Teleology - Defining Your Purpose

Teleology (Greek: telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design and purpose. A teleological school of thought is one that holds all things to be designed for or directed toward a final result, that there is an inherent purpose or final cause for all that exists.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology

The preamble of the Code of Ethics of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® clearly defines what our obligations are to clients, consumers, the public and our fellow REALTOR® members. But each individual has their own agenda to accomplish their own set of principles, guidelines and conduct of behavior.

The Golden Rule is the basis for the Code of Ethics which continues to evolve based on a new of criteria for the real estate game to be played. This includes the changes in Article 12 that describe what companies can and cannot do with regards to internet marketing.  The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to hold real estate professionals to a higher standard of service to the people that they represent.  However, the purpose of the REALTOR® is much deeper than the profession that makes the member money.

What is your purpose?

Everything you do closely moves you closer to your purpose whether you know it or not. I am a firm believer that everything that happens, happens for a reason. What drives me is my core values. Everything else is trivial. Teaching technology is not my purpose in life. It is my means to which I will accomplish my purpose. I urge you to take a closer look to what your values are to see if you are living your life according to your purpose by asking the following questions:

1. What are your five top values or ways of being?

2. Who is important in your life?

3. If you passed away tomorrow would you be satisfied?

4. What would the world look like if you were not around?

5. What would your life look like when you have fulfilled your purpose?

Return On Attendance

If you have ever attendance a class, meeting, conference, or convention that you paid money to attend have you ever taken the time to see what the return on attendance was for you.  The investment of your money, your time, your energy, and your creativity has been risked so that you can sit through a session or two to learn new ideas and concepts that you will be able to implement once you return.

Have you received a return on your return on attendance?

Here are some of the costs associated?

1. Registration
2. Transportation
3. Lodging
4. Personal
5. Lost opportunity costs
   
6. Indirect costs

Here is how you can maximize your return on attendance:

1. Prioritize your action items. Thinking that you will probably do everything on every page of your notes is absurd.  This is where most of us fail.  We get so wrapped up in all of the details of everything that we fail to do nothing.  Set a list of the most important ideas and figure out the action steps for each one.
2. Implement one powerful idea. OK, so what if you did just one thing.  Would that pay for all of the costs?  Every session you choose should have at least one takeaway or person you meet that will help you reach your business goals.  Out of all of those sessions or people there will be one that will make a difference.  Organize your thoughts and choose one to act on NOW!
3. Create an accountability partner. I wish I went to the gym more but I don’t have anyone yelling or screaming at me to do it.  That is why I fail at least now with working out.  If you have any social skills you should be able to make some friends with the people that you meet.  Find one you like, trust, and have similar goals to keep you accountable for the things that you say you are going to do.  This requires you to also return the favor.  Set up weekly or monthly calls with this person to stay on track and do what you say you are going to do.  Your credibility and integrity is now at stake.  Do IT!
4. Set deadlines. Mark on your calendar which day and time you will have the action item completed by along with the description.  Share this with your accountability partner like you would a client who is going to pay you money.  Have the commitment to completing your action items within at least 30 days or they will never get done.
5. Send thank you cards. Each person you meet write them a thank you card.  Since we are in the people business and invest in relationships everyday it is important to share a line or to with those people you meet.  You never know when or where that next big client will come from.
6. Set a budget. More action items may require you to re-examine your budget.  Be penny wise but not dollar foolish.  If you can make more money by doing something cheaper then go for it.  In most cases you cannot make a buck without spending a buck.  Share this with your accountability partner too.

What Meeting Planners Want From Professional Speakers

What would I know about what meeting planners want. After all I have only been speaking for a couple of years. I had the privilege of attending the National Speakers Association Annual Conference this year in Times Square, New York City and they had a great working on “What meeting planners are looking for in professional speakers.” It was a big hit. It was like watching American Idol for professional speaking. Some were great, some were good, and some were not so good. As I sat in the front row I studied what meeting planners enjoyed and what they did not care for. Lessons learned quickly as I saw myself in the shoes of each on the stage at the time. Here is my opportunity to share what to do and what not to do:

Don’ts

Be too academic. Nobody likes a know it all.

Be too serious. Serious people are not fun to work with.

Appeal to everyone. People like targeted messages to specific groups.

Be monotone. A snoozer in the making.

Offend audience members. Other people will be offended even if you make fun of someone you know in the audience.

Message too universal. People like targeted messages to specific groups. I said that already… It’s important!

Talk at the audience. People want to feel welcome and know that you care. Just rambling is not communication.

Rehearsed performance. If it looks rehearsed people will not see you as a person but a machine.

Focus on self. Do I really need to explain this one?

Be a nameless speaker. What do want to be known for? Make sure everyone is aware.

Take all of the time needed. It is OK to be short as long as the message is clear and people understand what it is you do and how it can help them.

Do’s

Clarify message. Make sure people understand what is that you are really try to say. Look for both verbal and non verbal clues. The non verbal have more meaning.

Add Humor. People like people that are funny. If you can’t have fun at what you are doing look for something else. This is extremely important.

Qualified. Years experience, designations, certifications, awards, publications, books and past clients are among the criteria meeting planners look at on paper.

Dress the Part. What ever the best dressed audience member is wearing, step it up a notch. Match your dress by audience, message, or location. People will feel more comfortable and be more attentive.

Enthusiasm. If you are excited, they will be excited. The words are irrelevant.

Passion. You either have it or you don’t. If you are not passionate about your subject find something else, NOW!

Connect with the audience. The only way people will listen is if they experience the same challenges as you, at the same point in life, or have similar stories. Share yourself first and the audience will share their attention.

Give service. If someone asks for something give them more than what they asked for. Ask them to email you to answer future questions. They rarely do but the gesture is appreciated.

Differentiate your brand. Fine tune your style, presentation, marketing, and communication that is unique from everyone else. Strive for uniqueness not different.

Be authentic in the message. You must speak from the heart, truth, and from your own personal experiences. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

Create a tagline that sells. This is your message. In six words or less what do you do and how will it help others.

Tips for Outsourcing Your Online Social Networking

Time is best spent in front of clients or prospects that will say yes to your product or service. Anything else is optional. Onilne social networking ican be a proactive way to convert prospects into clients but will require attention to detail and the right approach, just like meeting someone for the first time in a live environment. Prospecting online can be done by a lead manager, virtual assistant, or part time staff as long as the rules are set forth in the beginning how to handle interaction. Tim Ferriss, author of the Four Hour Work Week, told me that he was able to go on 5 dates in the same day by outsourcing his dating online. He set up his virtual assistant to describe the ideal soulmate he was looking for and how to eliminate the rest. Although this method was somewhat Misogynistic it still worked and worked well.

Building the Profile. The virtual assistant should do this. Give them the template that you have personally created and let them take the time to upload your contact information that matches the fields in each profile. Each online profile may have different fields so be clear on dictating what goes where. Create the username that is the same and a password that is similar to each one. Since each profile will require a unique password make sure the VA tells you what the password is. You may want to create a separate email address for the sake of online social networking so your main email is not filled with unsolicited SPAM. Make sure the VA emails you a link with all the profiles created in a Microsoft Word Document for future web, blog, or email marketing purposes.

Who is your perfect contact? If you are trying to build a network you should look for people that you will want to do business with and skip over everyone else. Are you looking for people of influence or just want to add anyone to your list. The more specific you are on who you want to add as a connection the easier it will be for your virtual assistant (VA) to handle and the more accurate your database will be to keep in contact. Search for people by job title, company, network, group, and key words. This alone will increase your sales by 10% for a minimum wage employee to operate.

Only respond to serious inquiries. The messages you will receive will be “Add me as a friend, join my network, connect with me on___”. Since this is a two way street people will be asking you to join their network. Be sure to have your virtual assistant (VA) examine the profiles of these people carefully. Treat adding people as if you were contacting them to join your network. If they do not match the creIf they have 2,000 connections they could be on a frenzy to just add people to their list to SPAM. Make this rule clear to your VA so that you do carefully select people you want to do business with to join your network.

Personal messages. Personal messages may or may not be outsourced. This is a judgment call. VAs will not know your personal life so it may be difficult for a VA to respond. If it looks like SPAM it is probably SPAM. If the message is not personalized, it is probably SPAM. Any messages sent out to your contacts to join networks or become friends should always include a personal message. This will increase the success rate tremendously. Create a template for invitations and messages that match the type of person, group, or purpose of communication.

Gadgets In Google Docs

A gadget is a tool that makes numbers, words, or phrases and turns them into diagrams, charts, maps and processes. There is no such term as gadget in Microsoft Excel. In Google Docs there is gadgets.

Example gadgets:

1. Map of addresses in a geographic location

2. Pie chart to show visual percentages of a certain group

3. Bar graph that reveals statistical trends

4. Line graph that indicate financial analysis

5. Translation from English phrases into Spanish phrases

Gadgets let you do more than what you can do with Excel. My suggestion is to create your data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and upload into Google Docs. Once the data is selected choose, Insert Gadget, to determine how the data will be used in the Gadget.

Your choices are to:

1. Publish gadget within the spreadsheet

2. Publish the gadget to a new worksheet

I prefer the latter.

Play with this and have some fun. You will be able to take real numbers, addresses, names, and terms and show them in a unique way that people will understand and appreciate the creativity. Don’t forget that these spreadsheets can be published within a website or a blog.

You must be using Google Docs to create gadgets.

Common Mistakes Made with Email Signatures

Every time you look at your email signature or any marketing piece for that matter you should always ask yourself how can I make that look better.  Does your email signature make your group say WOW!

Here are some common mistakes I see and how you can make your email signature better:

1. No hyperlinks. Most of your web traffic will come from your email signature.  People are already online when checking email, why not take them to your website or multiple pages within your website.  See my other post on creating hyperlinks in email signatures.
2. Email signature too long. Sometimes the abbreviated version is better for people who you keep in contact on a regular basis.  If someone prints out a correspondence and more than half of the communication is email signature then you have a problem.
3. Always including the email signature. Replies on email messages should not contain them.  Just my personal opinion.  If you inserted the long or short in the origination of the conversation then why include it again.  Recipients can easily scroll down and retrieve your information.  Overkill of the signatures can be dangerous.
4. No physical address. Can SPAM Act of 2003 says all commercial emails must include a physical address.  Will the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) track down an agent who sends out 1000 per month?  I can’t say yes or no but we must include it anyway to avoid potential problems.
5. No fax number. Yes. there are some people that still use fax machines.  Be sure to include the fax number on the email sig because if I want to send you a contract right now but I can’t find your fax number anywhere we have a probelm.  Put it on the long sig.
6. Insert the / character (example 555/555/5555). Those of you that have smartphones and try to dial  out directly from emails that insert the / character now have to write your phone number down and then call instead of tapping the link on the phone.  It is just a common courtesy to do this for others who you want to call you.  Dashes and periods are fine for differentiating prefixes.

Create a Website for Each Client

Websites do not require a web developer to make changes anymore.  Google Docs allows you to create websites for FREE!  What type of websites can you create?  Let your mind wander.  Anything you create in Microsoft Office you can upload to a website using Google Docs.  All files must be saved as a 97-2003 document and meet the size requirements for each file type.

Here are 25 types.  Choose one at least:

1. New listing flyers
2. Marketing plan
3. Rent vs. Own spreadsheet
4. Postcards
5. Listing presentation
6. Financing alternatives
7. Prospecting sheet
8. Phone duty schedule
9. Print advertising proof
10. Buyer rep presentation
11. Listing agreement
12. Broker dislcosure form
13. Seller closing costs
14. Business cards
15. Open house flyers
16. Mortgage accelerator
17. Staging tips
18. Relocation guides
19. Investment presentation
20. Budget
21. Letters to clients
22. Listing reports
23. Address labels
24. Closing paperwork
25. Calendar of marketing activities

IDW Cruise - Registrations Created Using Google Docs

Read below the new website created for the Instructor Development Workshop using Google Docs.  Notice the links take you to other pages created in Google Docs.  Come to the cruise to learn how to do this for your company, school, or association.

Diane Simpson Presents

The first Instructor Development Workshop

Continuing Education Cruise march 14th-19th, 2008

Licensee Continuing Education Offered Too!!!

Click below to see the main page

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhj67h9r_0hqfnjhr7

Home	Meet  the Instructors	Cruise Itinerary	Cruise Checklist	Early Registration Discount Until October 1, 2008
How the CE Cruise Came About!	It’s All About the Food!	Continuing Education Fees and Registration	Cruise Fees and Registration	Audition for the 2010 Cruise

This is your personal invitation to join me for an exciting adventure into continuing education for real estate instructors and licensees.   Alabama is my real estate home so I chose to offer this inaugural cruise from the Port of Mobile.  This Western Caribbean tour will stop for two days of beach walking, sight seeing and shopping.  Two days at sea will offer 24 hours of education, 12 designed for instructor continuing education and another 12 hours for licensee continuing education credit.  If you have already met your CE requirements this is your opportunity to get a head start on the  requirements for 2010.    The courses will also enhance your professional development and you will enjoy networking with like-minded real estate professionals.

CE Course Approval:  All courses will be approved in Alabama.  States with Alabama RECIPROCITY decide individually whether to approve the courses for their state CE credit.  Historically, courses approved by one real estate commission are honored by the reciprocal state however, it is not guaranteed.  Check with your commission and periodically refer to this CE Course Approval link for updates.

Browse through the following information about the courses, the instructors, and extra things happening on the cruise that may be of interest.  My goal is to get you excited and interested in being part of the experience.  If you already know you want to be on board when we sail next March, you can sign up NOW by completing the registration form attached to this message!   Register early and get a great room on the ship and I will save a seat for you!  Registration information for the cruise and the separate education opportunities accompany this invitation to Mark The Date.

Google Maps with Google Docs

Create an excel spreadsheet of locations and addresses and build a map in seconds using Google Docs.  It is so simple to quickly identify where physical locations are on a map for your online visitors plus give them a birds eye view to boot.  You will need to have a Google Docs account to set this up.  Upload the spreadsheet or start entering the data on a new spreadsheet.  Insert a Gadget called Google Maps and select the range of data from the excel spreadsheet to populate the addresses of the map.  Publish the map to its own web page or to a blog. 

See below as the example.

http://www.retechtraining.com/custompages_reports.php?key=g228387

Doug Devitre - Social Media Websites

Can people find you on Google or other search engines?

What is the cost of not being there?

Do other people appear when visitors type in your name in the search engines?

Create a template from Microsoft Word with all of your personal information.  Next start visiting some of the online social media sites and copy paste the information to each one from the Microsoft Word document.  Hire an assistant to do this for you.  You can now create several sites that link back to your main page.

Doing this will make you appear at the top of the list when people type in your name in the search engines.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddtd5whr_79fttpgrkr

Doug’s Social media sites

http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougdevitre

http://www.youtube.com/user/MoveWithDoug

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=628201438

http://twitter.com/dougdevitre

http://del.icio.us.com/dougdevitre

http://dougdevitre.myplaxo.com

http://www.jigsaw.com/MemberProfile.xhtml?screenname=dougdevitre

http://www.zoominfo.com/DougDevitre

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28116669@N03/

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm66/dougdevitre/

http://digg.com/users/dougdevitre

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A248010RB141A1

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=dougdevitre

http://dougdevitre.yelp.com

https://www.xing.com/profile/Doug_Devitre

http://www.technorati.com/people/technorati/dougdevitre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougdevitre