RECR's Blog: June 2008

As of the recent birth of my #2 son, I have noticed a bit of change in my loving wife and figured I had better write about her and all of the new moms in the world and give them the 'props that are much deserved...

First and foremost...THANK GOD that women exist.  If the expansion of this species were layed upon the shoulders of MAN, we would have been extinct a long time ago.  I dont do pain very well...so the thought of going into labor puts me into a fetal position in a corner crying. 

Secondly, I think it should be Mother's Day every day!  I dont think that this should be regulated to one day simply because there are plenty of every day occasions that moms encounter that should be rewarded within a baby's first year of life...or thier 18th year of life...

So, Ive taken the liberty to write down a few of these first time occassions that I found in BabyTalk magazine...and the subsequent reward that should be given at that exact moment. 

Occasion -- You produce your tenth quart of breast milk...
Present -- You should get a new suede jacket! (Hey, if your gonna get milked like one, you deserve the flashy leather exterior.)

Occasion -- You survive reading Goodnight Moon a total of 58 times in one sitting.
Present -- You should get a telephone, a red balloon, and a great green room at The Plaze Hotel. (You have to read the book to get this joke.)

Occasion -- While changing a hazmat-grade diaper on a public park bench, you run out of baby wipes - then realize that you dont have any diapers in your diaper bag either.
Present -- Therapy!

Occasion -- You go out for a rare hour of "me time" and accidentally spend it napping on a cross-town bus.
Present -- A new designer bag (to replace the one that was stolen from you while napping on the bus)

Occasion -- In search of your baby's favoritce pacifier, you waste half a morning rooting through the trash barrells at the playground.
Present -- A new bottle of Calgon and Chanel No. 5 (But, you swear nothing will cover up that smell...)

Occasion -- You scrub roughly 1,000 flecks of puried squash off the dining room walls, unaware that you're also scubbing off the paint.
Present -- More therapy!

Occasion -- You lovingly record every detail of your child's first month in her baby book.
Present -- A professional planner for her first birthday party (that happens next week!!)

Occasion -- You greet your spouse with girlish enthusiasm after a long day of projectile vomit, projectile poops, and a surprise visit from your in-laws.
Present -- An Academy Award!

So, "Here!! Here!!" I say to those new moms of the world!  And another "Here!! Here!!" to those moms that have years under thier belts.  If it werent for you, we wouldnt be here!

If you would like information on how to get ready-to-act buyers and sellers from www.recr.com, please call Clint at 800-977-7058.

I wanted to introduce one of RECR's newest (and probably, best) agents.....Dawn Craig.  Dawn has been doing real estate for the better part of five years...primarily all through internet "lead generation" style companies.

Tough row to hoe, as many of you already know...But, she has been able to pull off massive amounts of success, as you will read in the latest testimonial that she sent to me about www.recr.com.  Please remember, this lady has only been with my company since March...And only been in real estate for a short period of time.

"Since beginning in real estate over 4 yrs ago I decided I wanted to focus on internet leads. My broker tried to discourage me.  But when my first deal came from and internet lead, she couldn't tell me no. 80% of my business comes from the internet, mostly buyer leads. I closed over $4 million in sales last year. I have tried many different companies to get my leads some have been good but most not worth it. Many companies give leads that you pay for to several agents, which was really discouraging and made it tougher to get the lead. 

I had a phone call from your company and thought I would check RECR out. I joined your company in March, 2008. I always try a company for at least 6 months to be fair. I closed my first deal with a lead from RECR last week (2nd week of June, 2008) for $236K with 3% commission.  That is more than 3 times what I paid to join!!!  300%+ return on my investment...AND I also have 2 more buyers from your leads in escrow set to close middle of July. Not to mention I have 2 more actively looking and are pre qualified to buy now. I have found more success with your leads because you contact them and verify the information.  So, the leads are much better qualified. I am extremely pleased with the results of your leads! The most important factor to working with the internet is to follow up quickly. It is nice when the client says "I was expecting your call."!!!  I just wanted to say ‘thanks'!  And, I would highly recommend your referral service to any agent!  It looks like I will have a great year this year!"

Dawn Craig, Realtor, ABR,e-Pro
www.AZBuyhomes.com

Awwwww....Thank you very much, Dawn!!  And I hope that you and I can work together for a long, long time!  If you would like to discuss the opportunities that www.recr.com can provide, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058 or at 406-329-7652 and let's talk.

If I built it...Shouldn't they come??  Uhhhh...Sorry, but this isnt the Field of Dreams...The honest answer.....No, not really.  And even if they do, they probably won't stay for long. 

In this world of instant gratification and the ability to get exactly what you want at any point in time, simply having a website is no guarantee that anyone will see it...and there is no guarantee that anyone that does see it will become a lead without being able to get them "hooked". 

Now, Im not a techie website building type of guy, but I have seen a metric ton of real estate websites and I know what works...and I know what doesn't work.  (And if you have not yet read that post, you need to!!)

The fact of the matter is, according to some industry experts, the average viewer sees a website for a total of 5 seconds before deciding of they are going to stay or leave.  If you dont have something there to keep thier attention or offer them something, they are gone. 

So, how do you keep them there?  There are 5 questions you can ask yourself about your site that can help you immensely when it comes to traffic and leads capture...

1. What am I doing to drive traffic to my site?  Do you put your website on your business cards, literature, listing ads,?  What about optimizing your content of search engine optimization (SEO)?  Have you listed your website with local business directories?  Do you post your listings online on outside sites?
   
2. Do I have a reason for people to stay on my site?  Do you regularly update the content of your site?  Is that information useful in some way?  Do you know what pages of your site are viewed more than others?
   
3. Do I require interaction?  Are you asking your visitors to "click here for more information"?  Are you asking them to sign up for email alerts on new listings or special offers?
   
4. Is it easy to contact me from my site?  Is your contact info on every page?  Are the forms that you use for future contact simple and easy to fill out? 
   
5. Is it easy to upgrade or maintain?  Do you require a site administrator to do updates, or can you do that on your own without spending hours on end getting it just right?

Bottom line - No website traffic = No leads.  There are other ways of driving traffic to your site - either through SEO optimization tools and fresh content to PPC ad campaigns.  But, even with those in place, if your site isn't designed properly, all the money in the world isn't going to help your site get leads.

If you would like more information on getting buyers for your listings, please contact Clint at 406-329-7652 or 800-977-7058 and the team at www.recr.com will be happy to help!

Now, I consider myself fairly environmentally aware...I recycle things like cans and turn off my lights and things at home all the time.  I just feel better about leaving a smaller footprint on the planet for my kids to try and clean up. 

But, I have noticed a disappointing lack of the same things at my office.  I never recycle anything at my office...and I took a good look around my office -- NO ONE DOES!  I was floored...And, according to a recent survey I found, as much as 40% of workers in America are irritated by the lack of 'green' efforts at thier office.

So, I made a quick list of things that you can do to help your office become more environmentally conscious. 

Here are 10 things that YOU can change to make your environmental impact less within your own office:

1. Turn your computer off when you go home.  Not powering down for 16 hours uses a ton of energy and your boss (or your electric bill) will thank you!
2. Use fewer cover sheets when printing or faxing.  One is good.  In fact, if you get cover-sheet Post-It notes, you dont need a cover sheet at all.
3. Recycle!  Recycle paper, cans, plastic, etc.
4. Turn your air conditioning up a few degrees.  By the same token, turn your heat down a bit.  You will barely recognize the change and the effect on your bottom line will be significant.
5. Turn your lights off when you leave the office.  This includes desk lamps, etc.  The less energy you use, the better.
6. Dont print stuff just to have stuff.  Chances are, you have a computer.  Make notes, reminders, etc...on your desktop for quick reference.
7. Bring in recycle bins.  You will be amazed how many people start using them!  Also, set up regular recycling runs for the office.  People will start bringing in stuff from home just to take advantage of them.
8. Dont use a ton of paper products like paper plates and cups.  Plastic plates and cups can be recycled after you use them.
9. Print double-sided, if possible. 
10. Dont print paper copies of electronic files.  If you have all of the info you need on your laptop, you dont need to print it for a folder.  This is very wasteful and creates tons of trash that can easily be avoided.

We only have one planet.  We need to do as much as possible to make sure that it remains intact for our children and thier children.  If not us....then whom??

If you would like to know more about www.recr.com or how we can help you get more closings, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058.

I love my sons...probably more than they will ever know.  But, there are a few things that I have learned having sons that has lead me to do a couple things:

1. Apologize to my parents.

2. Pray for forgiveness. 

3. Call neighboring states to see if any of my previous exploits have lead to warrants for my arrest.

So far, Im good...LOL.  But, I have learned some new things about boys that I just had to share with you all...If you have a son or ever were a son or have brother or sisters with sons, this will make perfect sense to you as well.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY SONS 

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'uh oh', it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies. 

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy. 

11. "Play dough" and "microwave" should not be used in the same sentence. 

12. Super glue is forever. 

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water. 

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O. 

15. VCR's do not eject 'PB & J' sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do. 

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes. 

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving. 

18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is. 

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens. 

20. The fire department in Missoula, MT has a 5-minute response time. 

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. 

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy. 

23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. 

24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids. 

25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid. (Trust me, it works...)

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!! 

If you would like information about www.recr.com, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058 and I would be happy to speak with you.

When I was a little boy, my grandfather, Clayton Vincent, a retired police officer in Bend, Oregon, with a chiseled chin and a flat-top he has sported since before my mom was born used to tell me about being honest and caring...and that if I would only stick to those two things, I could achieve great things in my life.  If I was willing to work hard and apply myself with every fiber of my being, there would be nothing that I would not be able to do.  And, as he put it, "..when you brush your teeth before bed and see your reflection in the mirror, you will be able to know in your heart you gave it your all.."

It really wasn't until I was in high school and was sent this poem cut from an advice column in the Oregonian (my grandpa's local paper) that it truly dawned on me what exactly he meant. 

And I wanted to share it with you all...

The Man In The Glass ---- Anonymous

When you get what you want in your struggles for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people might think you're a straight-shooting chum
And call you a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with you clear to the end
And you've passed your most dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.

That advice from my gramdpa has never steered me wrong...ever.  And through the cementing of this concept by having received this poem, I have had much success -- both personally and professionally.  I live my life by this creed, if you will.  I run my business by it.  And I have this poem written in calligraphy and framed above my desk and it hangs beside my front door at home.  And, I hope it brings you as much as it has brought to me.

If you would like to do business with an online referral company that truly does business differently, please feel free to call Clint at 800-977-7058 and I would be happy to speak with you about www.recr.com.