Some Realtors get a little too crazy with their closing gifts.  Most have their name emblazoned on whatever it it may be.  What I like to do is inexpensive and well received.

I go to the $1 store, yes the $1 store, and I buy two small garbage can or buckets.  I fill it with the things that most buyers will need but forget where they are packed.  Here are some item ideas.

• Paper Plates and cups.  There will be food of some kind.
• Paper Towels.
• Toilet Paper.
• Tooth brushes and tooth paste.
• All purpose cleaner
• Soap
• Bottles of Water
• Screwdrivers
• Hammer
• Snacks sometimes
• And always garbage bags.

That only cost $14.  Besides this being the perfect usable gift for your client, on the marketing side they will remember you every time they use those handy items to save them a trip to the store or some kind of improvisation.

photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/80546354@N00/

Don’t get caught improperly using the word REALTOR ®for your web domain as in this example.  Whoever controls it now is trying to sell it for $1600 hoping to find some new agent that doesn’t know better.  Here are the rules:

1. The term REALTOR® , whether used as part of a domain name or in some other fashion, must refer to a member or a member’s firm.
2. The term REALTOR® may not be used with descriptive words or phrases. For example, Number1realtor.com, numberone-realtor.com, chicagorealtors.org or realtorproperties.com are all incorrect.
3. For use as a domain name or email address on the Internet, the term REALTOR® does not need to be separated from the member’s name or firm name with punctuation. For example, both johndoe-realtor.com and johndoerealtor.com would be correct uses of the term as a part of domain names and jdoe*realtors@webnetservices and jdoerealtors@webnetservices.com are both correct uses of the term as part of an email address.
4. The REALTOR® block R logo should not be used as hypertext links at a website, as such uses can suggest an endorsement or recommendation of the linked sited by your association. The only exception would be to establish a link to the National Association’s website, Realtor.com.

You could easily build up the ranking before NAR becomes aware of it and then have to scramble to come up with another catchy name.  This guy will probably find himself in this situation eventually.   This one really surprises me, illinoisrealtor.org, I guess REALTOR® associations can use it.

photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/7301623@N06/

One is that they want to justify their workday. If at the end of the day they say they were at the office for 8 or 9 hours, it sounds good to their spouse or even themselves.

Two is that they are inefficient or using ineffective tools and theories.

In this blog I will help you with becoming more efficient but you need to be honest. If you can get your work done in 3 hours, fine. Do that and then do something else. I will agree that you should work more and optimize your day but the more honest you are the better you can adjust your activities as you are ready to take more on.

Understand I don’t want you working just 3 hours a day but by starting with that and teaching yourself to be focused you can add on time. Just like exercise, you may not be ready to run a marathon. Just accomplish what you can.

If you force yourself to work 8 hours when you aren’t prepared you will cheat. You will talk to people, surf the internet, etc. You will pick up bad habits that will be tough to lose later.

Trust me.

Take a notebook and make entries every 15 minutes or so to see what you are doing. It works like a diet journal or a budget. You have to know where your resources are going. This way you will see how your energy and activities flow.

If you notice that you aren’t getting things done, stop. If you feel pressure to go back to work then do it. You will be growing that internal motivator that you will need when times are hard.

And don’t hang around the agents with bad habits. It is just like school. Be careful who you hang around.