Analysis: Coverage of NAR report tells only part of story

Anyone interested in the market would have to dig deeper to find the real meat of the report, which actually provides a much more nuanced snapshot of the market. According to the survey, a “significant percentage of respondents” – 12.5 percent – actually saw an increase in their foreign clientele in the past year. In Florida, California, Texas and Arizona—the biggest recipients of international buyers—more than 35 percent of agents reported increases in international business. In Arizona a whopping 44 percent said they saw a jump in international contacts from a year earlier.

Perhaps most importantly, international sales continued to represent about 9 percent of total realtors’ business.

The study found “a relatively small share of Realtors appears to account for the bulk of international sales.” Ten percent of Realtors claimed six or more international clients. Five percent reported that “more than 50 percent of their transactions were with international clients.”

Now that’s news. In the midst of the worst market in generations, a “significant” number of Realtors actually grew a segment of their business. And even though the number of sales dropped from 170,000 to 154,000 in the year, international sales still represented a key chunk of revenue for brokers 

The image of a core group of savvy agents in key markets expanding their international operations, even during the worst period in modern industry paints a much different picture than a slight decline in overall numbers. If anything, considering the industry basically stopped for six months, anything less than a total meltdown in any sector could be presented as miraculous news.

The real news of the report—the man bites dog angle--is the finding that, in some markets, the international business remains strong, even buoyant. Some agents are even bucking the tide, thanks to their international clients. Now that’s news worthy of headlines.

via internationalpropertyjournal.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Your Trust Account : Off Stage

Oct. 30, 2009 - Your Trust Account

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 The Association Executive Committee of the National Association of Realtors is planning an upcoming magazine issue themed on building a bond of trust between the staff and the members.  I’m looking forward to that issue, as it’s a dynamic which greatly interests me in the association management profession.  In my experience, I’ve seen association execs come and abruptly go, and I’ve heard a number of stories which are shocking—from both sides of the aisle.

Trust is a difficult component of the equation which leads to successful association management: it’s hard work to build, and devilishly difficult to maintain.  Even if you are the most scrupulously honest association exec in the world, the members need to be convinced of that fact and that requires proactive image maintenance (to put it nicely).

No matter what the cause of member distrust of the AE, and no matter whether or not the skepticism is deserved, the fact is that credibility is missing.  And when it is, so is the effectiveness of the AE. 

In my experience, the lack of trust in the AE and/or staff will manifest itself in one of two ways: accusations of financial mismanagement or questionable voting practices.  In either case, the members will ‘win’ this discussion, so the AE needs to practice preventative medicine—not in ounces, but it pounds.

Fortunately, prevention is not too difficult.  Here are some suggestions for  good practices in building trust:

 In finances,

1. Always encourage transparency.  Members should be able to see budgets and financial reports
whenever they want. (I’ve written a previous blog on how to present this information so that it’s meaningful to members and they don’t waste energy worrying about the ply of the toilet paper).
2. Make sure you have internal controls in your operations, and advertise that you have them. Let everyone know that you are scrupulous about maintaining good practices. Get advice from your CPA, or SCORE, or your association legal counsel--or all three.
3. Establish and follow a sound and thorough financial policy manual.  Educate the directors and staff about the contents of the manual, and don’t accept friendly amendments to it.
4. Things like expense reports and credit cards for members and staff should be carefully controlled.  Be uniformly nasty about usage, reporting, and approval, if you have to be.
5. When coming into a job where financial abuse has taken place previously, conduct a complete organization inventory--every bank account, every stick of furniture, every napkin in the kitchen. Ask the directors to sign an acknowledgment, and then move on, again with transparency, integrity, and complete paper trails.

In the case of voting, either for candidates or on issues,
1. Follow every date, mandate,  and every bylaw scrupulously.  Conduct a training session with your staff so that they understand the procedures,  Make it clear that you will not tolerate any deviation from these rules, or heads will roll.
2. Have the vote count verified by a third party.  Your CPA firm, or an affiliate
member committee are good options.
3. Follow the same procedure as your local government elections, if you can.  Sign
for absentee ballots, use numbered ballots, and set up online voting with a system
that crosschecks member records. 

These procedures are just as important in small associations as in larger ones, and it's ok to be adamantly against any suggestions for departure from them, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  Always insist on a formal process of changing the rules, one that is public and transparent.

 Over time, you'll be rewarded with member trust.

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Google's Eric Schmidt on What the Web Will Look Like in 5 Years

via readwriteweb.com

Note to association managers: How 'user-generated' is your communications program? How many of us are still throwing info up on the website and hoping somebody reads it--and calling that effort our communications plan. Take note of Eric Schmidt's thoughts:

"Real time information is just as valuable as all the other information, we want it included in our search results" (Think about THAT, NAR!); and

"It's because of this fundamental shift towards user-generated information that people will listen more to other people than to traditional sources"

These are the Google guidelines for the future. What are yours?

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Wild Apricot Blog : 19 Free Webinars for Nonprofits - November 2009

Here are 19 free online training opportunities of interest to associations, charities, and other not-for-profit organizations -- on  topics from software and social media, to management, fundraising, and more:

via wildapricot.com

Several of these are excellent choices for Realtor association staff: developing an internet strategy, creating balance in your communications and your time, finding skill-based volunteers. All free, all helpful. Thanks, Wild Apricot, for this resource!

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Off Stage

Oct. 28, 2009 - Dealing with Disruption

 

 

 

“I have an individual member who is so negative, condescending and questioning EVERYTHING!   He does not follow procedure, and has put the Association in compromising situations with local political figures…Now he has asked to see all the financials to the Association.   What advice do you have to help an AE who would like to SCREAM….”go sell real estate and get off it!””

Well, THAT question brought back memories! One of the longest years of my professional career came from dealing with “Tom”. I’d forgotten about Tom until this question arrived in my email inbox—and then it all came back.

Tom was a member of our association. He didn’t really sell real estate—he was one of those young men who had a working wife and not much going for him in the way a personality: his real estate sales were negligible. In fact, he spent much more time as a self-proclaimed geek, with delusions of Bill Gates dancing in his head. He earned some money producing statistical analyses for brokers, based on MLS data. At least he did, until our MLS upgraded its computer system and there were more statistic reports available than the brokers quite knew what to do with.

End of Tom’s fledgling career—and he was very angry. “The Board (and the AE, of course) had made a huge mistake with the computer system: the reports were faulty, the statistics unacceptable, etc, etc.” From then on Tom spent all his excess energy questioning the staff, the directors, the MLS committee—everyone in sight. He became obsessed with finding fault and sent out blast faxes to the membership and even went to city hall to take out a permit to hold a protest on the busy street in front of the association office. The madness went on for a year or more: phone calls at home, legal threats, scathing emails and letters to the local newspaper. It was a nightmare for everyone.

I learned some things as I was living this scenario—not easy lessons, because this is not an easy problem. And the first thing I learned is not to place much faith in the Pollyanna Prescriptions: you know the ones that say “Address the problem head on, try and understand the motivation for the behavior, and act with sympathy and acknowledgement. “  Uh-uh. This advice is usually offered by behavior specialists and optimists. The fact is, you are too busy being a leader or manager with lots of people claiming your time and you aren’t a trained psychologist. You have neither resources nor training for this approach.

Secondly, understand that compulsively distructive persons are truly dysfunctional. There is most likely an emotional disconnect which interferes with their perception of reality: they don’t care if they are respected or their actions valued. They are focused on disruption. Sounds melodramatic, but we all know people like this and it stands to reason that some of them will be members of our associations.

Thirdly, know that folks like Tom can win at the games they play. We’ve heard the horror stories: the AE who finds her desk cleared out after she returns from vacation, the association president who resigns midway through his term because he hasn’t the energy and resources to continue the job, the leadership team that becomes increasingly lethargic and gloomy because all it ever hears is criticism, the members who lose faith in the benefits of the association and discontinue their support.

What to do? Here are some thoughts:

1. Practice the “red ant” theory of association management. Former CEO of the American Society of Association Executives, Jim Low explained this theory at the ceremony in which he presented me with my CAE designation. “Too often we dignify the loudest and most negative member with a position on the committee in order to show him ‘how everything works’. This is disrespectful to your other members. You should do with this guy what you do with red ants: STOMP him!”

2. Keep your association attorney up to speed on the problems. Chances are the disgruntled member will threaten court action—doesn’t everyone these days? Get some advice on proactive precautions such as having a witness whenever you talk to the offending member and always acting in accordance with the bylaws and written policies.

3. Train your staff and your leadership team in their responsibilities. Again, part of this training should be legal: knowing what to say, how to respond, and what information to release is all a part of the precautionary strategy.

4. Keep a meticulous record of every interaction with the disruptive person. I asked my staff to assist me with a log of all of Tom’s contact with us—phone calls, emails and so on—and the amount of time they spent on any request he made. Eventually I begin to assign dollar figures to this log: what was the monetary value of the staff time he demanded? What kind of legal fees were incurred because of his threats? The directors and some of the other leaders began to contribute to this effort as well and the results were astonishing. It became clear to everyone the extent of his demands on association resources.

5. Never appear adversarial. When Tom applied for a permit to picket in front of the association office, I panicked, envisioning a front page photo in the daily newspaper. “Don’t worry,” our attorney advised. “Make a big pitcher of lemonade and take it out to him when the photographers are there.”

6. Take advantage of the situation to develop a code of conduct as a part of your association operational policies. The AMA did just that in 2008 with a model medical staff code of conduct. It in, the descriptions of appropriate, inappropriate, and disruptive behavior are defined, as well as remedies which may be taken should this code be breached. While you may not feel a need to go to the extent the AMA did, certainly drawing up guidelines for those who wish to object, question or protest is a useful approach to take, and will assist when similar issues arise in the future.

There’s no quick fix to the problem of a disruptive member. Tom finally got discouraged and, following the advice of his attorney, dropped his efforts and did not renew his membership. Thinking back, what is important for me to remember is that his presence caused greater accountability awareness on my part and on the part of the leadership, and that we learned how unfair and enervating his disproportionate demands were to the rest of the membership.

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Stamp out Micromanagement! : Off Stage

Recently I received an email from an AE who asked, “Is there ever a time when the Board of Directors should be involved in reviewing the performance of my association staff?”  Well, I have a hard time with inclusive words like ’ever’ and ‘never’, but my response to this AE was, “I can’t think of a reason why the directors should be evaluating any staff but you as CEO.” Actually, I can think of some reasons why the directors might do something like that: they are afraid of the larger issues facing the industry, they don’t understand the role of a director, they don’t have any confidence in the CEO, or they’re just plain nosey. The fact of the matter is (and this can be uncomfortable for the CEO) that the directors hire only one person: the CEO. Then they ask their employee to manage their work product which is based on the goals and objectives that the directors have defined and articulated. Finally, they spend most of their time and resources evaluating the progress toward those goals and in developing and specifying new ones. That’s it. Simple. The CEO, on the other hand, takes those goals and turns them into measurable strategies which are put into effect. She reports back to the directors and they evaluate her success or lack thereof. The CEO works within the allocated resources to achieve the success and if those resources (read ‘personnel’) don’t measure up, that’s the CEO’s problem to resolve. It’s not up to the Board of Directors to second guess the CEO’s implementation program. It is up to them to evaluate whether the work program is successful and the organizational goals are being met. If the organization is falling short of its goals, only ONE person can be held accountable—the CEO.  Of course this approach presupposes a lot of accountability on the part of the board and the CEO. The board needs to understand its role as strategy and policy makers, commit to facing the hard issues confronting the industry, and act unflinchingly in the best interest of the association. And the CEO must understand her role in demanding clear policy from the leaders, translating those directions into measurable results, and accepting her accountability. Here are some action steps: 1. Concentrate on the mission. Put it at the top of every printed agenda, banner it on the web page, paste on the stalls in the association restroom, and print it on the stationary and business cards.  2. Insist that every check the organization writes contain a memo that allocates the expenditure to a specific reference point in the strategic plan. 3. Annually train directors in their responsibilities. They forget from year to year. 4. Schedule a strategic thinking period on every directors meeting. Use the time to review a part of the strategic plan, evaluate the effectiveness of a component of the plan, or hear from your strategic initiatives task force. 5. Use a strategic screening tool to review every program or initiative considered by the board of directors. Keep the ‘strategic decision-making component’ at the forefront of every motion. 6. Have an extensive plan for stomping out micromanagement on all levels. Minutia immobility raises its ugly head in all kinds of situations. Practice saying the following phrases:                 “We aren’t going to spend any time on a budget item that represents less than 2% of the total expense budget.”                 “Staff will be happy to take care of that detail.”                 “Let’s ask our attorney for an expert opinion (or CPA, or technical consultant, or staff specialist).”                 “I’ve made a staff recommendation in the material that was sent out with your agenda.”                 “Perhaps you’d like to have staff research this matter and present a full discussion and recommendations for action.”                 “Since the expense is already covered in the budget you’ve approved, we don’t need to discuss the color of the new doorknob. We’ll go ahead and make the purchase.”                  "Thank you for your input.  I will consider your feelings when I conduct my staff performance reviews." What other phrases do you as association managers practice in front of your mirror to help stamp out micromanagement? And how do you deal with the member who wants to evaluate the performance of your staff? Comments are welcome!

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link View more entries tagged with: Association, Ae, Micromanagement, Leadership, Strategy, Realtor

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Idea for Associations: US Navy Social Media List

via navy.mil

I am thinking this would be a very cool directory for state associations to have for local Realtor boards, or for a national association to host (you can change your own data, after all), or for umbrella organizations to have for user groups or chapters. What a handy reference!

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Productive Meetings

Check out this SlideShare Presentation. It was created for Grand Vision (Traverse City, MI)but has good tips for all meeting chairpersons and facilitators:

Productive Meetings

View more presentations from Judith Lindenau.

Off Stage

Oct. 23, 2009 - Developing Online Communities: Step Six

   

Staff participation in your online association activities is essential to success. Members can reach out directly to the staff person that can get the job done, or who has the specialized information they need. Communication is direct and simple, personal and informal.

However, there are some caveats.

First, develop a social media policy for your staff (www.realtown.com/Judith2/blog/smpolicy">see my blog suggestion)—one that encourages them to use these tools and participate appropriately in the association online communities.  

Secondly, review those policies regularly with your staff. Role play some situations even. Discuss what are the strength of staff participation and what are the potential pitfalls. Understand too that you can’t keep your staff from Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn…so have discussions often about propriety and responsibility to your organization.

And finally, make sure that you and your staff keep in mind that quick response to the online community is the norm, not the exception. Pay attention to alerts and emails from your community and respond promptly. By the same token, don’t overwhelm the community with useless conversation or too many empty communications. Make sure your social media efforts really contribute to your communications programs: empty, unused Facebook pages, for instance, detract from your organization's dynamic profile.

All this takes some practice, of course, and there’ll be a few mistakes (like the member who sent her love letter to her boyfriend to the entire MLS list). But these things happen. And when they do, go back and review all the reasons you listed in Step One as to why associations should develop online communities in the first place.

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Off Stage

Oct. 23, 2009 - Developing Online Communities: The Seventh Step

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The last step is really the Platinum Rule of everything we do as association managers: Think EASY, think SIMPLE.  

If it’s complicated for the user, she won’t do it.  Period.   

If logging in to the site is difficult, or if there are too many clicks to get to the information, your whole online effort could be toast, as they say.  Our members (and let’s face it, ourselves as well) simply haven’t got time for a learning curve.   So keep asking yourself, how can I make this easier?  More obvious?  Did you leave out the instructions (like “Click HERE to register”)?

Our users expect the simplicity they find on other sites.  For instance, I’m happy when I click on Amazon.com and I am automatically logged in from my home computer with the cheery message, “Welcome, Judith”, followed by “Your order is being shipped today, and here’s a couple of other books you might like to read.” 

Or when e-Bay says, “How would you rate the service you got from the seller?”  or “Did you want to buy something or sell something today, Judith?”

In either case, the greeting is warm and personal and the site anticipates what I want to do and allows me to do it in a click or two.  And that’s the same kind of simple, uncluttered technology that’s needed in our association online communities. 

Ever let a toddler loose in your living room?  Put the knick-knacks in a safe place, and place pillows where the sharp edges are.  Cover the electrical outlets with tape. Then put the baby on the floor and say, “Have fun.” 

Plan carefully, and then get out of the way.

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Realtor Association Programs for Intercultural Business Skills

 

 

Recently, a Realtor Association executive asked for thoughts on forming a 'diversity' committee, and a possible job description for such an animal.  In the past, the Realtor organization has been quite proactive in cultural awareness and equal opportunity training, but what should such a program look like in 2010?  Here's my answer:

"It seems to me that the world has come a long way from our ‘equal opportunity’ committee structure of the past: that committee had a definite purpose which was defined by the events of the times.   ‘Cultural Diversity’ is a product of our global world - and I think ‘cultural diversity’ is probably the wrong term for it, by the way.  Perhaps we need to title it ‘Diversity Appreciation’, or ‘Intercultural Business Skills’.   Using those terms, the program could also become a cornerstone of your International Program as well.

The Diversity program, whatever you might name it, would seem to have a member education component: its purpose is to teach members how to more successfully conduct business in a multicultural world.  It might emphasize effective communication and social interaction, how to make culturally neutral listing and sales presentations, training in  appropriate negotiation skills, how to identify community services which cater to the international community, and how to use personnel management techniques with a diversity of employees.

My take on designing such a program for the current demographics of our trade organization members would be to make a diversity program business-oriented.  Our members are involved in a multicultural world which reaches far beyond our twenty-year-old program of skin color and steering.  They are ambitious to be better business persons and certainly need a program which meets that need.

By the way, there are several organizations which deliver some excellent diversity training programs which can be targeted to specific business needs. I’m not endorsing any one program, but you might check out  RW-3 as an example (http://www.rw-3.com ).

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

MLS Tesseract: REALTORS® Property Resource: A possible business model?

I have had numerous conversations with folks regarding the REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR), NAR's multi-million dollar initiative shrouded in secrecy. Until now, my view has been that there is no business model for it.

NAR says that RPR, which will operate under NAR's REALTORS® Information Network (RIN) subsidiary, will give brokers better sources of data than consumers have and to make them the consumers' 'trusted advisor.' NAR is supposed to announce the RPR business plan in November in San Diego. I believe two big problems face RPR: (1) NAR has trouble executing real business plans and (2) RPR has no viable business model.

As for the trouble executing, NAR is famous for the fact that RIN itself crashed ignominiously in the late 90s after trying to build some kind of national technology service thing (I was never sure what it was going to be) – the only "good thing" that came out of it was Realtor.com. (Not everyone agrees that is a good thing, either.)

via mlstesseract.com

I’m looking at RPR from another perspective: that is, the plan is a giant step for NAR to free itself from the limitations of being a geography-based association in an internet-centered world. NAR was founded on a ‘market area’ structure which has been outdated for more than 50 years. It is also limited by a real estate licensed-based membership model, and we all know that the real estate business community is comprised of many important players who don’t hold real estate licenses.
NAR has spent huge resources protecting this archaic infrastructure. RPR is founded that a viable national property database supersedes geographical limitations and, hopefully, is based on the principal that a national property database functions in more ways that to sell property: in fact, if it is not an MLS, selling property is really not its principal value.
In these ways, then, RPR is revolutionary and, I think, even a necessary member service if NAR is to survive: geographical and business function limitations will eventually strangle the organization is something radical isn’t done—soon.
I don’t know what the business model is or will be. The only caveat I have to offer is that RPR be free to Realtors. To charge members or their MLS operations for RPR will be certain failure: it will set up the competitive and adversarial relationship between members, their MLSs, their associations, and the NAR. Even an infinitesimal charge to members will nickel-and-dime away the success: Realtor.com is a perfect example of the resentment and ill-feelings that arise in such circumstances.
We live in a world, after all, of “free” as a business model. As Wired columnist Chris Anderson remarked over a year ago, “To follow the money, you have to shift from a basic view of a market as a matching of two parties — buyers and sellers — to a broader sense of an ecosystem with many parties, only some of which exchange cash.” And if the two Dales need convincing of this, I’d suggest they read Anderson’s article in Wired, “Why $0.00 is the Future of Business.”
It’s not a new concept: real estate brokers know that income from the proceeds of a sale is not a substantial part of the company profit. By the same token, I hope the RPR business plan is based on the sale of data, advertising, enhanced memberships, publications, and the value of finding that the Realtor is, at last, the Voice for Real Estate information.

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Off Stage

 

 

My good friend and brilliant attorney Brian Larsen recently posted an interesting blog entry on Tesseract, “Emancipating innovation from the ‘legacy customer”. Brian was writing about why legacy companies such as MLS vendors are slow to innovate. Most, he says, blame their customers: “as vendors we have to meet the needs of our customers by giving them what they want and are used to. We are not able to innovate because we don’t want to antagonize them and/or lose our reputation as a solid rock in times of change.”

One of my clients, a Realtor association, is also concerned about innovation. “We’ve got to be cutting edge,” the AE told me. “If we don’t move toward change, we are doomed as an association.”

I thought “doomed” might be a bit dramatic a prediction, but after I met with the association leadership I discovered a low percentage of association participation, a concerted effort on the part of the leadership to clone future leaders as themselves, and a sweeping ignorance of the profile and presence of younger members. Yep, “doomed” might be more appropriate than I originally thought.

Brian’s article came to mind: often we as AEs have legacy leadership, and those folks behave like Brian's legacy companies do. The Legacy Leader says:

“Yep: lotsa nice bells and whistles with that new MLS system. But OUR members don’t have a clue about technology. It won’t work here.” (Denial, Brian calls it.)

“Well, who can fund a technology strategic plan? We have enough problems running the association on the members’ dues dollars. If we have any extra, we should give it back to them. These are hard times. Who ever heard of Research and Development anyway?” (Funding Challenges.)

“Our members are salespeople. They won’t learn new stuff: they haven’t got time.” (Legacy technologies.)

“Of course the association next door has listings in our area, and we have some in theirs. But if those brokers want to get access, they can join both MLSs. We don’t do business like they do so we couldn’t fit together in any way. And they’d just come here and try to sell our listings anyway.” (Resistance to partnering—ever heard of it?)

“We’re here for our members. We gotta do what they tell us or there will really be an uproar.” (We couldn’t do anything different if we wanted to. It’s not our mission.)

As associations we have legacy customers. Many have spent years immersed in tradition: lots of committees, regular face-to-face meetings, a surplus of disposable time to be an association groupie, a governance hierarchy that is stiff and unbending. Add to that the phenomenon of the “Compliance Command”: simply stated the Compliance Command is to obey national association policy, or else…. 

(The Compliance Command, by the way, is for many a great excuse for not taking action—certainly not the intention of NAR, which uses policy compliance as a risk management tool, not as an avoidance of strategic inquiry.)

The question then is, how do AEs assist their associations in creating what Larson calls “a culture of innovation”? Is “association innovation” a contradiction in terms? 

Another association thinker whom I regularly follow is Jeff De Cagna, of Principled Innovation. Jeff says: “Innovation is a social process that depends on people working collaboratively to identify, develop and nurture creative ideas”, and he suggests forming a “hot group” of members who act as a think tank and advisory group to the board of directors, and focus the group on solving current member problems, challenging them for new (and even dangerous) solutions. Recognize that solutions need not be costly: limit the group to a budget of, say, $1000 for an initial prototype or test. De Cagna says, “This is an example of a ‘generative constraint’ that can act as a catalyst for innovation.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with legacy, of course, particularly if preservation is important to your business. However, I’m of the opinion that preservation isn’t a mission for MLS vendors and other technology companies, or for real estate trade associations. As association managers, it’s a good idea to recognize your legacy customers and find a way to balance their impact on your organization as you build a culture of innovation.

via realtown.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Association Inc — The business of associations

Most “committees” will no longer exist

“Mobile” will be the primary association communications channel

What’s “free” and what’s “paid” will look very different

Niches will grow in importance relative to the mass market

Geography is no longer that important, and as a result local components will focus on active, valuable and sustainable products and services, or else fade away

Leadership development models will change by necessity, because few people want to make multi-year commitments

The line between “member” and “customer” will become even more blurred

via associationinc.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

The Trouble with Telling People to Go Green | Lateral Action

The Problem with Problem-Solving

When I thought of that story, it reminded me of some fundamental conclusions I’ve come to about creativity:

• A. Solving the problem is often the easy bit.
• B. The hard bit is getting people to recognise that there is a problem.
• C. The really hard bit is getting people to recognise that there is a problem that affects them.

In my experience, people who are completely stuck for ideas at A and B suddenly become incredibly creative and productive when they reach C.

via lateralaction.com

Isn't this the problem we often face in trade association management? We design the course, we find a great speaker, we scurry around and send out flyers and meeting notices, we scrape through the bucket of potential sponsors to fund all or part of the program, and----nobody comes! Sound familiar?

The real creativity in association management comes with getting people to point "C". All of our associations products, services, and efforts are based on "getting members to recognize that the goods, services and benefits AFFECT THEM.

And, of course, the other side of the coin is--maybe these things we've designed DON'T have any inherent relevance for members. That's the other hard part to think about.

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Best Practices for Realtor Associations 2009

An updated version of an earlier presentation, based on the NAR Best Practices publication from several years ago. The slide presentation is intended as a basis for a free-flowing discussion of ideas for achieving maximum customer service in five management areas. Prepared for the Coastal Association of Realtors Annual Leadership Conference

via slideshare.net

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Best Practices for Realtor Associations 2009

Check out this SlideShare Presentation, prepared for the Coastal Association of Realtors Annual Leadership conference.

Best Practices for Realtor Associations 2009

View more presentations from Judith Lindenau.

The Seven Samurai Guide to Team Building | Lateral Action

When you set out to do something remarkable, sooner or later you realise you can’t do it all on your own.

You’ve got a great idea for a new business – but you only have a fraction of the skills, knowledge and contacts required for success. You need top talent, but you can’t pay top dollar. So you’ll have to make smart use of partnering and outsourcing to make it work.

Or maybe you want to make a difference in your company, but entrenched interests mean you can’t win the fight on your own, so you need to find some allies, fast. You’ve got precious little authority, so you’ll need to develop your influencing skills if you’re to get the right people on your team.

via lateralaction.com

A really excellent article for association leaders and staff! Fresh ideas on how to build your team and get things done...I highly recommend a reading.

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Leaving the real estate nest: A real estate broker's comments her business model.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3613154786/in/photostream/" target=blank>mikebaird</a>." />Flickr photo by mikebaird.

It's time to stop feeding the little birdies and teach them how to feed themselves. Some will starve. For those, starvation would have been the outcome in any case.

The key is in outsourcing. Most of the broker's traditional roles have effectively been outsourced anyway, so embrace it. Instead of showing your new hires to a computer bank, tell them they will need their own.

Rather than trying to be a trainer, coach, technology provider, marketing department, and office supply warehouse, provide them in exchange for their license a thumb drive with links to all of the resources they could ever need to start and grow a business.

It will cost you about five bucks, and you can imprint your familiar logo on the side.

My agents know that they can choose from two dozen classes a month offered by our member association on everything from contracts to computers to marketing. There are enough seminars, webinars, coaches and "bar camps" to go around.

via inman.com

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

Survey: Over half of U.S. workplaces block social networks. How's YOUR association policy stack up?

Internet controls and filters in the workplace are nothing new. But social networks pose an interesting case: their potential for professional as well as personal networking, not to mention the well-publicized use of Twitter for marketing and customer service. There's also the fact that they've become so ingrained in culture and communication that some companies choosing to block them can appear draconian rather than prudent.

via news.cnet.com

Have you written a social media policy yet? And discussed it with staff? As associations, the easy way out is to adopt either the ostrich policy (head in sand, not breathing) or the shoot-yourself-in-foot policy (just say no).

Or you can go back and read my post on social media policies, and modify the prototype I've constructed to suit your needs, and carefully review it with your staff. Maybe even more than once. Link: http://www.realtown.com/Judith2/blog/smpolicy.>

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

The Complete Guide to Video Blogging: Check it out, association execs!

Video () blogging is nothing new — after all, video has existed on the web long before YouTube (). But video equipment is now cheaper, post production software more accessible, and online platforms on which to distribute video — such as YouTube — are easier to use than ever before. Still, only some of the many people posting videos regard themselves as video bloggers.

via mashable.com

Imagine! A video blog of that convention you're attending (or sponsoring), a blog about the special seminar, or the association Christmas party...a whole new area in member communications. Read this Guide to figure out how easy and inexpensive this really is!

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

MeetHeads--A great idea for your association meeting!

I'm always taking photos at meet-ups, so I've decided to have a little fun with it. I plan to set up a little studio of sorts at future meets that I attend, and offer to take a nice portrait photo of anyone there who would like one. The cool thing is, everyone is welcome to use their meet-up head shot for free for any non-commercial purpose!

Conditions: You may use your portrait photograph for free for any non-commercial purpose. Wherever the image is used, full credit to Neil Creek MUST accompany it. Wherever possible, this must appear as the following text: Photo: Neil Creek – neilcreek.com The link MUST be active. Where it is not possible to include text, the credit MUST appear on the image, so that it can be read clearly wherever the image appears. Exception: Thumbnail size avatars, for eg. small Twitter avatars. You also grant me all other non-commercial rights to the image as well as the promotion of my photography services. Use of your MeetHead indicates your agreement to these terms.

via neilcreek.com

Why not? Get people onto your expo floor or at your booth or your Annual Meeting by offering a free head shot photo. You could send it to them digitally for them to use in their social networking or other activity. The bonus: everyone loves a free photo, everyone needs one for social stuff, and you have their presence AND their email address....

Posted via web from Judith's posterous

3 Principles of Effective Communication

To communicate to me clearly you need to do three things:

1. Give me a Message
2. Make me Care
3. Give me a Way to Remember it

I suspect there’s a lot of truth in that for leaders communicating in the business setting - but it rings true for me as a blogger wanting communicate effectively each day through my blog.

via problogger.net

The principle of all good communication in our association communications!

Posted via web from Judith's posterous