Need Creative Marketing Ideas?

I’m sorry but I just have to say that all of this negative energy about our Las Vegas Real Estate market just makes me smile……it’s the same reaction that I see in my yoga students. There are those who come out of my class perspiring and saying whew, that was a tough class, their muscles ache, complaining that it wasn’t what they expected, etc. (These are my beginning yoga students) and then there are those who come out with a look of bliss and tell me how much they enjoyed the challenge.

Why the difference–same class, same teacher but totally different experiences. I see the same thing in real estate, agents who are taking advantage of the market and making more money than they did last year. Because when the market changed, they changed their marketing! Without exception those agents got out of their comfort zone and started doing something different.

So operating on the honor system here fellow blog reader, I will share with you a creative marketing idea if you will share just one with your fellow bloggers–post it in the comment section and earn a karmic credit!

My marketing tip is find your local business development organization and find out what new companies are moving to town. Then take out an ad in their company newletter for your relocation services.  

Okay, now your turn.

 

coffe cup dharma

   I’m a little jaded when it comes to finding the answer to lifes dilemmas  on kitchy kitchenware, t-shirts, baseball caps and other assorted and sundry items. In fact even though I try to stay out of judgment about people who proclaim with a bumper sticker their personal philosophy on the car that they drive, I still give them a wide berth on the road.  

However as usual, and being one of the more wondrous things in life, the universe has shown me once again how wrong I can be. I was in a coffee cafe the other day and saw on a coffee mug a little bit of zen philosophy that stopped me dead in my tracks.  

I’ll have to give you my best paraphrasing;

Peace isn’t about being in a calm, quiet, serene environment, peace is about remaining calm and serene in a in a choatic  environment.

It just so happened that last week was one of the more chaotic weeks that I have had in a long time and the mug was just the serendipitious slap in the head that I needed. I stopped blaming the environment, i.e., work, family, etc for creating all of my headaches and focused on my own inner calm. I was able to then figure out what was really causing the issue that I wasn’t effectively handling and do something about it.

Now not that I’m advocating coffee cup dharma, in fact if you feel that you are inspired by reading these type of positive affirmations, then at least contribute to those endeavors that walk the talk, in other words,  they are not  just about crass commercialism. A few of my personal favorites are amnesty international,  free tibet, and the human rights campaign, they all have cool inspirational stuff that you can buy and the best part is that the $$$ goes for a good cause.

Namaste.

 

Abundance

I count myself fortunate that I was able to spend time yesterday with two of the top agents who have websites rankings on google for las vegas real estate.

I count myself doubly fortunate that I count both of these women as friends. 

Diann Tonnesen  whose site  has consistently ranked as the #1  site for a number of years is her own webmaster as well as a world class realtor and incredibly she also finds time to be a fairly accomplished golfer. 

Michelle Sterling  another master of websites and real estate is also a budding golfer who was patient enough to be my partner at our Sunshine Kids Charity Tournament.

Now here’s the cool part about these two ladies, they met for the first time yesterday and even though they are competitors, they both come from abundance. What that means is that they were both were willing to talk about what works and more importantly what doesn’t work for them with each other. It was truly inspiring to see that kind of synergy. They have made plans to get together in the future and who knows what kind of creative ideas and solutions will be generated.

So if your facing a challenge right now, why not contact your competition and see if you both can find that amazing solution that is always there in abundance.

Namaste.   

 

Reduce stress and worry

I was teaching a yoga class last Saturday and one of my students came up to me after class and asked, “What can I do to help  reduce the amount of worry and resulting stress in my life”. It was causing a lack of sleep, lack of focus and lack of happiness in her life. Although she’s not in the real estate business, I am hearing a lot about the worry and related stress agents have about our market and what the future holds for them.  My advice to her was to be present in the “Now”. I know this sounds simplistic but just think back to all of the things that you have worried about in the past—how many of them actually came to fruition? And if it did happen, did sleepless nights help any? So being present is about focusing on today, letting go of yesterday, accepting that only now, this moment is the true reality.

Life is about change, markets will change, people will change, and suffering only comes about by not accepting the change. Accept the change and know that only YOU are responsible for your success, the market or circumstances do not determine your success or peace of mind…and don’t forget to just breathe. 

 

Zen Real Estate

You wouldn’t ordinarily think that real estate and yoga have much in common. However as a real estate broker of a large 400+ agent office and a teacher of classical Hatha yoga, I have discovered many similarities.

The old adage of “What you resist, persist”, is true in both endeavors.

I find that some of my yoga students tend to avoid trying new postures.  It’s important to note that it’s usually through discomfort that we eventually learn to master the posture, and the wisdom learned is obtained through the process, not at the final destination. The true student of yoga understands that the practice is a lifelong journey and surrenders to the concept of “being present in this moment”.  This means letting go of judgment of yourself and that idealized vision in your mind of the final outcome. The joy is in the process, of being aware of every breath and finding that union between the mind and body. 

In many instances real estate agents are also uncomfortable with doing something new or different to increase their business.  Yet it must be realized that to get different results, one must do something different. And this initial discomfort with change will eventually give way to acceptance and then mastery of the skill. Consider adding a new skill whether it is prospecting by door knocking, adding FSBO’s, Open Houses, Expireds or any of the other tools that will increase your income stream. Accept the discomfort and don’t give up if you don’t get the immediate results you think you should.  Recognize the resistance but don’t let it stop you for obtaining your goals and soon you will be master of a new skill that will increase your productivity and increase your income.