Using the Web and social media to sell real estate

I am returning from Atlanta, it has been an intense three days at the bootcamp organized by Sam Bell and Mark Jackson about investing on bank owned properties. I have learned many things that will help me improve my performances and that have made me even more familiar with the American culture and its way of doing business. I have also been fortunate to contribute my own experience with the European culture and its very peculiar way of developing relationships. Even today, as was leaving the hotel, several people approached me thanking for my presentation. Always glad to help.

Mark jackson on the stage with his byke: he rode over 1700 miles in 3 months.

But today was Sunday and the opening morning speech was done by Mark himself who gave a very motivational insight on how life can be changed by just cleaning up the bad habits that you have inside yourself.

I find it quite amazing that it kind of plays right in the hand of my previous post (Kill The Victim That Is in You) that I had written just before entering the conference room. So I want to echo it and give Mark’s view of business and life, as he has been able to acquired from years of teaching and coaching people on the very things he was himself doing.

Francesco, Sam, Me, Dutch and Mark during the event in Atlanta.

Here are the three things that will change your life according to Mark: 1. uncompromising commitment and focus in life. You should build a legacy for the people around you and the people who will follow in your footsteps. There must be a purpose to your life that goes beyond just making money or getting rich, although money is definitely a requirement for any kind of project you want to engage on.

North America is the country of speed, where things are done and built fast, with the idea they will last for sometime but definitely not forever. There is nothing wrong in being fast and dynamic, actually I believe this is the key strength of this culture. You don’t mourn about the past, you simply move on and create something bigger and greater than before.

Yet duration has to be part of the picture if you want to really build a legacy for the next generations to enjoy. I come from Milan, in Northern Italy. My city is famous world wide for its Duomo, a cathedral that was built entirely out of hand carved marble over almost two centuries of work. It took several generations to complete it. The first generation had to prepare the groundwork for the next one to come, and so on.

2. clarity of your identity, that is know who you are. This fits perfectly with the presentation I have delivered in Atlanta. People will do business with you as a person before knowing what you have to offer them. If your ideas about yourself and your motives are clouded or if you let other people tell you who should you be or not be, you will have disaster.

3. complete and undoubting faith toward God. We are in a very materialistic society that cripples many strengths in a human being. If you have no faith in your continued existence and later accountability, you won’t really care about what you do now and what legacy you are going to leave behind you.

The lack of this last element, the belief in God (no matter what religion) can explain the lack of 1 and 2, from how I view it. All people who accomplish great things need to have an higher goal than their immediate life. The people who built the Duomo in Milano several centuries ago, were building the house of God. They wouldn’t have put the same dedication, craftmanship and genius if they were just building another commercial building.

So, why people fail? Mark says it is because they lack the tools or the knowledge, or they simply don’t care. So there you are: you can get the tools and the knowledge for doing just about anything. The US culture is very open in this regard. Comversely Europe guards its knowledge very closely, it doesn’t share it easily when it comes to developing wealth. So America is still the land of opportunity. But do you care?

Roberto Mazzoni