The "Step Back from the Baggage Claim" Movement

I discovered Jason Barger this week and HAD to share this 'Step Back from the Baggage Claim' Movement!
Put some "loving vibrations in motion in the world"! Step back and gain some perspective.
Visit http://www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com/

Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Hey there, hi there, ho there! 

I want to take this opportunity to invite you to join our Fraser Valley Social Media Meetup that is taking the Valley by storm!  I founded this group with the intention to build our business relationships in the valley and offer truly valuable high level learning in all realms including Social Media, Business and Marketing.  We also focus strongly on the 'Social' side of things and encourage the networking and enjoying each other's company!!

We only just launched in April of this year but we've already had so many fabulous meetups and we've grown to over 200 members (or Socialites ;)

Guest presenters have included:
1. Stephen Jagger - owner of Ubertor/Reached/ and OutsourcingThings.com
2. Kye Grace - partner at Debruyn Design
3. Rich Patterson - owner of Big Coast Brands
4. Roy Osing - Author of Be Different or Be Dead
and this month I'm happy to announce that Shane Gibson - Co-author of Sociable and his newest book with Jay Conrad Levinson Guerrilla Social Media Marketing

We hold monthly meetings every 3rd Thursday at 7pm at Agave Grill in Langley on 200th Street. (this month is the exception - we'll be meeting on Wednesday, October 20th to accomodate our presenter who has to jet set off for some out of town meetings on our usual meetup date). 

May I offer some tips on how to get the most out of our meetups?

1.  Sign up!
2.  Post a picture and a brief profile!!  This allows us all to know who you are and give us the chance to recognize you in person.  Additionally I may notice that you work in an industry that I may require - who knows where the business will potentially come from!
3. Leave your sales speak at the door!  This group is meant to form relationships organically...that means you'll probably have to come back for more than one meetup because it takes a little time to build genuine relationships!
4. You can add the Meetup app on your iphone and check in to let your social network know where you are and you can even upload pictures on site to our meetup group with Snapup!
4. Stick around AFTER the presentations!  There is HUGE value in the networking and socializing!  

As we grow we may offer more events in between - that will all depend on what YOU want!  I love hosting these meetups - we've met so many fabulous people!  I just KNEW there were great people in the Valley - we just needed a way to connect! 

So join up and please spread the word to anyone you think may be appreciate this opportunity!

Cheers!
TLC

The Realize Movie

Enjoy life...NOW!

Spread Awesome!

This past weekend I skipped across the pond to Victoria to partake and moderate a panel in  the 1st 

(I hope will be an annual event) Social Media Camp ~the creation of Chris Burdge Founder of BWest 

 and Paul Holmes President of IdeaZone.  
(Thanks guys - was such an awesome experience! Smooth!) 

Spreading Awesome was my takeaway~ That's exactly what these two do!  Meet Scott Stratten and Julien Smith ~ our keynote speakers at Social Media Camp Victoria 2010.  I had the fabulous priveldge of partying like a rock star with these two amazing guys! (yes I'm a bit of a groupie :)
Scott Stratten has written the book Unmarketing and is now UN-touring all over North America preaching his message of "Stop Marketing and Start Engaging"!  Spread Awesome - in other words Awesome Content!  I got a real kick out of this:

"Social Media has been around for decades....it's called TALKING!"~ Scott Stratten

Hahaha!  I am a true believer of everything Scott preaches - in fact, you'll likely hear me preaching many of the same things in my presentations! (For fun I live U-streamed a portion of his session! You can view here: TLC TV) 

Scott, me and Julien at tweetup post Social Media Camp!  Fun Day!

Julien Smith co-authored Trust Agents with Chris Brogan (again ~you'll hear me reference in my presentations - yes I did feel like I was meeting my heros!)


Julien spoke about 'The Social Forge' ~ in other words Forge Ahead! He said:

 "I'm a fan of adaptability....How can I try and do that in a new and natural way?" 

He presented the image of an old tree that when enough pressure is applied will now break.  He suggests that as we age we all get far more 'breakable' and so the key is to keep bending - keep pushing ourselves so that when that pressure is applied we can adapt and not break!  "If you just screw around ~ sometimes you can find cool shit." Ain't that the truth!?

" Vulnerable is the new Cool!" ~ Julien Smith

  Love that!  There's hope for us all!  So get out there and go spread some awesome!!  Scott and Julien certainly are!!


PS- Scott Stratten will be in Vancouver on his Untour December 1 - Make sure to get your tix early!!  Thanks to Amuse Consulting; Jordan Consulting and CK Golf Solutions for bringing this great event to our town!!

Meet Darin Persinger - Coach to the Realtor Stars!

I signed up to attend Agent Reboot Seattle long before I was asked to speak there, and one of the major reasons was so I could meet this guy! Darin Persinger is someone I follow religiously online because he is such a wealth of knowledge - not to mention charisma! He offers valuable content to Realtors previously known as "Productivity Nuggets" and now "Productivity Pearls" - mystery to be revealed in the video! ;)

He mentions a couple of key concepts in building your online presence:
1. Amplify and
2. Echo

He also references a couple of other guys I deeply respect: Mr. Michael McClure of Professional One Brokerage out of Detroit (my co-presenter at Agent Reboot) and Mr. Dale Chumbley - Realtor Extraordinaire from the OTHER Vancouver (Washington) who is becoming quite famous for his "365 things to do in Vancouver WA" FaceBook page! Check them all out and learn from the Masters!

If you have any burning questions for Darin about how to build your presence online - post them here and we'll make sure Darin responds!

(And for fun I've added my fave video of Darin's!  I must admit - I've been guilty of 'no flyers in the flyer box'! I'm a work in progress Darin. :)

Awesome Experience At Agent Reboot

This past week I was given the great honor of being asked to speak at Inmann News' Agent Reboot Conference in Seattle by the one and only Nicole Nicolay. It was such a thrill to finally meet Nicole in person  (and you'll see me gush in this video interview!)



I was nervous as hell but super excited to be presenting with the incomparable Michael McClure founder of Professional One brokerage out of Detroit named #1 brokerage of the future!  They really get it and Michael is a fabulous speaker! 

We were so well matched with identical philosophies and shared gurus that we try to emmulate and who inspire us!  Were were excited to discover that we're both huge fans of Simon Sinek whom we've both blogged about before and who my partner in RedBarn Group Ken Hunter and I founded our entire concept around.

My new best friend Nicole! @nik_nik

Sharing thoughts about Social Media for Real Estate

Me, Nicole Nicolay, Michael McClure and Tom Everitt

One of the main themes of the day was about building relationships and taking the 'online - offline'. 

I cannot emphasize enough how meaningful the connections have become once we have met in person.  Michael said: "It's like meeting old friends
for the 1st time".  So true!

I also had the fabulous good fortune to meet Dale Chumbley who is an amazing Realtor from the other Vancouver - in Washington!  He's doing some amazing creative things down there with his 365 things to do in Vancouver WA.  We took some great ideas away from Dale's presentation!

Chris Smith - Founder of Tech Savvy Agent was another killer speaker who shared all kinds of fabulous tech tools for the savvy Realtor!  Totally super guy and was thrilled to meet!

I actually referenced in my presentation and was REALLY excited to meet Darin Persinger founder of Productivity Junkies who is a Realtor coach who offers amazing content and tips and tools on a daily basis!  He has an amazing grasp on the future of Real Estate!

Dan Keller is a morgage broker who is out of this world!  I LOVE what he's doing!  He sooooo gets it!

The long and short of it is I had the time of my life!  If I never make another dime in this industry I have been so fortunate to meet and learn from some of the most amazing people!  Thanks all!


(special thanks to my personal cheering squad who joined me in Seattle - my hubby Tod @AvionicsMan; my RedBarn Group partner Ken Hunter; Calgary Realtor Kelley Skar and Tom Everitt affectionately known as ThinkTomDotCom)

Hitting the Big Time!

Marianne Williamson, spiritual leader and author of "A Return to Love" and "Age of Miracles" to name a few has said:

"Our Greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure."

I would debate that and say that my greatest fear is actually becoming so self serving in my pursuit for success that I forget who I am!

I have recently been asked to speak at an Inman Conference called Agent Reboot in Seattle this month about my"journey towards a progressive Web strategy using social media" along side some very prominent speakers. 

My ongoing internal battle is being able to discern the difference between feeding my ego (its fun to be popular!) and building something truly valuable.  It seems that when you're on the 'right track' towards success, doors start opening and your opportunity to push your boundaries and challenge yourself and grow can often be shadowed with the glow of admiration and really .... 


There is nothing worse than someone who thinks TOO HIGHLY of themselves!

And therein lies my fear but my family and friends continue to be my grounding force and help me stay focused and on task.  They encourage me to pursue more, and remind me that the opportunities lie with all the amazing people I meet and all that I may learn from them!  Reaching higher so that I may surround myself with those who are more knowledgeable than I.

"Our aim should be SERVICE not Success"  - anonymous
 So here's to humility and providing valuable service to my clients and my peers by utilizing my own personal power and the opportunities that are presented to me.  I hope to help you as I've been helped by so many others!