Finding the right movers for your task will demand some study on your part. Make sure to compare moving companies and hire a company that can offer you’re the most competitive moving quote and service. Consider the moving services provided, and be very suspicious of movers with rates that seem too good to be true. Very often a moving company that quotes you an intensely low rate up front will have hidden fees for small services that will add up to your final bill. Also, they may not be the most experienced movers in your area, which will cost you more money out of your pocket in repairing the broken or damaged goods.

Sometimes it is better to ask for moving company’s representative to come to your residence to give you a written estimate of how much the move will cost. Usually, this type of estimate doesn’t take a long time, as experienced sales person can quickly estimate your costs by counting the number of items that needs to be transported.

You may have only a small amount of money that you have planned to spend on your move. If you are moving to another state, you should take into account mobile storage containers. For a small fee, a transportation company will drop off a mobile container on your property. You load it with your goods at your own convenience. You don’t need to rush; usually you have about 7 days to load your goods. When you’re done, the transportation company can either haul it away and store it in a secured warehouse, or transport it straight to your new home. This moving option is particularly valuable for those people who have a small amount of money to spend and plenty of time to take care of loading and unloading. All you have to do is figure out the number of containers you’re going to need for your goods.

You can always select the right moving service for your needs by having a good knowledge of what your relocation task will require. Creating a list with all your belongings and knowing the moving distance will help you in getting an accurate quote and decide whether you should hire a moving company or do it yourself.

A rise of twenty percent in the arts organization has been seen between 2008 and 2009.Out of which, fifty five percent of the art organizations failed to provide training to the staff. They claimed that they do not have time to implement staff training programs. Mouli Cohen cites this underinvestment in training to predict its impact on skill shortages. If this situation continues, future businesses will see unskilled manpower in the performing arts sector which will result in less growth.

Electricity in a box- Latest innovation from California:

The bloom energy box that is claimed to give high power output with reduced carbon di-oxide emissions, has now reached important milestones. China is working aggressively towards solar power development. The US innovation has now slipped into the hands of China, Germany and other nations. Major corporations like Wal-Mart, FedEx, Google, Coca Cola, Bank of America, and Cox Enterprises have ordered for the Bloom Energy’s cell box that was being developed for space purposes by scientists. This cell box will not be available for domestic use as for now it is aimed at industrial purposes.

Importance of Cap-and-Trade Legislation according to Mouli Cohen:

According to Mouli Cohen, if investments in clean tech are not steady then the US might lose it current lead in this sector. With Europe and Israel getting about 30 percent of the global clean tech market, the American share has been decreasing compared to earlier years says Dallas Kachan who is a managing director at Clean Tech group. This group is an investment advisory service provider who have a stake in Clean Tech. As per Mouli Cohen’s article if there is no cap-and-trade legislation then renewable energy research will suffer.

Funding increased in UK in Clean Energy Research Sector reports Mouli Cohen:

According to the article by Mouli Cohen, Prime minister of Britain Gordon Brown will be providing £125m from the UKIIF which is the UK Innovation Investment Fund for investing in start ups and smaller clean tech companies which have not yet had a profit from business. Also the EIF or European Investment Fund and UK Future Technologies Fund has raised £200m. Also Mouli Cohen believes that the funding that is coming from these two sources will increase the confidence among UK clean energy companies to conduct more research in the low carbon sector.

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2010 is the year of the tiger. According to the Chinese horoscope, drama, intensity, far reaching changes, and massive technological advances are in store for all of us. Seizing opportunities and maximizing your personal, individual talents is advised. We believe that 2010 heralds an era when personal branding and micro-niche marketing for luxury real estate marketing professionals is no longer an option.  It is an imperative!  2010 is the year to unleash the tiger within you and embrace the unabashed pursuit of market leadership.

The internet has empowered consumers with self-service capabilities which enable them to ferret out most of the real estate information they need.  Who will fill in the gaps and effectively interpret that information-you or your competition?  When they are ready to reach for purchasing help or are ready to interview a listing agent, who will be the first to come to mind? That is the question!

Most time-starved and attention deficient consumers can only hold one, two or three brands in their minds in any given category of product or service.  The unabashed pursuit of market leadership means seizing the #1 position in the consumers mind. Coke outsells #2, Pepsi 2:1.  #3, RC Cola, is barely on the radar screen and all others colas are settling for the crumbs.

The internet has also empowered professionals like you to potentially become “one-man or one-woman brands”, local celebrities, TV stars, radio talk show hosts and journalists.  Those luxury real estate agents who are willing to get over their fear of technology and make the time to get up to speed with this stupendous opportunity will be the big winners in 2010 and beyond.

Each micro-niche, within your marketplace, represents an opportunity to become a leading expert, the personal brand of choice and the market leader.  It could be a specific golf community or a single high-rise luxury condo.  The idea is to find an uncontested market niche that you can “own” and dominate, and serve better than anyone else. But, the key is to be passionate about whatever niche you choose, one that allows you to maximize your individual talents.

Think like a tiger this year! Be unabashed about your pursuit of market leadership in 2010.

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LOL Special Video Edition
This is a special video edition of the Language of Luxury Blog. Here we feature members of our LOL Team of Niche Experts & Discussion Leaders and also present popular luxury real estate marketing video tips.

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Ron & Alexandra Seigel, LOL Community Founders

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Tropical Niche Grace Lappin is the featured member of our LOL Team of Niche Experts & Discussion Leaders, in the Tropical niche.  Check out Grace:s amazing .75 million property on the island of Providenciales, or Provo as the locals call it in the Turks & Caicos Islands.  Watch the Video!

Lessons from Lamborghini Luxury real estate marketing professionals can learn an outstanding lesson from Automobilli Lamborghini and the Auto Gallery of North Los Angeles. The founders of Auto Gallery, Harry Gray and Tony Schwartz have experimented with a novel way to market these fine cars by opening a showroom adjacent to Neiman Marcus in the Topanga shopping mall.  Their philosophy:  Make the car buying process fun and hassle free!  Watch the Viceo!

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We all feel challenges in our lives.  These challenges can manifest themselves at work, at home, with our health, in our spiritual life.  These challenges are often accompanied by discouragement.  Discouragement can often happen when we survey the difficulties that lay before us.  We can de-motivate ourselves because of the gap between the reality of where we are and the vision of where we want to be.

 

The first thing that usually happens when we find ourselves in that place of challenge and discouragement is that we don’t think clearly or rationally.  We are often in such a frenzied or frustrated state that we lose all objectivity.  This loss of objectivity causes the evaporation of clarity.  Often we will not do what would be wise, which is to seek counsel from a trusted advisor.  We usually do the opposite, which is to run and hide.

 

The second thing we do is to separate ourselves from strengthening relationships.  We create a distance between the outside world and ourselves.  It’s like we go and hide in a cave hoping that things will change.  Make sure that you stand your ground with the people who can strengthen you.  Stand your ground with your friends, your spouse, and your children.  If you have a coach, call him/her immediately to help you move through the challenge and to help hold you accountable to the actions than need to be taken.  Most people will tend to want to be alone, and that is the worst thing they can do.

 

This discouragement can often happen in the backwash of a great victory.  Sometimes our most vulnerable moments come after a great victory.  We can be vulnerable after a great victory at work or at home.  And example would be, you have set a record pace for the first six months.  You have earned more money in six months than you did all last year, and then you hit the wall of vulnerability.  But now you find yourself in the backwash of a great victory.  The great victory only becomes a memory.  You have not prepared for this moment, so there is not a counter-assault planned.  The energy and emotions that you invested to take the hill are spent, and now you are beginning to slide backward.  This backwash can happen in any area of our lives.  We could have made great strides with our spouse.  We have achieved a mountain top experience in our relationship, and then the backwash hits.  You think, “I should be ready for anything,” but then find that you are not.  NASA realized this challenge with the astronauts when they came back from the moon.  They would have this beyond mountain top experience of personal achievement and then would slide into the abyss of depression.  How do you top going to the moon?

 

The third condition most of us feel, as we face challenges in our lives, is that we become physically exhausted and emotionally spent after we have struggled to reach the pinnacle.  As we stretch and strain to achieve greatness, we deplete the tanks of our physical energy and our emotional energy.

 

The only way to fill them to full again is extended rest and refreshment.  If you are pushing empty in both tanks, it will take more than a weekend to complete the re-charge.

 

There is a Greek saying “You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.”  Some of us live under constant stress and tension.  The bow never gets unstrung and relaxed.  Are you putting yourself under relentless pressure?  We will all break under that level of pressure.  We must give ourselves time for rest and refreshment.  Each person has his/her individual need level for rest and refreshment.  I will often tell our clients that it’s essential to learn your “rhythms of work.”  Your “rhythms of work” are how long and how hard you can work before burnout hits.  When discouragement and frustration overcome you, and you just want to crawl into a ball that is a sure sign that your tanks are too low.  We all need to know our “rhythms of work.”

 

We must also realize that the physical tank will fill up much quicker than the emotional tank.  When our emotional tank gets low, it takes longer to fill up again because the filling valve is smaller and slower.  However, our body can recharge rather quickly with rest.  A solid, restful weekend will usually refill your physical tank.    Our emotions and our mind take much longer to recharge.  A person might need a week or longer to feel emotionally rested and re-centered in his or her life.

 

Be sure to protect your emotional tank.  Don’t let anyone else control the level of this tank.  We often will let our clients take control of these valves.  If we turn over the valve controls, we are in for a train wreck.

 

Lastly, don’t get lost in self-pity.  Self-pity can cause you to cultivate a victim mentality.  It can say to you that you can’t do any better.  Self-pity will lie to you about everything.  It will lie that your skills and abilities are not good enough even after your big victory.  Self-pity is a pathetic emotion.  It is an emotion that will drain your emotional tank rather than fill it.  Self-pity is like being face-to-face with a Bengal Tiger.  That tiger desires to claw you to shreds.  Self-pity wants to get into your mind and do major damage. 

 

Make sure that you stop the challenges and discouragement at your front gate.  Don’t separate yourself from your trusted advisors.  If you don’t have some trusted advisors seek them out.  If you seek you will find.  Prepare for the backwash after the victories.  It happens to all of us.  We have all been blessed with more gifts and talent than we use.  Our calling in life is to use them all … daily.

 

 

 

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As a culture, we are busy. We have technologies that allow us to stay connected to our business even when we are supposed to be taking a vacation. We multi-task, and as a result of our increased efficiencies, we are busier than ever and have trouble finding time to “fit it all in.” One of the biggest barriers to finding enough time to fit in the most important things in life are those people and things that steal away what precious time you have available. In order to be productive we must eliminate those time wasters and focus on things that help us move closer to our goals. I call this process “Taming the Time Thieves”.

If you follow the following five suggestions, you will find you have more control over your day—and you will get more accomplished!

The chatting syndrome. Conversations (“chit-chatting”) with co-workers, friends, family and neighbors can happen anytime, anywhere, in person, by phone or even via the Internet. These chats can be worthwhile—sharing ideas, catching up on old times, talking about fun things you each have in common—but the reality is that frequently these chats do nothing but steal huge chunks of time from your day. Keeping in touch with friends and family is, of course, a good thing, but yapping endlessly about not-so-important things is a real time thief, especially if it saps your time for either necessary or more desirable pursuits. Give yourself reasonable limits as to the amount of time you will spend chatting. If you are stuck with a rambler, politely say, “I’ve got to go”…and do it.
The E-mail Black Hole. If every time you open your e-mail it is cluttered with many Fwd: blah, blah, blah e-mail messages or other junk mail and you hate working your way through them, get off the forwarding lists! Many times it is people who have less time available than you (or who don’t know how to handle their time) who will forward virtually every e-mail they get to a long list of “e-mail buddies”—and one way to control this is to either set up a non-business email account to receive those emails at  johndoe@yahoo.com—or ask to be removed from those mailing lists all together. Seriously, are those jokes SO funny that you have to read every one of them? Also, never get trapped “surfing” the Internet. That can suck a couple of hours out of your day in a hurry! It’s ok and important to answer your business email quickly, but save the others for evenings or weekends when you can deal with the other personal things in your life.
Clients from Hades. Sorry, but this is real and every agent knows what I am talking about. Sure, we love our clients, but you and I both know that some clients can suck every waking moment out of you. You have to know who’s the boss. You are! (I know, sometimes it feels like every new client is the boss!) Your buyer’s agents have experienced the dread of showing a dozen homes to “Lookie Lou” only to discover they couldn’t make a buying decision if their life depended on it. Your accountant, doctor, dentist or insurance agent are not available every waking moment of every day, why should you be? Pre-qualify each buyer and make sure you have a buyer’s agreement. This first step will let them know you are serious about your business. Then set their expectations as to how you will work with them up front and what you expect from them as you show homes.
Dumpers. Ever heard these words? “You handle it.” It may be a spouse, a relative, a co-worker, or a child, but YOU become the dumping ground. When you hear “I don’t want to do/don’t know how to do it,” and the “dumper” is fully capable, you need to take control. Unless you bounce back those things that truly can be handled by others, the dumping will continue (or worse, if there is no objection from you, intensify). They are not going to stop if you don’t protest! Speaking of which, it might be time for you to hire a good assistant to take over some of your more menial tasks.
Technology. Technology is a double-edged sword. There is no doubt that you need it—as a Realtor it can do more to free up time in your day than just about anything else—but you have to have a strategy for learning it and using it. That’s one of the reasons why I emphasize learning one new thing each day with your technology, then shut off your computer and go to work. Technology is not supposed to be all-consuming; it’s just one of the many priorities that needs to be fitted into your day.

By eliminating your time thieves and time wasters you will find more time every day to focus on the more important things in your life, like family, friends, faith, fitness, and of course your finances.

© Verl Workman, Pinnacle Quest Consulting 2010

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Verl Workman

Verl Workman is a leading national speaker, coach and consultant. Despite his busy speaking schedule, and role as co-founder of Pinnacle Quest Consulting Group, he still sells real estate so that he can test and stay abreast of the latest tools and techniques that maximize results. He uses that knowledge to assist individuals and companies in building effective business strategies, implementing powerful technology solutions, and establishing strategic competitive advantages through coaching, seminars and private consultations. To contact Verl visit www.verlworkman.com or www.PQPipeline.com or email him at AskVerl@verlworkman.com.

Follow Verl on Twitter: http://twitter.com/verlworkman

Connect with Verl on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/VerlWorkman

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LOL is both a professional networking community and a learning community. It is a place where you can gain access to the wealth of the world by acquiring social currency. That is, by becoming fluent in the Language of Luxury.

Our purpose is to help you attract and better serve more high net worth clients.

We now have a name for the language of luxury itself, LUXETERA, ETC. which is a featured category on the LOL Blog. Here we highlight luxury news from around the globe, courtesy of our LOL media partners, and also share insights from our own continuous research in the world of luxury.

Please take a moment to watch the VIDEO introducing Luxetera, Etc. Be sure to join the LOL Community and subscribe to the LOL Blog. Thanks for Watching!



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Expression of Joy?
Luxury real estate marketing professionals take heed!  A very valuable lesson in messaging, can be learned from the massive new ad campaign of luxury brand, BMW.  Messaging is the words you select to communicate the essence of your brand to your target market.  A brand’s message tells your audience how you or your company wants to be perceived as distinct from your closest competition. As such messaging is an extremely important component of personal and company branding.

BMW has set out to “own” a word in the mind of affluent consumers. They have staked a claim to the word “joy” and they are spending big bucks to get it to stick in your mind.  We do not believe that it will stick. Whereas, they have owned the phrase, “the ultimate driving machine” for years, BMW is completely missing their target this time. They are now off their previously strong brand signal which stood for efficiency, high-performance, and precision engineering.

Do you know of an agent or a company in your marketplace or a neighboring marketplace that “owns” a segment of the market? Perhaps, it is a specific golf community, a luxury high rise, the downtown area or the waterfront area.  Their name is synonymous with that niche.

You can own a niche or a category of product or service. But, you cannot own an emotion! eBay owns the word “auctions” on the internet. The only place where they do not have a monopoly is in Japan where Yahoo! owns “auctions”. eBay actually bowed out of Japan and ceded to Yahoo!

When someone wins an auction on eBay or Yahoo! they may experience the emotion of joy. But, neither can claim the emotion as a brand differentiator. When new homeownersa close escrow on their first home can one agent claim ownership of this emotion as a means of being distinct?

Could a teenager derive more joy from purchasing her first car than a third time BMW owner?  Joy transcends demographics which is another reason why it cannot be owned as just a luxury word. Besides, do Mercedes or Lexus owners not experience joy?

The “expression of joy” depicted above is an actual canvas the size of a basketball court, a BMW publicity stunt, created by a driver “joyfully” driving on the canvas with various colors of paint. Could a joyful Acura driver not compose such a canvas?

If you want your luxury real estate personal or company brand to stand for something, make sure it is something that your competition cannot also stand for or own. Then, get your messaging on target. Otherwise, you will defeat the entire purpose of branding: “Top of Mind” in a specific category or niche.

Perhaps, a better new word for BMW to own would be “Vision”.  Check out this cool BMW concept car on VIDEO! (Click on the center of the video player).



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By Cheri Alguire

Remember the “best made plans of mice and men often go astray?” The old adage applies readily to your business plan if you do not manage your time effectively and/or delegate activities when needed. You can have the most inspirational vision, the tightest budget, the most sensible production plan, but if you don’t have the time or resources (staff) to accomplish the goals, you are little better off than when you started.

To better understand the importance of the concept of time management, take a look at how you spend you time when working. Begin with a work day and then expand your analysis to the entire week. How much time do you spend “IN” the business? This refers to the crucial everyday details of the job. It includes the showings, the opens, the listing appointments, and the negotiation of contracts. How much time do you spend on the technical aspects of the business? The accounting, the scheduling, the entering of data and working on files? Without question, this can take the lion’s share of any given work day. However, danger awaits you if that is the case.

Working “ON” the business is vital if your business is to ultimately succeed and cannot be ignored. These tasks include management of the business and visionary activities. It includes mentoring, motivating, training and tracking accountability. It also includes “the big picture” activities like studying, reading, attending speakers and seminars. The problem with working ON the business is that it is too easily set aside for the daily “put out the fire” duties of tending to clients and paperwork. But that is why it is critical to create a physical time management plan that you abide as religiously as your budget. Chart it out, mark it in your Outlook calendar, and pay attention to it.

Similarly, you must think ahead in terms of the number of tasks that have to be completed to successfully make your business run. You cannot do it alone. Again, you cannot do it alone. (At least, not for very long.) Remember early on in the business planning process, we referred you to THE E-MYTH? Revisit it again in order to (re-)learn the lesson of wearing all the hats. Probably the best way to delegate the work load of the business is to create and refer to the resources chart and written job descriptions. If it’s not your job—delegate! If the person responsible isn’t doing the job, confront the problem and replace him/her as needed. You are running a business. Without delegating responsibility, you are doomed to crash and burn. And you won’t be having any fun, either.

Coach Cheri Alguire has helped hundreds of Super Small Business Owners, Realtors, Managers and Coaches create Business and Life Plans. Check out http://RealEstateBusinessPlanningGuide.com or http://www.SmallBusinessPlanningGuide.com/ contact us today at http://www.CheriAlguire.com

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