Prepping for the New Year

It's that time of year. A time to review 2008 and preparing your business plan for 2009.

Whether your a Mac or PC user, or prefer online to computer-based systems, you probably have all - or most ;) - of your activities in some calendar. I have an iPhone and use google calendar along with Microsoft Outlook Exchange and Apple Mail. They all get "synced" up and make life much easier.

But the most important thing is to match the goals you may have set for 2008 with the activities in your calendar. And, if you're really enterprising, then match your calendar with your checkbook. A very successful entrepreneur/mentor of mine taught me the value of this activity. He said, "You can tell if you've invested in your future or wasted your past by matching your goals with your calendar with your checkbook.

I've taken that concept and added a little to it: my values. I believe that when your actions are consistent with your values AND calendar AND checkbook, your life becomes filled with power and strength. You may not "get all you want". But you'll surely be better off than not doing anything at all!

Whether you're an independent contractor or employee, I urge you to take the time to do this valuable activity.

For more information about how to set goals, take a look at http://www.mindtools.com.

The Market's Going to Change!

No. This post isn't what you think it's about.

This is really about how the residential real estate market is going to change as a result of products like Point2Agent and ListHub. These products enable listing distribution to some of the most popular consumer websites - like google, Yahoo Real Estate, Trulia, Zillow, et. al., - with the primary objective of getting more eyeballs to the listing.

But, really what does this mean?

I believe it means significant change to the existing real estate business models: the brokerage business model, the independent contractor agent, and the MLS's.

Right now, listings are owned by brokers - not the agents that actually have the relationship with the buyer and/or seller, nor by the homeowners themselves (owners sign their property listing information ownership" over to brokers when they sign listing agreements). Agents, as well as consumers, generally don't understand this point.

For the benefit of consumers, should this whole model change?