> I’d like to think I need a broker who isn’t cheap; bare in mind, I’ve had to deal with a few brokers in renting, and the one common denominator between all of the ones that were kind of “eh” and the ones that had the right stuff was cheapness. if they are not willing to go the extra mile to get something done right, but rather will be penny wise and pound foolish. I don’t want them, it leaves a bad name for you as an agent, and prevents leads from coming in.
Secondly I would want someone who isn’t afraid of mentoring and understand that new agents are going to make mistakes every now and then.
Third, a broker with an in-house lead generation or CMS would be just “tops“, helps prevent people from stepping on toes, and keeps your mind structured enough to get the job done.

-List five things you think an agent should do to increase his or her business.

>

1. Get a CMS (Client Management System) they are cheap to free (ZoHo.com) and can help coordinate lead generation, keep track of multiple clients, and take advantage of consistent contact with clients.

2. Join Toastmasters, or take a public speaking course
Doesn’t mean you have to be a master orator, but being able to put thoughts together quickly to form a knowledgeable set of speech is helpful

3. Never take the bare minimum in courses (always keep your edge sharp)

4. Develop a brand image for yourself. find a few set of core principles and never break them, this can endear you and turn past clients into raving fans for your business

5. Get a GPS , it’s OK with getting lost when driving so you can better know an area in your portfolio (or where you want to have as your portfolio) nothing beats being on the ground to know an area, however the only time it is not so good to get lost is when you are meeting a client. At that point a GPS becomes a God-send

BUT IN NEW Princedoms difficulties abound. And, first, if the Princedom be not wholly new, but joined on to the ancient dominions of the Prince, so as to form with them what may be termed a mixed Princedom, changes will come from a cause common to all new States, namely, that men, thinking to better their condition, are always ready to change masters, and in this expectation will take up arms against any ruler; wherein they deceive themselves, and find afterwards by experience that they are worse off than before. This again results naturally and necessarily from the circumstance that the Prince cannot avoid giving offence to his new subjects, either in respect of the troops he quarters on them, or of some other of the numberless vexations attendant on a new acquisition. And in this way you may find that you have enemies in all those whom you have injured in seizing the Princedom, yet cannot keep the friendship of those who helped you to gain it; since you can neither reward them as they expect, nor yet, being under obligations to them, use violent remedies against them. For however strong you may be in respect of your army, it is essential that in entering a new Province you should have the good will of its inhabitants.

The Prince
Niccoló Machiavelli

Read it!

Sadly for them, they live in turkey, and will promptly be loosing their right internet hands.

This is a problem apparently on the interwoobs as the majority of such petty defacements are by turkish boys.

If only the EU knew what they were letting into their fold; that or if only the Greeks were privy, and willing to start some shit again.

What I do know, is it seems to be a script kitty sort of thing, and they really hate the PKK & the USA.

Sweet Lord do I love it.

it is the power of wordpress, with the simple ease of merely pushing buttons and the excuse of being able to have super short posts.

Dontpanic.jonathanshidler.com

When I read this, I knew that someone else knew what I knew.

And I was much saddened when I realized that he had passed years before me.

Each and All

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown,
Of thee, from the hill-top looking down;
And the heifer, that lows in the upland farm,
Far-heard, lows not thine ear to charm;
The sexton tolling the bell at noon,
Dreams not that great Napoleon
Stops his horse, and lists with delight,
Whilst his files sweep round yon Alpine height;
Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor’s creed has lent:
All are needed by each one,
Nothing is fair or good alone.

I thought the sparrow’s note from heaven,
Singing at dawn on the alder bough;
I brought him home in his nest at even;—
He sings the song, but it pleases not now;
For I did not bring home the river and sky;
He sang to my ear; they sang to my eye.

The delicate shells lay on the shore;
The bubbles of the latest wave
Fresh pearls to their enamel gave;
And the bellowing of the savage sea
Greeted their safe escape to me;
I wiped away the weeds and foam,
And fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore
With the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar.

The lover watched his graceful maid
As ‘mid the virgin train she strayed,
Nor knew her beauty’s best attire
Was woven still by the snow-white quire;
At last she came to his hermitage,
Like the bird from the woodlands to the cage,—
The gay enchantment was undone,
A gentle wife, but fairy none.

Then I said, “I covet Truth;
Beauty is unripe childhood’s cheat,—
I leave it behind with the games of youth.”
As I spoke, beneath my feet
The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath,
Running over the club-moss burrs;
I inhaled the violet’s breath;
Around me stood the oaks and firs;
Pine cones and acorns lay on the ground;
Above me soared the eternal sky,
Full of light and deity;
Again I saw, again I heard,
The rolling river, the morning bird;—
Beauty through my senses stole,
I yielded myself to the perfect whole.

I want my money back please Mr Government.

so, thus far, I have applied to the following (and apply, 5, thus putting it in the not so triumphant return of the “fives” listing:

University of Redlands
San Jose State University
San Francisco State State University
CSU Monterey Bay
CSU San Bernardino (I know… I know.)

Edit:
eh, let’s add UC Irvine and UC Riverside.

I should get cracking, I have a few grand days to achieve come august.

(I.H.a.D.o.t. it ends up alright.)

and those that know me know that I have been sporadically taking classes over at Riverside and one at crafton (in all 76 semester units worth)

and I realize “wait a second…. since 9/2004 and 3/2008….. that’s almost four years”

and one of my sizable yelps escapes from me, into the ether, never to return to the solemn hallows of my throat for another use.

all and all, it was a good one to have.

this ties in neatly with my “welp, I ain’t graduating with the rest of my high school” sentiments with a kind little tag line of “Jonathan Shidler: realizing that he will not be graduating this year”

now, why did that come easier than attaching a whole date to it?

So, to comfort myself, I am going to think back to all I did other than School.

In crude and semi non sequential order:

• Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
• The MET, New York
• The MOMA, New York
• L’Orange, Paris
• The Getty, Los Angeles

in the couplet of:

All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone

it is how I have come to see God.

Absolute, and so much so, he is able to look at each and every smallest detail of each situation to know the goodness and the justice of each of our actions.

thus is the way he designed our universe. a vastly calculating machine that provides for us without his direct interference in that of the sun, the physics we require, and the mere staging of the earth’s resources down to that boulder in the back of your yard that prevents you from having a pool as easily, or the beauty of a creature upon the tops of trees.

I see that Atheists gain the same advantage as Believers in many arenas. yet in my eye, they are like those who have renounced the use of basic medicine, although gaining the inescapable advantage of a common healthy body’s basic addition to their lives in self mending, yet removed from the greater possibilities to help in aiding the repair of a broken portion.

by following God, and constantly seeking the deeper revelation all things he has created, we may greater come to terms with the greatness that God is.

who other than an all loving being would make such a wonderful paradox of a world complexly well organized so that in essence is a computer program of an infinite number of “if this than that” of laws,

yet still retain an intellect that is one of constant discovery and revelation of the creation and the creator?
and all the while given free will to seek or not to seek depending on some other set of circumstances that we have yet to understand as to why, or how in the first place.

Why do some cultures turn to a God, and others not?

why do some people find him and others repulse from the idea?

is it from so many if this than that moments that lead to a fully functioning (or dis-functioning) algorithm of love or hatred for the concept of one supreme being?

LA got less than 5.25 inches of water

Atlanta?

28.5 inches of water.

conclusion:
handle your water.

(source: weather channel as of December 20, 2007)

Mother Fucker.

“Clear Registered Travelers Fly Through Airport Security”
I first saw this about 2 years ago back in Orlando when I was traveling the eastern seaboard with my Big sister and her family, and I knew this day was coming. although I tentatively agree, and heck, conceptualized it when I was being man handled by Steve at LAX for 45 minutes because I was “randomly selected” for the 3rd time since I was a field tester for the Ion-o-scan bomb detecter in Cincinnati back in the late 90’s

What can I say? either

Really, people are pissed in airports, you make one smiling face– and BAM!

you are a terrorist, for sure!

only a man who knows the bomb in his shoe will bring him to 70 virgins can be that joyful!

So this last time I fly, I get a “Quadruple S threat level” thanks to the kind lady at the front of the booking line.

teach me to be cheerful with a crazy psycho-lady who works for the asshole of the air (spirit air)

not just that, the lady checking my ID before I could go up the escalator looked at me cheerfully while I made small talk, telling her how I appreciated their job keeping us safe (TSA Badge ID# 55562), as she looked at me with a look of “oh, aren’t you cute!” (age guess: 19 - 23) then highlighted the SSSS on my ticket.

I bound up the stairs, whistling and humming a tune.

I don’t know what it is, but the last 3 times I have flown, I have been tightly screened.

do I feel safer? no, not at all.

but now that I think about it, I think it was me quoting the head of the TSA about the lighter ban as “Security Theater” from the LA times article when they lifted the ban, discussing the frustration I had at the “3-1-1″ rule that inspires me with rage unknown. (see a short article the quotation from Kip Hawley, head of the TSA)

I am sure that makes ya sound like a threat when you know your rights and how ridiculous the whole staged process was.

I have to say though, the nice big Dennis Haisberg security screener at the metal detector who explained the SSSS rating after I didn’t beep and begain to walk towards my stuff, stopping me with his large arm held out like a traffic cop “Even though you didn’t beep, because of this [points to my quadruple S rating] you are to undergo an indepth screening, please stand here sir. “QUADRUPLE S! No beep! metal clear!, please point out your items [shifts me through to the plexiglass hall to point at my sad bags so alone and dejected]”

the way he handled it, compared to crazy booking lady, was superb.

if I go through it one more time, I swear, I am going to seriously contemplate doing as my father in the cold war and giving up my civil liberties by registering as a patriot. I might register for a “Clear” flight person.

but I can’t help shaking the resounding voice repeating over and over the last constant verses of:

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.