Trends are what everyone is thinking about... right now.  It changes daily.  It's easy for the main search engines to track this; they list the Top 10 Trends every day based off of what keywords people are searching for.

Trending is an important aspect of business.  Keeping on top of trends can help you shape your business and your marketing to take advantage of what your customers want.  NowandNext.com is a website devoted to trending and predicting what comes next.

So what are important trends for business? In a great article for OpenForum.com, Scott Ginsberg explores important trends in the business world that are here to stay:

1. Mentoring: Inspire the people around you to motivate themselves.

2. Value: Ginsberg uses the example of clothing. "Good brands are bought, great brands are joined" Offer value and you will have a customer for life.

3. Trusted Advisor: The real estate game has changed. Clients are better informed about the market because they research information online before calling an agent. Bernice Ross, Real Estate Coach and author, says that, in this new market, agents need to be a "trusted advisor" to their clients. Offer guidance and better service than the competition.

Nothing can take the place of the knowledge that you have as a real estate agent.  Clients can research online forever, but it is you who knows the heartbeat of the neighborhood and can guide the client to what will fit them best.  "Face-to-face is making a comeback. And we can't solely filter our lives through pixels. Not if we want those lives to matter." writes Ginsberg.

4. Service: Show the value of your services. Let the client know what they can expect when they hire you. Have your services outlined so the client can see why hiring you is the best value.

5. Marketing 24/7: You are your best PR firm!  Inman News columnist, David Fletcher, says that you need to use all meetings and gatherings as an opportunity to prospect for new clients. Wear your name badge or pin from your company to start the conversation.

Ginsberg agrees with that.  "Wearing a nametag 24/7 is a risk. But it's also good practice." he says. "Practice being vulnerable, that is. There is a connection between vulnerability, approachability and profitability. When you open yourself to the world, the world will opens its wallet to you."

Read the full article at OpenForum.com.

Posted in Marketing, Ownership, Real Estate Trends

Tom Guest, 2011 President of Metro Brokers Inc., talks about how things are developing this year within the Metro Brokers real estate organization.

Metro Brokers is a unique company allowing agents to start up their own business for very little money to join a company that offers statewide recognition.  Metro Brokers offers 100% ownership to agents and brokers allowing flexibility to focus on their strengths in real estate and even loans, property management and much more!

Metro Brokers get a free website, professional video opportunites and an online presence through Metro Brokers Online.

Future goals for Metro Brokers this year include building membership and strong offices through the great support offered by the organization and imroving communication as a whole.

Tom Guest is a Broker/Owner of Key Masters Real Estate Company and has sold Denver real estate for 18 years.

Interviewer:  Hi, I am Kathy Soltero with Metro Brokers TV.  Today in the studio, we have with us Tom Guest, he is with Key Masters Real Estate, and he is also our president of Metro Brokers, Inc.  Thank you so much for coming in, Tom.

Tom Guest:  You're welcome, Kathy. 

Interviewer:  You have been president since the beginning of January for 2011, and tell me how things are going so far? 

Tom Guest:  Things are going good.  You know it's been a real privilege and honor to be president of Metro Brokers.  We are an organization that elects their board of directors, we elect our president, so we are self run, we are self ruled, and it's been very enjoyable. 

Interviewer:  And you're still doing real estate at the same time.  So you've got a lot going on.

Tom Guest:  Yes. 

Interviewer:  What sort of activities are you involved in?

Tom Guest:  With Metro Brokers, I mean we do all of our planning, we have the triathlon coming up, I am involved with all kinds of activities that will span everything to build our business for Metro Brokers. 

Interviewer:  Real estate has been tough.  So, what are some of the challenges that we have been facing as in Metro Brokers?

Tom Guest:  Well one thing is our membership, membership numbers have been slipping last few years, but as it has in all organizations, the one thing we are trying to do is to build our membership to get our word out, to let everybody know how good we are as a membership organization, what we can offer them.

Interviewer:  Why should somebody join Metro Brokers?

Tom Guest:  One thing about Metro Brokers is we are unique in the business, compared to other companies.  We offer someone the entrepreneurship to where they can open up their own office; they can start as a broker associate, they can develop into a broker.  They can become an employing broker and they can become an office owner. 

Interviewer:  So there is a really wide range of opportunities for people to come into Metro Brokers.  What about cost, is it a better deal for people do you think?

Tom Guest:  Oh! The cost savings is tremendous, you can join Metro Brokers for only $80 a month and then you will have an office fee, but basically you are 100% broker, you are in charge of your own future, you own your own company for $80 a month, nobody else offers this.

Interviewer:  What are some of the other aspects of Metro Brokers that make it so enticing for people to join?

Tom Guest:  The things that make it enticing to join is that you can form your own business and you can have associates working for you.  So you can have your own business, this carries on with you forever, no one will take it away from you.  You can do your own business, you can be a loan officer, you can have loans, you can do property management, and you can do relocation.  So you form your own organization, you can do whatever you want within that organization and have your own agents working for you. 

Interviewer:  What are your hopes and aspirations for Metro Brokers while you are president?

Tom Guest:  Well a couple of things that we are looking at that are very important to us is to build our membership numbers.  So we want to build those back up into the 1500 range.  We want strong offices; offices are the key to our company and our success.  So increase the strength of the offices, improving communication, communication to the office owners, communication to each of our brokers from corporate. 

Interviewer:  We have great access on the web as well and websites for every individual involved in Metro Brokers, as well.

Tom Guest:  We do, we offer a free website, we also have metrobrokersonline.com and that is a complete website for the public to search for properties and offers all kind of opportunities for everyone to build our membership.

Interviewer:  Especially on the video aspects too, they can get interviewed and have a video presence as well. 

Tom Guest:  Yes.

Interviewer:  All right, well Tom thank you so much for joining us today, it's been a pleasure and good luck for the rest of the year. 

Tom Guest:  Thank you, Kathy.

Interviewer:  And for more real estate related videos like this one, be sure to tune into metrobrokerstv.com. 

Posted in MBI Advantages, From The President, Join Metro Brokers, Industry Leadership, MBI FAQ, Franchise Opportunity, Ownership

Metro Broker, Brian Wess of Infinite Realty specializes in Military relocations, HUD, bank-owned properties and short sales.  His experience in Colorado Springs and El Paso County will help you find the home you are looking for.

Interviewer:  Hi, I am Kathy Soltero with metrobrokerstv.com and today we are joined in the studio with Brian Wess, he is with Infinite Horizons Realty in Colorado Springs, welcome.

Brian Wess:  Hi, how are you doing?

Interviewer:  Good, tell me a little bit about your business, where you are at and what you are doing?

Brian Wess:  Well I'm located down at Colorado Springs; I handle the entire Colorado Springs community and pretty much most of the, the western El Paso County area; deal mostly with relocations, military relocations, I'm also a specialist in, in HUD foreclosed bank owned properties and short sales as well, so.

Interviewer:  Right, well Brian how long have you been with Metro Brokers?

Brian Wess:  I've been with Metro Brokers since 2004, and just recently opened my own office down in Colorado Springs.

Interviewer:  And that is Infinite...

Brian Wess:  Infinite Horizons Realty, yeah.

Interviewer:  Okay, and what brought you to Metro Brokers?

Brian Wess:  The talented people that work with Metro! Tony Marietta, who is, just a great friend of mine and a couple of other people who I had tremendous respect for in the industry, I discovered one day that they were all Metro Brokers and so I did a little bit of research and I found that the most experienced and most talented brokers in Colorado were Metro Brokers.  So that's what caused me to come over and I joined up with, originally, with Pat Newell who is down in Colorado Springs.

Interviewer:  Do you find that there are certain areas of Metro Brokers that are really helping you in your business?

Brian Wess:  Yeah, the search tool is something that I use heavily for my clients, to attract business and to be quite honest just the name recognition, the signs, you know whenever somebody sees that stop sign on the yellow background, it catches their eye and they know right away that that's somebody that they can trust and know that they can deal with.

Interviewer:  Do you have any certifications other than your real estate license?

Brian Wess:  Actually, yeah it's funny you ask, I have a whole list of, as a matter of fact, a lot of people always go, what is all this alphabet soup after your name?   I'll go down the list for you, I'm a Certified Residential Specialist, CRS; I'm also an ABR, Accredited Buyer Representative; I also have my GRI, which is a Graduate Realtor Institute and then I have Short Sale Foreclosure Resource Certification from NAR, and Certified Sellers Representative, Accredited Seller Representative, Certified Neighborhood Specialist and e-PRO technology certified. 

Interviewer:  Wow! So really what all of that means is that you have had a lot of education.

Brian Wess:  Yeah I believe education is the key; it has always been the key to any job I've worked in.  The knowledge that you have to have nowadays to do real estate properly is extensive and you have to keep updating it.  I attend at least one class a month to do that and I feel it's important that I treat it as a profession, so that when people come to me they know that like when they go to their doctor or when they go to their accountant or their CPA, they are getting somebody who is knowledgeable and up to date on what is going on to advise them.

Interviewer:  Correct, absolutely.  Well Brian thank you very much for joining us today...

Brian Wess:  Thank you. 

Interviewer:  In the studio and congratulations and keep up the good work.

Brian Wess:  Thank you so much.

Interviewer:  And for more real estate related videos like this one, be sure to tune into metrobrokerstv.com.

Posted in Movers and Shakers, Ownership, Metro Brokers Agents

Art Momper with the Denver Home Team brings his vast experience to Metro Brokers.  He made the switch to Metro Brokers because of the advanced technology, which combined with his experience, puts him in the top 5% of Brokers nationwide.

Interviewer:  Hi, I'm Kathy Soltero with metrobrokertv.com.  Today we have in the studio with us Art Momper and he is with the Denver Home Team, welcome.

Art Momper:  Hi. 

Interviewer:  Tell me a little bit why you joined Metro Brokers?  Tell me a little bit about your history, where you have been, how you are doing?

Art Momper:  Well I've been previously with RE/MAX for about 31 years and had a long happy career there, but you know recently I started to do some analysis and looked at some of the options, because of market conditions that we have and found that Metro Brokers is really providing equal to superior technology and services to the RE/MAX affiliation I had and, and certainly in a much more favorable price point and I found that, that would allow me to continue to increase my technology investments and client representation. 

Interviewer:  How would you say that the technology helps your business?

Art Momper:  Well you know, I've been in the business 36 years, so I have a lot of experience and you know for clients, that's something that is really important and really valuable. A lot of brokers can invest in technology but they don't have the experience component as well so, but experience without the current market tools doesn't help you much, so I made sure that I am always in the top 5% of brokers nationwide and the technology tool box that I offer. This transition to Metro you know I get to use their technology and continue to invest in the services that I am keen on, you know I think it's important that somebody who lists a property with me that their property on the first page of Google within a couple of days and, and all the primary websites that are available and you know I can put QR codes on brochures and people can pull up the information by mobile and I make sure every current opportunity is available, so my adjustment to Metro has been an excellent opportunity to allow that investment to increase and maintain my book of business as well.

Interviewer:  What areas do you focus on, do you have a certain price range or...?

Art Momper:  Well you know we, in this industry these days can't be too focused on price range in my opinion but you know and actually one of the things that I enjoy the most is helping first time buyers because you know you get to kind of refresh your vision of real estate through their eyes a little bit, so I enjoy that a lot and of course I work with multi-million dollar properties as well.

Interviewer:  And Art, since you have been in the business so long, how would you say your past clients are rating your services?

Art Momper:  That's a good question and I'm real proud of that you know, obviously we all depend on our past client base for our business as well and referrals and I do get a very strong response there and but I think the thing that most of my past clients respect the most in me is that I'm always going to give them an honest answer and I have an assistant for 25 years and her name is Harriett, and she and I kid each other all the time because I probably talk more buyers out of buying more houses than most brokers have sold because if I don't think it's a good fit I'm going to tell them that you know I'm not going to worry about the commission, I am going to worry about giving them the best outcome and so they, they respect that on, of me and they know that I am going to also have all the current tools like we talked.

Interviewer:  Right, well Art Momper, the Denver Home Team, we appreciate you coming in and telling us about your business and congratulations and keep up the good work.

Art Momper:  Yeah I appreciate it, thank you.

Interviewer:  Thank you so much and thank you for watching metrobrokerstv.com.  For more real estate related videos be sure to tune in.

Posted in Buyer Resources, Ownership, Metro Brokers Agents

Metro Brokers agent, Terry Jenni of Realty Innovations, focuses on the entire front range area.  Visit his office in the historic downtown Littleton Littleton Town Center.

Interviewer:  Hi I'm Kathy Soltero with metrobrokerstv.com, and today in the studio we have with us Terry Jenni, he is with the Littleton Town Center Metro Brokers office, welcome, thank you very much for coming in today.

Terry Jenni:  Thank you for having me here.

Interviewer:  You bet and tell me a little bit about where you are located with your office?

Terry Jenni:  Our office is located close to historic downtown Littleton. right off of Prince Street and it's a very easy location to get to in the Littleton area.

Interviewer:  Tell us a little about yourself, how long have you been in the business, what brought you to Metro Brokers?

Terry Jenni:  I've been in the business since 1998, a Colorado native, six generations here in Colorado, our family has been here.  I came to Metro Brokers because of the great desk fees or low desk fees and the low overhead, plus the technology they offer as well as their sign recognition throughout the community.

Interviewer:  In this day and age it is all about the bottom line, isn't it?

Terry Jenni:  Yes it is.

Interviewer:  Especially for realtors in any kind of business that we do, tell me about, do you have any specific areas that you work in?

Terry Jenni:  I service the Front Range area, from north to Brighton south to Castle Rock, East Aurora and West Evergreen, I do specialize the South Metro area.

Interviewer:  Do you work on short sales, bank owned properties, all of the above?

Terry Jenni:  I have done some work on short sales and bank owns, I like to do work with first time home buyers and helping people resell their houses as well as service the accounts.  I stay in, in good communication with my clients and I work closely with them throughout the transaction.

Interviewer:  How do you feel the market is going right now?

Terry Jenni:  The market is steady, it's challenging, it doesn't seem to be stagnating yet. On the other hand, there are a lot of houses for sale and one of the biggest challenges right now is having the buyers be approved for their loans.

Interviewer:  And tell me a little bit more about that why do you feel that way?

Terry Jenni:  It seems with the new government regulations, and more and more we have each year, it's becoming harder and harder for buyers to purchase homes because the amount of information the lenders need.

Interviewer:  Is it just more demanding, is that what it is or is it, is it always been that way?

Terry Jenni:  Yes, it's more demanding as well as it's a constant flow of information from start, from the initial interview with the lender to almost before closing, providing with the proper information.

Interviewer:  But the bottom line it's always going to be worth it if you can get out there and buy your home and get the investment. 

Terry Jenni:  Absolutely...

Interviewer:  Do you feel that there are a lot of great properties still available out there or we are starting to see kind of a bottom end here now?

Terry Jenni:  There are some great properties out there, it's a good time for buyers to purchase homes, there are so many nice properties out there, very reasonable prices.

Interviewer:  Do you think that the banks are starting to do a little bit more in working on some of those properties maybe making them more appealing because for the most part they have been kind of thrashed?

Terry Jenni:  Yes the banks are improving them a little bit, there are also some new loans through FHA where there is money available for the purchaser to have excess money in improving their home when they purchase the home, so there are some new programs out there through FHA that is helpful as well.

Interviewer:  So you feel very satisfied then with turning over to Metro Brokers?

Terry Jenni:  Absolutely, it's a great organization.

Interviewer:  All right, well Terry Jenni, thank you very much for joining us today here on Metro Brokers TV.

Terry Jenni:  Thank you for having me.

Interviewer:  You bet, and for more real estate related videos be sure to turn your browser to metrobrokerstv.com.

Posted in Movers and Shakers, Ownership, Metro Brokers Agents