Conversations That Matter

If you've been living under a rock, you may not know Scott Stratten but you're in for a treat! "Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you."

He is renowned for being a Forbes 'Social Media Influencer', Author of 4 best selling books, and now speaks full time for companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross, Hard Rock Cafe, Cirque du Soleil, Saks Fifth Avenue, Deloitte and Fidelity Investments and now Royal LePage and other real estate companies.

On Success:

"Four books, the unpodcast and 50 keynotes a year = 14 year overnight success story." :)

On Entrepreneurship:

"You can't be taught to be an entrepreneur - it's either in you or it isn't!"

On Real Estate and Realtors

"I don't hate realtors I hate bad real estate marketing.  It's the number one industry based on trust and the ability to connect and community. You can't rush relationships. You can't rush trust. There's no shortcuts to authenticity."

On What NOT to do when it comes to your marketing!

Scott recently bought and sold and you'l hear the brilliant way his Realtor made his way into Scott's heart. #donuts

"Understand real estate is the LONG GAME."

On Brand:

"If you are your authentic self in real estate, you have no real competition!"

Listen to Scott and partner Allison Kramer on the Unpodcast where they filter through all the advice on how to truly succeed in business AFTER you listen to this one ;)

(*Note unfortunately during the last 10 minutes there is an echo due to issues while recording with skype. We apologize to Scott and our audience.)

Meet Srinivas Rao  founder of UnmistakableCreative.com and 'Internet Famous' for living an unmistakably creative life, writing a best selling book "The Art of Being Unmistakable" and Host of the "Unmistakable Creative Podcast" interviewing some of the most awesome and interesting people! (Did we mention he is unmistakably creative?)

Laura Monroe (new Marketing Director for Real Satisfied!) discovered and sent me Srini's Compass  knowing I would love it and suggested we do a CTM with Srini! :) That girl knows me well!  I have been connected with Srini for some time, a fellow Misfit, Srini embraces carving out his own path to success which he says is best found using a 'compass' vs a 'road map'. I had read The Compass before an agreed Srini has a unique perspective on the world, the not so straight path to success and entrepreneurship and in this Conversation That Matter, he shares his story with vulnerability and authenticity.

Enjoy!

*we did this #CTM while Srini was on the road to San Diego so audio only.

Deeply philosophical, insightful and one of the most articulate men I've ever had the pleasure of learning from, Jeff Turner  has become someone I respect as a leader, a visionary, and a friend!  He has an uncanny insight into the subtle nuances affecting any business' success, and can simplify even the most complex ideas for the rest of us. Earning his experience and wisdom over 25 years as a seasoned entrepreneur and successful senior executive in major corporations, he writes of himself:

With degrees in psychology from Grace College (Bachelor of Science: Psychology) and Ball State University (Master of Arts: School Psychology), I look beyond the “how” of social and internet technologies to get to the “why” that unleashes their true power. I apply the beauty and science of creative communications not just to my own organizations, but to those of my clients. Through these practices, I’ve helped my companies and clients achieve measurable, practical, real-life success … time and time again.

In this Conversation That Matters, Jeff addresses our shared passion for vision, values, culture, and as President of Real Satisfied the importance of monitoring your brand utilizing their customer satisfaction surveys and tools and why that matters.:

An organization that has a clearly articulated vision that is real, and clearly articulated values that they actually live, has more power...achieves higher results, is more profitable and has higher levels of satisfaction.

The value of this data is in improving the real estate industry... not in getting more leads.

Amen! Finally, as you can see, Jeff is a beautiful writer, speaker and communicator ~ far better than I!  Prepare to be enlightened! #ThoughtLeader ;)

I have been a long time fan of Chase Thompson's back to his "The Ticker" show days where he and his co-host Corri Corey did little 'Entertainment Tonight' style segments providing huge value to the Real Estate world sharing best apps, practices and business advice back when he was in the Mortgage broker business. You'll see immediately that he was MADE for broadcasting!

Jump to today and Chase has been a busy man creating a number of new businesses including Notelinq, an online auction platform, to buy and sell performing and non-performing notes (like eBay for real estate notes) and his epic podcast NoteMBA which he launched in iTunes and was immediately recognized as 'New & Noteworthy'. You'll learn pretty fast that when Chase gets an idea, he drills down and researches every aspect for the best possible strategy!

In our CTM, Chase and I have a pretty amazing conversation around our shared passion for marketing; The importance of STORY and he is the MASTER! Check out his LinkedIn piece about consistency being an absolute Super Power. (There is mention of underwear outside of his pants!) According to Chase, consistency is the 'NUMBER 1 THING!' You can read that post HERE.

Speaking of SUPER POWERS and amazing stories, what Chase didn't mention is that he recently helped his wife deliver their own baby girl Violet in early February with no midwife or doctor! Both mother and baby are just fine thank goodness!

We dig into our shared passion of Marketing and I asked the question: How do you build your audience and share a meaningful message? Chase says “ find the vehicle that fits you. Get to know the native platform that makes sense for you. Who is the tribe that you want to talk to? Dive in on ‘who you are’ ‘where you’re from’ and ‘what is really true to you’ whether that's on video, as a writer, or possibly daily emails. Whatever works for you!

How do you do that RIGHT?

'Infotainment/Edutainment' Deliver the content in an entertaining way! Take a story and package it well! Content AND design both matter!

“Stories are all that matter period.” ~ Chase Thompson

At one point Chase and I dig into the topic of FAILURE. He has a very practical approach to dealing with failure that I believe we should all embrace.

“Failure is neither good or bad, it’s just a thing...I Take what I can take from it." ~ Chase Thompson

So how does Chase constantly come up with so many great new ideas?

He commits the 1st hour of every day to himself first before anything else. He employs commitment and discipline and quoted James Altucher "The daily practice" who encourages the goal to improve 1% every day! Chase focuses on gratitude, humility generating 1o new ideas every day! Amazing!

Stay with us to the end where Chase has one last great suggestion about how we can foster better relationships! I loved that we swung around to this GREAT IDEA! Thank YOU Chase!!

To connect with Chase please follow him on Twitter at @Chaseth or feel free to email him with your marketing questions at [email protected].

So there's a reason I titled this post this way and its worth taking the time to explain:

Anyone who follows Jim on Facebook will notice that he often writes posts with 'Thinking About: ....." and it usually includes some very human perception about life and how it should be lived. For example

THINKING ABOUT… “Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I'd rather not belong to.” - Gilda Radner. (I would rather not be a part of this “club”, however it has changed my life for the good.) 

So now you know two things about Jim.

One: he's a thinker and he believes in sharing his positive attitude, and

Two: He's a cancer survivor THRIVER!

(Context is important)

Jim and wife Ann Marie Nugent partner on their team The Bay Area Team (with Pacific Union – Christie’s International Real Estate) AND their 'Magnificent Life' as Jim refers to it. You will too when you hear how he is living his life fiercely and intentionally and how he does it!

And as a testament to the level of commitment that Jim appears to bring to every area of his life, this will be his THIRD YEAR raising money in his Cycle For Survival ride on February 21st!

 As Jim writes:

JOIN THE BATTLE WITH ME:  This year is my 14th Anniversary! In 2001 I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer, and in 2004 I began another life or death battle, with UCSF Medical Center as my “home” for almost five months. Their medical professionals saved my life which has allowed me to live a life with manageable limitations. I have a lot less body parts than most, however it has been a miraculous journey.

(Cycle For Survival Update: Jim and his team rode yesterday, February 21, 2015 and raised over $100,000! Congrats JIM!!Please join me in supporting Jim in his amazing endeavour and sponsor his team HERE!)

This #CTM is rich with experience, insights and humility. I am honored to be able to share such a remarkable man with you. The truth is I should have just been quiet and listened.  Stay with us until the end where we get to be truly touched. ❤

Connect with Jim @JimWalberg and prepare to be inspired! :)

Most of you know I'm a bit of a conference junkie but probably not for the reasons you think. It's the opportunity to deepen my relationships and dig into amazing conversations like this one! We work in an industry I absolutely love because the people are so amazing!

This week on CTM we partnered with Mobile Agent TV for a live on location mashup at The Banff Western Connection (hands down THE BEST conference in Canada that only occurs once every 2 years) for a convo with some of my favorite people Bill Madder (CEO Saskatchewan Real estate Association) Jeff Turner President North America RealSatisfied, and Kelley Skar Team Leader of UP Real Estate Group/Marketing Director Repree in Calgary.

The theme of the day kept circling around 'the customer experience' (on the heels of a very interesting "Hear It Direct" session led by Jeff Turner); values; leadership, taking a stand and expecting more as an industry standard and the importance of COMMUNICATION! It was a very passionate conversation! ENJOY!

(The conference stream can be found here #BWC2015 on Twitter )

(Our closing keynote cartoonist Hugh Mcleod (better known as Gaping Void) captured the conference brilliantly! AND I was blessed with a custom cartoon valued at $1000! Lucky me!)

Isn't it amazing when you meet a kindred spirit? That's what I think when I think of Sean Carpenter ~ Agent Development Director for the Ohio NRT companies in Columbus and Cincinnati for all 1200 of his Agents (www.kingthompson.com and www.cbws.com).

Sean was one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Real Estate by Inman News in 2013 and was recently recognized as the #6 individual on social media in the real estate space by the Swanepoel Report.

#ICNY, O'Hara's Pub & Impact

During our #CTM I asked Sean to tell the story of when he went to O'Hara's Pub at Ground Zero in New York City after I had mentioned visiting it and here is the post that he refers to:

"A Reason To Go Out Of Your Way" What's most remarkable is a couple hours after our #CTM, Sean messaged me to announce that when he went looking, he discovered that he had posted this blog EXACTLY 3 YEARS AGO TODAY! (January 22, 2010) Serendipity!Connect with Sean on Twitter and Instagram at @SeanCarp and for more on how to connect with Sean see his About Me page!

http://youtu.be/FDKVLpq94kQ

HARD WORK

There's very few people who will work harder than Gary Chambers AND he's just about the smartest, sweetest guy you'll ever have the good fortune of meeting!

Dedicated to every aspect of his life, when Gary decides to do something, it doesn't occur to him that he might not be able to and so he goes ALL IN!

He's Associate Broker/Owner of Century 21 Power Realty in Airdrie Calgary and Drumheller Homes, as well as Owner/Operator of his family farm! That right there would be more than enough for most, but Gary also likes to add endurance sports to his repertoire and has been competing in cycling AND just to keep it interesting Gary is also a Director on CREA's MTC committee advising on technology and realtor.ca! Sheesh!

Gary is a charming; straight forward; tells-you-what-he-thinks, kind of guy! And when he's not on the farm, he's a WELL DRESSED MAN! Dare I say obsessed? Ask to see his sock/shoe collection!

Banff Western Connection

I was introduced to Gary way back in 2011 (I was off in my guess!) at Banff Western Connection (Easily Canada's BEST conference hosted by the 4 western provincial association every two years in January at the Banff Springs Hotel) He came over to me with his iPad to show me what he was doing with "TractorView" video blogging and I was instantly impressed! (The iPad back then was a hint at how tech savvy he is!)

"Tractorview" and John Deere-  Man meets BRAND

Gary has a natural intuition when it comes to business and branding. On top of his work ethic, he's also incredibly creative ~ a killer combo! Out to differentiate himself, quiet his competition and make use of his time spent in his John Deere in the fields, Gary started his video blog TractorView where he shares his views about farming, tech, business and real estate beginning over 4 years ago - WAY ahead of the curve!

Here's to good ol' fashioned hard work and a killer smile! Cheers Gary!(Connect with Gary @Tractorview )

(Just for fun ~ Here's a "Tractorview" video Gary sent me on my birthday a couple years ago :) )

Dan Keller is "My Mortgage Guy Dan", a mortgage expert in the Seattle area that I met years ago when I first presented on stage at Inman News Agent Reboot. Dan inspired me immediately as  a man living in high integrity, extremely driven and extremely professional.  Even though he had just launched his business, (after a long career in BASEBALL!) it was evident that he was going to be highly successful. His level of confidence, commitment and focus set him apart! Clearly driven by the "Family First" motto, Dan works to be the 'Best Husband' and 'Best Father'!

Dan's wife & partner Jenny is equally extraordinary and owner of Jenny's Cookies (as Dan says a tad sexier than mortgages! Talk about visually gorgeous!) Together they are a power couple! "The Banker & The Baker". :) (Not to mention the whole family is magazine photo ready! AM I RIGHT?? )

Dan believes in the 'Law of Reciprocity' and it shows in everything he does! He is thoughtful, generous and constantly sharing his values and his expertise. You can hear Dan on his own podcast "Coffee With Keller" and make sure to head to Dan's site to download his Concierge package! Amazing valuable content!

If you're curious about "FROG" as mentioned in the title of this post, so was I! Dan mentioned it in our conversation in reference to how he connects meaningfully and without pushy sales with this handy acronym:

FROG - Family Recreation Occupation and Goals!

If you ask people you meet about these key areas of their life, you're sure to get to know a lot more about them and have them think a lot more of you!

The bulk of Dan's business generation is still old school relationship management! Dan has created the 'All About You' form and tracks everything that matters to his clients in a very intentional way and STUDIES his database regularly!

Dan was also chosen for the THIRD YEAR IN A ROW as one of the industry's 40 MOST INFLUENTIAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONALS UNDER 40! Congrats Dan! Well deserved!

What makes this a 'conversation that matters'? I believe that Dan is setting the bar very high by living his life by design very intentionally and with HIGH INTEGRITY. I am inspired by the level of commitment and dedication to his family and his goals. He truly is a 'Good Man'! Follow him on Twitter: @DanKellerMtg and tell him 'hi' from me! ;)

Seth Price is VP of Sales and Marketing at Placester, creators of uber clean, fresh, intuitive, classy websites and their approach to business is to make the most beautiful product, minus the friction and pain! YES PLEASE!

"As a consumer we've been sold a bill of goods that we need this laundry list of things." ~ Seth Price

Seth says nonsense.  We all have systems and tools with multitudes of 'features' that we never use. He believes in the beauty of SIMPLE. So do I!

Additionally, Seth went ALL IN on content marketing but knew that they needed to create AMAZING content to separate themselves and gain traction.

"Individuals can either add to your life or take away from it" ... a lesson learned at a young age Seth's now applying to his strategy with Placester. He identified that people want experiences and he knew that this would be a long term play; an endurance race... not a sprint.

Placester has become the online "Real Estate University" (as I refer to it) when it comes to building your digital footprint and online marketing.

Placester has just recently received some Series A Funding and they are about to take over the world! They now partnered with Hearst Corporation and power the real estate sections of their newspapers (and other partnerships to be announced soon) AND they just partnered with NAR to offer $5.00 sites! #GameChanger

Where it gets fascinating for me is when Seth talks DESIGN and VISION. You'll LOVE Seth's take on those!

"This is about growing something that actually changes the industry. You only do that by reinvesting to scale your business."

Oh yes! Love watching the company growth and development and YOU Seth!

http://youtu.be/2L2DQ_qLY84