Regardless of whether or not your vote panned out or not yesterday…it’s time to move on!  Yesterday was a historic day no matter your party affiliation and is solid proof that in America anyone can accomplish anything!

So getting back to work…it’s time for The National Association of REALTORS Annual Convention 2008!  Although I’ve only been a licensed agent for 4 years, I go to convention every year.  The list of reasons why is exhausting but I will give a few.  There is so much to see and do that I focus on certain things each visit.

My first trip was to the 2006 Convention in New Orleans.  My specific goal for that visit was education.  I signed up and attended 3 days worth of classes!  I spent very little time on the Convention Expo floor as I feel you have to crawl before you walk.  I returned home with over one hundred ideas and set a goal to implement 1/10 of them.  My production level tripled in 2007 and I won the Joel Radman Award!

At the end of 2007 I went to Convention in Vegas.  This time I decided I would focus on the Expo and listening to speaker panels.  I didn’t do any ”classes” but instead listened to some of the top agents speak of their systems and tools of the trade.  I spent a day and a half on the Expo floor looking for those systems and product that would streamline my business and allow me more time in front of clients and with my family.  At this point in my 3 years of business I had become one of the top agents in my office and was consistently sought out for advise by fellow agents.  I felt the “systems” I created were the equivalent of two full time staff members!

In two days I leave for the 2008 Convention in Florida.  This year my focus is “getting back to the basics”.  I have signed up for a few classes, plan to listen to the expert agents, and spend more time on the Expo floor.  I just passed my four year mark in the business and I can say my biggest obstacle right now is growing pains.  I don’t have a lead generation problem like most.  I am turning down more listings than I am taking on and still have a steady stream of buyers, though fewer than this time than last year.  I will still finish the year out good and have added another feather to my cap.  Two weeks ago I was elected to the Board of Directors of my local Board of Realtors.  I have an agenda and hope to help my fellow agents survive this economy and practice their trade with less expense!

The purpose of sharing this story is to show those of you out there that are currently lost on where to go for guidance…get outside of your marketplace and into a world of REALTORS from all walks experiencing all types of markets.  Learn from them and do not try to reinvent the wheel.  In order to not repeat history we must understand it.  I attribute all of my success to learning the trade by studying the top agents in my market and elsewhere!  Do yourself a favor and take some funds from your advertising budget to strangers and spend that money on attending the Convention!  It’s best boost to your business in the shortest amount of time…

See you in Orlando!