Gary Woltal's Blog

Sometimes when you write often enough you do get ideas about another topic you would like to throw out there but then in your mind you determine that no one would really be interested. I have to credit fellow Associate and excellent Realtor from Myrtle Beach, SC Mirela Monte for encouraging me to write this one. It is entitled, "My Blogging Success Secrets."

I hesitated to write this because I don't consider myself a master blogger of the likes of a Sally Cheeseman or Jason Crouch. I don't want to tell others what to write. But Mirela said I knew enough about what worked for me, so to go ahead and share that.

So here are a few things that worked for me and pick and choose if it fits with your writing.

1) Make the topic interesting as best you can. Lenn Harley does great market reports but she adds commentary and color maps.

 

I had a discussion with Sondra Meyer that I COULD NOT in good conscience write about a new elementary school opening down the block because it didn't interest me. She suggested just be me. I would write it with an interview of a child or video taping the school buses rolling in and upload that. Please, BE YOURSELF. Some like market reports and ones like Patricia Beck have the best 3D bar charts I've ever seen.

Some are so good at details like Liz Moras I am still awestruck by her posts. But play to your strengths and make it interesting.

2) Answer Your Mail. This is done so infrequently in the Rain that Mirela pointed out that she liked that I did it. Comment on your comments as time permits. It is what makes a blog a conversation. If my faves could see the BIG SMILE I get when they first comment on my blog and next comment on my comments on their blogs they would do this all the time. If you get a FEATURE POST and get a bazillion comments you are excused on this one.

 

3) Circle Back to Read. When you come back to look at a post from one of your fave writers on another day, scroll down and see if they responded to the last comment you wrote on their blog. Don't miss this. It keeps you knowing what they are thinking about you and provides you more knowledge about them.

4) This one is especially for Newbies. Try to come up with at least one graphic or photo that matches the text of your thoughts. This draws the reader in and like a magazine article creates stickiness and initial interest in what you are writing about. Get them from your own stock, Photobucket, Photoshop, clip art, Publisher, your own camera, but do not use anything you know is copyrighted.

5) Avoid writer's cramp and come up with blog ideas from your own life, your interests, making notes along the way in your day, and even reading others' blogs, talking to them, or reading the comments.

6) Finally, find your voice. If you write enough a voice will emerge. Susan Mangigian and Carolyn Tann-Starr write some of the best Members Only posts. Dan and Irene Woodworth write great encouragement posts. Carol Culkin and Pat Kennedy write great day in the life of a Realtor posts. Carole Provenzale knows EVERYTHING about Feng Shui. You can't beat Jim Crawford for market trends. Barbara Duncan and Trey Thurmond and Deb Brooks know their backyards intimately and describe them so well. Leesa Finley knows historic homes and techy stuff. Lorrena Yeo talks about being a Realtor Mom while Charles Buell is in crawl spaces in Washington State telling us about inspections. Fran the Title Man gives us more info on the settlement business while Jason Sardi keeps us posted on mortgages. Military relocations? How about Cynthia Tilghman? Blurbs from the burbs? Judy Greenberg. Realtor in Idaho? Pam Pugmire. Vegas? Arina Hanciulescu. Alaska? My man Jesse Clifton. Long Island? Adam Waldman. Charlotte? Debe Maxell. Southeast Fla? Neal Bloom, Katerina, Broker Bryant and TLW. Virginia? Chris Ann, Kate, and Charles, Staging? Kathy Passarette, Cathy Lee. Hundreds if not thousands of other voices out there too that space here limits me.

The point in blogging is a circle of conversation going between all of us with respect, energy, humor, honesty, and what time you can give to it. It will be very rewarding to you if you work it. This is what I have found so far. My recommendation? Give it a go. It will take you places you have never been to before. And isn't that what life is all about? One big adventure!! Enjoy the ride.

I humorously wrote earlier about taking an imaginary virtual trip away from our daily work efforts in the Real Estate industry. The reponses from that post fell into two camps. Those who had already enjoyed refreshment in Ocean City, NJ, Maui, getting back from Spain, planning trips to the Caribbean next month or a Christmas trip. Others (like myself) had this idea of refreshment was to happen "some day."

I hear about someday trips to Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the Big Island of Hawaii, touring the monuments and museums of Washington, D.C., and visiting Concord, NH.

We all have these figurative log cabins in our mind. We need to turn this metaphor for getting away and take it from a symbol to a reality. You know why a log cabin is such a good image? Life slows down. You can read that mystery / thriller book. You can walk or ride your bike down the trail. You can hear the birds sing in the early morning. Whether that log cabin transforms into a wilderness vacation or involves the beach, mountains, Europe, the pyramids of Egypt, or the beauty of Vancouver and Alaska, we need to go to our log cabin. Physically go there. No virtual vacations. We need the change of scenery. We need the disruption of our normal living patterns.

We get wrapped up in our business and all the other things in our lives. I am the worst one (maybe along with you if this post applies to you) to put something on the calendar and do it. I highly struggle in this area personally. We need to break the cycle of work. Yes we may like to work, but the recharge of a vacation makes us better. Since I am one who "strives" at least, to get better every day, join me in putting something on the calendar and doing it.

We can all come back and post our pictures of our "log cabins" and know that we are all the better for it. I personally am looking forward to seeing all your pictures. My heroes out there have already shown me theirs, some from Ocean City and Spain and the like, and I know of new ones coming in from Maui. I promise to show you mine when I finally get going in this area. Promise me you'll show me yours from your log cabin. I really want to know you are enjoying life to the fullest. Join me, a struggler here, in growing in this area.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

I have somewhere along the way in life found that I have been a "helper" to other people. Are you a helper? It is something that some gravitate towards. Maybe coming from a family with multiple children we all had to pitch in and it was to be expected. But,

     DO YOU HAVE THE CALLING THAT WILL LET YOU FIND YOURSELF?

There is an ultimate benefit of being a helper. In the field of Real Estate, Staging, Inspecting, Title or Loan jobs, Sales, Teaching and Encouraging, we are all tasked to be helpers. But it tests our limits. People are not perfect. They may even reject our help. They may not be thankful. They may even criticize our help. Helping can be painful. I think along the way I have felt that phrase that says give till it hurts, and no good deed goes unpunished. But helping with a blind eye to reward is a powerful force in the world.

It is nothing less than pure love.

If you practice extra hard helping everyone around you every day, the benefit is you will learn so much about yourself.

I hear people all the time say they are lost. They are focusing on themselves. If they would help others, and help some more, and by the way continue to help others, they would be so full of knowledge about themselves they could never claim being lost. Try it. You need to know who you are.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."  ~ Gandhi

 

Sometimes in the real estate world or life in general you may have had a hard week. It may have been physically hard on you. It may have been an emotional roller coaster. You may have been distracted by any number of issues from family situations to health to just being overwhelmed for whatever reason. I even see it in blog discussions. Mortgage crises, high energy costs, are the politicians making the right decisions for our industry and country? It gets to be a lot of blah, blah, blah after awhile. Your brain gets innudated with noise. You can't clear it out for the din remains. Today's post is an effort to set the mood a little lighter. YOU deserve a mini blog vacation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now are you sitting in your chair with your favorite drink at hand and taking this all in?

I have some music for you as well. Enjoy your blog vacation.

Let me know how you feel and what you're drinking.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            PEACEFUL EASY FEELING

 

In web site design especially for Realtors you often hear of the term "stickiness" or how long a visitor stays on the site.

In working with buyers or sellers in the marketplace Internet leads are a "component" of any good Marketing plan. Typically third on the list yet some agents in building business want to never get out from behind the computer.

In Marketing offline, we need to work a sphere of influence with our referrals, and do some heavy networking. Sphere marketing includes staying in touch with our database of at least 200 names.

Networking involves finding those events, usually not real estate related like professional, civic, social, religious, job hunt related, hobby based, sports based, where basically you are just getting out there and meeting people and mixing it up. Socializing in the marketplace extends to talking to people everywhere you go from the mail center, to the coffee shop, to your hairdresser. Don't forget even your neighbors in your HOA. They need to know you are in the business.

Half of success is showing up. Get out of your comfort zones, away from the computer and meet people belly to belly. Online social and professional networking is great for referrals and resource contacts as well but put a good portion of your efforts into meeting "real local" people. They afterall are the ones in your area that own those homes and are buying the properties. Be sticky with the ones nearby. Without keeping this thought top of mind you could end up banging your head against the wall in building your business.

This is a bad news and good news post. First off if you are alive you are going to have problems. Next some of those problems are going to be doozies. These are troubles. The worst of these troubles are both out of your control AND unexpected. Think of ferocious weather. I live in tornado alley and know about this. One tornado in Jarrell, TX cleaned a house completely off its foundation with 300 mph winds. In Greensburg, Kansas, 90% of the town was destroyed. When I lived in Florida I had 120 mph hurricane wind with rain hitting my window sideways like hail pellets. In life though, you can

      LIVE THROUGH A TORNADO.

 

 

I'm talking about our deep, sad, hurtful, nasty, undeserved, God awful troubles.

The aftermath of severe troubles in our life is like walking through the wreckage after a tornado. I have personally stood in front of houses like this photo and it takes your breath away.

But with heartbreaking troubles we can live through them.

A few points to understand about troubles dealt out to us:

1. Life is not fair it is neutral.

2. You must live one day at a time in the present moment.

3. Find your foundation spiritually or otherwise to make sense of this. When bad things happen to good people you cannot rationalize it, you just have to know that it does happen.

4. Do the best you can with who you are, with where you are in your life, and know that it is good enough. Heaping on extra guilt or regret does nothing for the situation. Know that there are always caring friends around you that will help you. TALK TO THEM!!

Have hope. Learn to trust life. I know it is hard when things are so messed up but it is only one day among many. Believe all the good things that come your way like beautiful friends or family or kind acts for you are not random. You deserved them and they were not coincidences. When you learn to trust life you will see miracles in your life all around you every day and much beauty. Do not focus on what you do not have. Focus on what you do have. Trust that life is unfolding exactly as it should. I know it is.

If you think about the steps in buying or selling Real Estate it is like a sequence of solving problems along the way. As in life if you don't solve the problems when they are in front of you, nipping things in the bud, the accumulated problems can overwhelm you. Here are some thoughts for

KNOCKING OUT PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY OVERWHELM YOU.

1) Develop a Plan. Putting something on paper crystallizes your strategy and you can refer back to it like a roadmap.

2) Focus. Prioritize your problems. Work on the most important ones first.

3) Baby steps. You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Fix the pieces before solving the whole problem.

4) Allocate time. It ALWAYS takes longer than you think. Keep throwing time at your problem.

5) Harness Resources. Believe it or not you are not the all knowing, all powerful Wizard of Oz. Talk to other people. Talk to experts. Listen to advice, but you make the call. Money is a resource, yours or other people's money. Energy is a resource, you only have so much, leverage others energy.

Finally be aware of the other category of problems. The ones that deliver a knockout punch to YOU. These are the unsolvable problems. The puzzles without the answers. 2+2=4 works only in the math world. In real life we have shades of gray. Incurable illnesses. Relationship breakups. Financial devastation. Handle these not with steps but with acceptance, serenity, meditation, talking with others, and prayer. With these you have to wait for the next door to open to a brighter future, and remember this too shall pass. Rainbows follow storms.

Good luck with knocking down any problems you encounter. Remember, you're the GREATEST. You're the CHAMP!!

I sometimes feel like I am living in a Twilight Zone episode. Recently I dropped a new watch I bought on the pavement as I was taking it off to go into a fitness center. From that point on it turned into

        MY MAGICAL WATCH.

What I mean by that on a hot sweaty day I took my watch off to dry my wrist and put it back on. My buyer client watched and saw me thump the crystal a few times with my finger. She said, "What are you doing?" I said when I take the watch off the second hand stops, when I put it back on and thump it the second hand starts running again. I know I need a new watch now, but amazingly as long as the watch is on my wrist it ticks. Off my arm and it stops. Realistically I think it has to do with picking up my motion or pulse or something but even this gave me a life lesson if you can believe that. I know, my mind works in quirky ways.

The lesson is to move forward always. There is a saying if you are not green and growing, you are brown and dying. This translates in our life to being OPEN to new experiences constantly. The good and the bad. While you are above the ground in this life you need to be growing. Meet all types of people. Take risks. Go places. Try new things. Read. Learn from others successes and mistakes. Love. You are NOT done with your education until your last breath when you take that watch off for the final time. Life is a classroom. Sure you will fail and stumble and be hurt. You know what? So what! Get back up.

Have you ever seen a baby trying to learn to walk? A few inches forward. Fall down. Get up. Fall Down. They usually master it on their own by hanging on to a table or the end of the couch.

You know I'm starting to like this broken watch of mine. I just may keep it. Maybe we are all a little broken inside but if we keep in motion in life going forward, we may just keep on ticking.

In Real Estate as with many other professions there is always the search for success. There is the looking for success in life too, and many coaches tell us or books are written about the "key" to success. Who knows if there is one answer to that. I do believe you have to know what your definition of success is. And that,

  SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES.

In this case you have to turn yourself sort of into a Sherlock Holmes type and get your magnifying glass out to identify the clues.

Clues might include income, examples of going the extra mile, integrity, smiles, a sense of comfort around a person, great communication skills, organization, being prompt to appointments.

I have had people comment about successful people being approachable, sincere, charitable, well grounded, down to earth, and hard working.

There are many clues to pick up on why someone is successful.

If you feel you are not as successful as you had hoped to be try to take this thought inside you:

"Change your thoughts and you can change the world."

Do not defeat yourself with what you think inside your head!

 

Do not think you have to have a million dollars either to be "successful."

Take a close look at these happy kids. Do you not think that the parents of these kids are very successful?

Look at those smiles!

When it comes to the end of our days we want to be remembered. Establish for yourself a legacy. Be successful. Watch for the clues to know you are. In the end,

I WILL REMEMBER YOU. WILL YOU REMEMBER ME? It is all about that connection !!!

Lately I have been frequenting one particular Chinese restaurant because it seems the messages I am getting from the fortune cookies have been amazingly accurate. I'm thinking of weaving them into a shoe of some sort so I have all these predictions and words of wisdom, ahem, right at my feet.

      ARE YOU WEARING YOUR SMART COOKIE SHOES?

I mean this with respect to change. A man on the radio today I heard lost $55,000 of his savings in the closing of the IndyMac bank in Pasadena. Can you imagine that?

He was not wearing his smart cookie shoes. Change is inevitable in our lives. Some say it helps us grow. Some say it is stepping stones to build a new you. I say yes. But ever the contrarian I also say no.

I'll give you three examples I have seen recently of out of control change. Traffic. You're driving along on a sunny dry day and some idiot way ahead of you has a wreck and clogs up three lanes of traffic causing you a half hour delay. Next, your dumb computer. You waste an hour of your time because your mouse connection is intermittent, or for some reason your printer won't print today or God forbid Active Rain goes back into a proxy server error storm when you hit Submit post. Lastly health. Someone is at the doctor for Type II diabetes and getting all these pills. Now all these things are unfortuntate and can be to a "certain extent" out of our control. But be a little harder on yourself and put your smart cookie shoes on. If traffic accidents can be a function of car density maybe drive when there are less cars around. With computers make sure you have a newer computer and load the latest drivers. With Active Rain, that's a crap shoot. With your health many illnesses are preventable with some common sense like watching your weight, eating good food and exercise.

I'm not saying bad things won't happen to good people with your smart cookie shoes on but you have more control over your life than you think you do. Don't play the victim. Remember, you've got your smart cookie shoes on. This quote I truly believe in and if you'll read a fortune or two off your smart cookie shoes each day you will go a long way to alleviating this fear. Good luck, and GET SMART!!!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.

Marianne Williamson