Gary, Don't want to get too far afield, here, but you asked ============================================ WHY do you run the cut price service? ============================================ How I got there is a long story, but the why of it is that I never could make sense of charging someone who is selling a $300,000 house three times as much for the exact same service as I'm charging the person selling a $100,000 house. It just isn't logical. I couldn't sell it to myself, therefore I was having a hard time selling it to clients. So I came up with what I thought was a fair price for the average amount of time I spend on a listing and that's what I charge. Now my self-talk is a lot less judgemental. I haven't prospected for real estate business in two and a half years, since I became a broker. All my business is by referral. Am I getting rich by handling transactions for sellers? No...but I'm satisfied, and I've made some good friends who send me more business. Not having to go out and beat the bushes for business frees some of my time to build an internet business and also time to work on real estate investing, which is why most real estate agents get into the business in the first place. The service part is my work ethic, and a little bit of contrarianism. Other agents who want the listing tell my clients, "She won't do this and she won't do that." I enjoy proving them wrong. Is it integrity? Maybe. I guess so. It's congruency with what I believe. It works for me and that's why I do it. That it works for my clients, and saves them money to boot, is a bonus. Cheri

Hi Linda, I finally took the time to answere your questions. "Do you think you can have integrity and make money? " Of course "Do you think integrity helps - or hurts - your profits in the long run? " Neither Here's my thoughts. To say I have integrity or someone else has integrity means that a judgement has to be made. To be in a position to pass judgement you need to follow a set of code and that can bring you around in a circle. I think many people spin this circle and choose to react when an opportunity is presented. To react is much easier than to apply due diligent. Integrity is not about money. For example, did you happen to notice the reactions that has taken place recently around autosurf site being attacked by hackers. Hmm, I wonder why? Also, what is the reaction now from the people who promoted and the people who followed. I can only think of common sense and horse sense. To me a person is truely defined by their action and not words. When their action is aligned with their words I come to attention. You here walk-the-talk so often you would think it was a natural behaviour. Not! Something I also like to note is culture. Having studied and measured the effectiveness of continuous process improvement programs I have to say that understanding the culture is most important. The AdLandPro community has a culture and it is changing in a much needed way. In time the number of people reacting to make a quick buck will diminish. As this happens the integrity of the members in the community will be affected in a positive way and it's obvious to me and probably to many others that you, Linda is directly responsible for this much needed improvement. I don't have any fancy letters before or after my name but I did have a neat title once. I was referred to as a Quality Professional. In my mind it meant Jack s**t , no puns intended. :-) My point here is, I was not successful in achieving continuous improvement until I aligned with what I call a Power Broker. A leader that unquestionably walks the talk. You Linda are a Power Broker at it's finest. Thank You for the learning experience, Jack

Hi Linda, I'm coming into this a little late, but find it very interesting. There have been lot of very good thoughts here. I STRONGLY believe that you can have integrity and make money. In fact, I believe that if you don't have integrity, you may make a few sales when you start out, but you're not going to keep customers or clients and you're going to have to search further and further afield to find them if you lack integrity. That said, it goes without saying that integrity HELPS your profits in the long run, as your reputation for honesty and incorruptibility will bring repeat business from happy clients. Clents/customers are like gold to a business, but there is a flip side, too. Businesses who hold fast to a code of high moral standard and honesty are like gold to people who depend on them to deliver excellent products and service to them. As far as the point about people telling you how good they are, Christian, etc, I will draw from the book of James, Chapter2, vs 18: "...shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew you my faith by my works." In other words, walk the talk. God bless, Dave

Hi Jack! ========================================== To react is much easier than to apply due diligent. Integrity is not about money. ========================================== Good point. And you're right. Integrity isn't about money. It's about whether or not our moral values can be corrupted or not. According to the dictionary, integrity means incorruptible. While some people will forsake their moral values for money, there's lots of other things people will set aside their values for. ========================================== For example, did you happen to notice the reactions that has taken place recently around autosurf site being attacked by hackers. Hmm, I wonder why? ========================================== Actually, I didn't. Do tell! It sounds almost laughable. LOL ========================================== To me a person is truely defined by their action and not words. ========================================== I agree 100%. I constantly watch words versus actions. When the two are not congruent, the actions win in telling me about a person. ========================================== The AdLandPro community has a culture and it is changing in a much needed way. In time the number of people reacting to make a quick buck will diminish. As this happens the integrity of the members in the community will be affected in a positive way and it's obvious to me and probably to many others that you, Linda is directly responsible for this much needed improvement. I don't have any fancy letters before or after my name but I did have a neat title once. I was referred to as a Quality Professional. In my mind it meant Jack s**t , no puns intended. My point here is, I was not successful in achieving continuous improvement until I aligned with what I call a Power Broker. A leader that unquestionably walks the talk. You Linda are a Power Broker at it's finest. ========================================== Jack - those are about the nicest words I've heard in a long time. In my life, I've taken my lumps for sticking to my values, and I've walked away from a lot of money in order to maintain my values. I believe in walking my talk, and I do not believe in double standards. Say one thing, do another has never been my style. Thank you very much for posting that... it meant a lot to me when I read it... and I mean that very, very sincerely. : ) Linda Now I can tell people that if they don't know Jack.... come on over. LOL. You knew I *had to* get a pun in somewhere!

Hi Dave; ========================================== I STRONGLY believe that you can have integrity and make money. In fact, I believe that if you don't have integrity, you may make a few sales when you start out, but you're not going to keep customers or clients and you're going to have to search further and further afield to find them if you lack integrity. That said, it goes without saying that integrity HELPS your profits in the long run ========================================== You are spot on - as usual! Here's a little twist for anyone reading along. One thing I see often, in business, is the difference between what the customer "wants" and what the customer "needs." Many merchants will give the customer what they 'want' - even when it's not what they need. Taking that road can make money for the merchant in the short term, but not the long term. A great example is "how to get rich quick" programs. Everyone would love to increase their income. Some would like to believe the stories that they can get rick quick, almost overnight, without learning anything. Just buy a program for $59 or $197 or $1,000. But eventually, after they've tried enough "programs" and aren't rich - but rather, are out of pocket for a lot of wasted cash, the realization starts to sink in that they are going to have to learn to build a business. When they finally find me, they stay for years. Some of my clients pay me for design work. Some have learned html and just pay me to create the "look" for them. Many host with me. Some I do part time or full time marketing for, as well. Some I write ad copy for. Some I do search engine optimization for. The point being, they stay. Why? Because I sell them what they need not the pipe dreams they "wanted" before they learned better. I think integrity also comes into play in determining WHEN to give the customer what they want - and when to educate them about what they need, instead. : ) Linda