

I have an idea for you.

It's called "Operation Cookie Drop". Basically, you donate $3.50 for each box of cookies, and they will be delivered to our troops overseas.

Cool, huh?

I have already bought and consumed cookies myself, but I think I may just go ahead and donate some extra money for this very special cause.

Here are a handful of benefits:

You can keep your girlish (or boyish) figure intact
You are directly helping our troops
You are benefitting the Girl Scouts
I will be your new friend

Perhaps best of all, the donation is tax deductible!

In an effort to make it easier, you can pay via PayPal (any amount in $3.50 increments) by sending the money to our account at jasonpam@swbell.net. We will then write a check for the total and provide a receipt for your tax records if you like.

If you would like to pay by check (minimum donation of $14), you can make it out to "GSCTX" or "Girl Scouts of Central Texas" and mail it to my office at 3636 Executive Center Drive, #210, Austin, TX 78731.

Of course, my original offer still stands as well. If you are in the general Austin area, and you buy at least three boxes, we will deliver them to your home or office personally. I am meeting one fellow AR member (Robert Twaron) on Thursday who is driving up from San Antonio to pick up 9 boxes!

Don't wait too long - the sale ends March 14th.

Thanks in advance for your help! If you have any questions, let me know.

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Attention Austin-Area Friends: Would you like to be my best friend for a day? It's for a good cause. :)

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:32:41 -0600

I'm curious to see if this will bring results or not. If not, no harm done. If so, I can help out a good cause and my daughter at the same time.

If you live in the general Austin area, let me know if you would like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies. My 8-year-old daughter is selling them for the first time this year.

If you buy at least three boxes ($10.50 or more), and you live/work in the Austin metro area, my daughter and I will deliver them to you at your home or office (your choice).

By the way, I already know what you're thinking. YES! They are still just as delicious as you remember them. In fact, you might be doing my waistline a service by getting them out of my house. They are really, really good.

The cost? $3.50 per box.

The sale is still going on for almost two weeks, from what I understand, so time is of the essence. They've even added some new cookies to the old favorites. Meet the cookies here (but buy them from us if you are in/near Austin): http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

Help me demonstrate the power of social media and blogging. :) They also make great gifts.

Quick update: If you are dieting, or you live too far away to take advantage of this, you can also donate to help the cause, and the cookies will be sent to our troops stationed overseas:

Do you want to help my daughter AND our troops? Read on...

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Raincamp Dallas Was a Stellar Event (So Good I Didn't Have Time to Take Pictures!)

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:27:03 -0600

On Monday night, I drove up to my mom's house near Dallas and spent the night in anticipation of the Raincamp event the next day. Surprisingly, there was still several inches of snow on the ground when I arrived, although the roads were clear. Since we didn't get any snow at all at my house, I was a little disappointed that my kids weren't there to see it.

This was the very first night I spent away from my wife and kids since May of 1998, when my son was a few months old. He had an emergency surgery (intestinal blockage) the night before my grandfather's funeral. I was there for both "events". When I was at Raincamp, I mistakenly thought that it was the very first time I'd been away from them. Still, it takes a lot to get me away from my family. I was looking forward to Raincamp for weeks.

But I digress...

Raincamp was a terrific event! It was incredibly valuable from a networking standpoint, since it allowed me to finally connect in person with many of my friends from AR that I have known for years online. Additionally, I learned some great techniques with regard to lead conversion and generation. I hope to implement some of the real estate ideas right away at my company. Big thanks to Ben Kinney, Bob Stewart, and Brad Andersohn for putting together such a cool day of learning. I have a list several pages long of sites to check out.

After lunch, I was asked to sit on a social media panel with my good friend Debe Maxwell of Charlotte and Josh Hartley of Dallas. It was a lot of fun to answer questions from Brad and Ben and a few from the audience as well. Here's a picture that Lori Cain of Tulsa took of us:

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend getting to one of these events if you have a chance. You will learn some tips, tricks and techniques that will help your business to grow, regardless of your level of expertise. They covered a broad array of information in one day, and I am frankly not that easy to impress. I won't claim that I learned something during every part of the event, since I also teach social media and blogging, but I will say that it was well worth my time to attend.

Ben has a very laidback presenting style, but hearing some of his sales techniques was motivational to me as a broker. It stimulated me to work on our own lead conversion, since we have tons of leads coming to our site, yet not that many sales to show for it most months.

I think Bob mentioned that the next Raincamp will be held in Denver. If you have a chance to make it, GO! Maybe I can convince them to fly me in. Kidding.

P.S. I wasn't really kidding in my title, by the way. I spent so much time talking that I really didn't make a point to take pictures, and I even ended up with a hoarse voice the next day. I was hoping that many of the photos that were taken with me in them would appear on posts and on Facebook. I wasn't disappointed, since I saw a bunch of them in earlier AR posts, but I didn't see any of them make it to FB. If you have any to share, feel free to post them in the comments below. :)

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I'm 39 and a Half Today! Perhaps I will half celebrate.

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:35:20 -0600

When I was a kid, I remember being excited about my "half birthday". For anyone who may be unfamiliar with this concept, it's the day you are halfway between birthdays.

As in, "I'm five and a half today!" From that day forward, you are no longer 5, or 8, or 12. The "and a half" has to be added when someone refers to your age.

For me, my half birthday is today. My birthday is August 17th. However, instead of just rounding my age up to 40, or 40-ish, I will require all of my friends and family to refer to me as "39 and a half" for a few more months.

Clearly, my goal is a bit different from when I was growing up. In this case, it's to ward off saying that I'm 40, not to emphasize how close it is for me. I'm really not bothered by it, but I think the emphasis on the half is funny.

I guess if people guessed my age higher all the time, I would be more hesitant to reveal how old I am, but I still pass for 32-35 most of the time, so I'm happy when people act surprised. If you are not surprised, or if you actually thought I was even older, feel free to keep that to yourself. :)

So, I guess I need to celebrate my half birthday today, huh? Perhaps I should buy (or consume) half a cake?

Maybe I'll go buy some wine and see if I get carded. That happened to me twice over the past year. That would make it a very good day indeed.

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Would you like to learn more about using Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, YouTube, and More?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:50:00 -0600

On Monday, February 15th at 1pm Eastern time (noon Central, 11am Mountain, 10am Pacific), 210 Consulting is offering a webinar entitled:

"Cashing In on Your Social Media Investment"

During our (approximate) two-hour session, Jeremy Blanton and I will share a number of items that will help you to better leverage your online marketing efforts. Our first webinar was very well-received, and a good number of students signed up for individual coaching. We have the recorded version available for that one at http://budurl.com/210recording.

We will be covering the following topics in a fun, laidback atmosphere:

How to effectively listen in order to identify potential clients
How to add valuable content to engage with those around you
Some basic "etiquette" for Twitter, Facebook, and blogging
Techniques for promoting yourself and your events

The cost is $50, but if you sign up by Friday at midnight, you can use the CODE "earlybird" and get a $15 discount! Space is limited to the first 25 people to sign up, and we do offer a money-back guarantee if you aren't satisfied with the class.

Some praise from our students:

REALLY enjoyed my coaching session today and am looking forward to working with you both! Already made suggested changes on AR! - Lori Cain

I picked up some valuable lessons from your class. I have tried a few other Blog platforms including Blogger, Live Journal, Typepad and Wordpress. Wordpress seems to be ideal for what my needs are. Still learning it. Thank you for the class. I look forward to future sessions. - Dawn O.

Here are a couple of full posts that others have written about us:

Want To Blog Better & More Effectively? Check Out These Guys: by Kent Simpson of Tucson

Why I hired Jason Crouch as my social media coach. by Bruce Brockmeier

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