Our First New Year

Ahh, the New Year is tirelessly approaching, but I'm hoping to get thanks off to all my faithful readers and clients for their support this last year.  It dawned on me this evening that this is the first New Year for Real Estate Snippets.  We've come almost one full year as our one year anniversary will be January 13, 2007!  Real Estate Snippets actually started on a whim because of Maureen McCabe who continually harrangued me with "You should be a blogger".  I didn't blog.  Had never read a blog.  Had no clue, but she was relentless.  So, to Maureen goes my heartfelt gratitude for dragging me kicking and screaming into the blogosphere where I've met so many new friends and business acquaintances who are like minded, and a few who are not, but challenge me nonetheless!

The last year has been fraught with struggle in the real estate sphere.  Even the successful have tightened their belts and are waiting out the reluctant buyers and resistant to change sellers!  Regardless of the business side, the slower year has afforded me time to learn and expand my knowledge base which I've happily done.  There's been more time for my grandchildren and the flower garden, time for blogging and all its surprises, and time to rehab the old Victorian we live in and the investment properties we own.

There is a time to look forward, though, and that's my challenge tonight.  BiggerPockets blog is having a group writing project about New Year's resolutions.  I don't make New Year's resolutions, but BiggerPockets wanted to know about resolutions AKA business plans as related to real estate.  Business plans I can do.  For the year 2007, my plan is to:

• Narrow my marketing focus to a manageable farm or neighborhood where I can meet the people and become known personally.
• Focus my existing marketing to the narrowed sphere.
• Contact each person in my sphere of influence at least once a quarter.
• Contribute more to my networking group possibly through technology.
• Finalize a cold calling system and stick to it.
• Continue to contact expired and unrepresented listings.
• Restructure my blog to incorporate more consumer friendly resources.
• Re-examine my websites for consumer friendliness and SEO.
• Continue to "bird dog" for investment properties which will be purchased for rehab and sale, rehab and holding, or sale without rehab to other investors.
• Learn from losses in the business.
• Finish my quilt which I started 3 years ago.
• Spend quality time with my family.
• Spend quality time with my friends.
• Read business related books as well as fiction.
• Strip the stained glass window.
• Weed the garden bi-weekly in the growing season.
• Rub the dog's belly at least once a day (It's good for my "blog" pressure and the dog definitely likes it!).

I don't know about the rest of you, but that's a healthy dose of work to do with a bit of play and abandon sprinkled in to keep the sanity.  The hard work will be blocking out the time for each task and sticking to it!  I have no doubt that the dog's belly and the garden will get done, but beyond that, it will be down right tough!

Here's to hard work and a prosperous New Year for one and all!

Comments

[Maureen McCabe]

I thought I had read this but I obviously missed the line: "Real Estate Snippets actually started on a whim because of Maureen McCabe who continually harrangued me with "You should be a blogger". I didn't blog. "

Harrangue? Me? Brynn used that word too... she has thus far resisted blogging but she would be great!

Happy New Year. Happy first year of blogging too.

[Bonnie Erickson]

Maureen, Would the word "pestered" make you feel better? You were the catalyst regardless of what word we use!