Often you hear me say, “There are no silver bullets.” I found the closest thing to a silver bullet. Meet my daughter Brooklynne Elle Boettge born Tuesday, March 24th 2009 at 8:18 pm. 7lbs 10oz. This girl has defined my purpose, brought clarity to my life and when people say, “Kids will change your life” I had no idea, I never knew I could feel this passionate, this protective or this proud about anything and I love a lot of things.
Jody is the the other half of this story, my companion and the most significant other anyone can ask for. We already have our challenges and Jody shows strength and compassion that makes me so proud and humble. I love both of my girls with all of my heart, what they have done for me I hope to be able to repay over a lifetime.
This story wouldn’t be complete without sharing the support of our family, business family and friends from around the country. Thank you, thank you, thank you. A special thank you to Jeff Waldman, Judie Czys, Laura Hartman, Kip, Kip Jr. and Guy Lofts and all the others at KW Crossroads that sent well wishes, visited and provided us meals for the days and weeks ahead. Dave and Terry Butz for their support, a life size Giraffe and catering a great “in hospital” party. My Mother, Barbara Boettge, Sister Cindy Carlson, Nephews Zach and Kaden for making the big drive to Madison, WI and helping us catch some zzz’s. Thank you for all the emails, Facebook comments, txt messages and phone calls we received
My beautiful daughter at 4 days old.
This truly is a case of love at first sight. Thanks again for your support!
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO | Dad
KW Madison Crossroads
608.661.7000
Brook and I in the birth suite.. Yep the aviators are still on my head!
If you take 5 minutes to read this…it will be worth every minute.
Bullet Points for those that don’t have 5 minutes:
Summary of Blitz – What did you take home?
Profit – Decrease Expense, Increase Revenue
The importance of Value
Dave Ramsey – Pain of Change
Thank you
Wow, it was great to see some of my friends and make some new ones at this year’s Blitz! Despite the negativity in the media and challenges on the frontlines the group seemed to be very positive and upbeat. Who was at Gee Dunsten’s final session in the day? Did you get his message? I think he made some key points, one that really stuck with me is getting your clients, prospects, friends and families engaged in your business as well as your success. I honestly believe that if they help create it, they own it and are a partner in your business. Think about how easy and powerful it would be to invite 5 people from your database to your office and get their opinion on your website, marketing materials etc. Take some advice from them, after all they are the consumers you are hoping to be in business with. If you make a couple of changes that they suggested imagine how honored AND enrolled in your success they will be. If you really want to come out on top in this market, you must create RAVING FANS, create a lot of them and create them quickly. If you can think of another way, let me know and I will publish it next week of course citing you as the contributor.
Another powerful point was treating your business like a business….focusing on PROFIT! This is one that you hear me talking about quite often as it is one of the most important business principles you can adopt. Shifting from measuring success by how busy we are to how profitable we are is a huge shift in personal accountability. So where does the profit we seek come from? Two places actually, reducing expenses and increasing revenue. In our “new” market we need to focus on our revenue producing activities more than ever and leverage our support activities. This is not as easy as it sounds because our revenue activities are what most of us avoid….lead generation. A fear of rejection, a level of discomfort, poor time management, a lack of clearly defined goals and not knowing what to do all lead to another day spent on website maintenance or marketing material production. How are you going to break through those road blocks to massive success? I recommend www.GoForNo.com as one source to do so. You need to find a way and a consistent time to meet new people and earn their business through effective communication. How much time do you spend on support, the things you would have your assistant do if you could afford one? My guess is that your income proportionately reflects that!
The other area to look at is expense. What overhead do you have? What does that do for you? Can you hold that expense accountable to specific revenue? How can you decrease, eliminate or leverage that overhead? Remember in our “new” market we should all check our pride and our egos and switch over to life support. You have heard me ask this before and all machismo aside, do you see proportionate value in what you share in commission dollars with your company and the fees you pay them. Our new market will hopefully help you re-evaluate where and how you spend your money. Think of the entire commission amount on a property coming to you, now think about walking into your brokers office and laying out the company share in hundreds on his/her desk for every closing you have. Did they deserve that income? Did they earn it? How specifically did they earn those thousands of dollars per transaction? You know this email/blog goes out to my agents as well and I ask them the same thing. If the answer is “they haven’t earned it”, ask why… “Is it because I have not taken advantage of the tools and support offered, or is it because there are no/limited tools or support offered?” If “yes” stay where you are, but you better mean it. It isn’t hard to say it is acceptable when you never see the money in your hand, but at every closing think of laying the individual hundred dollar bills on your broker’s desk after and honestly ask yourself, “Was it worth it?”
What I found intriguing was Gee Dunsten going through his power point at the end of the day explaining his “Power Tools” and how we had a great deal of them at KW. The first being the Kodak V705 Series cameras, we have them for use at our office at NO charge in combination with View Vista Suite linked at the right. We are committed to providing you the tools for success and think back to earlier in this email, how excited would everyone in your sphere be if you did a tour for them, used it as a “proof of personal property” for their insurance providers and hand delivered a copy to the insurance agent building a referral relationship. It is not just the tools, it is knowing how to use them in a dollar productive way. Another tool we have again was mentioned by Gee and is powered by www.AnnounceMyMove.com at no additional cost to our agents. This is an introduction to your client’s sphere of influence, again growing your sphere to its greatest potential. Where do we learn how to turn all of our tools into a lead generation machine? It is our education and coaching that illuminate the path, breaking down our personal roadblocks to success that have haunted us for years. Maybe you are wildly successful…chances are there is more you could be doing to earn a greater profit while earning back more time with your family or doing the things you love most. Take a look at our educational path and know that some of these courses can get you on the right path, some of them will just tweak the path you are on and some of them will profoundly change your life and the way you look at it and yes we teach them locally in Madison, 6 times per week. Brand NEWKWU Training and Education Video! Here is a link that explains precisely how our online education works and is also Brand NEW How KW Connect Works!
We have all of these tools and all of this education, what we know is that only 20% of agents will actually take advantage of it, implement it and succeed to the highest level. If you were at Keller Williams Realty, would you take advantage of what we have to offer? This is a suite that POWERS YOUR BUSINESS for $35.00 per month and on average agents in the KW system keep 81.9% of the commissions. What is your broker doing with the rest of the revenue? Ask them to show you! Darren Kittleson asked me to create an office with an unbreakable culture, amazing tools and a productive & proactive mindset. I didn’t do it alone, but WE did as a team with our agent partners and we have climbed to #17 in our market by volume today from #36 when I had started. My question is why haven’t you partnered with our company? You have nothing to lose in meeting with me, I have made agents thousands even if they don’t join our company they renegotiate with their broker. So if you find out we are a great fit, GREAT. If not, you still make more money. Where is the downside for you? We know there is loyalty, I propose in a “new” market a loyalty to VALUE, not your broker. Will they have the same loyalty to you if presented with a better opportunity? You have friends at your company…. I get it… bring them with, I encourage you to bring your friends and family when we meet because it is a big decision. Whatever your reason for staying where you have as long as you have…what has it done for you? I have met with many of you that love what we have to say, and then hesitate….falling victim to complacency and another year of the same. What I have yet to find is someone that hesitated and then blew the doors off at their same company that year. This is one of the biggest challenges we face as a human race…complacency.
I will leave you this, a quote from Dave Ramsey about change from his book “The Total Money Makeover”, it reminded me of you. For those of you that read the book, you may have noticed the “Dum (purposeful misspelling) Math & Stupid Tax” boxes with fun facts….I wonder what would be in that box about the KW Model vs. a traditional brokerage. Anyway….
“Change is painful. Few people have the courage to seek out change. Most people won’t change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change. When it comes to money, we can be like the toddler in a soiled diaper. “I know it smells bad, but it’s warm and it’s mine.” Only when the rash comes will we cry out. I hope that Sara’s story and the others in this book will make you unwilling to stay where you are. If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results. You are where you are right now financially as a sum total of the decisions you’ve made to this point. If you like where you are, keep it up…” (The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, pg15)
What is the point at which you have had enough… for many, that point may be today. For others that point may be far down the road. Which are you?
“…Are you really looking for something more? If so, I’ve got great news. This plan works! Break through temptation to remain in the same situation, and opt for the pain of change before the pain of not changing searches you out. Don’t wait for a heart attack to show you that you are overweight. Cut the carbs, the fats, the sugars and lace up the running shoes now.” (The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, pg15)
The story about Sara is one where she sat in denial about her financial situation, which I’m sure is the case for so many of us. I found so many parallels in this page of the book and that of real estate and the choice we all make to stay vs. go. What will be your wake up call?
Thank you so much for sticking with me to this point! I can’t wait to build relationships and work with you all whether in our office or through co-brokes. Remember your company and our association is not great because of the entity, but those of you that are in it. You deserve more, your families deserve more, call me today.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO
Keller Williams Realty – Madison Crossroads
608.661.7000 for your confidential call.
P.S. When you call ask us about our NEW Health Insurance Plan for agents.
Entitlement – America’s Epidemic Exposed by Recession
Good day readers and thanks for your continued loyalty. You may have read a scribbling of mine in the past with a similar title, I assure you this is not the same story. Recently I was slapped in the face by none other than Gary Keller, not literally of course, yet equally painful. It is one of those slaps that are so powerful, they change your life. Why was I slapped? Because I am a spoiled brat and I won’t call you one, but I do intend to help you self discover that may be the case.
Here we are bathing in some of the WORST economic times since the great depression. How are these times affecting you? Personally I write this from my heated bedroom with flannel sheets overlooking my beach house and the Madison skyline after just moments ago walking out of my steam shower… and yes I am writing this on my laptop. My beautiful and very pregnant girlfriend just brought me gourmet pizza for lunch and our baby is almost text book perfect already equipped with every material item she will need for the next 2 years. When I was 25 I was named CEO of a multi-million dollar company with little more than a years worth of experience and no management background whatsoever. My career today is as secure as my commitment to results and my ability to adapt to changing market conditions. I control my destiny. Those that know me know that I wouldn’t share this unless I needed to make a point. What is my point today… this is the era of entitlement. I still felt at times the world owed me more and today that sickens me.
A recent poll which I cite from memory alone and picked up from walking by a cable network newscast in Orlando International asked Americans, “Are you fearful for the economic future of the United States?” Upwards of 70% of respondents said “Yes”. In the same poll it was asked, “How would you rate your current situation?” Upwards of 70% said they were “doing fine”. Now I’m sure that for some of us this recession is very, very real, but for most, this is simply a time for us to cut back from a double, to a single shot in our 23oz non-fat Chai Lattes. How are you affected? I spend time recently asking myself, have I ever really sacrificed? Reflecting on all of the things that I have complained about in my life and the trivial things I hear others complain about I have realized that this isn’t a generations mindset (X, Y or Next), not the baby boomers or the echo boomers, there is a disease that plagues an entire era, the disease is entitlement.
There has been a huge gap in time since my last history lesson and today, however I have always been blessed with a great memory. I can see my Great, Great, Great Grandchildren reading about this period in the U.S. as “The Era of Entitlement”, which by the way, I thought lead to the downfall of every other major civilization that wasn’t destroyed by a natural disaster. With our country’s current and brightest minds not having a blueprint to work from, how do you think they would have started The United States of America?
Let me define entitlement “to give somebody the right to have or to do something”. Do you hear that, I mean really hear that? My personal definition remains, the absence of gratitude. I think it is time that we review what we have a RIGHT to in our lives, and what PRIVILEDGES have been presented to us. Does anyone know what document we should review? I bet some were clueless, as I was until I started to gain perspective. It’s the “Bill of Rights” or the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. (cited www.wikipedia.com)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.[6][7]
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
I missed Amendment
1.5 which clearly states, “The right to a latte every day!”
2.5 which clearly states, “The right to drive a car!”
3.5 which clearly states, “The right to have great shoes!”
4.5 which clearly states, “The right to have everything without giving anything to society!”
5.5 which clearly states, “The RIGHT to social security!”
6.5 which clearly states, “The RIGHT to be in business despite operating on HORRIBLE business practices!”
Seriously read through your RIGHTS and you will see the only thing you are guaranteed in America is a fair shake, NOT WiFi, NOT Housing, NOT Handouts! I am embarrassed at my behavior, the complaints I have made and I vow to be grateful… moving away from the entitlement mindset I have allowed into my life and towards a pro-active accountability mindset at a deeper level.
So where do we go from here? Think of the sacrifice of war, bullets whizzing by our friends and relatives heads. Think of the basic “Rights” we are granted in our country that others are not. Think about our infrastructure, sewer, water, electricity compared to other parts of the world. Since I have been with Keller Williams Realty, I have met the sole survivor of a 200 person genocide in Africa, his friends and family burned alive. I have seen a man go to the Olympics after becoming paralyzed, a man born with no arms play the guitar with his toes far better than most musicians with arms, an eleven year old girl speak in front of thousands about her passion, saving lives and showing more leadership in a single breath than many of us show in a lifetime. I have seen all of these things and yet I still can muster up an excuse for not performing at a higher level. Again I am embarrassed and overwhelmed with emotion when I think about that. We are blessed with so much privilege, it is time we think without limits, eliminate excuses and earn our place in this world.
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