I am surrounded by lazy people…

Listen up, people! I’ve had it up to here (hand motioning at neck, in a “chop off your head” sort of way) with lazy freakin’ people.

My issue of the day?

Shopping carts.

And the fools that can’t seem to grasp the concept…wait, this is a really difficult concept to grasp, so brace yourself…the concept that you are supposed to take the cart back.

To the front of the store. To the cart corral in the parking lot.

I’m not picky. You can choose whichever works for you. But pick one.

Leaving the cart next to your car is LAZY.

Leaving the cart behind the car next to you is LAZY and a complete jerk-off move.

I don’t care if you’re handicapped. Because if you are, you’re already parked up front, so you’re right next to the store. And if you can’t juggle store items and a cart, then you can easily ask for help from a store employee. So, no excuse for you.

I don’t care if you have kids. I have a kid. And yet somehow I find a way to put the carts back where they belong. You have choices. Put kids in car and then put cart back. Or, because there are freaks out there, take the kid(s) with you to the cart corral. Leave the cart and then take the kids back to the car. Easy enough. I’ve done it. And I can be a fairly lazy person at times.

Leaving carts is not only lazy, it’s dangerous. Carts roll. They can roll into people, into cars. Cars trying to park and then swerving out of a cart’s way (because the freakin’ cart shouldn’t be there!!) can hit a person or hit another car.

Get the idea?

I would love to hear from someone who has a single legitimate reason for ever leaving a cart in the lot without securing it. Because other than just being lazy, I can’t think of a single reason.

Whipping up a little controversy with The WAHM Agent

So…some of the best press releases whip up a bit of controversy as opposed to just blatantly promoting a new product or service (or some other “average” reason for a press release in the first place). So when I was writing up my press release for my new ebook series, this is what I came up with. But of course, this is the “tame” version.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Current Real Estate Market Perfect Time for Work At Home Moms to Become Real Estate Agents

While most experts are hyping the depressed real estate market across the United States, there are a few optimistic real estate professionals who look at this time as an exciting chance to get back to basics and cull the competition as the less dedicated real estate agents flock to other careers. Author of The WAHM Agent, Tina McAllister, claims that moms who have ever considered entering the real estate industry should do so now. “There is no better time,” Ms. McAllister states. “Instead of the real estate frenzy of a couple years ago where everyone and their uncle became licensed and had clients fall into their laps, this current market is the perfect time to learn the real estate market from the ground up.”

In her WAHM Agent series, Ms. McAllister helps guide moms who want to work from home as real estate agents navigate their way through becoming licensed and finding a broker. Logical appointment tips are balanced out with marketing ideas specifically geared for Mommy real estate agents. The books also provide samples of sales letters and other marketing materials from the author’s real estate career.

Why a book targeting Mommy real estate agents? Ms. McAllister says, “Many mothers look to real estate as a career where they can make a decent income and have a fairly flexible schedule. They want to have a healthy balance between family and work. And I truly believe that a Mom real estate agent can build a successful real estate business while raising her family.” She points out that there are still plenty of buyers looking for homes to purchase and that there are foreclosures and short sales for a new agent to cut her teeth on. “It really is an excellent time for a woman who truly wants to build a successful real estate business over time to enter the industry and learn the ins and outs of real estate.”

Packed with real-life examples of Ms. McAllister’s own struggle to balance family and real estate, the WAHM Agent ebooks provide a unique insight into how working from home and prospecting for clients as a “Mommy Agent” can be fun and integrated into every-day life. “I took my baby to appointments and my clients loved him!” Ms. McAllister states. “But just going through each day as a Mommy, I was finding clients and building my business without even realizing it. I never even thought of children playdates as a way to network…but it is…and a great way at that!”

Tina McAllister is owner of Beyond The Pen LLC, a full service writing company. While Ms. McAllister is actively licensed as a real estate agent working with exclusive clients, she is expanding her writing business and specializing in ghostwriting books for busy professionals. She also runs WAHM Biz Tips, a website providing business and marketing tips to work at home moms.

For more information on The WAHM Agent ebook series, visit www.TheWAHMAgent.com.

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My less-tame version of this controversial stance on entering the real estate industry? Here goes:

1)  Moms make great agents. Especially moms who have a partner bringing a steady income into the home. That way the mom can concentrate on building her real estate business without stressing out too much about that first golden commission check.

2) In the current real estate industry, the fly-by-night real estate agents who swooped in during the market frenzy and had clients drop in their laps? Most of those have flown the coop. They can’t hack the cyclical nature of the real estate market (and it is cyclical…always has been) and haven’t developed the skills necessary to build a successful business for the long haul. Translation: competition between agents is down.

3) There are things to be learned, and time enough to learn! In a down cycle, yeah, you’ll work hard. But you learn the basics of prospecting, marketing and building a LONG TERM real estate business. You learn how to truly find clients and KEEP them. You learn the business inside and out as you really work (oh my gosh, actual work! gasp!) to earn your money.

4) Many of the successful women in real estate have been at it for YEARS. They started when the kids were young and kept at it. Over time, they built a successful business. None will say it was easy. But I bet you that 99%  (or more) will say it was worth it.

Don’t believe me? Think I’m full of crap?  Bring it!

Twitter Link Love

There’s a first time for everything, right? And this will be my first post with links to various posts out there that I’ve come across this week…all via Twitter, my new online addiction.

First up - a great post at Marketing Fit on the fastest way to lose your followers on Twitter. As a newcomer to Twitter I immediately became besotted with twam via direct messages. Yuck. Me no likey. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then read the post!

I very much like the Salesblogger’s post on the importance of choosing your words. We all need reminders like this every so often!

As a fellow parent, I can completely relate to the issues of putting kids to bed over at Clark Kent’s Lunchbox…though, of course, I only have one kid to deal with. But I feel the pain. Oh, do I feel the pain.

Follow these tips to avoid email overload.

Angel McClinton’s Media Mojito site is the perfect cocktail to make me wanna start vlogging. Because I just know you want to see me in my pjs while tip-tap-typing away on my laptop in bed. Seriously, though, you gotta read her top ten ways to get on camera and not freak out.

I’m especially fond of one particular post over at Linda Locke’s Moms in Business site because yours truly wrote it. But you can also find advice from 3 successful business moms and advice from successful people is always cool!

Read up on your earning ability.

Jason Crouch is in real estate and yeah, he posts on real estate…because that’s his biz. But he also posts some funny stuff like how he misses some of the old TV commercials…holy crap the mention of the scary miniature chuck wagon gave me flashbacks!

Donate and get goodies in return!

It feels good to donate to a good cause. But it feels even better to donate and get a little somethin-somethin’ in return.

And Dan Reinhold has got that covered! Dan is the father of a child with autism. And he’s raising money for the Greater Boston, MA Walk for Autism Research. When you donate $25 via paypal you can get a bunch of goodies..you can check out the long list for yourself.

My 4 year old claims zombies exist…and I believe him

Last night, before heading off to bed, my son told me about a dream he had. He was at church with me and my parents and outside were zombies.

Now, I don’t know if this were some deeper semblance of his feelings about church (sometimes he wants to go and sometimes he doesn’t), or what. But he’s four for crying out loud, so I keep philosophical talks to a minimum before bedtime.

So instead I asked him, “And what do zombies look like?”

He put his arms up in classic old-school zombie fashion and moaned.

I asked, “What do the zombies do?”

He motioned with his hand as if her were taking a chunk of my arm and then put it to his mouth.  

“What’s that?” I asked. “I don’t get it.” (I felt like one of those forensic child psychologists you see on CSI…I was looking around for dolls and crap to communicate with my son).

“They eat people.” And he said it about as matter-of-factly as you can imagine.

Of course, it was bedtime and I went through the whole “zombies don’t exist and even if they did, Mommy wouldn’t let any zombies get you” routine.

But the truth is…zombies do exist.

I’ve met some.

I remember Tracy, who was completely devoid of personality. I tried to be friendly with her. I tried to talk with her. She didn’t get my sense of humor. Fair enough. But it appeared she didn’t get ANY sense of humor. She was completely humorless. And if that isn’t the sign of being a creepy zombie, then I don’t know what the hell is. 

The other kind of zombie I usually slap with the term of vampire…but the term zombie seems to fit as well. Maybe you know one or two. These zombies don’t feed on human flesh or brains…but they feed on you just the same!

An old friend, Sharon, was a good person at heart. And I’d like to think that most zombies are good at heart. I mean, they can’t help their insatiable need to feed on humans, right?

Back to Sharon. Over and over and over again she would rattle off the same issues. Moaning and groaning about life and how tough it was and how she just wanted to be happy and why couldn’t she be happy and if she were just happy then life would be peachy-keen…and so on. And I would be there. To listen. To offer advice. To help make her happy.

But nothing ever made her happy. Because she was a zombie, stuck in a rut. She couldn’t help herself.

It’s not easy to cut a zombie loose. But I did.

Still don’t believe that zombies exist? Look around at the people just trudging through life. No personality. No happiness…not even in the smallest of things. I’m telling you - they’re out there!

And no, names have not been changed to protect the innocent because if you are a zombie I don’t think you have rights under the Constitution. And if you do, then I guess I’ll just have to deal with the consequences.

Why the current state of the economy doesn’t scare me…

I have no qualms about being a small business owner. Nope, not even in today’s economy.

You see…I used to work for the government. And as much as I like a steady paycheck, I like my sanity more.

This was my office. And no, I’m not normally a messer. I just had so much crap to do and not enough time to do it in. Add to that supervising employees with personalities bigger than Mount Rushmore and you’ve got a stress case. And I’m talking 24/7.

I refuse to let the fear of the failing economy get to me. You know why? Because 1) fear is freakin’ contagious. It’s like a plague. It spreads from one person to another like wildfire. And I won’t spread it to anyone else. I refuse.

Because 2) fear paralyzes you. It makes you too afraid to do anything. So then you sit there and just wait. Wait for things to get better? Wait for something to happen? I’m not quite sure. But people tend to wait instead of act. And I decided a while back that I wanted to be an action person, not someone paralyzed with fear.

I’ve been writing for years…either part-time or as a moonlighter. And now that I am working from home full-time and building my writing business and a few other ventures (soon to be announced) there is no turning back.

I left a government job where I was loved. Where I knew I could stay forever and build a decent retirement. And where I would be taken back in a second…if it weren’t for the pesky hiring freeze the state has going on, and probably will have going on for another year or so.

But I wouldn’t go back. Even if I could.

Because the stress I felt there was a kazillion times more than the stress I feel as a small business owner in this economy. I have nothing but positivity and hope and I sure would like to spread that…dang, I wish hope was as contagious as fear…

Because I am never again going back to a job that sucks the very life out of me and forces me to literally tiptoe through my office in order to sit down due to paperwork overload.

Hell, no!

So…why doesn’t the current economy scare me? Because the thought of going back to that mess (^) scares me a heck of a lot more.

My Testimonial Drama - What I Learned

Asking for testimonials is a weird thing. I’m not talking about asking clients to give you a nice quote to slap up on all your marketing materials, online and off. In those cases, you’ve already provided your service or product and hopefully the whole transaction/process was a fairly smooth one.

What I’m referring to are the testimonials you need for NEW stuff. Like a new book. Or a new product. Those kinds of testimonials.

And asking for them is weird. Why? Because you know that you’re putting people out. You are asking them to do something that requires time and effort on their end. And you want them to like it and not feel put upon and be timely.

I had several hiccups in my quest for testimonials for my WAHM Agent ebook series. And waiting on testimonials pushed my site launch back by a couple of weeks. Stupid me. I should have launched without the testimonials. But my web guy had designed things in a way that incorporated the testimonials…and not having them would make the site look seriously half-assed. So I chose to push the launch back.

What I have found is that I need to be very specific in my needs. I need to create a simple to follow, easy to read “Testimonials for Tina” guide for those who volunteer a testimonial.

I also need to learn that some people are just flakes, period. I abhor flakes. I hate excuses. But there are people who will flake out and give every excuse in the book as to why they haven’t done squat in reading your book and providing a testimonial. Even when you remind them after a week. And even when you check in on them a week later than that.

Instead of accepting excuses and giving more time, I should have just said, “You know what? You volunteered to read my book but it seems like now is just not a good time for you. Your schedule sounds pretty tight. So I’ll just find someone else.” Then I should have scrambled to find someone else to fill the void. And my time fuming about the flake would be side-tracked as I did that scrambling.

I need to lower my expectations.

I need to be pleasantly surprised when people actually follow through.

And I need to look to my family when all else fails. Because they won’t BS me and they won’t provide a testimonial if they hate my writing. Which I love about them.

How to Provide a Testimonial

Over the past several weeks I worked to secure testimonials for my series of ebooks. I’ve asked and received testimonials before. Since the bulk of my projects are ghostwritten books and articles, it can be tricky. My clients want to remain anonymous. And I want to safeguard any information that would indicate my clients’ identities.

But I still want some horn-blowing, thumbs-up giving, “Tina rocks the written word” kind of quotes so I can put them on my sites, in my marketing materials and so on.

So I use initials. No names. No links.

But sometimes I need a different kind of testimonial. Not just a “Tina’s great - use her for all your writing needs!” kind of statement.

Sometimes I need someone to read something, mull it over and then write something…a few sentences…nothing too crazy…

I sent my first ebook (and in some cases, all three) to several people. My return rate for testimonials?

A dismal 50%.

Yes. Half of the people who VOLUNTEERED to provide a testimonial failed to come through.

Words that come to mind? Disheartening. Frustrating.

Here are a few tips for those of you who are ever asked (or perhaps volunteer) to provide a testimonial of any kind of product:

Ask how soon the testimonial is needed. Most people have deadlines of some sort. And they are probably waiting on your testimonial before the design marketing materials, launch a website, etc. So you want to know when they need the testimonial from you.

Ask exactly what is needed. Do they need a single sentence from you? A paragraph? Do they want you to specifically refer to the value of the item, the content, the design? Ask what is expected of you.

Evaluate whether you truly have the time to provide the testimonial. If you don’t have the time, then don’t volunteer or don’t accept when you are asked. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have the time. Everyone (well, most everyone) has a busy life and you can’t do everything. So if you don’t have the time, say so. Immediately.

Give yourself a deadline. So, the person who needs the testimonial needs it by Friday at 8am. Set a deadline for yourself at least 24 hours before, if possible. This gives you some wiggle room if something comes up at the last minute.

Start as soon as you can. Seriously, you don’t want to forget about it. If you have something to read, or a product to try out, it’s easy to set it aside. And the next thing you know, you’ve totally forgotten your testimonial task. And then you’re scrambling at the last minute.

Try to beat the deadline. If you can, try to beat the person’s deadline by providing your testimonial a little early. If that person was thinking ahead, she probably already built in some breathing room in terms of her own deadlines. But you never know. And by beating the deadline given to you, even by an hour, you can give that person some time to look over your testimonial, make sure it’s what she’s looking for and to ask any other questions of you…just in case.

Be honest. If you seriously hate the product, what it stands for, think it smells on a multitude of levels (whether it’s a book or a software program…anything) then tell the person that you will not be able to provide a testimonial. And tell them why. Whether your criticisms are legitimate or not, they are your opinions and you are entitled to have them.

It boils down to the fact that you need to make sure you never accept the opportunity or volunteer yourself for anything that you can’t follow through on or don’t intend to follow through on. You are doing the person a favor - yes. But you have also placed that person in a position of relying on you to help their business, to help with marketing. You’ve made yourself a party to that and it’s important to keep that in mind.

Up For an Article Challenge??

Okay…I just joined an article challenge through my WAHM Biz Tips site (since all the articles will have to do with working from home and real estate…because I need to spread the word about my new series of ebooks over at The WAHM Agent).

The Challenge?? 20 Articles in 20 Days!!!

Come on…you know you need to get your butt in gear and crank out some articles!!!

I like me some competition, so the more people entering the challenge, the better!!!

From Idea Theft to Squidoo lenses to a Site Launch and more!

It’s been a busy, busy, busy couple of days here at the TinaMc Writing Emporium.

Remember my post on how to prevent idea theft? Uh…yeah…the irony….I was a victim of such an occurrence just in the past week. (I became aware of it yesterday). But you know, there’s so much more to that story, that I plan on hashing that out in a whole ‘nother post.

Then there was also my post on testimonials. About needing testimonials. Oh, the drama that has surrounded the testimonial situation. Again, for perhaps a series of posts…detailing the drama and also posting some tips on how to handle the situation if you are ever so lucky to be either 1) asked to provide a testimonial or 2) in the position of needing a testimonial.

I also created my first lenses on Squidoo and now have a full on love/hate relationship going on with that site, how lenses are built and whatnot. If you’re a Squidoo expert, by all means, I could use your comments, suggestions and maybe just a smack upside the head because I am sure I’m making it harder than it really is.

If you’re interested, my three lenses are about (and they’re clickable!):

- How to Become a Work-At-Home Real Estate Agent

- Working Your Real Estate Business

- Marketing Strategy for the Work-At-Home Mom Real Estate Agent

Actually, I will just come on out and beg you to take a look. Because my lenses are lonely and need visits. They are hungry for some eyeballs to give ‘em a look. Maybe you can even rate them…pretty please???

The high point of yesterday (other than actually being able to crank out three Squidoo lenses while “camping out” in my office …aka bed with my laptop in my lap…and watching movie after movie with my munchkin- YAY!) was the launch of my new site - The WAHM Agent. I finally have my ebooks available for sale!!! I am so excited I could spit! I put a lot of work into these babies and to have them available to the public is just an awesome feeling.

But again…so much going on…and each of these subjects deserve their own posts. And so they shall have their own posts. Because I’m a giver like that.