On a casual Saturday a few weeks ago, on a cigarette break, a simple baggage handler in Glasgow behaved in a way that has made him an international hero."? You may have read about it in the Wall Street Journal where featured on the front page was a man most likely never to be famous, and today he is the hero of his country.

I rarely watch daytime television, but due to the holiday and some late arriving repair men, the television happened to be on and I overheard a tagline that caught my attention."?

Ever wonder why some people can connect like crazy and others leave you "disconnected'"""""?

I recently interviewed one of the greats in the mortgage business."? Sue Woodard is an amazing person."? Not just because she does a gajillion dollars worth of loans in frigid Minneapolis, Minnesota every year with CTX Mortgage, but because she was able to convey complete authenticity, professionalism and real concern over a phone line. You just knew you were getting the real deal, even if you have never met her.

This past weekend I spent time in a think tank with several highly successful and talented people in the training industry."? Here's a group of intensely creative and extremely successful business people. During the break, as usual, the subject of real estate came up, and the host turned to me to discuss his thoughts about his present real estate challenges. Seems he was having trouble finding a good agent to sell his millions of dollars of real estate and to buy another new home...I knew I could help!

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Although blogging is relatively new to some groups, sites like MySpace make a good argument for the growing popularity and power of blogs. But would a community blog work for "your" community and if so, would it be worth your time and effort? The hard part may not be what you think.....

Unless you are disconnected from the media, there is relentless babble about the housing "bubble" and how the sky is falling and, well, aren't we in a housing mess?'

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What is interesting, however, is there are solid, positive facts that still prevail even though our market is said to be soggy and in reality, might really just be "taking a short break". But for those that have been in the business for the past 10+ years, this slow down takes pause for concern."? But then again, it's all in the way you look at it".

I received an email from a displeased reader who also happens to be in the discount brokerage business regarding an article I wrote that was published on Broker Agents News and this blog titled, "Are you worth your commission."

In case any others misunderstood my intent, I thought I'd take this time to elaborate a bit more.

It's just another day as I walk to the mail box and grab a fistful of mail to sort through before dinner. Interspersed between the bills, magazines and catalogs is some junk mail. I feel a slight twinge, however, as I notice that several of the junk pieces were sent by well meaning Realtors, just like I used to do.

Why is it that Realtors and Loan Originators historically"? haven't figured out how to work together to make more money and provide better service"?? If you don't have a strategic partnership with a financial professional, you could be working a lot harder and not smarter."? For some, the war goes on, but for others, their strategic relationships are carving a niche in a market that cries for differentiation and exceptional customer service. Here's what they told me..

Why is it that women in general will take care of everything and everybody else before ever even thinking of taking care of themselves?"? Are we doomed by zillions of years of conditioning to cater to the needs of others before self care?"? And what about those princess types we snicker about who never miss a massage or their weekly manicure...why can't we be more like them?

CNNMoney.com just turned up the heat with an article addressing REALTOR compensation issues adding to the controversy about commissions, discount brokerage and today's real estate services.

It is tough enough to compete with the 1.4 million licensees for buyers and sellers, but add the proliferation of discount brokerage houses, and online options, today's true professional has a challenge to differentiate their services.