WEBVTT

00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.239
and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building

00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.440
Profitable Connections, the show where we uncover

00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:26.899
how powerful relationships shape powerful results.

00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.660
I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and today's episode

00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:33.899
is extra special because my guest isn't just

00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:37.000
a business leader, he's also one of my very best

00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.259
friends, someone I've known since middle school.

00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:43.450
Over the years, he's built a career guided by

00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:47.570
one simple daily activity, a passion for always

00:00:47.570 --> 00:00:51.530
giving that extra 1 % and the ability to navigate

00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:55.329
the calls no one wants to get, but that inevitably

00:00:55.329 --> 00:00:59.630
come in business and in life. His journey is

00:00:59.630 --> 00:01:02.530
a reminder that the same principles that build

00:01:02.530 --> 00:01:05.859
lasting friendships also build lasting networks.

00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:09.840
We'll talk about how passion, consistency, and

00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:13.459
relationships carry you through the highs and

00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:16.459
lows of business and why your network is often

00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.540
the greatest investment you'll ever make. This

00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:22.900
one is personal and powerful, so let's dive in.

00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:28.030
I'd like to welcome Henry Kaplan. And as I said

00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:31.469
in the beginning, this is special for me because

00:01:31.469 --> 00:01:35.310
he's one of my very best friends. And I've known

00:01:35.310 --> 00:01:37.650
him since middle school, maybe even a year or

00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:40.569
two beforehand, but I'm really, I don't know,

00:01:40.650 --> 00:01:42.750
but we have so much history, so much that went

00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:46.290
on, but he has made a career. out of the real

00:01:46.290 --> 00:01:49.090
estate market. So I'd like to introduce Henry

00:01:49.090 --> 00:01:52.030
and let him tell you about his background. Henry,

00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:54.769
welcome to the podcast. Good morning, Michael.

00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:58.870
So before I start, I calculated this morning

00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:01.629
to the best of my ability, and we are celebrating

00:02:01.629 --> 00:02:06.010
plus or minus 50 years as friends, which is...

00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:08.830
to me it's one of the most special things just

00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:10.689
for that reason alone i couldn't wait to come

00:02:10.689 --> 00:02:12.830
see you today and just spend an hour with you

00:02:12.830 --> 00:02:14.909
because we don't live in the same state anymore

00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:17.909
and the phone's great but it's even better to

00:02:17.909 --> 00:02:19.949
see you in person so i really do treasure the

00:02:19.949 --> 00:02:22.770
opportunity thank you so much henry l kaplan

00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:26.710
i am the presently the sales manager for one

00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:29.110
of the largest century 21 franchises in south

00:02:29.110 --> 00:02:32.500
florida And I have about 150 agents that are

00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:34.740
affiliated with my office, but I consult with

00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:36.659
most of the agents in the company as well. So

00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:39.879
it's about 300 plus agents. It's a wonderful

00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:42.800
career and didn't all start that way. A little

00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.860
bit about me. I think what's funny, we had a

00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:48.659
session recently and a group session in the office

00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:50.979
and somebody came up with the question, how,

00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:53.620
what, at what point did you know what you wanted

00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:55.879
to be? Or what was the first thing you wanted

00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.370
to be when you grew up? And so I. I didn't do

00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:02.949
it. I waited for my turn. And everybody was like,

00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:05.030
I want to be a pilot. I wanted to be a fireman.

00:03:05.069 --> 00:03:07.689
I want to be a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer. And

00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.129
everybody joked about it. And nobody in the room

00:03:10.129 --> 00:03:13.930
ended up being that person except for me. And

00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:16.990
I thought to myself, now, that wasn't the very

00:03:16.990 --> 00:03:18.990
first thing that I wanted to be like in kindergarten.

00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:22.189
I'm talking about as, let's just say, eight or

00:03:22.189 --> 00:03:24.090
nine or 10 years old, a little bit more mature.

00:03:24.650 --> 00:03:27.409
And so I decided that I wanted to be in real

00:03:27.409 --> 00:03:31.900
estate. impetus is that the right word to to

00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:33.979
why that happened and it has to do with a piece

00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:36.319
of mail that came i was always looking for mail

00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:38.219
as a kid i wanted a piece of mail and i never

00:03:38.219 --> 00:03:40.159
got mail and i would be the one to retrieve the

00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.580
mail most of the time and i always look and it

00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:45.439
was never for me until one day the mail said

00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:50.319
hlk henry l kaplan realty And I'm thinking, finally,

00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.259
a piece of mail for me. I don't know what this

00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:55.000
realty thing is, a realty. I didn't know. So

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.879
I went to my dad. I think this is for me. He

00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.000
said, no, son, that's your grandfather's company.

00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.379
And I'm sorry, yeah, realty company that he owned,

00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:05.419
but he's passed. And I manage the assets for

00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:07.780
him. And I said, what is realty? What are assets?

00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:09.879
And I started asking a lot of questions. And

00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:11.360
he told me, we have a little apartment building

00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.400
that I manage for the family. And that's the

00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.579
grandfather's company name. He was Harry L. Kaplan,

00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:19.990
Henry L. Kaplan. And as the more he talked about

00:04:19.990 --> 00:04:22.509
it, the more I thought to myself, wow, wouldn't

00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:24.389
it be cool not just have some type of connection

00:04:24.389 --> 00:04:26.790
with a man I never knew, but something my father

00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:29.850
knew something about. He was a CPA by trade.

00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:32.990
And so I kept in the back of my mind, although

00:04:32.990 --> 00:04:34.970
I did have other careers prior to real estate,

00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.050
paper delivery boy and cutting lawns for many

00:04:38.050 --> 00:04:40.129
years throughout college, high school and college,

00:04:40.250 --> 00:04:43.930
and then right out of college. I actually, in

00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:46.990
one of my... elective classes i took the real

00:04:46.990 --> 00:04:50.009
estate course for new york and i passed i was

00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:52.470
in the college boat it was easy and then i started

00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:55.750
as a realtor and and i my career has been quite

00:04:55.750 --> 00:04:57.569
amazing i'm not going to spend the next whatever

00:04:57.569 --> 00:05:00.370
but i'll give you like maybe a three minute of

00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:02.870
things that i've done so i started off with just

00:05:02.870 --> 00:05:05.550
as a realtor and literally a week into training

00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:08.329
we merged with a big company my company with

00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:11.149
called weicker realtors and weicker was a great

00:05:11.149 --> 00:05:14.759
foundation for training and understanding the

00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.220
business and keeping it simple. And so from Weikert,

00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:20.500
I, like I said, I just graduated. So I really

00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.560
wanted to get involved in the business. And I

00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.259
started like back then, most people don't realize

00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:28.939
this, but we didn't even have the multiple listing

00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:32.360
books or not. We had recipe cards in Rockland

00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.540
County, New York for every house. And I had to

00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:37.399
carry a metal recipe card bin with me until it

00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:39.519
hit the frame of the door of the office one day

00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.040
and 700 cards flew out. And I thought to myself,

00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.699
they just installed something in the corner that

00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.120
they tell me it's a computer and nobody used

00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.740
it like for a month. So my decision is that's

00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:51.439
it. I'm not going to reorganize this thing. I'm

00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.279
going to figure it out. So I logged in with DOS

00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.740
to the multiple listing to a coupler with AOL.

00:05:57.339 --> 00:05:59.399
And, and I figured out the computer when other

00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:01.800
people wouldn't do that. And a couple of guys

00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.060
came along that my age, we used to go to home

00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:05.819
for dinner. We all lived at home, 20 something

00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:08.519
years old. And we did the master laster shift

00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:10.740
after dinner, go back to the office till one

00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:13.019
12, one o 'clock in the morning, learning real

00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.939
estate, looking up properties online. And I learned

00:06:15.939 --> 00:06:18.680
to actually the company, I said to the company,

00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:21.300
I can do this. I can print these sheets out and,

00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:23.699
and provide this to all the agents in our six

00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:27.560
offices. In my mid twenties. weichert hired me

00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.519
as like i didn't call me a director but they

00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.259
said you're going to be the guy that prints these

00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:34.939
out on spreadsheets or give gave me copy machine

00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:37.500
the size of a small car and i delivered these

00:06:37.500 --> 00:06:39.980
sheets to all six offices and that was the very

00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:44.740
beginning of printed mls data 1984 1985. and

00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:47.420
then books came along so i i got became antiquated

00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:50.040
which i was totally fine with And my career just

00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:53.300
navigated through real estate agent to, I guess,

00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:56.879
the technology guy. And I realized I love technology.

00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.240
I mean, it saved me so much time. I didn't have

00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.100
to carry around. And everybody loved that the

00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:04.639
industry kept moving forward. And long story

00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:06.620
short, a few years later, I became a broker,

00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:08.899
real estate broker in New York. I owned my own

00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:11.759
company until I sold it to Century 21, the largest

00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.540
franchisee in New York in 1991. I ran a rental

00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:18.709
division for years for them. And then I ended

00:07:18.709 --> 00:07:21.089
up in corporate headquarters for Century 21 Corporate.

00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:24.769
It was a wonderful ride. And then I started a

00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:26.750
franchise orientation department, traveled the

00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:29.629
country meeting new franchisees. And lo and behold,

00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:35.129
four bosses later in corporate America, I decided,

00:07:35.290 --> 00:07:37.610
actually, I got a boss that said, Mr. Kaplan,

00:07:37.769 --> 00:07:41.129
call me Henry, no? She was a West Point graduate.

00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:44.649
And she said, I'm going to teach you how to march.

00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:47.740
And the only thing that came to mind was, but

00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:50.819
I've been doing serpentine my whole life. Was

00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:54.879
that Animal House? So she didn't like that answer.

00:07:55.019 --> 00:07:56.800
She didn't like that answer. And so it was either

00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.319
her or me. She found a technicality to bring

00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.079
me to HR. The president of the company was the

00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:03.959
guy who hired me. So he came into the meeting.

00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:07.759
And I knew that it was like my time was up at

00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.839
corporate headquarters. And so I decided to.

00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:14.279
transition. And basically I tried a brand outside

00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.319
of Century 21, which I won't mention. 2005, it

00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:20.040
wasn't the right fit because one of my responsibilities

00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.600
was I had to babysit a guy that drank too much.

00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:25.160
That wasn't always a good thing. And that was

00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:26.699
the end for that. And I came back to Century

00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:29.579
21 and I've stayed ever since. And the jobs I've

00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:31.899
had with corporate were wonderful because they

00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:34.460
moved me to Florida. Obviously, even before I

00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:36.759
left. And I got to be with my family, which was

00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:38.960
really important. President said, why are you

00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:40.980
doing that? Why are you leaving? I said, because

00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:42.639
I want to be with family. He said, that's not

00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:44.720
the right answer. You want to move up in this

00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.720
company. So the only thing I could think of,

00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:49.279
I pointed at him and I said, but you were in

00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.220
the field before you became president. So I guess

00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:53.419
I have to be in the field to maybe make a move

00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:55.460
up like that one day too. And he said, okay,

00:08:55.539 --> 00:08:57.440
that's the right answer. I'll let you. And they're

00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:59.879
going to chew you up and spit you out. in florida

00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:02.500
so long story short they didn't and oh so i had

00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:04.320
to divide and conquer because there was some

00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.700
hostilities for a lack of service that our franchisees

00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:10.139
were getting and and so one by one i chipped

00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:13.019
away and i have some long -term relationships

00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:16.360
from the time i came to florida over 25 years

00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:22.120
ago and and then i navigated like prior to covid

00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.940
actually let me think i covered way bit prior

00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:29.139
to that it was it was back in 20 years ago. So

00:09:29.139 --> 00:09:33.840
let's just say 2005, right? And the market was

00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.940
okay. It was moving along. But one of my local

00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:38.700
franchisees, I was working in a really small

00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:41.860
Century 21 office near home. And he was one of

00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:44.059
my best friends because I was consulting with

00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:47.460
him and 95 other customers, brokers, with, I

00:09:47.460 --> 00:09:50.120
don't know, maybe 1400 realtors total. And he

00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.879
said, I'm ready. I'm ready for you to come join

00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:56.639
me. And I was like, wow now like right now he

00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.059
said yeah now so i had to quit of course gave

00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:01.100
proper notice and i came to the office about

00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:04.519
today and it's been an amazing ride it took all

00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:07.879
those years of being a salesperson a broker customer

00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.080
service rep for the national franchise all the

00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:14.639
way down to the office level and and then 2008

00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:17.019
hit and our market fell apart and long story

00:10:17.019 --> 00:10:19.759
short that's pretty much when i came along and

00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.639
we just rebuilt from the ground up. And it's

00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.679
a place where I am done. I'm not done working.

00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:28.799
I'm not done managing, but I'm not moving. I

00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:34.679
know where I'm supposed to be today. That's unbelievable.

00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.899
And all I can think about, all I kept on thinking

00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:42.840
about was HLK Realty. And that was, I think,

00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:48.009
your first on your own real estate company. It

00:10:48.009 --> 00:10:50.129
was my grandfather's name. I took it and I put

00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:53.529
it on science. Absolutely. And I remember myself

00:10:53.529 --> 00:10:57.330
being in an office and your mom came into me

00:10:57.330 --> 00:11:02.370
and said, go talk to Henry about something that

00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:06.230
happened. And that's what I remember. You remember

00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:09.029
that office was my dad's CPA office. And I cleaned

00:11:09.029 --> 00:11:13.490
out the storage room to have my little desk and

00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:16.110
a chair to probably sit there with you. It's

00:11:16.110 --> 00:11:18.789
great. It's great. Okay. All right. Let's dive

00:11:18.789 --> 00:11:21.629
right into the questions. You ready? Go for it.

00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:25.230
Hammer away. Okay. You and I go all the way back

00:11:25.230 --> 00:11:28.590
to middle school. How has that early friendship

00:11:28.590 --> 00:11:31.970
shaped the way you approach relationships and

00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:37.370
networking in your business career? That relationship

00:11:37.370 --> 00:11:40.409
started before we met. All right. And the really

00:11:40.409 --> 00:11:43.389
neat thing about, I think it probably came. it

00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:45.990
started with my dad and my mom a loving family

00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:48.669
and whatnot and dad was a serial entrepreneur

00:11:48.669 --> 00:11:52.309
had his own cpa practice and he specialized in

00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:55.250
the funeral home industry and he'd say hey henry

00:11:55.250 --> 00:11:56.809
this is a great business i'm like really dad

00:11:56.809 --> 00:11:58.610
because yeah they're dying to get in they're

00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:00.870
dying to get it but that's what he was telling

00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:03.129
me and then finally i started laughing as a as

00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:04.750
an older kid i thought it was oh that's silly

00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:07.289
dad but and he was always hoping maybe i would

00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:09.429
do that and actually interviewed as a sideline

00:12:09.429 --> 00:12:12.409
to one of his best friends and clients, but it

00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:14.690
just wasn't for me. But the relationships, the

00:12:14.690 --> 00:12:18.370
families, my siblings, the closeness. And when

00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:20.529
you're a family of three or four kids, like you've

00:12:20.529 --> 00:12:21.889
been a communicator, you're not going to eat,

00:12:21.970 --> 00:12:24.990
you're not going to survive. And then, and I

00:12:24.990 --> 00:12:27.490
can remember as far back as kindergarten. So

00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:29.929
what was I, six years old, something like that.

00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:33.490
And I remember one by one making really, not

00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:37.169
just talking peripherally to kids, but being

00:12:37.169 --> 00:12:39.710
excited to be beyond my siblings to learn and

00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:43.299
talk. create friendships with these children.

00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.200
And it was just one by one. Brad Sherman, big

00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.360
tall guy. He ended up being like my protector.

00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.100
One of my best friends, like Michael. And he

00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:55.159
was always six, four. I was like five, whatever.

00:12:55.340 --> 00:12:57.980
Now, back then, he seemed really tall. But if

00:12:57.980 --> 00:12:59.860
you look at the pictures, the crazy thing is

00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:04.919
that Stewie Green and Mike Wilk and Richie Isaacs

00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:07.820
and Merrill and I'm friends. What's the chance

00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:10.730
that I'm friends with half the kids? in my original

00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:13.470
kindergarten class. Ricky Mignotella, Larry Fox,

00:13:13.669 --> 00:13:16.190
I could keep going. I realized that's really,

00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:19.429
even young, that was when we went to junior high

00:13:19.429 --> 00:13:21.669
school, we had new people like Michael, and our

00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:24.090
elementary school was split, but we all came

00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:27.029
back together except for Michael in high school.

00:13:27.590 --> 00:13:30.370
Why is that, Michael? Why is that? Because I

00:13:30.370 --> 00:13:33.909
moved away. I moved from one town to another

00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:36.490
town. They weren't even close to each other.

00:13:36.549 --> 00:13:39.970
I had a bike at least 13 miles. so did i i buy

00:13:39.970 --> 00:13:43.049
it back and forth yeah exactly just to see you

00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:47.250
just to see you back and forth yeah so basically

00:13:47.250 --> 00:13:49.629
we came up we most of us came back together in

00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:52.129
high school and we've been inseparable ever since

00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:55.870
and and that's just facebook friends one one

00:13:55.870 --> 00:13:57.529
of the guys i was part of the original group

00:13:57.529 --> 00:14:00.330
we started a guy's thing the guys get together

00:14:00.330 --> 00:14:02.610
being in new york we always go in atlantic city

00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:05.590
a couple times a year and then as we adulted

00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:08.320
We made the trip to Las Vegas once a year, and

00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.179
we've had as many as, I don't know, 20, 25 guys.

00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:13.519
I actually have a picture somewhere buried on

00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.200
my credenza of one of the last shots we took

00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.059
of, I would say, 18 or 20 of us. And when you

00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:22.080
check in with people, especially in person, every

00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.620
year for your whole life, it's pretty amazing,

00:14:24.700 --> 00:14:26.299
and it keeps us together as a group. And the

00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:28.639
cool thing is that group's coming together Thanksgiving

00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.259
weekend for one of the guys' son's wedding. There'll

00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:36.019
be 13 of us back together again. And it's funny

00:14:36.019 --> 00:14:40.440
because it has to do, there's a side story. And

00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:41.940
I know I'm probably taking too much time, but

00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:43.379
I'm going to keep going because I need to share

00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:46.600
this. It's not just my parents that helped me.

00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.440
All right. I have to tell you a story. I was

00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.419
staying over at a friend's house one night. We

00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:52.899
just hung out with each other, whatever. And

00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:55.799
I got up early, slept over. I got up early, just

00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.559
went downstairs. I don't know, read or watch

00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.850
TV. And mom showed up to the kitchen. And she

00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.090
sat down with me and she said, I have to tell

00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:06.629
you, I'm so happy that you and this person are

00:15:06.629 --> 00:15:08.870
still friends for such a long time. She goes,

00:15:08.909 --> 00:15:12.389
I have relationships, Henry, that span 30, 40

00:15:12.389 --> 00:15:15.570
years. And you can make a conscious decision

00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:19.669
to be friends with somebody forever. And jokingly,

00:15:19.669 --> 00:15:21.149
she gave me permission too. She goes, and if

00:15:21.149 --> 00:15:23.070
you don't like somebody, it's okay not to be

00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:25.539
friends with them as well. But she says, I see

00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:27.940
that you and Michael Foreman, because this conversation

00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:32.139
was with your mom, Sandy Foreman, really resonated

00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:35.240
deep with me that I can make a conscious decision

00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.080
never to let go. And you were one of those people.

00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:39.519
You are one of those people. You'll always be

00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:41.620
one of those people. We admit to the day you

00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.460
were gone. And I've taken her advice, plus my

00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:46.720
family's advice, obviously, and the experience

00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.779
I already had, and I've applied that. Not just

00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:52.279
to my relationships and my family, but well beyond

00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.759
that, to my realtors, to my friends, my extended

00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.240
family, my pickleball friends, my poker friends.

00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:02.980
I'm the guy that they love, they trust. They

00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:05.639
call me, they ask me. I want to be that guy for

00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.899
everybody. It's just my way to give back. I want

00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:12.960
to be the guy. You have taken what you've learned,

00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:16.679
okay, and you've made relationships. That is

00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:20.149
the art of networking. at least after the pandemic,

00:16:20.389 --> 00:16:23.289
right? Because before the pandemic, people, most

00:16:23.289 --> 00:16:27.289
people, not you, but most people, it was mostly

00:16:27.289 --> 00:16:30.750
transactional. After the pandemic, it became

00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:34.210
more relational, relationship, but you have taken

00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:37.470
it to the nth degree. You have taken it, since

00:16:37.470 --> 00:16:41.110
you were five years old, you created relationships

00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:44.950
when other people were just making friends. And

00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:47.769
that's what I think sets you apart from just

00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:50.730
about everybody else, because you've made those

00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:53.610
relationships and you've worked at it to keep

00:16:53.610 --> 00:16:56.090
up those relationships because you never know

00:16:56.090 --> 00:16:58.809
where they come in, whether you can help them

00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:01.250
or they can help you or what you're doing. But

00:17:01.250 --> 00:17:04.730
you don't look at it from what they can do for

00:17:04.730 --> 00:17:07.910
you. You look at what you can do for them. And

00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:11.069
that is the beauty of the relationship. One more

00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:12.609
thing my mom mentioned, I have to bring this

00:17:12.609 --> 00:17:15.289
up. She said, even if you don't talk to somebody

00:17:15.289 --> 00:17:19.410
for a long time, she said you could touch base

00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:22.549
with them and pick up from where you left off.

00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:25.869
And that's been not just Michael and our story

00:17:25.869 --> 00:17:28.869
together, but it's been that story with me and

00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:31.569
so many people and so many revived relationships

00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:35.150
that it's exciting for me. Like to me, finding

00:17:35.150 --> 00:17:38.279
somebody. I found a guy about seven years ago

00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.220
that disappeared from high school. We've gone,

00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.160
it's 40 years already. Where is he? And I found

00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.740
him with the internet and we reestablished four

00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.019
friends all over again. And it became a real

00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:50.400
estate opportunity. So it's never about the real

00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:51.880
estate opportunity. There's something in the

00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.920
back of my door that says care first, commission

00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.339
last. And that's what I do. And I think it's

00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:00.359
a move a little bit further than that because

00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:03.839
I believe that you went to high school with your

00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.359
wife. Am I correct? That's true. So I have to

00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:10.200
give Nancy a shout out. She was in junior high

00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:12.099
school with us. So we were all friends with her

00:18:12.099 --> 00:18:15.799
back in junior high school. And I made a huge

00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.279
mistake in 1981. She was such a mature woman.

00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:22.420
I was such a kid in junior high school and beautiful

00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:26.619
and the body of a 25 year old at 13. And so I

00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:30.019
was just not afraid, but I wasn't confident enough.

00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.490
So we became. friends really close friends and

00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:35.789
for six years between junior high school and

00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:37.769
high school until i finally asked her to date

00:18:37.769 --> 00:18:39.470
me and then i made the biggest mistake in my

00:18:39.470 --> 00:18:42.509
life and i just made a story up in my head and

00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:44.890
i wasn't honest enough or mature enough to tell

00:18:44.890 --> 00:18:47.730
her i how could it be that i bet the person i'm

00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:50.089
gonna end up marrying so i broke up with her

00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:52.609
i made a little lie i'm sorry but my mom would

00:18:52.609 --> 00:18:54.569
say it was a little white lie i wanted to date

00:18:54.569 --> 00:18:56.329
other women it was never about that it was just

00:18:56.329 --> 00:18:59.299
that her sister was getting married and I just

00:18:59.299 --> 00:19:01.740
felt, my gosh, she's only a couple of years older.

00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.700
Am I next? And so I spent the next 38 years,

00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:09.599
not 38 years, but we lost touch over the years.

00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:12.400
And long story short, I got married to somebody

00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.539
else and have a great son, Ethan. And it just

00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:17.880
didn't work out. And Nancy and I became friends

00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.359
again. Back in 2015, she moved to Florida. She

00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:23.480
likes to gamble. We played poker. I played poker

00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.339
as a kid. And through her divorce and my divorce,

00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:29.940
separated by some years, we just reconnected.

00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:32.559
And I'm going to be celebrating our four -year

00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.579
anniversary. It's a beautiful story. It's a beautiful

00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:38.980
story. And me, I feel, because I was friends

00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:41.799
with both of you. And it just, it feels extra

00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.460
special for me. But okay. Can I mention one thing

00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:48.000
about how we reconnected? Technology. social

00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.039
media in my defense i didn't know that facebook

00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.099
had a second button the second app called messenger

00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:58.200
so 2015 i discovered it and there were messages

00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.759
back some years at least at least a year or more

00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.980
and nancy was one of those messages hey i moved

00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:06.859
to florida i'm in lake i'm in lake birth florida

00:20:06.859 --> 00:20:08.839
it seems like you might be close by maybe we

00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:11.799
can connect whatever talk And so a year later,

00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:13.500
I said, yeah, it's never too late because I just

00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:16.299
discovered her old message. And so we reconnected

00:20:16.299 --> 00:20:20.019
through Messenger in 2015. So that's great. It

00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:22.359
was meant to be. That's all it was meant to be.

00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.579
And you two were meant to be together. OK, so

00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:30.019
you've mentioned one simple daily activity that

00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:33.000
has guided you through your career. What is it

00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.599
and how has it impacted the way you build and

00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:41.750
maintain your network? Great. So, again, I think

00:20:41.750 --> 00:20:44.150
everything I know, I don't know if I've ever

00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:46.789
had an original idea, all right? I beg, borrow,

00:20:46.910 --> 00:20:48.650
steal everything that I know, and I give credit

00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:50.269
to whoever. I can't even remember who told me

00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:52.769
because it's become part of my DNA. But I did

00:20:52.769 --> 00:20:55.730
read a small real estate article in a magazine

00:20:55.730 --> 00:20:57.710
or a newsletter or something like that in the

00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:02.490
early, I'm sorry, mid -1980s. and i got two really

00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:04.529
good pieces of advice one of them i still use

00:21:04.529 --> 00:21:07.230
the first one that i don't use any longer in

00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:11.150
the formal way is i don't place ads in the newspaper

00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:14.450
any longer i stopped that but that was a big

00:21:14.450 --> 00:21:18.990
part of my success as a new broker owner of a

00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:22.380
real estate company in the mid late 80s I was

00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:24.500
killing it in the Journal News, the Rockwood

00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:26.859
County Journal News newspaper with three or four

00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:30.299
line ads. And I took a contract and I spent as

00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.859
much as I could and just getting that type of

00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:36.640
exposure. And that's the main word for me today

00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.279
with real estate, I'm sorry, with business is

00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.960
exposure. If you don't, doesn't it stand to reason,

00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:44.319
Mike, the more people exposed to you, the better

00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.680
chance you have of getting your services, your

00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.299
friendship. Absolutely, get your word out. And

00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:52.099
so I say that with sellers too. It doesn't stand

00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:54.160
to reason the more people that know about your

00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:56.400
property, the more I syndicate and set a better

00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.440
chance that we have of getting it sold. So I

00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.220
apply the word exposure in everything I do. And

00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:03.960
I keep trying to uncover new areas of exposure.

00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:06.740
Now, coming back to your question, the one thing

00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:10.200
that I still do, and Mike, if you had a calculator

00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:11.519
in front of you, which you don't have to, because

00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:13.240
I've already figured this out this morning, because

00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:15.500
I want them to be prepared for anything you might

00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:19.990
throw at me. So just randomly. 1984, so it's

00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:26.569
2025, that's 41 years, times 365 days is 14 ,965

00:22:26.569 --> 00:22:30.849
days. I started in the beginning of my career

00:22:30.849 --> 00:22:35.309
with adding one person to my database or my phone.

00:22:35.390 --> 00:22:38.750
Let's just say my phone. And back then, it was,

00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:40.890
if you remember, it was like pagers still. So

00:22:40.890 --> 00:22:43.890
I had to keep a... a hard copy of, I carried

00:22:43.890 --> 00:22:45.890
a date timer around. Nobody knows what a date

00:22:45.890 --> 00:22:48.369
timer is. I know what a date timer is. And inside

00:22:48.369 --> 00:22:51.470
that date timer had a little beige address book.

00:22:51.690 --> 00:22:54.009
And I jam packed that address book with names,

00:22:54.089 --> 00:22:56.150
addresses, phone numbers, and emails. And if

00:22:56.150 --> 00:22:57.690
you miss one of those, actually back then it

00:22:57.690 --> 00:23:00.250
wasn't emails, but name, mailing address, phone

00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:02.529
number. And then when cell phone came around

00:23:02.529 --> 00:23:04.990
and then emails came around, I transitioned to

00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:08.279
that too. So I am a little short. And I took

00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:10.940
your mom's advice. So technically, I would have

00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:14.180
had almost 15 ,000. But I decided to remove some

00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:16.799
people that I didn't want to do business with

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.539
any longer. I didn't feel that they were ethical

00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:23.819
or they were manageable. I've given my permission

00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:26.039
to do that over the years. It was hard for me

00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:27.759
to let people go, especially if I could have

00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:29.880
made money. But I'm at the point in my career

00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:32.220
where I really want to work with people that

00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:33.940
want to work with me and that are delightful

00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:36.559
and fun and engaging. And it's more than a franchise

00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:38.960
business, of course, but many of these people

00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:41.579
I've become friends with. So every day for the

00:23:41.579 --> 00:23:44.720
last, let's just say 40 plus years, I've added

00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.859
one person to my database, just one. And that

00:23:47.859 --> 00:23:51.099
to me, and maintaining it is not easy. I'm not

00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:53.059
perfect and I could probably delete a few thousand

00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:55.559
from my phone, but I don't. Oh, and if somebody

00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:58.420
passes. i delete that that person as well of

00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:01.079
course it's so simple but a lot of people say

00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:02.680
i don't have that kind of time that's why you

00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:06.019
should start now don't wait one a day one per

00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:08.279
day it's amazing back from the convention i'm

00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:10.720
sorry for the weekend and so i picked up a bunch

00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:13.779
of business cards so i'm transitioning now not

00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:17.380
just for the phone but now i'm using linkedin

00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:20.299
to find them and connect with them on linkedin

00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:23.400
not just my phone because linkedin may not easily

00:24:23.400 --> 00:24:25.750
have their mailing address Because little things

00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:27.930
we do in my office is we write a personal note

00:24:27.930 --> 00:24:30.650
and that's one of my greatest weaknesses. But

00:24:30.650 --> 00:24:33.309
without a mailing address, it's not easy to do.

00:24:33.430 --> 00:24:36.730
I'll tell you. And one of my secrets to success

00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:40.230
is the follow -up factor. When I go in, I do

00:24:40.230 --> 00:24:43.430
a workshop with a business or a company. I always

00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:46.390
give them a series of things to do for the follow

00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:49.099
-up because I feel that the follow -up. is more

00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:52.299
important than actually meeting the person. And

00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:55.920
the main part of that follow -up, A, do an email

00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:00.180
that night. But the following morning, you write

00:25:00.180 --> 00:25:05.019
a personal, handwritten thank you note to that

00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:08.220
person. No business, no anything else, just thanking

00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:11.500
them for their time. You put your card in, you

00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:14.420
put that envelope, and you mail it out. And you

00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:17.339
wait about three or four days. So that has the

00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:20.160
biggest impact on somebody. Because imagine being

00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:22.940
the person that you receive that thank you note.

00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.920
It's not a bill. It's not anything else. It's

00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:29.839
just a thank you. Oh, this person met me the

00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:33.720
other night and he wants to thank me. So this

00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:38.059
is what we send from the office. It's C21. It

00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:40.359
has nothing but our logo and a handwritten note

00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:43.160
which somebody left on my desk. yesterday and

00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:45.460
she i was away for the convention a little convention

00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:46.859
i didn't tell anybody where i'm going i said

00:25:46.859 --> 00:25:48.599
i'm taking off so she was checking to make sure

00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:50.759
i'm okay and she's so grateful for the relationship

00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:54.160
yeah i responded to her and a little help from

00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.359
my cousin chat and because i really it's just

00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.900
i didn't want to have to i knew what i felt but

00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:01.960
i really wanted to come out and find words and

00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:04.880
so we pay mike listen to this we pay for every

00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.920
one of our agents for five cards a day the card

00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.660
the envelope and the stamp to connect with somebody

00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:13.200
that they've either spoken to or have met in

00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:16.160
person. Not for prospecting, like in the neighbors,

00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:19.579
talk to or met. Guess how many out of 140 agents,

00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:23.160
guess how many agents use their maximum allocation

00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:26.440
every day? And that's $10 a day, $50 a week.

00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:35.920
Ten. Ten? Ten agents. One. One. I was being generous

00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:38.769
when I said ten. I really thought five. Okay,

00:26:38.849 --> 00:26:41.250
but I was being generous when I said 10. But

00:26:41.250 --> 00:26:43.289
listen, you're not telling me that something

00:26:43.289 --> 00:26:46.589
that I don't know because people don't take the

00:26:46.589 --> 00:26:50.730
time and you don't realize the impact that you

00:26:50.730 --> 00:26:55.000
have on a personal thank you note. Right. So

00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:00.119
if you can tell your agents the impact that it

00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:03.339
would have on somebody's day, not just that you

00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:05.740
send them a card, but the impact that they would

00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:08.960
have on somebody's whole day, just for them receiving

00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:11.839
that card, maybe they'll send a few more. Think

00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.680
about it. You go to the mailbox every day. I

00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:16.700
still book the mail every day. There's hardly

00:27:16.700 --> 00:27:18.819
anything in the mailbox. A card is not going

00:27:18.819 --> 00:27:21.119
to, a handwritten card, a handwritten envelope,

00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:23.980
a handwritten card inside. Don't be using technology.

00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:25.980
I'm just going to pray to this company to do

00:27:25.980 --> 00:27:28.420
it for me. You know what? To me, it takes, what,

00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:30.900
about two minutes? And I know time is our enemy.

00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:32.980
Time is, we have to, we can't, we have to take

00:27:32.980 --> 00:27:34.980
advantage of those little moments, like Mike

00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:38.140
said, to connect. And I think to myself, and

00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:39.640
I know some people that do a really good job,

00:27:39.740 --> 00:27:42.700
and especially one of my lenders. and he always

00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:46.240
puts a scratcher dollar scratcher and you know

00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:48.319
what people want to talk to me all the time what

00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.380
can i spend my money i said stop spending money

00:27:50.380 --> 00:27:52.859
spend time and a little bit of money on people

00:27:52.859 --> 00:27:55.160
that know you like you and trust you write the

00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.640
note mail it you give them a scratcher what if

00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:59.200
they win good for them they're going to thank

00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:01.279
you even more maybe buy a property from you don't

00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:03.660
think of that i call it stinking thinking from

00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:06.180
a floyd wickman one of my mentors Real estate

00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:09.059
mentors. But those little things go such a low.

00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:13.220
There's 1%. Do one contact and 1 % extra, Mike,

00:28:13.299 --> 00:28:17.400
every day. 1%. Absolutely. Absolutely. I can't

00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.640
add anything to that because that was said perfectly.

00:28:20.900 --> 00:28:23.960
That is exactly what everybody should do. But

00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:27.740
nobody does. Or just about nobody does. Okay.

00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:31.359
Let me do the third question. In business, we

00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:35.059
all get that call that you never want to get.

00:28:35.470 --> 00:28:39.089
How important is having a strong network in helping

00:28:39.089 --> 00:28:42.410
you navigate through those moments? It happens

00:28:42.410 --> 00:28:45.029
to me a lot as the manager of a busy real estate

00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:47.910
office because the call that I never want to

00:28:47.910 --> 00:28:50.730
get is that we put somebody's money at risk.

00:28:51.490 --> 00:28:55.109
When you lose money on typically the buyer's

00:28:55.109 --> 00:28:59.079
behalf, you slay the dragon. The dragon could

00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.779
be your best friend. You slay the golden goose

00:29:01.779 --> 00:29:04.259
is an even better example. What's the chance

00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:05.799
if you lose money for somebody, they're ever

00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:07.619
going to come back to you? And in this day and

00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:09.799
age, when that happens too, even if it's not

00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:11.920
your fault, which I think many times we could

00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:13.279
have prevented it, most of the times we could

00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.240
have prevented it, is that you'll never, what's

00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:18.420
a lead worth? What's a contact? What's a person

00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:20.079
worth? We say real estate's a contact sport,

00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:22.539
so start with contacts, not leads. And then leads

00:29:22.539 --> 00:29:24.920
become contacts. Sorry, contacts become leads.

00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:28.359
And that we know in real estate that, that a

00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:31.559
solid contact a great we call whale a really

00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:33.339
great contact somebody who knows a lot of people

00:29:33.339 --> 00:29:36.759
could be worth 30 40 50 000 in your career if

00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:38.880
it's something that as they make recommendations

00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.319
they use you personally and then now with social

00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:43.519
media i can't tell you how many times we get

00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:45.500
playing for something we weren't even involved

00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:48.920
in so can you imagine what we are so to me the

00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:51.099
call i never want to get is i tell my realtors

00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:53.519
i want to know two weeks before rather than one

00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:56.250
second late Because in Florida, our contracts

00:29:56.250 --> 00:29:59.430
are timers of the essence, which means at 1159

00:29:59.430 --> 00:30:03.349
PM on any business day, we can really be in default

00:30:03.349 --> 00:30:06.269
of a legal agreement. So that's the hardest thing

00:30:06.269 --> 00:30:08.390
as a manager is to make sure people understand

00:30:08.390 --> 00:30:10.890
those timeframes and those obligations. But the

00:30:10.890 --> 00:30:13.789
second, or maybe even the first worst call you

00:30:13.789 --> 00:30:17.829
can ever get, Mike, has to do with you or your

00:30:17.829 --> 00:30:22.660
family. And so my worst call was... About three

00:30:22.660 --> 00:30:24.920
years ago, three and a half years ago, when I

00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:26.660
got a call from my doctor's office and they said,

00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:28.420
Henry, something's off with your blood work.

00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:31.559
We'd like you to see a nephrologist. And I'm

00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:34.500
like, what kind of ist is that? And it's the

00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:36.799
kidney doctor. Oh, it's kidney doctor. What's

00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.359
up? He goes, I don't like what I see. And so

00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:42.680
I went to see a nephrologist and Dr. Silverstein,

00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:46.000
she was a seasoned pro and I'm waiting for the

00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.619
room. And after my blood test came back, she

00:30:48.619 --> 00:30:51.079
said, Actually, she got them from the other doctor.

00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:53.680
She goes, Mr. Kaplan, you have advanced kidney

00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:55.839
disease. Have you thought about a transplant

00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:58.500
yet? I'm thinking, the only thing that came out

00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:00.640
of my mind was, you got the wrong Mr. Kaplan.

00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:03.680
Because I feel fine. She goes, oh no, I got the

00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.160
right Mr. Kaplan. Apparently, I had a combination

00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:09.980
of, it wasn't cancer, but a combination of ailments

00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:13.440
that, actually ailments, I said factors that

00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.940
created a permanent ailment in both my kidneys

00:31:15.940 --> 00:31:19.349
were going, oop, can you still see me? i can

00:31:19.349 --> 00:31:21.789
see you all right both of my kidneys were still

00:31:21.789 --> 00:31:25.910
going they were going dead and i was really concerned

00:31:25.910 --> 00:31:28.250
so i i went out and by the way it was like three

00:31:28.250 --> 00:31:30.670
months after i got married to nancy so yeah a

00:31:30.670 --> 00:31:32.890
little three between three or four years ago

00:31:32.890 --> 00:31:36.009
and so long story short we did a biopsy to determine

00:31:36.009 --> 00:31:39.019
that certain factors they said i was obese i

00:31:39.019 --> 00:31:41.680
never felt obese but i'm not skinny either meat

00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:44.140
consumption diabetes and high blood pressure

00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:47.200
contributed to my kidneys and and i decided and

00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:49.180
i thought my god i just got married and if you

00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:53.319
live by like i do expect the unexpected and you'll

00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:56.500
never be surprised i said okay at first i had

00:31:56.500 --> 00:31:58.759
to go see nancy right away i waited till she

00:31:58.759 --> 00:32:00.829
got home she was like why are you doing what

00:32:00.829 --> 00:32:02.450
are you why are you home early usually working

00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:04.349
late and i told her she goes we'll work through

00:32:04.349 --> 00:32:06.269
it we'll figure it out this is not the end this

00:32:06.269 --> 00:32:12.049
is and so fast forward to july 26 of 2023 i was

00:32:12.049 --> 00:32:14.869
able to find a donor and and she didn't have

00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:17.910
a blood type match but i went social with youtube

00:32:17.910 --> 00:32:21.609
and facebook and had 13 000 views and many recommendations

00:32:21.609 --> 00:32:24.670
and i said shouldn't say recommendations many

00:32:24.670 --> 00:32:27.430
people offering to help me and including my two

00:32:27.430 --> 00:32:30.859
sisters And many were disqualified except for

00:32:30.859 --> 00:32:34.119
Rebecca. And Rebecca was my cousin's wife's sister.

00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:37.059
Didn't know me. I didn't know her. But she stepped

00:32:37.059 --> 00:32:38.980
up and through an exchange program, the National

00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:42.440
Kidney Registry, nkr .org, I was able to get

00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:45.210
a live donor. She gave hers. who gives a kidney

00:32:45.210 --> 00:32:48.950
selflessly doesn't even know you to a stranger

00:32:48.950 --> 00:32:51.869
a woman in california and a month later i received

00:32:51.869 --> 00:32:54.309
one from a man in rochester minnesota within

00:32:54.309 --> 00:32:57.349
24 hours it was in my body and he gave his because

00:32:57.349 --> 00:32:59.829
his wife needed one when she got one somebody

00:32:59.829 --> 00:33:02.049
else got one such chain reaction but it starts

00:33:02.049 --> 00:33:05.089
with one selfless individual that was rebecca

00:33:05.089 --> 00:33:10.099
that's outstanding outstanding and I knew, of

00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:12.799
course, I knew the whole story and you left a

00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:15.579
few parts out, but that was the gist of the story.

00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:20.160
And listen, nobody is happier than I am to see

00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:24.099
you on this podcast and to see you working. So

00:33:24.099 --> 00:33:26.660
let me give you a side story because you're right.

00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:28.539
You do know more. I don't know if you know this

00:33:28.539 --> 00:33:31.599
side story, but there will be adversity in your

00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:34.440
life and your business every step of the way.

00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:36.799
I'm not a negative person. The glass is half

00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:40.500
full for me. But I've learned that when even

00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:42.980
I had nine people offering one of those people

00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:45.539
before Rebecca, even Rebecca told me early on,

00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:47.240
but I was looking for a match. And if you're

00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:49.220
a kidney, if you need a kidney, don't look for

00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:51.720
a match, look for a healthy person. And so one

00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:53.539
of these people said a woman, she said to me,

00:33:53.539 --> 00:33:55.420
and it's going to sound weird. I'm not going

00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:58.799
to stop Henry till my kidney is in your body.

00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:01.920
Now that's a pretty darn big commitment. And

00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:05.920
I put my, my. my trust and faith and by the way

00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:08.780
michael knows this i went on dialysis peritoneal

00:34:08.780 --> 00:34:11.119
through the abdomen at home while i slept for

00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:13.880
seven months on dialysis it wasn't a hop skipping

00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:16.340
a jump getting a kidney but i waited for the

00:34:16.340 --> 00:34:18.699
wrong person and i guess many of you probably

00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:20.699
read who moved my cheese was not happening mike

00:34:20.699 --> 00:34:22.920
that cheese corner that kidney corner was empty

00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:25.519
with this woman it ends up that she didn't pass

00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.789
the mental part of the exam and and so she bowed

00:34:28.789 --> 00:34:30.690
out gracefully two people didn't of the nine

00:34:30.690 --> 00:34:33.789
so even when you think you've got this you've

00:34:33.789 --> 00:34:37.750
got this you don't until i'll say until your

00:34:37.750 --> 00:34:39.670
doctors tell you your blood test came out well

00:34:39.670 --> 00:34:42.409
or until you're off medications though to the

00:34:42.409 --> 00:34:43.670
best of your ability which i'll never be off

00:34:43.670 --> 00:34:46.210
because of anti -rejection or until the deal

00:34:46.210 --> 00:34:49.429
closes and it funds and even beyond you have

00:34:49.429 --> 00:34:51.110
to have proper insurance because people always

00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:53.889
find a way to try to point a finger at you, even

00:34:53.889 --> 00:34:55.710
though three fingers are pointing back at them,

00:34:55.829 --> 00:34:57.550
because you never know what's going to rear its

00:34:57.550 --> 00:34:59.210
ugly head one day. So do the right thing, even

00:34:59.210 --> 00:35:01.349
when nobody's watching. That was one of my side

00:35:01.349 --> 00:35:05.349
stories. No, it's perfect. Listen, back in New

00:35:05.349 --> 00:35:08.449
York, I was in the mortgage industry. So I feel

00:35:08.449 --> 00:35:11.329
exactly what you're saying. I can talk about

00:35:11.329 --> 00:35:13.909
this for another two hours, but let's go ahead.

00:35:14.630 --> 00:35:19.019
You talk about the extra 1 % rule. How can that

00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:21.980
principle be applied to networking so people

00:35:21.980 --> 00:35:26.260
stand out and create deeper connections? I try

00:35:26.260 --> 00:35:29.480
to give before I get. To me, it's just, I don't

00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:31.300
know, something, it's definitely not been my

00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:36.039
whole career, but it's been some years. And so

00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:39.800
when I meet somebody at a networking event, I

00:35:39.800 --> 00:35:42.699
first of all, I pick out usually the loner to

00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:46.170
start with. That's just me. One, I can approach

00:35:46.170 --> 00:35:48.110
anybody and say, hey, I'm Henry. What's your

00:35:48.110 --> 00:35:51.260
name? Hey, I'm John. what type of work do you

00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:53.340
do like normally it's a business networking group

00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:56.159
and and so he starts explaining i'm an audiologist

00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:59.119
and and so i've got a pretty busy pretty practice

00:35:59.119 --> 00:36:00.619
either studying i'm trying to grow my business

00:36:00.619 --> 00:36:03.659
and just change locations and and so occasionally

00:36:03.659 --> 00:36:05.699
i'm like great you know what i got a hearing

00:36:05.699 --> 00:36:08.219
aid now oh i've got a bluetooth device which

00:36:08.219 --> 00:36:11.219
it is so people think i'm like i'm crazy sometimes

00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:13.380
i'm talking like you're talking to me that guy

00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:14.900
michael on the street that you would see talking

00:36:14.900 --> 00:36:17.219
we thought he was crazy growing up he probably

00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:19.280
just had advanced technology or what we have

00:36:20.409 --> 00:36:22.789
But seriously, so I love to meet somebody. I

00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:24.869
love to figure out. I love to get their information.

00:36:25.750 --> 00:36:28.309
And then I'll add them to a list. I always try

00:36:28.309 --> 00:36:29.829
to give two or three names. I'm like, yeah, I

00:36:29.829 --> 00:36:31.610
met this guy. He seemed really nice. You might

00:36:31.610 --> 00:36:34.050
want to look him up on Google and see his reviews.

00:36:34.269 --> 00:36:36.150
But I always like to try to connect people to

00:36:36.150 --> 00:36:38.750
connect. Because not that they owe me, but I

00:36:38.750 --> 00:36:40.849
always think that they appreciate the referral.

00:36:41.090 --> 00:36:44.000
And I've never been a part of BNI. but I know

00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:46.019
people that have, and that's really good. But

00:36:46.019 --> 00:36:47.639
there was a second thing I wanted to share with

00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.400
you about, about, oh yeah. So when I meet somebody

00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:54.219
who says, um, I am an endoscopic specialist,

00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:57.579
I'm thinking, okay, so I'll let him talk. And

00:36:57.579 --> 00:37:00.480
then I'll be like, all right. So how would I

00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:02.420
know if the next person I'm talking to would

00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:05.420
be a good prospect for you? I don't want to say,

00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:08.320
can you explain that in plain English or dumb

00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:10.199
it down for me? How enough the next person I'm

00:37:10.199 --> 00:37:11.900
going to talk to today or any other day would

00:37:11.900 --> 00:37:14.119
be a good prospect for you. Oh, if they ever

00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:16.679
have like knee pain or ankle, I'll go in with

00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:18.780
scopes and cameras. And sometimes they don't

00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:21.519
even tell you what they really do. Or I'm a doctor.

00:37:21.559 --> 00:37:23.360
What type of doctor? I'm a psychologist. Oh,

00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:25.099
great. You're not animizing me now, are you?

00:37:25.139 --> 00:37:28.739
I try to break the ice. An icebreaker, a quick

00:37:28.739 --> 00:37:31.579
question or two. I love to just connect and don't

00:37:31.579 --> 00:37:34.239
feel obligated to, especially like when I go

00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:36.340
out to some of these events, I try to get away

00:37:36.340 --> 00:37:38.260
from real estate events because the realtor is

00:37:38.260 --> 00:37:39.820
never going to give me business, right? Another

00:37:39.820 --> 00:37:42.239
realtor. But I try to move too and say, hey,

00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:44.460
I'm so nice to meet you. And then we move on.

00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:47.039
So once you've got it, you build it, there's

00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:48.960
no reason to spend another 40 minutes and really

00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.980
not have the opportunity to meet more people.

00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:55.420
Absolutely right. And you touched on this just

00:37:55.420 --> 00:37:57.059
a little bit, but when you go to a networking

00:37:57.059 --> 00:37:59.739
event, you have what's called a servant's heart.

00:38:00.679 --> 00:38:04.480
It's giver's game, right? So if you go to a networking

00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.820
event and all you think about was serving other

00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:11.139
people, not you're there to sell a widget or

00:38:11.139 --> 00:38:13.219
you have a service or something else like that,

00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.219
forget all that, right? You're there to make

00:38:16.219 --> 00:38:18.840
everyone else or everybody that you come in contact

00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:24.039
with more successful. So my line that I teach

00:38:24.039 --> 00:38:27.039
in workshops and everything else is after you

00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:30.219
have that one or two people down and you have

00:38:30.219 --> 00:38:33.840
them talking about their business, you say, you

00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:37.179
know something, how can I make you more successful?

00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:41.059
How can I be a good referral source for you?

00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:44.320
And most of the time, if I've done my job correctly,

00:38:44.539 --> 00:38:46.480
they say, Mike, I don't even know what you do

00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:52.159
yet. So, they tell me how I can be a good referral

00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:56.440
source for them. And I make myself, in this area,

00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.559
I'm known as a super connector. Because every

00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:01.619
week, and I have been doing this for the last

00:39:01.619 --> 00:39:04.480
two, two and a half years, every week I find

00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:06.880
two people with a need and I put them together.

00:39:07.780 --> 00:39:11.730
And I walk away. Fantastic. So that's all that

00:39:11.730 --> 00:39:14.409
I do. That's all that I do. We have something

00:39:14.409 --> 00:39:18.050
in our Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce called

00:39:18.050 --> 00:39:21.610
having an ambassador. And once a week, myself

00:39:21.610 --> 00:39:24.469
and three or four other people, we go out around

00:39:24.469 --> 00:39:27.530
the town just saying what we can do for them.

00:39:28.329 --> 00:39:33.489
So if you do that, make your life, make a habit

00:39:33.489 --> 00:39:35.710
of giving. Because most people think, wait a

00:39:35.710 --> 00:39:38.920
second. I'm in business. I want the business.

00:39:39.019 --> 00:39:41.519
I want to sell two or three widgets for X amount

00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:44.340
of dollars. Take that off your, take that out

00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:47.219
of your head. Take it off your shoulders and

00:39:47.219 --> 00:39:49.679
just get, because what goes around does come

00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:53.039
around. Bob Burke was a big speaker in the networking

00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:55.559
world. He's where I got the line from. Okay.

00:39:55.619 --> 00:39:58.800
Let me tell you. And he does exactly. He's a

00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:02.409
Floridian. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. And he does.

00:40:02.530 --> 00:40:05.969
I do exactly what he has been doing for 20 years.

00:40:06.469 --> 00:40:10.389
So when I speak to places, I'm speaking almost

00:40:10.389 --> 00:40:14.510
a mirror image of Bob Berg. Wow. Awesome. I forgot

00:40:14.510 --> 00:40:19.820
to mention when I go somewhere. I think we're

00:40:19.820 --> 00:40:22.539
a big Easterseals contributor for the corporate

00:40:22.539 --> 00:40:24.280
offices. We've been doing it for 50 years. We're

00:40:24.280 --> 00:40:26.579
doing it for 45 years. So when I get invited

00:40:26.579 --> 00:40:28.340
to an Easterseals event, because last year we

00:40:28.340 --> 00:40:31.500
donated almost $28 ,000, they'll comp me a table.

00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:33.900
So I'll bring some of the top agents too, but

00:40:33.900 --> 00:40:35.619
I'll also bring some of my business partners.

00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:39.050
When I say partners, I don't mean... let's just

00:40:39.050 --> 00:40:41.650
say affiliate, not even affiliate, somebody,

00:40:41.769 --> 00:40:44.050
people I trust. So I'll bring my mortgage broker

00:40:44.050 --> 00:40:46.110
with me, sorry, my mortgage banker with me, not

00:40:46.110 --> 00:40:48.590
a broker. And so when I'm talking to the waiter,

00:40:48.730 --> 00:40:50.730
because that's maybe one of the loaners out there,

00:40:50.769 --> 00:40:52.650
and I'm like, have you thought about it? Do you

00:40:52.650 --> 00:40:54.570
own it already? Because I'm in real estate. No,

00:40:54.610 --> 00:40:56.369
I don't know yet. Have you think about buying?

00:40:56.550 --> 00:40:57.929
He goes, yeah. I said, you know what? You got

00:40:57.929 --> 00:40:59.809
to speak to this right there at the meeting.

00:40:59.869 --> 00:41:02.789
I'll be Sean or Rick or Shane, come over. Talk

00:41:02.789 --> 00:41:04.510
to this guy. Let's get him pre -approved. He

00:41:04.510 --> 00:41:06.429
wants to buy. His lease is coming up in six months.

00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:08.889
And I bring the connection together right then

00:41:08.889 --> 00:41:10.750
and there. I don't wait. So I'll bring an inspector.

00:41:10.829 --> 00:41:12.210
Sometimes I'll bring a handyman. I'll bring my

00:41:12.210 --> 00:41:15.210
insurance guy. I rotate them. And you never know

00:41:15.210 --> 00:41:16.849
who you're going to find right then and there.

00:41:16.989 --> 00:41:19.590
So don't wait. If you have the opportunity to,

00:41:19.590 --> 00:41:21.469
even like you said, Michael, you met somebody

00:41:21.469 --> 00:41:23.230
across the room. Wait, I just met somebody. You

00:41:23.230 --> 00:41:25.190
two need to talk. I'm sure you've done that many

00:41:25.190 --> 00:41:28.619
times. Many times, many times. And when you said

00:41:28.619 --> 00:41:31.780
you approach that loner, that person by themselves,

00:41:32.179 --> 00:41:34.800
they're probably an introvert, right? They're

00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:37.360
afraid to go out to the room. So the first thing

00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:41.059
you do is you go to that other person. And again,

00:41:41.219 --> 00:41:43.639
you're giving, right? So you're saying, hey,

00:41:43.739 --> 00:41:46.960
what's your name? Oh, you know something? That's

00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:49.099
a really nice blazer you have on. Or you know

00:41:49.099 --> 00:41:51.760
what? I like your shoes. And that breaks the

00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:54.340
ice immediately. Pay them a compliment. Pay them

00:41:54.340 --> 00:41:56.690
a compliment. Absolutely. And then they start

00:41:56.690 --> 00:42:00.190
talking. OK, so what's the biggest networking

00:42:00.190 --> 00:42:03.130
lesson you've learned from your own business

00:42:03.130 --> 00:42:05.590
journey that you wish you had known earlier?

00:42:07.170 --> 00:42:11.849
The data most just don't be applied to real estate,

00:42:11.889 --> 00:42:14.550
but applies to any business. How many people

00:42:14.550 --> 00:42:17.369
have I given my card to but never collected anything

00:42:17.369 --> 00:42:21.199
from? If you don't control the data or retrieve

00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:24.119
the data, you're like waiting for a phone that's

00:42:24.119 --> 00:42:26.039
never going to ring. And that's like a strategy

00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:30.539
for 50%. 49 % of the realtors, Michael, in this

00:42:30.539 --> 00:42:35.559
country did one deal or no deals last year. 49%.

00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:37.780
Half of our industry, more than half is failing

00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:40.199
because some do two or three deals. It doesn't

00:42:40.199 --> 00:42:42.000
pay the bills. So they're waiting for something

00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:44.059
to happen. For something to happen, some movement

00:42:44.059 --> 00:42:47.420
has to occur. And to me, I really believe that.

00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:52.760
You have to not just get the business card, not

00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:54.460
just create the relationship first or get the

00:42:54.460 --> 00:42:56.460
business card, but maybe right then and there.

00:42:56.500 --> 00:42:57.780
You know what I just learned from this conference?

00:42:57.880 --> 00:42:59.739
I went away on Monday, Tuesday to the Realtors

00:42:59.739 --> 00:43:03.679
Association. I went because. i needed to get

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:06.639
away and sharpen my pencil up here sharpen my

00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:09.500
brain and i took a linkedin actually a technology

00:43:09.500 --> 00:43:11.800
class and he focused on linkedin and the next

00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:14.539
door app the one who navigates us with our neighbors

00:43:14.539 --> 00:43:17.400
and boy in linkedin in the first five minutes

00:43:17.400 --> 00:43:19.239
it was worth the week it was worth the two days

00:43:19.239 --> 00:43:21.639
i spent there because he just showed me that

00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:23.800
you just walk up to somebody and how many people

00:43:23.800 --> 00:43:27.070
have linkedin profiles so many And you just click

00:43:27.070 --> 00:43:29.409
on search in this little upper right corner where

00:43:29.409 --> 00:43:31.889
it gives your QR code and you scan it and you

00:43:31.889 --> 00:43:33.670
connect right to each other right then and there.

00:43:33.730 --> 00:43:36.269
Now you've got them. Of course, I had a little

00:43:36.269 --> 00:43:39.889
word like Auburndale, Florida, because I need

00:43:39.889 --> 00:43:41.989
to refer this person, like to this person in

00:43:41.989 --> 00:43:45.190
the future. Oh, what's their name? But as you

00:43:45.190 --> 00:43:48.010
maybe, especially with Florida Realtors, I've

00:43:48.010 --> 00:43:52.269
met people from every county, every city. But

00:43:52.269 --> 00:43:56.139
taking the time, and it does take time to, Either

00:43:56.139 --> 00:43:57.780
if you have this game, how many people couldn't

00:43:57.780 --> 00:43:59.559
log in during that speaker? They couldn't even

00:43:59.559 --> 00:44:01.860
log into their LinkedIn account. Two ladies to

00:44:01.860 --> 00:44:04.000
the left and right of me, it took them half the

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.480
class to figure out how to do that, which was

00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:08.039
a waste of time. So you need to be up on the

00:44:08.039 --> 00:44:10.119
networking tool available to you, at least the

00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:12.559
best ones. I discovered today for the first time,

00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:15.840
I have 2020 LinkedIn connections, which I had

00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:18.360
no idea. It just says 500 plus, but you know

00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:20.659
what? Get with technology even a little bit and

00:44:20.659 --> 00:44:22.860
save it appropriately so you can find them again.

00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:27.000
Use anything you want. blingstone hat lady i'll

00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:29.360
never forget that one from this weekend rhinestone

00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:33.699
hat lady yeah and works it just because you have

00:44:33.699 --> 00:44:36.900
the electronic business cards you have regular

00:44:36.900 --> 00:44:39.860
business cards you have the linkedin so there

00:44:39.860 --> 00:44:43.059
are a number of ways that you can stay connected

00:44:43.059 --> 00:44:47.269
and if you receive that that physical business

00:44:47.269 --> 00:44:49.869
card. Here's a note. Here's a little trick that

00:44:49.869 --> 00:44:53.190
I learned a hundred years ago. And that I tell

00:44:53.190 --> 00:44:57.230
every workshop, every client that I coach, take

00:44:57.230 --> 00:45:00.550
that business card, write down the date. What,

00:45:00.590 --> 00:45:02.170
when the date, let's say you're in an event,

00:45:02.349 --> 00:45:05.170
the date of the event, write down the name of

00:45:05.170 --> 00:45:07.489
the event, and then something you talked about.

00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:11.030
So you have all that information on the back

00:45:11.030 --> 00:45:13.750
of the card so that in two weeks, you're going

00:45:13.750 --> 00:45:15.690
to look at that card and say, I don't know who

00:45:15.690 --> 00:45:18.449
this is. You turn it over and say, that's who

00:45:18.449 --> 00:45:22.510
it is. But if you follow up, again, I have a

00:45:22.510 --> 00:45:25.869
whole follow -up sequence. If you use the sequence,

00:45:26.289 --> 00:45:28.889
you'll remember it right away. It's funny you

00:45:28.889 --> 00:45:31.809
say follow -up in the office, although the boss

00:45:31.809 --> 00:45:34.789
doesn't like it. We say, F you, follow -up. If

00:45:34.789 --> 00:45:36.269
you don't follow -up, you're not going to get

00:45:36.269 --> 00:45:38.269
anywhere with it. And Mike, you're right. because

00:45:38.269 --> 00:45:40.889
the office gave me one of my cards and I used

00:45:40.889 --> 00:45:42.889
it over the weekend. Just put it under the phone

00:45:42.889 --> 00:45:44.510
and it gives you the link and you download my

00:45:44.510 --> 00:45:46.909
contact. I don't know how they did it. It's not

00:45:46.909 --> 00:45:49.380
magic, it's technology. But every one of our

00:45:49.380 --> 00:45:51.659
realtors gets one. So in case they're out, they

00:45:51.659 --> 00:45:53.079
could just walk up to somebody and talk, hey,

00:45:53.219 --> 00:45:55.739
here's my information. But again, as important

00:45:55.739 --> 00:45:57.719
as it is to get information, if you're not getting

00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:00.179
information, I don't want to have a card on me

00:46:00.179 --> 00:46:01.559
right now. Let them write on the back of your

00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:04.679
card. Or some agents keep little pads. We give

00:46:04.679 --> 00:46:06.539
these teeny little pads that fit in a purse or

00:46:06.539 --> 00:46:09.400
a back pocket. It's just recycled paper. And

00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:12.840
you know what? They take them with them. Do you

00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:14.380
have a pen for your pocketbook? Yeah, I have

00:46:14.380 --> 00:46:16.780
a pen. Okay, good. It sets the basics. But you

00:46:16.780 --> 00:46:18.610
know what? I can't tell you how many people say,

00:46:18.670 --> 00:46:21.190
oh, one guy, he was so proud. He gave 20 business

00:46:21.190 --> 00:46:23.829
cards out a day, every day. He was like the worst

00:46:23.829 --> 00:46:26.349
producer ever. He was busy giving cards out.

00:46:26.670 --> 00:46:29.409
I have to tell you, and this is a little note

00:46:29.409 --> 00:46:33.210
you can tell all of your agents. It's not as

00:46:33.210 --> 00:46:35.170
important. You say, how big is your network?

00:46:35.429 --> 00:46:37.849
My network is X amount of thousands of people.

00:46:37.969 --> 00:46:42.110
Okay. How many people, how many networks are

00:46:42.110 --> 00:46:46.579
you in? It's a mindset shift. Exactly. And you

00:46:46.579 --> 00:46:49.380
have to think about, wait a second, I can reach

00:46:49.380 --> 00:46:52.519
out to anybody. No. How many people can reach

00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:55.079
out to you? Exactly. And that's where you have

00:46:55.079 --> 00:46:57.340
to think about it. I had a gentleman, real quick,

00:46:57.420 --> 00:47:00.059
I had a gentleman that joined my office, and

00:47:00.059 --> 00:47:02.039
he was like, at the interview, he says, I have

00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:05.099
a list. I said, okay. And he says, it's 100 ,000

00:47:05.099 --> 00:47:07.659
names. And I said, okay. And he says, so what's

00:47:07.659 --> 00:47:10.199
it worth to the company? I said, to the company?

00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:13.110
I said, we don't work your list. you don't understand

00:47:13.110 --> 00:47:15.730
henry these are just every person with such a

00:47:15.730 --> 00:47:17.789
such a group and there's nuggets in there i said

00:47:17.789 --> 00:47:20.289
you need to be the gold miner i told him you

00:47:20.289 --> 00:47:22.650
need to get through that list and bring it down

00:47:22.650 --> 00:47:25.829
to 200 plus or minus people that know you like

00:47:25.829 --> 00:47:28.469
you trust you enough to use to recommend you

00:47:28.469 --> 00:47:30.969
he was like the list is i agree a list is nothing

00:47:30.969 --> 00:47:32.690
unless you would do something with it i told

00:47:32.690 --> 00:47:34.349
him and you know what he soon thereafter quit

00:47:34.829 --> 00:47:36.909
He said, you don't see my value. I said, oh,

00:47:36.929 --> 00:47:38.869
no, you don't see your value. And you don't want

00:47:38.869 --> 00:47:41.269
to do the work that it requires to bring it down

00:47:41.269 --> 00:47:44.289
to quality, not quantity. Absolutely. Absolutely.

00:47:44.650 --> 00:47:46.909
And what you said, know you like you and trust

00:47:46.909 --> 00:47:50.510
you, then they'll do business with you. And that

00:47:50.510 --> 00:47:54.190
list, everybody knew you because you were on

00:47:54.190 --> 00:47:56.550
the list or whatever. But then you have to narrow

00:47:56.550 --> 00:47:59.289
it down a little bit to you like you. That narrowed

00:47:59.289 --> 00:48:02.530
your list down. Trust you. Now, you brought that

00:48:02.530 --> 00:48:06.530
list from 100 ,000 down to 200. And that's the

00:48:06.530 --> 00:48:09.010
list that you need. So you're right. He's got

00:48:09.010 --> 00:48:11.929
to be the person to be the gold miner and to

00:48:11.929 --> 00:48:14.989
break that list down to 200. And then that's

00:48:14.989 --> 00:48:17.869
something you can work with. But until then,

00:48:18.030 --> 00:48:22.400
it's not really worth anything. Passion seems

00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:26.159
to be a driving force in your success. How can

00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:30.059
professionals use their passion as a tool to

00:48:30.059 --> 00:48:35.340
attract the right connections? So passion is,

00:48:35.500 --> 00:48:39.019
first of all, you have to be in a position. You

00:48:39.019 --> 00:48:43.380
have to be in a career that you can be passionate

00:48:43.380 --> 00:48:47.219
about. Because one thing my dad taught me. He

00:48:47.219 --> 00:48:50.199
said, look son, always do your best. And I added,

00:48:50.280 --> 00:48:53.639
never give up. And also, you need to like what

00:48:53.639 --> 00:48:56.519
you do. And you need to feel you bring value

00:48:56.519 --> 00:49:01.070
to people's lives. And I know that passion. People

00:49:01.070 --> 00:49:02.769
always don't find their passion in what to do.

00:49:02.829 --> 00:49:05.250
Michael, you do. I do. We know what we're passionate

00:49:05.250 --> 00:49:08.449
about. And if I tell people every day, mostly

00:49:08.449 --> 00:49:10.849
when I'm interviewing new realtors, I'm not the

00:49:10.849 --> 00:49:13.110
recruiter. We have a director of career development

00:49:13.110 --> 00:49:16.349
that does that for me. But I come into the interview

00:49:16.349 --> 00:49:19.250
to meet them. And I'll say, look, I don't know

00:49:19.250 --> 00:49:21.489
what I want to be when I grow up. But I'm still

00:49:21.489 --> 00:49:24.170
having a lot of fun after 41 years. So I still

00:49:24.170 --> 00:49:25.489
have time to think about that. And everybody

00:49:25.489 --> 00:49:28.769
laughs. But you know what? i'm doing what i was

00:49:28.769 --> 00:49:32.269
meant to do i know that i've never i didn't waver

00:49:32.269 --> 00:49:35.489
six months my first six months of my career i

00:49:35.489 --> 00:49:38.769
wavered on on that because my first three deals

00:49:38.769 --> 00:49:40.750
in contract once you have a real estate contract

00:49:40.750 --> 00:49:42.769
statistically more than half the time you're

00:49:42.769 --> 00:49:45.170
gonna close my first three deals in contract

00:49:45.170 --> 00:49:47.429
fell apart so i went to my dad it was living

00:49:47.429 --> 00:49:49.429
at home in the basement or whatever and i said

00:49:49.429 --> 00:49:51.309
dad i don't know if real estate's for me he goes

00:49:51.309 --> 00:49:54.619
son you just started you need to add you to keep

00:49:54.619 --> 00:49:56.880
learning you need to you know you need to get

00:49:56.880 --> 00:49:58.900
out there you need to follow what your bosses

00:49:58.900 --> 00:50:01.719
tell you and apply what you're learning and he

00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:03.780
said don't i'm not gonna you're not gonna start

00:50:03.780 --> 00:50:05.320
i didn't even say i'm not gonna he goes don't

00:50:05.320 --> 00:50:07.679
stop and i just took that was that became my

00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:10.920
driving force that when things go sideways when

00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:13.800
it seems like it's half full things happen for

00:50:13.800 --> 00:50:15.699
a reason and sometimes we can't figure out why

00:50:15.699 --> 00:50:18.579
don't even look back try to figure out why just

00:50:18.579 --> 00:50:22.300
strive forward continue to do your best work

00:50:22.300 --> 00:50:24.719
harder than everybody else. There's so many things

00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:27.440
that guide me that I've learned over the years.

00:50:27.539 --> 00:50:29.760
But the biggest challenge I see is people jumping

00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:32.760
around from career to career and looking for,

00:50:32.860 --> 00:50:34.420
and some people never find what they're looking

00:50:34.420 --> 00:50:37.059
for. And it's not always about the money. As

00:50:37.059 --> 00:50:38.380
a matter of fact, I've had opportunity to make

00:50:38.380 --> 00:50:41.139
more money from other opportunities that have

00:50:41.139 --> 00:50:43.719
come since I'm here almost 20 years at this office.

00:50:44.119 --> 00:50:47.760
And I think there's a price, but I guarantee

00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:51.059
you, it's going to be seven digits. So nobody's

00:50:51.059 --> 00:50:55.039
offered that yet. It's so true. It's so true.

00:50:55.260 --> 00:50:58.559
And a lot of what you just said, I learned from

00:50:58.559 --> 00:51:01.380
the military about keeping it forward, keeping

00:51:01.380 --> 00:51:04.780
straight, keeping consistent, never give up,

00:51:04.800 --> 00:51:08.059
all that kind of stuff. And it's just, it's true,

00:51:08.280 --> 00:51:12.539
but I have to put my own spin on it and I have

00:51:12.539 --> 00:51:15.360
to feel it inside. I can't just hear somebody

00:51:15.360 --> 00:51:18.539
telling me. I have to feel it from the inside.

00:51:19.059 --> 00:51:23.880
And when I found my passion, now I found this

00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:26.199
back in New York when I was doing mortgages and

00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:28.659
everything, I felt that I was the person out

00:51:28.659 --> 00:51:32.099
there talking and explaining, doing the first

00:51:32.099 --> 00:51:34.420
time homebuyer seminars and things like that

00:51:34.420 --> 00:51:37.579
with the realtors. I was doing all that. So back

00:51:37.579 --> 00:51:40.579
then I found the passion. I worked through different

00:51:40.579 --> 00:51:44.699
career paths before that, before where I am now.

00:51:45.320 --> 00:51:50.079
Now is where I found my passion, but I was 60

00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:53.900
years old before I was actually able to take

00:51:53.900 --> 00:51:57.039
it and run with it. So I know what you're talking

00:51:57.039 --> 00:52:00.420
about. I hear you. Okay. So networking often

00:52:00.420 --> 00:52:03.039
comes down to consistency. I just spoke about

00:52:03.039 --> 00:52:05.900
that. How do you keep showing up and staying

00:52:05.900 --> 00:52:09.639
top of mind in relationships, even when life

00:52:09.639 --> 00:52:14.159
gets busy? Okay, so. some basic things right

00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:15.860
and i can't remember who told me this it was

00:52:15.860 --> 00:52:18.840
a woman basketball coach for a college team i

00:52:18.840 --> 00:52:21.840
apologize it was a long time ago so i just took

00:52:21.840 --> 00:52:23.880
some i always try to take one thing away or two

00:52:23.880 --> 00:52:26.360
things she gave me a few things all right first

00:52:26.360 --> 00:52:30.639
of all make your bed every day make your bed

00:52:30.639 --> 00:52:32.559
every day nothing worse than coming home to a

00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:34.599
messy bed right nancy and i make it she makes

00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:36.179
it we make it together this morning we made the

00:52:36.179 --> 00:52:39.380
bed together we're out we're out up 5 45 we're

00:52:39.380 --> 00:52:42.619
out of bed by six bed is made we're having breakfast

00:52:42.619 --> 00:52:45.840
she's on the road by seven o 'clock and so i'm

00:52:45.840 --> 00:52:49.219
in the office by 7 0 5 because i live 1 .7 miles

00:52:49.219 --> 00:52:52.320
as a crow flies to the office and so you got

00:52:52.320 --> 00:52:54.800
to get up i tell everybody you got to dress up

00:52:54.800 --> 00:52:58.079
and you got to show up today i thought i'd walk

00:52:58.079 --> 00:53:00.059
the mall to see if i can meet people you know

00:53:00.059 --> 00:53:02.380
what it's that's not i have strategy sessions

00:53:02.380 --> 00:53:05.119
with my agents goals and strategies i do everyone

00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:07.400
gets a one -on -one once a year and then we can

00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:10.000
tweak it during the year but it's not just getting

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:11.639
up dressing up showing up but doing productive

00:53:11.639 --> 00:53:14.320
activities so the biggest joke with nancy and

00:53:14.320 --> 00:53:16.579
i is we're so busy on weekends with our grandson

00:53:16.579 --> 00:53:19.820
and ethan and nancy's mom and our friends and

00:53:19.820 --> 00:53:22.420
with pickleball and poker that i go to work monday

00:53:22.420 --> 00:53:26.039
morning just to relax seriously i'm like the

00:53:26.039 --> 00:53:27.820
only guy that thinks that way they're like really

00:53:27.820 --> 00:53:30.659
i'm like yes like monday morning to me is and

00:53:30.659 --> 00:53:32.420
i know it's going to get busy so i don't even

00:53:32.420 --> 00:53:35.340
have to schedule something i typically will i

00:53:35.340 --> 00:53:38.269
have appointments of course I block this out.

00:53:38.329 --> 00:53:40.909
Oh, I time block. And I'm really good at time

00:53:40.909 --> 00:53:43.389
blocking. Again, Floyd Wickman, a wonderful master

00:53:43.389 --> 00:53:46.130
trainer for realtors. And I don't have two schedules.

00:53:46.230 --> 00:53:48.789
I'm one person, all right? So I color code my

00:53:48.789 --> 00:53:52.030
time blocking. And the only bad thing about time

00:53:52.030 --> 00:53:55.429
blocking is you need to leave time for the unexpected.

00:53:55.769 --> 00:53:58.789
Like me, I have an open door policy, except I

00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:00.289
never put a note on my door unless I'm doing

00:54:00.289 --> 00:54:02.590
a recording like today. I have an open door policy.

00:54:02.690 --> 00:54:05.269
Nothing going on here but the work. And so people

00:54:05.269 --> 00:54:07.369
could just knock and come in. And I leave my

00:54:07.369 --> 00:54:10.730
door open most of the time anyway. But the unexpected,

00:54:11.030 --> 00:54:13.329
the people like, oh, you got a minute? Like yesterday,

00:54:13.550 --> 00:54:16.090
I just did it early this morning. A guy hands

00:54:16.090 --> 00:54:18.710
me, after our sales meeting, a packet. And he

00:54:18.710 --> 00:54:20.710
said, hey, you got some time? I'd like you to

00:54:20.710 --> 00:54:23.750
go over my packet for me as a realtor and the

00:54:23.750 --> 00:54:26.170
services I'm going to offer. I'm like, yeah.

00:54:26.289 --> 00:54:30.090
I look, it's 11 pages. I said, no, I don't have

00:54:30.090 --> 00:54:31.510
time to do that because I already had somebody

00:54:31.510 --> 00:54:33.889
waiting for me. But make a time with me. In the

00:54:33.889 --> 00:54:37.360
meantime, give it to me. And so early this morning,

00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:39.659
because like I said, it was here at 7 .05 or

00:54:39.659 --> 00:54:41.739
so. I edited, I said to him, it's going to be

00:54:41.739 --> 00:54:43.780
red or blue pen. You're fine. He goes, yeah,

00:54:43.800 --> 00:54:45.300
man, whatever pen you like. All right, no problem.

00:54:45.460 --> 00:54:47.139
I said, don't think I'm grading you. I'm just

00:54:47.139 --> 00:54:49.519
going to give you my opinion. So apparently he

00:54:49.519 --> 00:54:52.719
used ChatGPT because it had a lot of great points,

00:54:52.820 --> 00:54:57.940
but he hadn't made a change yet. And so I suggested,

00:54:58.300 --> 00:55:01.940
I love using the who, what, where, when, why,

00:55:01.980 --> 00:55:06.119
how. You just don't state something without giving

00:55:06.119 --> 00:55:08.639
a feature, without showing them or telling them

00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:10.579
what the benefit is and asking questions or telling

00:55:10.579 --> 00:55:14.579
people why. I didn't rip it apart, but I spent

00:55:14.579 --> 00:55:16.679
a lot of ink, maybe 15 minutes running through

00:55:16.679 --> 00:55:19.719
it. It's going to be a multiple draft situation,

00:55:20.019 --> 00:55:22.980
but it's like being there for people even when

00:55:22.980 --> 00:55:27.530
you don't even have the time sometimes. transition

00:55:27.530 --> 00:55:30.269
to calendly like you have i'm afraid of people

00:55:30.269 --> 00:55:33.550
booking up my whole day because it's an open

00:55:33.550 --> 00:55:36.170
door policy and so i and i you know the only

00:55:36.170 --> 00:55:40.610
thing unequal is taking equal unequal people

00:55:40.610 --> 00:55:43.510
treating unequal people equally meaning that

00:55:43.510 --> 00:55:45.710
if i've got like a top producer in my office

00:55:45.710 --> 00:55:48.909
that needs a minute and i look and i realize

00:55:48.909 --> 00:55:51.050
it's not going to be a minute i'm going to give

00:55:51.050 --> 00:55:53.989
them an hour if i have somebody that's been with

00:55:53.989 --> 00:55:56.500
me for a while and that consistently doesn't

00:55:56.500 --> 00:56:00.920
show up or doesn't do our training or doesn't

00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:02.579
come to me with questions doesn't light up the

00:56:02.579 --> 00:56:05.320
production board and they need say they say i

00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:07.300
need an hour i'm gonna tell me what's going on

00:56:07.300 --> 00:56:09.699
and then they'll tell me yeah i just need to

00:56:09.699 --> 00:56:11.440
know how to get started they're not getting an

00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:13.940
hour from me all right they're getting less time

00:56:13.940 --> 00:56:17.000
for me because i need them it needs to be a two

00:56:17.000 --> 00:56:18.800
-way community not only communication but action

00:56:18.800 --> 00:56:20.800
plan all right so we'll have the conversation

00:56:20.800 --> 00:56:23.960
15 20 minutes max and they'll walk away with

00:56:23.960 --> 00:56:26.809
an activity and i expect them to that they chose

00:56:26.809 --> 00:56:29.989
not me that they chose and so come back to me

00:56:29.989 --> 00:56:31.889
hey let's reschedule our next appointment as

00:56:31.889 --> 00:56:34.110
soon as you're done people try to book me in

00:56:34.110 --> 00:56:36.369
advance a week or two in advance for something

00:56:36.369 --> 00:56:38.070
that we don't even know what the topic is yet

00:56:38.070 --> 00:56:40.670
they don't get that with me do you do what you've

00:56:40.670 --> 00:56:42.969
got to do and come back and let's debrief let's

00:56:42.969 --> 00:56:45.519
tweak and it's got to be that you have to know

00:56:45.519 --> 00:56:48.719
who your customer is and for me my internal customer

00:56:48.719 --> 00:56:51.679
my realtors are and my staff are really my customers

00:56:51.679 --> 00:56:54.900
and i put myself at the bottom of the pyramid

00:56:54.900 --> 00:56:58.199
i'm the support system do you know do you know

00:56:58.199 --> 00:57:02.659
what oh my god limonis marcus limonis the prophet

00:57:02.659 --> 00:57:06.920
on tv he fixes this fixes but he was the guest

00:57:06.920 --> 00:57:09.960
speaker and he was literally six feet at the

00:57:09.960 --> 00:57:12.119
convention this week. He was six feet from my

00:57:12.119 --> 00:57:14.760
aisle. And he said, draw a mountain. Every one

00:57:14.760 --> 00:57:17.239
of you should draw a mountain right now. And

00:57:17.239 --> 00:57:20.820
then place yourself on the mountain. Where do

00:57:20.820 --> 00:57:22.480
you see yourself in your career on that mountain?

00:57:22.920 --> 00:57:24.840
Michael, where do you see yourself in your career

00:57:24.840 --> 00:57:28.659
on the mountain? Where do I see myself? If you

00:57:28.659 --> 00:57:30.900
drew a mountain right now. If I drew a mountain

00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:34.420
right now, I'd see myself about halfway up. That's

00:57:34.420 --> 00:57:36.900
good. That's Marcus. He was standing like 10

00:57:36.900 --> 00:57:39.639
feet away. That's Marcus Lomonas. Yep. I felt

00:57:39.639 --> 00:57:43.860
I was closer to the top. And as markets met realtors,

00:57:43.860 --> 00:57:45.539
he started explaining some things. And he said,

00:57:45.579 --> 00:57:47.440
who's at the bottom now? And people came from

00:57:47.440 --> 00:57:48.980
the bottom. He'd come up to the stage, come up

00:57:48.980 --> 00:57:50.539
to the stage. And it was really interesting.

00:57:50.699 --> 00:57:52.340
And the best thing about what he talked about

00:57:52.340 --> 00:57:55.079
was that some people at the bottom of the mountain

00:57:55.079 --> 00:57:56.920
maybe need to change careers. If they're not

00:57:56.920 --> 00:57:59.000
prepared to keep moving. This woman was 20 years

00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:00.880
in the business, a realtor, Mike, on stage with

00:58:00.880 --> 00:58:03.019
2 ,000 people to say, I'm thinking about becoming

00:58:03.019 --> 00:58:05.440
a mortgage lender, broker. I'm thinking about

00:58:05.440 --> 00:58:07.360
it. She's at the bottom of the real estate mountain.

00:58:07.460 --> 00:58:10.199
So the idea for him was he moved on from her.

00:58:10.460 --> 00:58:12.900
If she's there and she thinks she's there, not

00:58:12.900 --> 00:58:14.539
everybody can be helped. You have to be true

00:58:14.539 --> 00:58:16.599
to yourself. It wasn't her passion. She feels

00:58:16.599 --> 00:58:18.480
like she's being taken advantage by customers.

00:58:18.719 --> 00:58:21.099
She may be in the wrong business at this point

00:58:21.099 --> 00:58:23.539
in her career, right? And I have people starting

00:58:23.539 --> 00:58:25.940
now at the bottom. My job is, now I learned,

00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:28.460
I'm not at the top anymore for me. My job is

00:58:28.460 --> 00:58:31.039
to hang out at the bottom and push those people

00:58:31.039 --> 00:58:34.769
up to the top with my guidance. and my help and

00:58:34.769 --> 00:58:37.789
my leadership and my coaching now once they're

00:58:37.789 --> 00:58:40.429
stuck once they're stuck and they don't want

00:58:40.429 --> 00:58:42.570
to take my advice any longer or they're taking

00:58:42.570 --> 00:58:44.909
other people's advice that and then they said

00:58:44.909 --> 00:58:46.849
what did they say or how did oh and i said you

00:58:46.849 --> 00:58:48.989
just spoke to a guy that has never done a deal

00:58:48.989 --> 00:58:51.429
in my office and he gave you advice like you

00:58:51.429 --> 00:58:53.690
should be talking to me not the guy next to you

00:58:53.690 --> 00:58:55.110
you just don't know i hope that answers your

00:58:55.110 --> 00:58:57.230
question but i feel like it's appropriate to

00:58:57.230 --> 00:59:00.059
what we're talking about today It is. And when

00:59:00.059 --> 00:59:03.059
you said, where am I on the mountain? I pictured

00:59:03.059 --> 00:59:06.920
myself because I reached down the mountain because

00:59:06.920 --> 00:59:09.739
I'm helping other people succeed. I'm helping

00:59:09.739 --> 00:59:13.599
them come up to your level. Right. And I'm also

00:59:13.599 --> 00:59:17.000
reaching up because I have a mentor and things

00:59:17.000 --> 00:59:21.699
because I need to get further in my. what I do.

00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:24.179
So I feel I'm right in the middle because I'm

00:59:24.179 --> 00:59:27.119
a mentor to others, but I need a mentor to get

00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:29.139
further ahead. So that's why I put myself. I

00:59:29.139 --> 00:59:32.019
love managing the mountain. That's my job. Yeah.

00:59:32.119 --> 00:59:36.400
Okay, good. So can you share a time when networking

00:59:36.400 --> 00:59:39.639
directly led to a breakthrough opportunity or

00:59:39.639 --> 00:59:43.099
saved you from a major setback? Let's talk about,

00:59:43.159 --> 00:59:45.179
let's not talk about setbacks because I want

00:59:45.179 --> 00:59:46.980
to think the positive. Yeah. Let me tell you

00:59:46.980 --> 00:59:50.179
a quick story that happened over the last 14

00:59:50.179 --> 00:59:53.380
months. One of my best friend's in -laws, I met

00:59:53.380 --> 00:59:57.079
them at a wedding, and it ends up that the wife

00:59:57.079 --> 01:00:00.159
went to Randall -Paul High School and graduated,

01:00:00.400 --> 01:00:03.400
actually, sorry, Kakia with us. I don't remember

01:00:03.400 --> 01:00:06.360
her name, but I asked her about you and she didn't

01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:09.960
remember you. We had big classes. Her name is

01:00:09.960 --> 01:00:12.039
Cindy. It's funny because I felt bad because

01:00:12.039 --> 01:00:14.860
I didn't really remember her. I wish you remembered

01:00:14.860 --> 01:00:17.940
her last name. I'm going to figure it out and

01:00:17.940 --> 01:00:20.599
let you get back to you on that. Basically, she's

01:00:20.599 --> 01:00:23.000
a long -term spouse, I think 20 something years

01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:25.880
with Larry. And Larry started talking to me and

01:00:25.880 --> 01:00:28.820
he said, yeah, I'm in a lumber business and in

01:00:28.820 --> 01:00:31.159
this place in New York, this and that. And he

01:00:31.159 --> 01:00:32.960
says, I'm in contract to sell it. I'm retiring

01:00:32.960 --> 01:00:35.980
after 30 years of being employed and running

01:00:35.980 --> 01:00:38.960
it, then owning it. And now I'm going to be selling

01:00:38.960 --> 01:00:41.860
the business and the land. And it was more than

01:00:41.860 --> 01:00:44.860
$10 million. And I said, wow, if there's anything

01:00:44.860 --> 01:00:46.460
I can do to help you. Yeah, you could. He says,

01:00:46.500 --> 01:00:48.889
I want to relocate my staff. I'm a mother and

01:00:48.889 --> 01:00:51.829
her child to Florida. I think I owe that to them.

01:00:52.409 --> 01:00:54.650
And I was like, yeah, I can help in any which

01:00:54.650 --> 01:00:56.710
way you like. So he was thinking about maybe

01:00:56.710 --> 01:00:58.750
a small business. And I kept following up from

01:00:58.750 --> 01:01:01.469
that perspective, thinking that he would think

01:01:01.469 --> 01:01:03.230
of Mount Me when it came to the buying opportunity.

01:01:03.630 --> 01:01:05.670
For whatever reason, people pivot sometimes and

01:01:05.670 --> 01:01:07.869
never tell you. He ended up going and spending

01:01:07.869 --> 01:01:09.769
this amount of money with a commercial broker

01:01:09.769 --> 01:01:12.260
because I've been known for. residential and

01:01:12.260 --> 01:01:15.079
I'd done some commercial in my life. But so he

01:01:15.079 --> 01:01:17.019
had spent 9 million on commercial properties

01:01:17.019 --> 01:01:18.960
of the 11 million that he ended up selling a

01:01:18.960 --> 01:01:21.880
property for. And he had to do it on a 1031 exchange

01:01:21.880 --> 01:01:24.639
because he wanted to defer the taxes. And then

01:01:24.639 --> 01:01:26.900
I heard from my buddy, yeah, Larry closed on

01:01:26.900 --> 01:01:30.380
$11 million in real estate. And I was like, wow,

01:01:30.519 --> 01:01:32.860
I'm surprised I didn't get the call. Long story

01:01:32.860 --> 01:01:37.440
short, I get a call from Larry about seven or

01:01:37.440 --> 01:01:39.739
eight months after. He closed on the property.

01:01:39.860 --> 01:01:42.599
Oh, and $2 million was left over. So the commercial

01:01:42.599 --> 01:01:44.840
realtor sold him a residential house in my marketplace.

01:01:45.579 --> 01:01:48.860
And so Larry called me. Hey, Henry, so -and -so

01:01:48.860 --> 01:01:51.099
says you're really a good guy and you can help

01:01:51.099 --> 01:01:55.559
me with a rental. And I'm thinking. F you Larry.

01:01:55.559 --> 01:01:57.840
Now I'm thinking, follow up. No, I thought all

01:01:57.840 --> 01:02:00.460
these things in my head. And my answer was, of

01:02:00.460 --> 01:02:02.179
course, what do you need? And I went to the property

01:02:02.179 --> 01:02:04.539
and it was 2 .1. I think he paid one, almost

01:02:04.539 --> 01:02:06.639
2 million and it needed some work. And he said,

01:02:06.639 --> 01:02:07.880
what do you mean? And I went through the property

01:02:07.880 --> 01:02:10.880
with him, very detailed. And I got a guy, one

01:02:10.880 --> 01:02:12.559
of my handymen coming out for a couple of weeks

01:02:12.559 --> 01:02:14.559
and doing what he had to do. And we finally got

01:02:14.559 --> 01:02:17.139
it rented and he hated being a residential landlord.

01:02:17.300 --> 01:02:19.739
Just hated it. He really degraded buying it.

01:02:19.760 --> 01:02:21.559
There's timeframes involved. So long story short.

01:02:22.059 --> 01:02:24.739
he he said i want to get out of now that we have

01:02:24.739 --> 01:02:26.719
it rented as soon as the lease comes up would

01:02:26.719 --> 01:02:29.360
you list it for me for sale yes larry of course

01:02:29.360 --> 01:02:31.460
and so the first weekend had at the market nine

01:02:31.460 --> 01:02:34.940
showings and full price offer 2 .1 million and

01:02:34.940 --> 01:02:37.480
we closed about by the way i never did a million

01:02:37.480 --> 01:02:41.739
dollar deal in my career 41 years till there

01:02:41.739 --> 01:02:44.099
you go till what about closed four weeks ago

01:02:44.099 --> 01:02:46.889
yeah then He says, hey, what about helping me

01:02:46.889 --> 01:02:49.389
with a 1031 exchange to buy a commercial property?

01:02:49.670 --> 01:02:51.730
And now we're closing that commercial property

01:02:51.730 --> 01:02:54.949
for multi -millions also. Well, you know what?

01:02:55.269 --> 01:02:57.150
Sometimes you just, like you said, you put yourself

01:02:57.150 --> 01:03:00.409
out there, bite your tongue occasionally, people

01:03:00.409 --> 01:03:04.230
make decisions and make yourself available. I

01:03:04.230 --> 01:03:06.269
got the call. That's when you get the call one

01:03:06.269 --> 01:03:08.530
day, that's the really good call. You're like,

01:03:08.650 --> 01:03:11.110
yeah, whatever it takes. Don't think about, yeah,

01:03:11.150 --> 01:03:13.849
but what about the 300 ,000 you lost? And you

01:03:13.849 --> 01:03:16.239
know what? Stop. You can't fix what happened

01:03:16.239 --> 01:03:18.900
in the past. You got to start today and what's

01:03:18.900 --> 01:03:21.079
going to happen tomorrow. And that's all I focused

01:03:21.079 --> 01:03:23.559
on. And it's been a banner year for me. Hey,

01:03:23.639 --> 01:03:26.199
you don't know what the other person is going

01:03:26.199 --> 01:03:29.300
through. And you don't know what made him decide

01:03:29.300 --> 01:03:33.019
to go with this other person. But you kept your

01:03:33.019 --> 01:03:35.539
head about it. And the guy just said, look, I

01:03:35.539 --> 01:03:37.860
have a rental or this or that. And it's small

01:03:37.860 --> 01:03:42.579
potatoes. But you did it to such a degree. that

01:03:42.579 --> 01:03:44.980
he said oh he must really know what he's talking

01:03:44.980 --> 01:03:47.739
about let me give him something else and that

01:03:47.739 --> 01:03:50.159
led into something even bigger you have to really

01:03:50.159 --> 01:03:52.960
take what's given to you but think about what

01:03:52.960 --> 01:03:55.719
the other person is going through and just take

01:03:55.719 --> 01:03:58.039
it and just you never know because you don't

01:03:58.039 --> 01:04:00.639
know what you don't know the big fish he was

01:04:00.639 --> 01:04:02.739
the one of the big fish he knew more than me

01:04:02.739 --> 01:04:04.780
and he knew it and i and i admitted hey i'm going

01:04:04.780 --> 01:04:06.099
to need to look into that you know what i mean

01:04:06.099 --> 01:04:08.159
so i had to brush up pretty quickly but he never

01:04:08.159 --> 01:04:10.380
held it against me so if you ever think there's

01:04:10.380 --> 01:04:12.219
a somebody you really want to do business with

01:04:12.219 --> 01:04:14.460
and maybe have a personal relationship with become

01:04:14.460 --> 01:04:16.539
a resource for just become a resource for them

01:04:16.539 --> 01:04:19.300
absolutely eventually the offer you can say don't

01:04:19.300 --> 01:04:21.159
be afraid don't be afraid to try me i'm like

01:04:21.159 --> 01:04:23.400
i'm going to give them i always tell people if

01:04:23.400 --> 01:04:24.800
you recommend me they're going to get friends

01:04:24.800 --> 01:04:26.340
and family They're going to get friends and family.

01:04:26.519 --> 01:04:28.320
White glove treatment. I'm going to I'm going

01:04:28.320 --> 01:04:29.900
to you're going to make you proud of the service

01:04:29.900 --> 01:04:34.260
I provide to them. OK, good. All right. So what

01:04:34.260 --> 01:04:37.340
advice do you have for people who struggle with

01:04:37.340 --> 01:04:40.900
networking because they feel it's forced or uncomfortable?

01:04:42.619 --> 01:04:44.840
So I was one of those people for a long time.

01:04:45.099 --> 01:04:47.360
And so one of my director of career development,

01:04:47.500 --> 01:04:49.360
Connie, she said, come on, let's go out to one

01:04:49.360 --> 01:04:51.420
of those networking events. And we had a little

01:04:51.420 --> 01:04:54.219
game. We said she said, let's just actually.

01:04:54.750 --> 01:04:56.670
Both of us came up with it. Let's go opposite

01:04:56.670 --> 01:04:59.269
directions and meet in the middle and then go

01:04:59.269 --> 01:05:03.190
reverse. And so it was really fun. We also had

01:05:03.190 --> 01:05:05.469
this thing, how many, who can get the most business

01:05:05.469 --> 01:05:07.070
cards? I'm very competitive. I don't know if

01:05:07.070 --> 01:05:08.949
you could tell that. So business, so I was on

01:05:08.949 --> 01:05:11.250
a mission. I had to collect business cards because

01:05:11.250 --> 01:05:13.909
she's very competitive too. And I think we're

01:05:13.909 --> 01:05:15.710
pretty close. I think we were off by one when

01:05:15.710 --> 01:05:17.289
we met in the middle, we talked, we went back

01:05:17.289 --> 01:05:19.789
out. It was a great, it was a, it wasn't, it

01:05:19.789 --> 01:05:22.429
was, and so go with an accountability partner.

01:05:22.969 --> 01:05:25.110
you need to have an accountability partner if

01:05:25.110 --> 01:05:26.570
you really especially if you're uncomfortable

01:05:26.570 --> 01:05:28.750
if you're now that i'm comfortable i can go by

01:05:28.750 --> 01:05:31.289
myself but it's not as fun as when i go with

01:05:31.289 --> 01:05:33.650
other people and they clump you know what clumping

01:05:33.650 --> 01:05:35.929
is when these realtors stick together i'm like

01:05:35.929 --> 01:05:39.269
are you kidding me there's 30 other tables and

01:05:39.269 --> 01:05:41.230
who could you meet out there i want you to walk

01:05:41.230 --> 01:05:44.349
around and you know what they have fear right

01:05:44.349 --> 01:05:48.329
false evidence appearing real fear which is crazy

01:05:48.329 --> 01:05:51.179
nothing's going to kill them by saying hi I'm

01:05:51.179 --> 01:05:54.539
Henry. Hi, I'm Michael. Hi, Michael. Where are

01:05:54.539 --> 01:05:56.719
you from? What do you do? What type of work?

01:05:57.159 --> 01:06:01.920
Anything. Open up an open -ended question. Who,

01:06:01.960 --> 01:06:04.400
what, where, when, why, how? You can't answer

01:06:04.400 --> 01:06:06.719
yes or no. Are you having a good time? No, I

01:06:06.719 --> 01:06:09.460
go through, there's a large part of what I teach

01:06:09.460 --> 01:06:13.300
about introverts and extroverts. And that goes

01:06:13.300 --> 01:06:16.360
along with a networking event because I always

01:06:16.360 --> 01:06:19.920
tell extroverts to go alone. You don't want to

01:06:19.920 --> 01:06:22.469
share. your time or share a meeting or anything

01:06:22.469 --> 01:06:24.630
else. You don't want that type of backing. You

01:06:24.630 --> 01:06:26.489
want to go out and you want to talk with as many

01:06:26.489 --> 01:06:31.110
people, build as many relationships as you can.

01:06:31.369 --> 01:06:34.389
If you're slightly introverted, then you can

01:06:34.389 --> 01:06:37.349
bring somebody with you, somebody that really

01:06:37.349 --> 01:06:39.670
knows you, knows about you and everything else.

01:06:39.809 --> 01:06:42.090
So there's two different ways to look at it,

01:06:42.110 --> 01:06:45.550
but that's exactly right. So let's bring this

01:06:45.550 --> 01:06:49.289
podcast full circle. Okay. If you could leave

01:06:49.289 --> 01:06:53.030
our listeners with one networking principle that

01:06:53.030 --> 01:06:55.769
has carried you from middle school friendships

01:06:55.769 --> 01:07:00.030
to a successful career, what would it be? It's

01:07:00.030 --> 01:07:02.610
a long play. This is a long play. There's no

01:07:02.610 --> 01:07:05.489
quick fix to anything you're doing. I think you

01:07:05.489 --> 01:07:08.389
need to start. And if you're not happy with your

01:07:08.389 --> 01:07:09.929
making, you need to hit the reset button. All

01:07:09.929 --> 01:07:12.300
right. And you need to look at. Not only what

01:07:12.300 --> 01:07:14.679
you're doing and if you like where you're working,

01:07:14.719 --> 01:07:16.619
your career, what's it going to take you to get

01:07:16.619 --> 01:07:19.360
to the next level and emulate people that are.

01:07:19.619 --> 01:07:22.679
I joined a group of managers and now I've been

01:07:22.679 --> 01:07:24.840
invited to a bigger group now. So swimming with

01:07:24.840 --> 01:07:27.440
them. I'm the little guy in the big pool. So

01:07:27.440 --> 01:07:29.139
you always have to, if you want to improve your

01:07:29.139 --> 01:07:30.880
tennis game or your pickleball game, I play all

01:07:30.880 --> 01:07:32.539
the pickleball. You got to play with better players.

01:07:33.119 --> 01:07:35.579
And figure out a way to meet these people. It

01:07:35.579 --> 01:07:37.360
could be on the golf course. It could be on pickleball.

01:07:37.400 --> 01:07:38.699
It could be on a bowling league. I don't care.

01:07:39.000 --> 01:07:40.960
But network with other people that are successful.

01:07:41.300 --> 01:07:43.199
I don't know if I mentioned my, occasionally

01:07:43.199 --> 01:07:46.559
I call upon SCORE. Familiar with SCORE? Business

01:07:46.559 --> 01:07:49.119
professionals that are retired, but occasionally

01:07:49.119 --> 01:07:51.539
that's really good to me. I think that you need

01:07:51.539 --> 01:07:56.340
to just decide. And I'll end with this. One of

01:07:56.340 --> 01:07:59.119
my senior realtors, West Point graduate in his

01:07:59.119 --> 01:08:03.059
80s, shows up every day. And, and he's a military

01:08:03.059 --> 01:08:05.820
guy. He thinks that way, but he has two things

01:08:05.820 --> 01:08:07.760
he does. And I'm not following one of them today,

01:08:07.900 --> 01:08:11.079
but he, just for him to remember the day or people

01:08:11.079 --> 01:08:13.239
say, how's it going? Today is Thursday, right?

01:08:13.280 --> 01:08:16.680
No, it's what day is today? Yeah. Today's Thursday.

01:08:17.020 --> 01:08:21.220
Okay. Just terrific. Today. Hey, how you doing?

01:08:21.239 --> 01:08:24.060
Terrific. I'm terrific. How about you? Be positive.

01:08:24.159 --> 01:08:27.000
Right? So Monday's marvelous. Tuesday's terrific.

01:08:27.560 --> 01:08:31.890
Sorry. Tremendous. Wednesday's wonderful. Terrific

01:08:31.890 --> 01:08:34.810
and fantastic. Monday, Tuesday, come up with

01:08:34.810 --> 01:08:37.529
a positive word. How's it going? How's it going?

01:08:37.750 --> 01:08:40.289
And come up with the answer. He also does a second

01:08:40.289 --> 01:08:42.850
thing. He dresses. He doesn't want to have to

01:08:42.850 --> 01:08:44.149
think about what he's going to wear for the day.

01:08:44.369 --> 01:08:47.529
So I'm wearing Monday's shirt, white. It gets

01:08:47.529 --> 01:08:50.449
a little darker, beige on Tuesday. Wednesday,

01:08:50.529 --> 01:08:53.090
we wear red or blue, depending upon who's in

01:08:53.090 --> 01:08:57.550
office. Thursday, gray, and Friday's black. That's

01:08:57.550 --> 01:09:00.510
it. And brand yourself. Every day, I'm branded.

01:09:00.990 --> 01:09:03.909
And I get, I'm walking into Publix and people

01:09:03.909 --> 01:09:05.789
say, excuse me, where's the milk? I'm like, come

01:09:05.789 --> 01:09:07.430
on, I'll sell you a house on the way to the milk.

01:09:07.630 --> 01:09:10.130
You have to have some key line. Oh no, I'm so

01:09:10.130 --> 01:09:12.409
sorry. No, come on. I know the store like in

01:09:12.409 --> 01:09:15.430
the back of my hand. Be public, be social, be

01:09:15.430 --> 01:09:18.909
a walking billboard and always have the, when

01:09:18.909 --> 01:09:21.050
somebody just even looks at my badge, I wear

01:09:21.050 --> 01:09:23.270
it every day. I always have a line. Can I sell

01:09:23.270 --> 01:09:24.989
you a house today? Oh no, I already own something.

01:09:25.310 --> 01:09:26.829
I'm like, what about an investment property?

01:09:27.320 --> 01:09:29.640
If you have maybe a friend or relative that might

01:09:29.640 --> 01:09:31.680
be looking, the grant money out there is unbelievable.

01:09:33.020 --> 01:09:36.180
It's like, am I robotic? I try not to be. But

01:09:36.180 --> 01:09:39.260
do I follow some regimen with regarding words

01:09:39.260 --> 01:09:42.920
like terrific, tremendous, wonderful, marvelous,

01:09:43.159 --> 01:09:47.180
fantastic? Yeah. Because it just helps me realize

01:09:47.180 --> 01:09:50.180
some people can't even find the word sometimes.

01:09:50.539 --> 01:09:52.100
You know what I mean? Even explaining what we

01:09:52.100 --> 01:09:54.279
do as a real estate, what makes you different?

01:09:54.340 --> 01:09:56.539
It's exposure. That's the word I use. Because

01:09:56.539 --> 01:09:58.439
where Century 20 was the biggest global brand

01:09:58.439 --> 01:10:02.260
with 83 countries and 25 % of the buyers in Florida

01:10:02.260 --> 01:10:04.739
are foreign nationals, that's why you need somebody

01:10:04.739 --> 01:10:08.180
like me. Your elevator speech, right? Yeah, yeah,

01:10:08.220 --> 01:10:10.920
absolutely. And there's something to be said

01:10:10.920 --> 01:10:15.239
for branding yourself, okay? By you wearing those

01:10:15.239 --> 01:10:18.439
different colors, the same colors on the same

01:10:18.439 --> 01:10:22.810
day during the week, people recognize that. When

01:10:22.810 --> 01:10:26.130
you see that accident attorney up on a billboard,

01:10:26.229 --> 01:10:28.729
you just see his picture and his name. No contact

01:10:28.729 --> 01:10:32.149
information, no anything. That's called branding.

01:10:32.329 --> 01:10:36.510
And I've tried to brand myself. So I have to,

01:10:36.510 --> 01:10:38.409
if you have a few minutes, I'd love to tell you

01:10:38.409 --> 01:10:42.369
a short story about branding. So I got involved

01:10:42.369 --> 01:10:45.989
with AI. Right. AI is like the buzzword. And

01:10:45.989 --> 01:10:49.069
I write three or four articles a week on three

01:10:49.069 --> 01:10:52.029
or four different platforms about networking,

01:10:52.270 --> 01:10:55.630
leadership, things like that, all with AI generated

01:10:55.630 --> 01:10:59.949
text. But it gets my word out. Now, I've been

01:10:59.949 --> 01:11:02.090
doing this for three or four months. So I got

01:11:02.090 --> 01:11:04.250
to tell you a funny story. The person who I'm

01:11:04.250 --> 01:11:08.109
working with has a partner in California. That

01:11:08.109 --> 01:11:12.029
person in California has a partner in Las Vegas.

01:11:12.569 --> 01:11:18.109
Because they do shows, right? So one day, his

01:11:18.109 --> 01:11:22.050
partner, the partner in California, Abe, was

01:11:22.050 --> 01:11:25.510
talking to this person in Las Vegas. And they

01:11:25.510 --> 01:11:27.510
were talking about something with AI and everything

01:11:27.510 --> 01:11:29.609
else. He goes, wait, I have to stop you for a

01:11:29.609 --> 01:11:34.069
second. Who's Michael Foreman? He said, why?

01:11:34.409 --> 01:11:38.680
He goes, because his name. for credentials it's

01:11:38.680 --> 01:11:42.899
all over the place he is the go -to person for

01:11:42.899 --> 01:11:45.659
networking and he goes how do you know it goes

01:11:45.659 --> 01:11:48.159
i see it all over the place he goes all right

01:11:48.159 --> 01:11:52.180
so this guy in las vegas was talking to a person

01:11:52.180 --> 01:11:57.659
in california about me in georgia crazy so it's

01:11:57.659 --> 01:12:01.159
absolutely crazy so this is what i did i made

01:12:01.159 --> 01:12:04.479
up a t -shirt on the front is my logo on the

01:12:04.479 --> 01:12:07.899
back it says Who is Michael Foreman with the

01:12:07.899 --> 01:12:12.579
QR code? That's cute. And I'll send you one.

01:12:13.699 --> 01:12:17.420
I'm still a large. That's all right. That's where

01:12:17.420 --> 01:12:19.159
I'll send you a large. I love it. Who's Michael

01:12:19.159 --> 01:12:22.039
Foreman? I love it. But it's great. But you never

01:12:22.039 --> 01:12:25.279
know who is going to see it and what they're

01:12:25.279 --> 01:12:28.989
going to say. So, Henry, I got to tell you. This

01:12:28.989 --> 01:12:31.949
was absolutely fantastic. And I think we can

01:12:31.949 --> 01:12:34.369
make this podcast go another two or three hours

01:12:34.369 --> 01:12:37.270
just by giving us stories back and forth. Oh,

01:12:37.350 --> 01:12:40.930
my God. Okay. But if somebody were to contact

01:12:40.930 --> 01:12:42.909
you, what would be the best way that they would

01:12:42.909 --> 01:12:46.569
contact you? Even Superman had kryptonite, right?

01:12:46.670 --> 01:12:49.649
My kryptonite is my inbox. That's kryptonite

01:12:49.649 --> 01:12:53.430
to me. So I'm a texter and I'm a caller. All

01:12:53.430 --> 01:12:59.989
right. So 561427. 4 -8 -8 -8. South Florida,

01:13:00.050 --> 01:13:05.590
Boynton Beach, 5 -6 -1 -4 -2 -7 -48 -88. That's

01:13:05.590 --> 01:13:09.350
it. Direct. And I pick up everybody, except for

01:13:09.350 --> 01:13:11.270
this call. I'm the guy that picks up and says,

01:13:11.369 --> 01:13:13.489
hey, can I call you back? But not today. I turned

01:13:13.489 --> 01:13:16.229
it off. Okay, good. All right. I'm on my Gmail,

01:13:16.409 --> 01:13:19.609
henrylcaplin at gmail .com. Henry L, the Hulk.

01:13:20.090 --> 01:13:22.869
H -L -K, henrylcaplin with a K at gmail .com.

01:13:22.970 --> 01:13:26.029
Thanks. Okay, Henry, this was great, and I will

01:13:26.029 --> 01:13:32.550
talk to you. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.

01:13:32.829 --> 01:13:36.270
Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co

01:13:36.270 --> 01:13:39.850
-founder, Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on

01:13:39.850 --> 01:13:42.829
a mission to protect children and teens from

01:13:42.829 --> 01:13:45.789
sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.

01:13:46.090 --> 01:13:49.270
They provide prevention training programs for

01:13:49.270 --> 01:13:52.810
children, teens, and adults. To learn more, go

01:13:52.810 --> 01:13:57.210
to revvedupkids .org. Henry Kaplan, Century 21.

01:13:57.689 --> 01:13:59.930
When it comes to making the biggest financial

01:13:59.930 --> 01:14:02.869
decision of your life, leave it in the hands

01:14:02.869 --> 01:14:06.210
of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan. Henry

01:14:06.210 --> 01:14:09.390
is a global real estate agent with Century 21,

01:14:09.590 --> 01:14:13.550
celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter

01:14:13.550 --> 01:14:16.250
where you're moving, Henry has the right connections

01:14:16.250 --> 01:14:23.229
for you. You can contact Henry at 561 -427 -4888.

01:14:23.869 --> 01:14:26.930
A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such...

01:14:27.310 --> 01:14:30.609
insights today. And of course, a big shout out

01:14:30.609 --> 01:14:33.930
to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in

01:14:33.930 --> 01:14:36.850
and spending your time with us. If you're interested

01:14:36.850 --> 01:14:40.189
in my digital courses, being coached or having

01:14:40.189 --> 01:14:43.310
me come and talk to your company, just go to

01:14:43.310 --> 01:14:46.550
Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,

01:14:46.869 --> 01:14:50.189
networking isn't about being perfect. It's about

01:14:50.189 --> 01:14:53.109
being present. So take what you've learned today,

01:14:53.289 --> 01:14:55.909
get out there and make some meaningful connections.

01:14:56.640 --> 01:14:59.560
If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't

01:14:59.560 --> 01:15:02.899
forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share

01:15:02.899 --> 01:15:05.100
it with someone who could use a little networking

01:15:05.100 --> 01:15:08.100
inspiration. Let's keep the conversation going.

01:15:08.279 --> 01:15:12.819
You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,

01:15:12.979 --> 01:15:17.619
or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.