Why Peripheral Not Tunnel Vision is Your Key To Success

I just finished reading a great post by my friend, Jimmy Mackin with The MLS App.  He truly hit the nail on the head so well that I just had to put the fingers to the keys and write my own take on it.

Image Courtesy of deanspic on Flikr.com

In his blog post, Mackin describes how the new Google + is another “shiny object” placed in clear view of business owners, such as Realtors®, that distract and divert their attention from what we know works and will continue to work if we keep working it.

Now, what I am NOT saying is that Google + doesn’t have the POTENTIAL to be another great source of lead generation and income – what I (and Mackin) are saying is it’s NOT YET.  That’s where the peripheral vision philosophy comes into play.

By keeping your eyes open to the things happening around you, you can stay informed and allow things to evolve (or not evolve) while still keeping on the track of success you’ve been on (before Google +  came into your line of vision).

What you don’t want to do (but I see happening every day) is to have tunnel vision;  by taking your eyes (and more importantly, efforts) off of what you have been working diligently on (for however long) and changing gears to a new “shiny object”, your road to success has now taken a detour and you may not make your way back.  In fact, you may go completely off course and wonder in 6 months why your business has come to a screeching halt!

A severe scenario?  NO.  Not at all.  It’s actually reality for many business owners who do not have a definitive plan.

You may say, “But, don’t I want to jump on the bandwagon while the iron is hot?”  ”Get in during the initial phase?”  No, this isn’t a pyramid scheme – this is social networking!

The moral of the story is, stick to what works, but keep your eyes open to new opportunities that are bound to arise.  Jumping ship is not your key to success; Stay onboard with your goals and they WILL be met!

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Last week the news hit the stands that Chris Smith, Co-Founder, of Tech Savvy Agent was jumping ship and taking on a hot new job with Inman next week.  Since then there has been quite the social buzz about what that means to the raving fans of Tech Savvy Agent that have been following us since we began back in October 2009.

“Will Tech Savvy Agent cease to exist?“

“Who will be the next Tech Savvy Agent?“

“Who the heck is Steve Pacinelli and Suzanne Roy?!“

These and other questions have been answered by Chris Smith himself, along with Max Pigman, National Speaker/Technologist and VP of Move, Inc.,

Watch this short video and then leave your thoughts and comments below.

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We, at V.A. Work, don’t always talk about real estate and nor should you!   Imagine you are at a party and you walk up to someone and start a conversation by saying…

“21 homes sold in Baltimore last week and the percentage of those that sold under market value was 73%”

Do you think that you would get a warm response or a confused look?  I would say the latter of the two.  Would you start a conversation like this in real life?  Then why would you do it on the Internet?

Instead, I would bet that a more normal way to start a conversation would be…

“Did you hear about the Home and Garden Show they are having in Baltimore next weekend?   Last year’s was great!  Have you ever been?”

Now, the response that you would get to this conversation starter would more likely have a positive response, right?

The same can be said for your online social networking.    Don’t talk AT people, talk WITH people!

Go give it a try and see what kind of responses you get and let me know how it goes!

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Last week Jerry contacted me again and asked if I would be interested in doing another interview to see how things had changed for me. WOW! Have they changed!

Social networking has taken my business from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds! And much more importantly, my client’s businesses too!

Here’s an excerpt from the write up from The Herald Tribune today:

Real Estate and related industries have suffered the most during the Great Recession. So I checked in with Suzanne Roy, who depended on real estate agents for her living when I interviewed her in 2006.

“The real estate industry has not affected me at all,” she says. “Actually, I am making 10 times the amount I used to make.”

Roy is a virtual assistant, an independent businessperson who offers administrative and Internet services to her business clients.

When I spoke to her in 2006, she specialized in providing support services to real estate sales agents who wanted to spend more time listing and selling houses.

Roy continues to work for real estate agents, but has mastered social-networking and online-technology skills that she applies to most industries.

As a result, “my business has skyrocketed,” she says. “The opportunities to connect with people has gone from a speck on the Internet to the entire world in the matter of moments.”

Roy moved from Bradenton to Stuart but the Internet permits her to have a home-based business and work with clients in any location. “My husband got a job transfer with Verizon, and being a VA, I can work from anywhere life takes us,” she says.

You can read the entire article here:

The virtual assistant: home offices for many

Article courtesy of Jerry Chautin, SCORE Volunteer

Jerry Chautin is a local volunteer business counselor with Manasota SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business.  You can follow him on Twitter.com/JerryChautin.

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NOW YOU CAN HAVE YOUR
TOP PRODUCER MARKET SNAPSHOT
EMBEDDED DIRECTLY INTO YOUR
FACEBOOK FAN PAGES!

Yes, the wait is finally over. We have created an application within Facebook to allow you to have your Top Producer Market Snapshot product embedded directly within your Fan Page(s)!

What does this mean? Well, it means that the millions of Facebook users who visit this mega site on a daily basis have access to your Market Snapshot product like never before! The great thing about it is that the prospective buyer or seller doesn’t have to leave Facebook to complete the form, it is all right within your Fan Page, so they can remain in the comfort of Facebook.

Not only can you have it within your Fan Page on it’s own tab like above, but you can now also have it on your wall directly underneath your Fans where it can also be filled out without leaving!

This, along with adding your MLS Search into your Facebook Fan Page, is exclusively offered only through V.A.Work’s Real Estate Virtual Assistant, Suzanne Roy, and her team of tech savvy professionals! If you want to hone in on gaining more leads through the world’s largest social networking site, please visit our Top Producer Help Fan Page for more information.

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