Last week we held our MasterMind event in San Diego where several thousand of our Members from across the North America came together for two powerful days of content to delve deep into What Matters Most. Sinbad got us off to a hilarious start on opening night while Franklin Covey’s Hyrum Smith joined us to share what he believes are the critical elements to living the life we want.
 
Countless attendees who had enrolled in the Summertime Surge shared with my staff how thrilled they were to be filling their tanks and getting recharged after the intense lead-generation workout. The Summertime Surge results are in and I can tell you there are more celebrations to come. With an average earned commission of $26,971, you Blitzers have shaken the establishment and thrown down the gauntlet for the naysayers.
 
We’re working on the next Blitz and you’ll have a whole host of activities and strategies to help you power into the New Year. I couldn’t be more proud of your achievements and at a time when the negative media wants you to believe the sky is falling you guys are out there proving the opposite. Keep up the good work.
 
It’s a good life!
 
Brian

There’s a phrase that says all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. I don’t know about you but lately I’ve been a pretty dull boy. The effort needed to meet the challenge of today’s market has had me putting my nose to the grindstone in a way I haven’t for years.
 
Recently I rediscovered one of my hobbies, however, and I realized that part of me had been missing. Maybe you’re a writer, a musician or a painter. Perhaps you like to golf, read, jog or do some gardening. There are probably another 200 I didn’t mention but in an environment like this it’s so easy to forget those things that put a spring in our step and the joy in our journey.
 
So just a little word to the wise; make sure you’re making room for those interests that make you who you are. Get on your hobbyhorse…because nobody wants to be a dull boy.
 
It’s a good life!
 
Brian

A recent survey of customers who didn’t stay connected to their salesperson found:
 
Why customers stop doing business with you:
 
•   1% Death
•   3% Move Away
•   5% Buy from a friend
•   9% Sold by a Competitor
•   14% Product Price
•   68% Perceived Indifference
 
That’s why we’re Blitzing. We want to make sure that during this Summertime Surge your customers know you’re fired up and enthusiastic about the business, you’re passionate about serving them, and you’re anything but indifferent to their needs. This is why we work by referral - to build long-term relationships with our customers so they not only do business with us again, but also are excited to refer us to their friends and family.
 
Make sure you’re signed up for our Blitz – the Summertime Surge - because we want to make sure all our customers know that we do care.
 
It’s a good life!

Brian

Aloha! I’m writing to you from the Big Island in Hawaii where Peak Performers is about to kick off. But it’s not the only thing about to kick off…The Summertime Surge is getting close and registration is open! Have you registered yet?

The Blitzmaster, Joe Niego, and I have been working hard on the design of this Blitz to maximize your personal energy and your business productivity. Let me tell you, you’re going to love the daily activities and love how they impact your business. Here’s a taste of what’s to come:

• Week 1 – Popping-by with a Dose of “Sunshine”
• Week 2 – “Cutting the Cord” on Calls
• Week 3 - Beach Blanket your Database
• Week 4 – Iced Coffee and Calls
• Week 5 – Making Lemonade
• Week 6 – Defeating the Dog Days of Summer
• Week 7 – Morning Time Mixer
• Week 8 – Blitzing the night away

As you can see, this is a whole new Blitz with 60 days of concentrated fun in the sun so it’s time to get registered, get ready and get Blitzing! Go to the Member’s area today and make sure you don’t miss out on heating your business up with The Summertime Surge.

It’s a good life!

Brian

A couple of weeks ago I wrote from the Santa Clara Turning Point that Brian had ‘finally gotten it.’ Well last week we traveled to both Dallas and Boston and guess what…he’s still got it! The new Turning Point is packed with powerful content giving a perspective you’re not going to hear anywhere else. Weaving his way through the last century and right up to today with historical data, Brian offers a different way to view the current market and how to not just weather this storm, but come out on the other side with a great business.

The new Turning Point is a combination of education, motivation, and inspiration all packaged in good old Irish wit. I know I’ll be at the next one!
 
David Lally

Greetings!
 
My name is David Lally and I work for Brian Buffini as his assistant. That means that everywhere he goes I go, everywhere he’s been I’ve been and today I’m at the Turning Point in Santa Clara. Brian has already done a couple of Turning Points earlier this year but today he finally got it! The event has emotion, intimacy, power and passion.
 
And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who thinks so.
 
He’s speaking to the crowd as if it were a conversation between two people…and this is one engaged audience. The feedback is tremendous and anyone I’ve spoken to today has been thrilled. There’s a new goal-writing section and powerful videos to engage and inspire (when I manage to not grind them to a halt – sorry Brian!). One thing I know, he’s on fire and back in the saddle.
 
For those of you who went before, go again! It really is the All-New Turning Point, and it started today in Santa Clara.
 
David Lally

I just returned home from our first one-day, Member’s Only Turning Point in Seattle, WA and I wanted to give you a taste of what’s in store this year. On the flight home last night my staff shared their observations and experiences. I thought I’d let them tell the story:
 
"This was the most attentive audience we’ve ever seen."
 
"The connections we were able to make with clients were powerful."
 
"Clients were excited about the synergy, intimacy and the brand new content."
 
"This was really getting back to the heart of what we do – a powerful event that really was "Old School".
 
"Attendees were hanging on every word because every word was a brand new piece of content."
 
As much as people have enjoyed the Turning Point in the past I have had to cover a lot of stuff for the new people in the audience. I’m excited to tell you that the new one-day Turning Point is taking it to the next level in every way. Here’s a link to the schedule for this year, Turning Point 2009, I’ll see you at one soon.
 
It’s a good life!
 
Brian

I’ve been flooded with emails from people wanting to know are we headed for another Great Depression. Now just to set the record straight, neither the Secretary of the Treasury, nor Warren Buffet are calling me asking me for my input…but I don’t mind providing my understanding of where we currently fit into history.

Panic doesn’t cause depression; bad policy does. Foolish decisions regarding increased taxes, trade tariffs, and monetary policy are what caused the Great Depression. A great read on the subject is a book called The Forgotten Man – A new history of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes. You’ll see how the 1929 stock market crash did not cause the Depression.

Another great example of how different a time this is to 1929 is that during the Great Depression countries, especially America, were isolationist by nature and tried to enact a win-lose economic policy. Just last week the Fed, European/British and Canadian Central Banks all lowered rates in unison and even though this cut won’t do much to bring up the credit market, it is a radical contrast to what took place during the Depression.

We are obviously in a recession and will be for a time but, as we are already seeing out West, there’s plenty of demand for discounted homes. Many short sales and foreclosures are in multiple bid situations. There’s money to be made in times like this but it requires us to take the emotions of our fears and apprehension and pour it into the diligence of our daily activities to generate leads.

I don’t know about you, but I am keeping my eye on the situation and then putting my head down and getting back to work.

Hope this helps.

It’s a good life!

Brian

 

We had a blast at this year’s MasterMind in San Diego. 4500 of our favorite Members and their families joined us on opening night for a performance and interview with YouTube sensation, Paul Potts. What an inspiration!

On our first full day, I challenged people to live life without limits and rather than reinvent themselves rediscover the core of who they are and who they’re destined to be. We examined the character qualities of immigrants who came to America and made this country so great:

* Ambition

* Faith

* Perspective

* A Sense of Adventure

* Perseverance

* Drive

* Hard work

Just before lunch, Joe Niego and I released the first editions of our new book Work by Referral. Live the Good Life! And we decided that our audience needed their spirits lifted, a special surprise and a good belly laugh. Check this YouTube clip out and see for yourself.

In the afternoon we heard a spectacular presentation by Nido Qubein who is a living embodiment of the rags to riches American story. We finished the night off by discussing how to simplify our lives – reducing the complexities that cause us so much stress.

On the last day of MasterMind, I took the opportunity to reenergize people about taking control of their finances and the ways to do it. Marcus Buckingham enthralled the crowd with his hilarious stories and anecdotes that reminded us all to rely on our strengths.

In the afternoon, we set five-year goals and built a personal accountability letter of what we will achieve by MasterMind 09 – due to arrive to each attendee 90 days before next year’s event.

I finished up Day 2 by challenging the audience to live life without giving into excuses and to being willing to make personal sacrifices. This was embodied by a surprise visit by Patrick Henry Hughes. Born without eyes and the ability to straighten his limbs, he not only inspired us with incredible renditions of America the Beautiful and Believe, but also stole the entire show with hilarious insights coupled with the world’s greatest attitude.

Someone once told me it’s impossible to shine a light to someone else’s path without lighting your own. I do all these things and organize a program like this to renew and recharge our Members – especially at a time of market instability. And yet the one who comes away most rejuvenated and recharged is me. I’m very thankful I get to do this as my work and so appreciative of all of you who attended.

It’s a good life!

Brian

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

Some say that Rudyard wrote this poem to encourage soldiers in the war. It seems rather applicable for Realtors®, lenders and those working in the service industry in this market.

It’s a good life!

Brian