Conscious Real Estate

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Acceptance and Enjoyment

Anything we do in life that we do not enjoy, we should accept. If we can neither enjoy nor accept something we find ourselves doing, we should stop doing it. The only thing in life that we have full control over, and, the only thing that really matters, is our state of consciousness. If we perform an unfavorable action with acceptance, we have taken responsibility for our state of consciousness, and therefore our state of life. We are 100% responsible for, and 100% in control of our state of consciousness.

Interest Rates Are LOWEST IN HISTORY Right Now!

From Aaron Gordon at Countrywide Home Loans: Rates are down from last week. They are the lowest they have been in history. A 52 year low. As the government announces more purchases of mortgage-backed securities, rates continue to plummet. Interestingly, if you are still sitting on the sideline waiting for rates to drop further, the head of Freddie Mac came out this week and said he believes rates are at the bottom and any further drop will be minimal. PLAN ON AROUND: 4.375% WOW! (APR 4.508) FOR A 30 YR FIXED CONVENTIONAL LOAN with ONE POINT, NO ORIGINATION! 4.750% (APR 4.862) FOR A 30 YR FHA / VA LOAN, WITH ONE POINT, NO ORIGINATION! 5.750% (APR 6.024) ON A 30 YR JUMBO LOAN OVER $417,000 with ONE POINT, NO ORIGINATION! 5.125% (APR 5.262) ON A 5 YR JUMBO AR M with ONE POINT, NO ORIGINATION!

Data from February Las Vegas Home Sales

Our market is rife not only with bank owned properties for sale, but buyers looking for great deals as well! As full time real estate Brokers/Salesmen, Bryan and I can share that homes are SELLING at an awesome pace here in Las Vegas. We are helping our buyers find amazing deals, sometimes at 60 or 70 bucks/square foot! The majority of these great deals consistently attract the interest of other buyers, too, and we're finding ourselves competing with multiple offers to buy these great properties. February data from Larry Murphy at Salestraq (www.salestraq.com) shows that 2,759 homes sold on the resale market... WOW! That's about 71% MORE homes that sold in February 2008, and 22 more than last month. This data shows that sales are increasing in Las Vegas. Demand is growing. Prices, however, have continued to slide downward a bit more... to a median price of $142,500, according to Murphy. I believe this is due to the simple fact that privately owned (non-bank owned) home prices are finally coming down to the range of bank owned homes. Private owners are finally shifting their mindset, which is to say, they're realizing the prices just HAVE to come down (to bank-owned levels) in order to sell their homes. Another interesting nugget is 2,205 new foreclosures occurred in February. That being said, our market needs to absorb more than that number of bank owned properties on the resale market in order for our market to "turn." Some believe this will happen later this year. Some think we'll see the turn in 2010. Regardless of when the market turns, amazing bargains exist in the Las Vegas real estate market right now.

Accomplishment and Association

From Dan Kennedy's No BS Ruthless Management

Page 240-

So, still, exactly what is an accomplishment?

Something that must be done, done. Something done that either immediately produces profits or can be measured and tracked as directly contributing to sustaining or increasing profits. A problem interfering with maximum productivity or maximum profits solved. A decision made and acted upon. A person fired or hired, a needed vendor found and contracted with, a marketing campaign implemented. A sale made, a client acquired. Here's a litmus test: accomplishment is always described presently in past tense.

Conversely, activity includes things done that don't produce profits, but more so, things in progress moving along toward an uncertain end with an uncertain arrival time. Activity is a nagging or recurring problem thought about, mulled over, discussed, handed off to a committee, or otherwise kept stewing. A decision unmade. Activity is always described presently in present or future tense.

Pg. 248

Just about everybody I've ever met in business frequently has good ideas. CEO's of big companies, owners of small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and my own peers in the information-marketing field, like authors, speakers, conference promoters, and publishers. All these good ideas are useless and valueless until they are DONE. Compressing the time between idea and action and between action and completion, is where all the profit is.

 Pg 334

Being deliberate about whom you do NOT associate with is as important as choosing whom you associate with. "Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas" is a ruthlessly truthful Japanese proverb. And it only takes one co-habitation to get infested with fleas. By "fleas," I mean negative and unproductive thoughts, limiting or erroneous beliefs, guilt, doubt, complacency, procrastination, weakened resolve, poverty thoughts, and so on. You need to associate exclusively with people who reinforce your personal motivation, encourage and celebrate your achievement, and are qualified through successful and relevant business or life experience to offer opinions and ideas worthy of your consideration. To be simplistic, and to paraphrase Trump, there are winners and there are losers. You win by hanging out with winners. You lose by hanging around losers. No one you associate with leaves you untouched. 

Do Homeowners Really Own? What is Allodial Title?

Being intrigued with www.zeitgeistmovement.com, I frequently ponder our relationship with the land we live on. As real estate owners in the United States, the most common way to hold title is a "fee simple" estate in land. It is common perception that a homeowner "owns" the land that their house rests on. In fact, we truly only own the structure (frame, stucco, flooring, mechanical systems) of our houses and attached fixtures. Our complete and true ownership ends there. We "own" our parcel of land within the context of our society... and our ownership is limited by the four basic government powers of taxation (property taxes), eminent domain, police power, and escheat and could also be limited by certain encumbrances (such as mortgages) or a condition in the deed. A common type of restriction that runs with the deed to real estate are the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) of homeowners associations. Is there an alternate way of property ownership? How about Allodial Title?? Allodial Title is the estate in land in which the owner holds title to property that is free and clear of any and all encumbrances whatsoever. What a great feeling... knowing you are the sovereign owner of your real estate, not subject to any higher powers! Allodial title is rare, however, being reserved mainly for governments and monarchy. Perhaps the Native Americans have the best attitude toward the land: we are privileged tenants on this beautiful planet, and therefore must respect the land, live WITH her, respect her and not conquer and own her. What is the concept of "ownership" anyway? The concept of "mine?" Do we define ourselves by our possessions? I choose to define myself by my state of consciousness, my relationship with my thoughts/feelings, and my interaction with the present moment. for info about Allodial Title in Nevada, see Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter NRS 361.900 at http://leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-361.html#NRS361Sec900

Some Good News

3 Principal Triggers Finished

Yes, you can have them at hello. Everything else after that is just details.

The Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle in Short Copy

Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher, once wrote: "I have written you a long letter because I did not have time to write a short one."

This goes along the same lines as something Mark Twain once said: "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." Most outstanding and impactful presentations -- especially sales presentations -- require much time and preparation, no matter how easy or spontaneous they might look. Anyone with the gift of gab can fill an hour's worth of speaking time at a moment's notice, but only someone who's well prepared and who knows the key principles of communicating succinctly, clearly, and memorably can give a 3-minute presentation that has maximum impact. That's why when individuals are about to be  interviewed on a national TV program they often need a media trainer to teach them how to speak in sound bites. On the Internet, there is also a need for this kind of brevity in a number of copywriting applications,

such as product descriptions on catalog-style websites, banner ads, pay-per-click ads, blog posts, and other marketing messages where there are space restrictions and a limited amount of text allowed. How can you make an impact with words in such marketing environments? By resenting information in cyber bites. I've coined this term to mean web copy in bite-size pieces that pack a powerful selling punch.

Just like sound bites, cyber bites must make the maximum impact in the minimum number of words or characters -- but they also need to accomplish one more thing that sound bites are not necessarily required to do. They have to sell. So how do you go about writing cyber bites that sell? If you were put to the task of writing product descriptions for a catalog-style website, for instance, how would you choose, from a long list of specifications and benefits, which highlights to include in the catalog entry? If you were asked to write an advertisement of 50 words or less, how would you whittle a voluminous amount of information down to the essential information that would cause your prospect to want to buy your product or service, or at least take a closer look for the purpose of making a buying decision? If you were allowed to include only 3 benefit bullets among the dozens that your product or service offers, which 3 would you choose? The answer most copywriters would give is invariably one that involves your personal judgment or opinion. No matter how experienced you are in marketing or copywriting, or how well you know your product or service, using your own judgment seldom hits the mark. The way to increase the likelihood of hitting the bull's-eye is by applying the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle.

 Before you attempt to apply the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle in writing a cyber bite, however, you must first put on your customers' hat so that you can gain consumer insight -- what your target consumers are saying and thinking and what truly matters to them. As Robert Collier once wrote, "You must enter the conversation that's already happening in your prospect's mind." Only when you have this consumer insight can you develop a unique selling proposition (USP) that highlights the benefit sought by your target customers, and one that speaks to their needs. This USP then becomes the central concept that you need to present compellingly via the 3 principal triggers of the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle. Following is an example of an effective cyber bite:

 Permanent Hair Removal Without the Pain of Electrolysis

-and at a Fraction of the Cost of Laser Hair Removal

 => Patented handheld hair removal appliance sends a painless radio frequency to the hair shaft, deadening the hair at the root--unwanted hair is gone forever and won't grow back!

 => Approved by the FDA as Medically Safe Technology

 => 5,000 of these appliances sold out on QVC in less than 5 minutes!

 It's easy to see why the advertisement above is irresistible. It not only articulates its unique selling proposition in the headline but also employs the resonance, redefinition, and resistance triggers in its 3 benefit bullets.

The ad redefines the technology of permanent hair removal (a radiofrequency that deadens the root), causes readers to identify with the 5,000 people who bought the appliance on QVC, creates excitement

and a sense of urgency through the mention of how fast the appliance sold, and addresses the common objections to permanent hair removal -- that is, pain, cost, and safety. Following is another example of a cyber bite for a software program presented in two lengths: a bulleted product description and a 50-word advertisement. Here's how a cyber bite would look in a bulleted product description:

WebGenius is the only website development software that lets you build a high-performing website that is equipped with powerful Internet marketing functionality--in as little as 15 minutes.

Your website will practically market itself!

Users call this "the most intelligent website creation software ever designed for Internet marketers."

83% of users switched from using Dreamweaver or FrontPage because of WebGenius's powerful and easy-to-use suite of applications no online entrepreneur can do business without.

Combines the functionality of the best html editors on the market and 12 Internet marketing programs and applications--you'll never need to hire costly programmers or web designers again!

This copy presents its unique selling proposition in the first two sentences and then employs the 3 triggers in the benefit bullets. The reader identifies with the users who called WebGenius "the most intelligent website creation software ever designed for Internet marketers" because the prospect is an Internet marketer himself. Further resonance is established with the mention of the 83 percent of users who switched from using

Dreamweaver or FrontPage, since there's a very high likelihood that the target audience is using one of those programs and is wondering why someone would want to switch to another website creation software

program. The ad redefines website creation by mentioning that the software combines the functionality of the best html editors on the market and 12 Internet marketing programs and applications. The prospect's

resistance is countered by the presentation of the "easy-to-use" technology and the possibility of creating a high-performing website "in as little as 15 minutes." The final bullet addresses another unspoken concern of the Internet marketer: the cost and hassle of hiring a website designer and programmer to get his website to look and function the way he wants it to.

Here is the copy on a Network Solutions advertising banner that I saw recently:

What will Network Solutions do for you?

Create a site

Drive traffic

Sell products and services

It bears repeating that whenever possible, you must present a concept in 3 ways -- not just any 3 ways but the 3 ways in the right sequence that give people a sense of completion. Together, they must hit the main cornerstones that constitute a satisfying purchase decision. And those cornerstones are the 3 principal triggers of the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle.

3 Principal Triggers Continued

[sales letter copy - not important here]

It's not my objective to make a judgment call about the quality of the underlying products (seminar and audio CDs) that were sold by Erik Morgan in the above example. My only goal is to illustrate the anatomy of a successful mind change, and identify the factors present in Erik's e-mail campaign that squashed people's skepticism and dramatically increased their interest to the point that they were willing to make a $1,000 buying decision (or $250, in the case of the audio CD set) in the time it took them to read the email. Those kinds of results, of course, are the stuff that marketers' dreams are made of -- that is, to be able to convey just 3 things in the right sequence and consequently cause people to fall all over themselves to buy whatever you're selling! I'm not at all surprised by the phenomenal response Erik got, because the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle was firmly in place. Here's how the 3 principal triggers were engaged.

Resonance: The recipients of Erik's e-mail were able to identify with Erik's lifelong struggle with being overweight because they themselves battled excess weight. They got excited hearing about Erik's weight loss -- especially the part about maintaining the weight loss without having to diet, exercise, or take diet drugs or pills. Furthermore, they regarded Erik as a respected authority figure, one whom they could look up to and emulate. Since Erik had the reputation of being a consumerist, he was credible to them. They couldn't imagine him fabricating his story about permanent weight loss. Any skepticism that they might have entertained upon hearing this too-good-to-be-true news dissipated. First base.

Redefinition: Erik redefined the accomplishment of weight loss and positioned it as the greatest nutritional discovery of the century. He also mentioned that the drug companies are scrambling to hide from the public this unbelievable way of losing unwanted pounds because they are trying to turn this discovery into a drug that they can patent and sell for billions of dollars. This logically ordered proposition tallyed with what they already knew about Erik as someone who exposes the hidden tricks that drug companies employ to fool the public. Therefore, it passed through to their belief system with no resistance. Second base.

Resistance: Erik stated in his e-mail that the government won't allow him to sell the weight loss nutrient, but that the discovery is powerful, safe, and effective. This addresses the objections prospects might have had about the danger of ingesting this new nutrient. Since Erik also said the only way he could provide the information about the discovery was through one-day seminar in Chicago, they were able to justify the high price tag in their minds because the information wasn't available anywhere else. And if they couldn't afford the $1,000, Erik had given a less costly option: the $250 audio CDs. Third base.

With all the triggers engaged, the only question left for the prospects to answer was which one they should opt for -- the seminar or the audio CDs? Whether they chose one or the other, the e-mail campaign was a home run for Erik.

As mentioned earlier, anyone can easily apply the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle to just about any product or service. When you employ the 3 triggers of resonance, redefinition, and resistance and, at the same time, reinforce the sales proposition through the 3 principal forms of representation (narrative, quantitative, and logic), it renders your product or service irresistible. Oftentimes, when presented with these triggers, a good percentage of your target audience would be ready to buy without reading another word. One important thing to remember is that putting the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle in place is not necessarily equivalent to writing web copy in its entirety. Rather, it is ...

... a shortcut strategy for presenting the most salient points of your sales proposition in the most compelling manner in the least amount of time.

I was recently interviewed by a top public relations professional; whose company is the leading provider of experts and authors to the media. During the interview, she voiced her dislike for overly long sales letter types of copy that she considers overkill. "I don't need to read multiple pages of web copy for me to make a buying decision," she said. "I want to be given just the facts, then I'll decide whether I'll buy or not. Some marketers just write pages and pages of words when they already had me at hello."

There are many reasons why a copywriter would find it necessary to write long copy as opposed to short copy. It usually has less to do with the copywriter's preference and more to do with the nature of the product or service, the target audience, the price point, the competition, and many other considerations. However, when short copy is identified as the best route to take, the Trifecta Neuro-Affective Principle can be used to deliver "just the facts" to your prospects in the most compelling manner and sequence.

Nature today

Bryan!!! I had an awesome time at Red Rock with you, Joe, and nature this morning. I'm a better person now! Love the "little" lotus house!!!