One small goal at a time!

For the first time in over a month I feel like I had a good week!

I really do struggle with time management, goals and priorities, so meeting one of my goals this week feels like an incredible accomplishment, even if it is a somewhat small goal in the grand scheme of things. This week I set a goal of getting a website up on my domain that actually works and can capture lead information for me while I'm out of town for almost two weeks. It's a wonderful feeling to have accomplished that goal!

I did have to let some of the other things I have going on slide a bit. Just based on this week though, I think I've found a good formula to work with when it comes to my own schedule. Setting daily goals and making daily schedules and to-do lists just leave me feeling overwhelmed and unproductive.

This week I set one major goal: Design website and get it up and working. Then I had a couple secondary goals: Go to my "problem" rental to mow the grass and remove all the staging items to get it ready for the new tenant, and to attend a meeting for Local Real Estate Deals Magazine to go over some new and exciting things we're working on. I also had to make time for the kids and took them to the pool and park a few days. So all in all it was a very successful week! Several of my "bottom" goals did not even get touched, but perhaps they will one day have their turn being the top goal of the week.

The working website was a primary goal for me because I am aiming to capture as many leads as I can over the internet. Taking tons of phone calls all day long is not feasible for my life, and paying a phone service is not yet in the budget (but I know the value of them having used one in my previous REI company). So my new marketing and mailers are all going to be driving sellers to my site to capture their information. Cross your fingers that it works for me!

So if I didn't email you back or take your call or meet with you this week, I hope you'll forgive me for putting on my blinders and working diligently on meeting my first of many weekly goals to come. Obviously I don't want to ignore the world every week, but think of everything I could accomplish if I could!

Not a "sales person," I like "word spreader" instead!

I am not a sales person. Not truly. It doesn't really jive with my personality. Which is funny because so much of what I do is sales, in more than one aspect of my life.

Even though I kind of detest sales in many ways (shhh, don't tell my ex-boss!), I also can find it quite pleasurable in many others when I actually believe in what I have in hand. Today I talked at length with several people about Local Real Estate Deals Media company. I believe so fully in the company and what we are doing that I don't even view my calls as "sales." I think they're more about spreading the excitement I feel about what this company is doing and where we're headed. Sure, we're looking for companies and businesses to advertise with us, but you'll get no pressure when you talk to me! I'm just happy to ramble on and on to you about all the things we're working on that serve the grossly under served real estate investor market.

I think of myself with Local Real Estate Deals as more of a "word spreader" than sales person. If you choose not to advertise with us, that's fine by me. But I bet you'll take more notice of our company when you come across something on the web, or on Facebook, or on YouTube or wherever we pop up. We're growing in leaps an bounds and the momentum and flow of ideas is almost staggering. Its hard to keep up sometimes! I know that everyone I talk to raises the awareness of our company that much more, and I also know that in the not too distant future, they'll be calling me back asking if they can still get into the next issue of the magazine or get that channel sponsorship on our TV site.

So although I have little confidence for my personal knack in the field of sales, I know my excitement for what Local Real Estate Deals does is spreading. I love just talking to others in the investment industry and chatting about what we see and how business is going. It may not make a die hard sales person out of me, but I could not be more pleased to spread the word while I help Local Real Estate Deals grow a little more every day!

Lets whine about how life gets in the way...

As part of our evolution at Local Real Estate Deals Magazine, we will soon have a columnist (and good friend of mine!) writing about the perspective of women real estate investors. Lets face it, men in this industry far outnumber the women, so there are certainly some differences and stories behind those of us in that minority!

Being a member of this minority and talking to my friend about the column got me to thinking about my own experiences as a woman real estate investor. After some careful thought, I don't believe there is a true disadvantage to being a woman in this industry per se, I've had no more difficulties or challenges than many men I know have had. A different perspective, for sure, maybe a little more weeping when things go wrong (not me, but maybe some of you others, right?), but nothing is inherently harder from my experience. Perhaps, even, there are some actual advantages to having some feminine wiles in an industry of men. You know what I mean, Mr. Officer who let me out of that ticket [bats eyelashes coyly]???

Instead of my gender being an obstacle in my business plan, I realized I have a much different "problem" that I work every day to over come. Its the particular stage of my LIFE that poses the biggest challenge to me. True, everybody probably thinks "if only such-and-such in my life were different, things would be much easier!" But I stand by my own claim as being fully legit, darn it!

Let me start by saying I don't regret starting down this path when I did, and I am a firm believer that its never the WRONG time to take control of your financial future. If you haven't started because you're waiting for the right time, STOP WAITING!!!

However, I can't help but think sometimes that if I had started 7 years ago I would have no children, less debt, and a much more carefree way of life as compared to my current situation. I would not have a problem loosing my house or eating ramen every night if something went terribly wrong, after all, it was just me and my husband, we'd manage and get through it just fine. Now, with the kids and nice house and standard of living to maintain, I do get scared of messing something up and ruining my family's lifestyle.

On the other hand, if I could pretend for a while that I'd never been exposed to the idea of financial freedom or alternative means of retirement planning, then I would be able to start down this path 7 years in the future, when my children are older and less needy, and my family is more financially stable.

Being at this very spot in my financial life, with the piled up debt of student loans from our youth, bad credit card decisions of the carefree days after college, expenses of the early children years (daycare, diapers, new clothes for every season) and the nice house and decent cars of the middle aged lifestyle we are entering into makes for some rather high hurdles to lift myself over.

Similarly, with my children still being quite young, they require a lot of my time and attention at this early stage in their lives. Kindergarten has been especially rough on my oldest this year, and I feel that I have not been there enough for him during this turbulent time. I've noticed especially that most of the women that ARE in real estate investing do not have young children, and I believe there is a good reason for that. Even in this new age of parenting equality, women still usually have a tighter bond with their children than men and desire to be with them more often than not. Starting either before kids or later when they are older and more independent would certainly have made it easier for me to focus on what I am trying to do.

But this isn't just about me whining and lamenting about my life as I know it. My point is that even though things do not seem like they are the most optimal time for me, even though so many things make me sometimes wonder what in the world I am doing, I'm still out there trying to do it!

So what is your "such-and-such" excuse for this not being a good time in your life? What obstacles do you feel like are holding you back? No, don't tell me, I really don't care. It doesn't matter what excuse you use, there will never be a better time than now to get started on the path to your dreams. The past is already gone, and you can't be sure that tomorrow will be any better than today unless you DO something today.

I can't say I don't sometimes let life get in the way. Suze Orman even tells us "People first." But hey, if I can manage to not stray too far off track and keep pushing forward then I fully believe that anyone else can do the same. My progress may be slower than some others, but at least I am pointed in the right direction and know where I'm going.

Whine with me if you need to, but I'll only sympathise with you if you're working on your own path too. Otherwise, you just sound like my kids who whine about everything.



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