Diamond River Currents...Monadnock Region...Keene, NH

Keene NH Realtor® braves Boston RainCamp and lives to blog about it!

I've been a member of Active Rain since October 2007.  My point accumulation is nothing to write home about, since I've been more of a reader and commenter than a blogger.  I'm ranked as the #1 real estate agent in Cheshire County and Keene, NH, but that's more a result of the lack of AR members in my neck of the woods than anything else.  It's easy to get complacent when you don't have much competition, but my complacency isn't paying the bills or bringing me the business I know is out there for me.

Having spent almost three years lurking and learning, commenting and connecting, I know that this blogging thing has helped thousands of AR members increase their business, even in a less-than-stellar market, and I know it's time to start putting it to work for me.

Enter:  RainCamp Boston                                                                                         

"WOW" doesn't even begin to do it justice.  Ben Kinney really knows his stuff and has the ability to deliver the goods with a humor and ease that makes even the most "long-tail-S-E-O-say-what?" among us relax and let the information just soak in.  All the snippets of information I'd been gleaning and testing online suddenly started to make sense.  I have a much clearer picture of what I'm doing right, and more importantly, what I'm doing wrong.  I'm actually able to connect the dots of the various Social Media platforms, and I left Boston's Seaport Amphitheater confident that I can accomplish it.  That, my friends, is not only encouraging, it's empowering.

My advice to my fellow Active Rainers?  Get thee to RainCamp!

If you're committed to bringing your business to the next level, it really is a no-brainer.

BUT WAIT....There's MORE!

Did you know that there are real, live human beings behind those profile pictures?  Seriously!  I've seen it for myself.  RainCamp is an extraordinary opportunity to travel through the looking glass computer screen and connect with some of the folks you've been "socializing" with right here on AR. 

During my time here on Active Rain, I've made some really great friends.  I can safely say that at least 30% of my Facebook Friends are people I've met through AR.  Some have become such close friends that it's easy to forget that I've never actually met them.  We're able to get acquainted a bit more easily through reading blogs or commenting on Facebook updates or re-tweeting 140-character-or-less epiphanies.  Social media often allows us a little more insight into what makes people tick, and I think we're better able to bond without some of the boundaries that we might have to maneuver IRL. (that's In Real Life...and don't feel bad, I didn't know either ‘til my kids told me)

But...every now and then we might just have the chance to see beyond the keyboard voice and profile pic. 

 I was able to re-connect with my favorite "wedding crasher"  after nearly 24 years!

I exchanged FB messages with my newest Facebook Friend, Connecticut's own "Running Realtor", like we were passing notes in school.  I was fortunate to have lunch with some terrific real estate agents and stagers, including New Hampshire's own Sharon Tara, and I finally got a chance to apologize to former Keene, NH resident, Liz Bolton (who moved to Cambridge right around the time I moved to Westmoreland, NH) for not following up on some fabulous blog ideas she had for me.

To transition from info-surge to life as we know it, our day of inspiration and education was followed by the after-party where we could all begin to relax and make the most of a little more "facetime".  I so enjoyed chatting over a glass of wine with Marianne Cherico and Annie (I wish I could remember her last name!!) about staging, antique homes, kids in college and facing the ups and downs of a challenging market.

Sadly, it wasn't until today that I realized that I missed catching up with some of the folks who were there.  (A great reason for AR to provide a list of attendees, so we don't miss our "connections" Hint, hint, AR gods)  Crystal, we won't make that mistake again, my friend!

I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all!  I sure didn't see anyone grousing.  Reeling from information overload, perhaps, but definitely not grousing!

Some things to remember, when you attend your region's RainCamp:

Bring your laptop or, at least, a notebook.  You'll need it to write down a lot of stuff.  I typed up six pages of notes and wish I'd taken more!

Bring business cards.  Lots of them.

Get a good night's sleep the day before.  You want to be fresh and ready to soak everything in.

Seasoned pro or nervous newbie, be prepared to be blown away.

Oh, and if you want to be one of lucky owners of an official RainCamp t-shirt, don't just sit there.

Trust me on that one!

What have you done for me lately? is hardly the mantra of a professional who is putting their clients' interests first. 

Is it me?  I read a blog post this morning in which the author asks whether or not she should stop referring her clients to a mortgage professional who, by her own account, does a top-notch job for her clients.

He's efficient, thorough, and gets the job done.  So...what's the problem?  Glad you asked.  The problem is that "he doesn't reciprocate."  The author has sent him lots of business, and he hasn't returned the favor.  In fact, she even informed him that he'd better remember that business referrals are a two-way street or else she would cease to refer him.

It's clear that the author knows how to do her job.  She obviously knows a good mortgage pro when she sees one, and she recognizes the value he provides to her clients.  However, I can't help but walk away from her post believing that she feels cheated. He does a good job but...

But what?  He does a good job.  Isn't that enough?  Isn't that what we expect?  Isn't that what we look for in the service providers we recommend?  In today's world, a great mortgage pro is worth his/her weight in gold.  To stop referring an excellent provider simply because they don't return the favor, regardless of how good a job they do for our clients, is just a wee bit self-serving, is it not? 

Want to grow your business?  Give your clients the very best.   Refer them to the very best.

Do that and watch what happens...when someone asks them to refer the real estate agent they believe is the very best, they will undoubtedly think of you. 

That's the two-way street you'll find my business on. 

Most of us are familiar with this common bedtime rhyme:

Good night...sleep tight!  Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Apparently, a bed bug infestation can happen anywhere...in luxury hotels, apartment buildings, college dorms or homes.  Housekeeping, or lack of it, has little to do with a bed bug's chosen place of residence.  They're not picky, as long as there are humans or other warm-blooded animals to provide them with their sustenance. These uninvited guests bite their host, feed on their blood, and leave their hapless victim itchy as all get-out.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, this resurgence (or perhaps it's just renewed awareness?) of the pests has not only brought additional business to exterminators, but has also led to a new business niche for (wo)man's best friend:  Dogs That Detect Bed Bugs.

How long before we start adding companies like New York City's The Bed Bug Inspectors to our list of service providers we recommend to our real estate clients?

Fortunately, I haven't heard of any major infestations here in the Keene, NH area.  But still, just writing this has made me itchy, so I'm hitting the shower...

Oh yeah?  Says who?

I see more posts than I can count making this statement (or something close to it) and the subsequent "atta boys" that follow in the comment thread make for a very well-attended pep rally. 

(If you're one of the cheerleaders, you may want to quit reading now.)

I think it's time to stop waving the "I'm A Professional" flag in the face of every single potential client we meet.  Furthermore, I think it's insulting to presume that our time is so much more valuable than theirs.

A few months ago I sent an email out to some of the people in my SOI asking them what they thought were the qualities that make a real estate agent a GREAT real estate agent.

The number one answer?   TIME. 

That tells me that they already value our time.  Not only do they value it, they'd really like to share some of it, and they would like us to value their time as highly as we value our own.  They want time to understand what's going on throughout a transaction, time to investigate their options, time to ask questions, time to talk about their needs, time to make a decision. Isn't it our job, as professionals, to share our expertise, experience, opinions and TIME with them?

Handing a first-time (or first-time-in-a-long-time) buyer a checklist of things they must do before you will spend any of your extremely valuable time with them isn't being professional.  It's being dismissive. 

Insisting that your time is too valuable to waste answering a few questions from someone who is not very familiar with the ins and outs of a real estate transaction isn't being professional.  It's acting superior.

Assuming that because a buyer has not yet obtained a pre-approval from a lender, they are not a serious buyer isn't being professional.  It's being shortsighted.

Sending clients away because they balk at jumping through all your pre-determined hoops isn't being professional.  It's being inflexible.

If you are so busy that you truly don't have time to spend with another potential client, tell them so and refer them to another agent who can spare the time.  That's being professional, because... 

If you're too busy to give your extremely valuable time to a client, then you are of little value to them.