Bub (my husband, if you are a new reader) calls it "my gypsy blood", though to be honest, I know of no lineage in my family that would attest to that genealogy...but I absolutely love being on the road. Whether I'm diving or flying, my heart starts to beat a little faster at the excitement of seeing new places, revisiting ones where I have memories or just feeling the wind on my face as I sing at the top of my lungs driving down the highway.

We spent 9 days in New Mexico in September for a trip that was part work and part play. James A. Michener said “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” I am so amazingly blessed that I can and be doing both!

As a recovering workaholic, who has struggled most of my life with taking time off, the thought of leaving for nine days used to cause a feeling of panic. That has changed in the last 10 years since I hired my own coach and studied the practice of coaching. Learning how to say no, how to set boundaries and pursue worthy goals and, most of all, learning about extreme self-care has changed my focus from frantically trying to make a great living to having a life worth living!

More on the trip on my blog!

EmailaCard has always been a great tool to use and now it is even better!

The campaigns are simple and effective to use. We have created a series of eCard campaigns specifically tailored to your business needs. All you have to do is select one of the campaigns, such as "Prospecting", and the web site will automatically send a series of seven professionals cards. These cards are designed to keep your name and phone number in front of potential sellers in a professional and timely manner. Now members can use the new campaigns to automatically:

1) Prospect for new buyers
2) Keep in touch with their current and past clients
3) Recruit agents to grow their company
4) Prospect for new sellers and most importantly
5) Save time and money by making their job easier

The best part of the new campaign function is that once you choose a campaign your work is done. The web site does the rest. It will automatically keep you in front of past, present and potential clients. Top 3 money making ideas from eMailaCard.com:

1) Let the other agents do the work for you: Web savvy members use the Build-a-Card feature or the Brochure feature to create either cards or flyers of their current properties. They then send them to the other agents in their market. Use this tool to your advantage and get the word out about your properties to the other agents in your market. They most likely have a buyer for your home. They just don't know about your home.

2) Get Feedback: How do you improve your service without feedback from your clients? Use the Feedback cards to get client satisfaction feedback, home showing feedback or even testimonials for your own marketing.

3) Put the eCard Gallery on your web site (homepage) and let your clients know about it: Especially when the Holidays roll around (and there are lot of holidays each year), this is great feature to have on your web site. Extra bonus idea: Send your clients a "snail mail" telling them they can now send free eCards from your web site. They will, and every time they send a card you'll get their email address emailed to you. What a great way to harvest email addresses.

GOALS: Having goals makes life more fun, because you have the thrill of the chase and the exquisite accomplishment of attainment

I realized one of the reasons it is so fun to travel with Bub is that he always has some quests to pursue when we are on the road. for our trip to Australia, he wanted a crocodile vest. This New Mexico trip was about finding the right silver belt buckle, a new hat, sopapillas and chili rellanos. He found everything he wanted and we had fun doing it.

What is it you want for the rest of this year? For next year? Are you ready to have extraordinary results or are you willing to settle for ordinary in the next 12 months?

COACHES CHALLENGE:

• Plan the rest of this year: What production will you do? When will you work and when will you play? How will you leverage the opportunities to see lots of people around the holidays into seeds for future business?
• Plan when you will plan 2006: Set aside on your calendar a full day to review this year and your numbers and plan your strategies and goals for 2006

These two actions will bring the extraordinary into your life! A tool to help with the planning is my Awesome Year Plan: A 25 page planning guide to walk you through the important steps!

Charlie Suggested "The World is Flat".

My Rule has always been I have to buy a book if 2 or more people suggest it, so I'm off to buy this one because Marilyn Urso also told me I should read it!

What's on your nightstand?

It is not too soon to even think about next year. We all know pre-planning is what separates the extraordinary from the average salesperson. Each year I meet with a small group of agents to support them to hit the ground running when the new year begins!

This is for you if:

• You are ready to take your business to the next level and want to do some strategic thinking!
• You want a business plan to work from in 2006 that will help you achieve your potential!
• You want to work smarter not harder in 2006 and feel relaxed!
• You need a time and place to get away and DO this!

Three locations are in the planning stages right now and I am offering an early bird discount if you register this week.

Tucson         November 18-20

Investment: $795 includes DISC Report, lunches, all materials and coaching calls before and after. $250 deposit is required upon registration.

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL:
Save $100 by registering before November 1st

For more information (www.joeann.com/gameretreats.htm)

Each retreat is limited to 25 people.

This monthly e-zine will be evolving into a shorter format and be supplemented by my BLOG entries for more current tips and information!

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