How Did I Live Without It?
Jay Papasan is a best selling author who was named one of the Most Powerful People in Real Estate. He co-authored several New York Times bestselling books with a friend and business partner of mine, Gary Keller, founder/CEO of Keller Williams Realty, the largest real estate organization in America. Last week Jay wrote an article that caught my eye… […]
A Marketing Misconception
Have you heard the joke that marketing is like sex? Every company thinks they’re good at it…but few actually are. That joke is usually followed by a statement like, “It’s easier to identify a hundred companies that market poorly than ten that market superbly.” So what is great marketing? What distinguishes one company’s marketing from the rest? To answer […]
The Lure of the Distant and Difficult
A father and his daughter were walking on the beach while on vacation in Hawaii. Suddenly he turned to her and said, “Megan, have you ever felt like you were being pulled into a vacuum?” Megan laughed, assuming Dad was joking. “What do you mean?” she asked. He continued. “In outer space there are black holes, like massive vacuums […]
The Me I Didn’t Want To Be
Are you happy with your life? At 13, I thought I was. Then Chubby proved me wrong. Chubby was my dad. Plump as a kid, his childhood nickname stuck. I remember the day vividly. We sat across from each other in a dark red, shiny booth next to the window. Chubby and I were at Perkins Pancake […]
Kash’s Big Bargain Barn
In 1947 he was selling bibles door-to-door, proclaiming himself “World Champion Bible Salesman.” When challenged, he proved it by selling 170 Good Books in just six days. His name was Kash Amburgy and he reminded everyone that it was “Kash with a capital K.” After a few years selling Bibles, Kash decided there might be more profit […]
Chubby Is Proud
My dad started a real estate firm in Cincinnati, Ohio when I was very young. Over the next 30 years he built it up to seven offices and over 300 agents. So, I literally grew up in the real estate business. After I graduated law school, I decided it would be a lot more fun to […]
Jingle Jangle Rule
When I first got started in real estate, I worked for my father’s firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. One night Dad (nicknamed Chubby), and I were brainstorming at the office, discussing several ideas to bring in more clients. I casually suggested that we run these ideas by our 100+ agents at the next sales meeting. To this […]
Chubby Rules for 2023
Though he was skinny like me, my dad’s nickname was Chubby. He was plump as a kid (like me), and the “Chubby” nickname stuck for the rest of his life. Chubby grew up with no money, no connections, and a basic high school education. He didn’t have a father-mentor (as he was to me) because […]
Seven Dimensional Thinking
In a small Italian town two hundred years ago, a reputable merchant owed a loan shark a huge sum of money. Because of the exorbitant interest rate, the debt had grown too large to repay. The loan shark was old and ugly, but coveted the merchant’s young daughter. To clear the debt, he offered the merchant a […]
Happy Birthday Tex!
If you’ve ever traveled by motorcycle, you know stopping for gas can be time consuming. Dismount, take off your helmet and gloves, unzip your riding pants, dig your wallet out of your jeans, angle the pump perfectly to avoid squirting gas on the tank, etc. It can be cumbersome. But when I rode with Tex Earnhardt, I […]