One of our Grads sent me a message off list today thinking she had somehow missed something and wanted to be sure she knew where to find it. She really hadn't missed anything, but when I began writing a response to her, I decided it would best put here instead...both in the event someone else had the same "perception" that she did...but also to bring up something that I don't recall having discussed here. What she wrote was basically "I recently saw a post to Laurie Furem that mentions something about a pre-list package. I was wondering whether you can direct me to it so I can check out that pre-listing presentation.

Much like Paula, I tend to run myself into the ground running a business and trying to please everybody. As a result, I lose sleep, work 75 hours a week (minimum), and my family and health suffers. I realized I either need to clone myself, or reduce my work load in order to have a more balanced life and enjoy time with my family. I have clients that I love, and a couple of clients that make my stomach hurt when I talk to them. You ever have one of those? After a very stressful transaction with a seller where I was ultimately required to go to federal bankruptcy court in order to get her to comply with a contract and vacate her house, I decided there are some commissions that cost more than the pay check I receive. Personal satisfaction needs to be factored into the equation and I am eliminating any uncooperative clients that I have on the books.

Since I made that decision, I have refused to take a listing and terminated a listing with a seller who falls somewhere between motivated and desperate. This particular seller has refused to adjust his price to meet the current market, refused to show the home on 3 occasions in the past month, and has taken in 14 cats and a vicious rottweiller since I first listed his property. These are the actions of a man that continually tells me he HAS to sell him home in a neighborhood where 30% of the houses are for sale and his is now the highest priced. After being disrespectful to me during our last conversation, I sent him a Termination of Listing and removed his home from all internet and print marketing. I know sellers faced with possibly losing their homes look for someone to blame, and I have excused poor behavior in the past knowing the stress they are under. NOT ANY MORE.

Once in a while I run across an obscure article that seems to be relevant to what we are all about. Here is one such article:

Charging what you're worth (see Contents: Page 11: FreshViews)

This comes from the Costco Connection magazine in the FreshViews section. Also on the same page is an article Hip marketing tips to attract new customers. Both are excellent and timely.

Costco caters to the small business entrepreneur. We are all small businesses entrepreneurs... aren't we?

PS: This is not my main business read but sometimes they have some juicy nuggets!