Tony Marino, Broker, ePro

Well it's that time of the year...Dues are Due... and you either wrote a check or put them on your credit card in order to maintain your status as an active Realtor... Whenever I pay $425 for anything I like to look for a direct benefit to increasing my business... Membership should have its privileges. In this case, I consider this expense a static investment. I am not downplaying the role of FAR, NAR, or ORRA... your membership plays an invaluable role to provide real estate practitioners the resources, education, tools, and guidance to make your individual business model a success. I get that... I hope you do... But, 90 % of your Success in Real Estate Business revolves around your Active Investments... Simply put, "Time or Money" which will actively promotes consideration to buy, sell, rent, and auction real property...

Anyway, why not write another $425 check or extend you credit line a bit more to drum up some business...

Cheap stuff... Flyers! We have beautiful weather... walk neighborhoods where you have a listing... $.15 each flyer...plus gas... $25-$50 total investment... planting seeds for the future... how about an apartment mailer... $.40 all in... you can mail 1000 postcards... 250 for 4 weeks or 1000 straight away... If you worked at Real Living... you get 250 free from Quantum mail... and with the push of a button get them mailed... delivered on your schedule...No printing, No stamping and No lines at the post office...

What if you go to the local grocery...on a Friday...do a collection for a nonprofit or a bake sale for your church and then simply pass out business cards. Community supporter meets neighborhood expert... Or look around for other marketing opportunities, internet prospecting, Newsletters or Calendars... So many ways to get in front of prospects...

Or you can hang around the water cooler, remembering the good old days sharing "Oh Yea" stories with fellow knuckle draggers...

I know this market is tough but just like a turtle stuck in the middle of the road; you only have 3 choices. 1^st, stay tucked in your shell until someone runs you over... or 2^nd you can keep moving to get to the other side...

And, more often, the turtle keeps moving.... He knows it's harder to hit a moving target...

I know what some of you are thinking... what was the turtle's 3^rd option?

It's simple...He can stay put, praying someone will pick him up and brings him to safety... So, for all you folks...?

I just did.

I know you have all been waiting for me to declare.... Now that Colin Powell made his decision, I guess I should be next... General Powell decided to cast his vote for Barrack Obama. He went on Meet the Press to discuss the methods he used to arrive at determining the best candidate for president of the United States. So I, like General Powell, have utilized thoughtful consideration to arrived at my decision...

My research goes back to the beginning of the 20^th century looking to account for the most significant advancements of our American freedom... One of the most significant event happened in 1903 and of course, I am referring to developments and distribution of Crayola Crayons. Prior to 1903, a regular US citizen could only dream in Black and White.... The original "8" colors hit the USA with a fever pitch and the price was right... just a nickel. In fact, all was right with the world...Teddy Roosevelt, a Harvard Grad was the 1^st president to suggest we move the country toward Universal Health Care (sound familiar) except he was a Republican... and Our government ‘s power was restricted by the Gold Standard (most problems could not be solved by firing up the printing press)... It was a time when our President was revered as he became the first American to win a Nobel Peace Prize... and did I mention...no enforceable income tax laws (The 16^th amendment was still 10 years away)... but still most significant was the fact that our Forefather's helped nail the creation of the first "8" colors... Americans were happy with the original selection of "8" for 41 years.

In 1949, Americans needed to be reassured of the American Dream....Harry Truman, obviously having incredible influence on one Pennsylvania business lobbied to have the "8" pack of Crayolas expanded to "48"... the largest single movement in history... growing the color spectrum exponentially... one color for every state (Yes, Sarah Palin would have been considered Governor of a different country...)

Life would never be the same... Americans always wanting more... and Government giving people what they asked for in exchange for their votes... Democrats have constantly promoted the expansion of the Crayola Box feeding the never ending American Habit of wanting more... You may not be aware that Bill Clinton was the last President to get a 24 color increase... (current 120 color box) However, you are all too familiar that Democrats continue to focus on expanding the size of the Box, while Republicans are focused on allowing you fill the Box yourself... neither is focused on how fragile the box has become...

So, in my own way... I have decided this race is about color (I have your interest now)... It's about my favorite color...Green... Therefore, I have decided to Vote for the Candidate that will give me the most Green for my vote... So Far, Barack Obama has promised to give 95 % of taxpayers $500 for their vote (40% of those folks don't pay taxes).... He calls it lowering taxes... I call it the "new age" of quid pro quo... So, here is my proposal to Barack Obama... I will vote for you if you give me $60,000 of the $150 million raised in September by your campaign and you pledge to work hard with Hallmark for a 10% reduction in colors...allowing for the fact that some critical colors will not be touched... I think that would be a fair offer...

And, FYI, the $60,000 is not arbitrary... It happens to be my portion of the $10 trillion dollar national debt... you know the debt... that ugly monster that chews up 16% of the federal budget... the Elephant in the room that has swollen to 72% of the GDP... Oh Yea..., that Debt! We don't hear much about that.... but Day in and Day out, both McCain and Obama are ignoring the present day realities as they each promise to make everyone's crayon box bigger and better...$500 here, $5000 there... All on the backs of other people... Look around my fellow sheep, those other people are you and your children...

So starting today and over the next two weeks, I hope you make the right choice... Lately, you have been inundated with 1929 talk, endless Wall Street Crash Stories trying to play on your fears... I am not sure of many things but I am 100% sure, we are never going back to a Box of "8"... but it never ceases to amaze me what excuses politician use to promote false promises and somehow "promises" always get the better of reality...

You have 14 more days... it's up to you to make your own deal...

My offer stands until midnight on November 3^rd.... $60,000 is a drop in the bucket... Let's just call it redistribution...

Ps. you will never know if I received the $60k... it will be between me and the ballot box...

A few people have asked... why I haven't been blogging. My answer sounded like I was Forrest Gump... "I have nothing to say... and that's all I have to say about that..." For me "Blogging is just "one" medium to influence and motivate the people around me..." also Blogging helps new recruits to get a picture inside our company beyond a regular interview... it's not about me...It's just another tool in the tool belt... Agents appear to be running into the blogosphere as an alternative to water cooler chats in today's abandoned office... It's always easy to avoid the difficult activities required to make gains in this sagging real estate market.

Now don't get me wrong, some of you have specific blogging goals, measurable goal, community goals, office goals, that when reached; will turn dollars into sense... and others, the pioneers, conquering short sales, managing REO's and foreclosures, recruiting successful agents, are all attempting to educate the rest of us with the potential and the pitfalls in our changing market...

But ultimately, finding buyer and sellers is what I am all about, either by motivating Great Agents or Closing Transactions.

So, my question to you is this... Are You Keeping Your Eyes On The Prize? I hope your "DAILY" blog posting is not specifically designed to grab a piece of the daily top 10 ... Don't get me wrong, the world needs great headlines but what about looking around your office.... Which agents are still doing business? Look to those agents still doing "Day to Day Combat" and ask them about their success...

If you don't have anyone doing business at your office and everyone is moping around with their knuckles dragging on the floor... maybe it's time to find a new office? If all you are getting at the water cooler is water... Maybe you should find a new office? What is holding you back? Now more than ever, the future is bright and you everything to gain!!! Remember, the most gain is always measured from the bottom of the market...That's when you make the largest profits... Heck... Now is the time to Join Real Living! (Sorry for the shameless plug)

I still love Orlando... I can't imagine having to endure the challenging weather of the North and Midwest, as I did it for 36 years of my life... With 260 days of sunshine combined with sharing our home with the #1 Mouse on the planet, Orlando is tops on my list. Most original Orlando residents would think I was crazy to go to Downtown Disney at the height of spring break and the Friday before Easter but I went anyway...

I drove around and around looking for a parking spot, eventually having to stalk vacationers as they made a move toward their rental car. In my Real Living Golf Shirt and Carol in a light sweater, we caught the end of sunset (almost 8pm) as we became one of the cattle to herd our way through the Disney Stores and Shoppes. Watching people, and soaking up the energy of the Disney Disciples who were trying to get every last second of Disney Magic that they could soak up.

Finally, we made our move to the Portobello Yacht Club, a Great Restaurant. The last time, we enjoyed a peaceful lunch with about 20 other people, now the Yacht Club had been transformed into a train station with what appeared to be a 1000 people trying to get a ticket to ride. We slipped through the masses to the bar and ran into one of my customers, Steve Richard, who is the Head Chef. I got a chance to watch for a few minutes before he noticed us, Steve is a Pro... I can tell you he was totally focused on managing the chaos of the day while trying to give all his guests the experience they were expecting. Carol and I mused over the calm that he brought to the environment as he lead his staff to produce and deliver, in our case, Excellent Results. Now dinner was complete and we walked back to a slightly less crowed parking lot, reflecting on "Life in Orlando." We both agree this is the best place to sell Real Estate and find people homes... We love Orlando, and we appreciate the masses who visit our city... Heck, 10 years ago we were just like you, and now we get to call this city our home...

http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group1/Portobello+Yacht+Club.htm

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/moreMagic/moreMagicLanding?id=DTDLandingPage

I know everyone in the US of A and across the pond think of Orlando as this huge city... (Of course, the 50 million visitors stopping to visit the Mouse and Friends blows reality out of proportion.) Quite the contrary, Orlando's million-ish people implanted from around the world is very small... The city is such a baby, every decision on the development of downtown Orlando will have significantly more impact on the future of Orlando than some older larger cities. The downtown development board including the mayor, Charr Midkiff , Naeem Coleman and others are at the top of their game and working hard to make sure they stay on top of all the changes in downtown Orlando. They were instrumental in the implementation of the ambassador program which is designed to make downtown visitors feel more comfortable with all the new development, and they are up to date on all the new coffee Shoppes and the latest hamburger joints as well as the current changes to awesome projects like 55 West, the Paramount and Tradition Towers. Most of all they have a good idea of the impact each project will have on new residents. It's too bad the real estate market hit low gear before the newest housing projects had a chance to impact each other. I think the momentum would have carried them past their most obvious obstacles.... In my opinion, development of a reasonable public transportation system and the opening of the newest downtown venues (Citrus Bowl, Magic Arena, and the Performing Arts complex)...But time marches on, and Downtown is still seeing closings taking place at the Vue, and within a short time 101 Eola... final sales are taking place at the Solaire and Sancutuary and the Star...Charr and company give a city's update the 1st Thursday of each month at the seaside plaza, on the corner of Church and Orange, 8:30 am... it's worth the visit.

http://www.downtownorlando.com/

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/downtown/orl-downtowndevelopmentmap,0,4043277.htmlstory?coll=orl-comm-downtown-utility