Author: Teri Lussier (page 6 of 6)

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

Mind if I tell a story?

My dad earned his living as a sales rep. He sold high end paint and wallpaper tools in a tri-state territory. There were years when he would be out the door by 5:00 a.m. on Monday and we would see him about 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon. He worked hard, but he is very smart and driven.

When we were a little older, he would on occasion, take one of us kids to a trade show with him during the summer. I can’t speak for my brothers, but I always enjoyed the chance to get away, the chance to see something new, and the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Dad. He was a great story teller and he would tell me all kinds of things: About his life, his parents (they died by the time I was three), how to track deer, how to fish, how to change a transmission, how to dump a boyfriend either gently or not-so-gently whichever the situation called for. You know, the really important life skills that every girl should know.

We would go to these big hotels or convention centers in a big city. Dad would unload his display, I would help him set it up, then it was “see ya at five”. Off I’d wander. To me, back then, a trade show was a cool thing. I would wander up and down the aisles, mouth open, eyes wide, looking at stuff. All this stuff! Who knew there was so much stuff to be had? Bright and shiny stuff, weird stuff, funny stuff, just stuff. I’d go back to Dad’s booth and report about the stuff I saw. Now here’s the fun part, Dad would give me the back story of that company and why their stuff was crap, or the company was full of crooks, on a rare ocassion a particular company was worthy of praise. I learned that everything is not as it would appear on the surface, and there is usually more to a story than what you are seeing.

So I grew up in the sales world. Read more

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

The first thing Greg did as my coach was to throw me at the wall of Bloodhound contributors to see if I stick. His request was for me to write about the Project Blogger experience. Gulp. Deep breath. Here’s an update.

My inexperience coupled with my polite Midwestern upbringing, have caused me to hold my tongue about Project Blogger. However, the last few weeks much has been written both in public and privately to me, about blogging styles and what makes for great real estate blogs. So I figure what-the-hell, now is the time for a pup to speak up.

Two months ago I didn’t know what an RSS feed was. I read two blogs on a regular basis. Now I have about twenty blogs in my reader, half have been added in the last few weeks, and only 3 are real estate related; yes, one is BHB. The blogs that move me and fascinate me and don’t bore me to tears are for the most part, not RE and the reason is, move in closely- I’ll whisper it to you: Real estate blogs suck (that’s four words, 5 syllables). But hey, I’m just an apprentice here, what do I know?

This pup thinks it’s a big world out there, that outside-of-real-estate world, and in her inexperienced opinion the world out there is much more fascinating blog-wise than the world of RE blogs. I read blogs to grow- to see new thoughts and ideas and new ways of expressing those. Following some bland blogging formula is uninspiring. If it’s a formula, then what’s the point? Leads? Somewhere Peggy Lee is singing… Is that all there is?

Jim Duncan’s realcrozetva blog, Greg’s post about weblogging and dancing on bridges, Brian’s post about selling lifestyles, and Daytonian David Esrati’s thoughts about creating community– that is blogging that inspires, moves, and fascinates me. So when I sit down to post, that’s the advice I work with and I don’t see any formulas there. But hey, I’m just an apprentice, what do I know?

Here’s where I’m at blogging-wise: If blogging and Project Blogger are only about following Read more

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

The natives are getting restless.

Much grumbling was heard this week about judging the Project Blogger competition. I don’t have too much to say about that. The contest rules and judging criteria were vague and rather useless from the beginning so no one should be shocked, shocked that things are vague and confusing now. I have my own goals for my little blog and I’m doing what I can to stay focused on those.

I do think however, that a good hard critical look at something is never a bad thing, so when Derek Burress stepped up to the plate and generously volunteered to give an honest critique, I thought it was a capitol idea. He graciously gave me his feedback and if you are an Active Rain member you can read his excellent critique here. When the week 4 judging was completed on Friday, I got more feedback. Looks like I got some splanin’ to do. Well that’s not entirely true. I rarely feel I have to explain anything I do, except to my loved ones and clients, but if it helps those playing along at home, I will.

The burning question is: What’s with theBrickRanch dog? The assumptive answer is that Coach uses a dog so Apprentice uses a dog. Not exactly. I don’t know the back-story of why Bloodhound is Bloodhound, but I can guess that part of the dog motif is this: What would you rather see, big soft puppy eyes gazing back at you or a cactus? What feels more like home to you: A warm, sweet puppy or a prickly desert plant? Which do you respond to on an emotional level: Bloodhound Realty or CactusPlant Realty? There might be more to the story of the bloodhound than that, but I understand the emotional trigger, the warm and fuzzy-ness of using a dog. It makes sense to me. I market to a very family oriented, dog friendly community and I have two big mutts myself so it fits my market, my blog, and me. Damn. We should get bonus points for that.

I took a local web marketing/ WordPress Read more

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

Last night two separate thoughts took a moonlight swim through the gray matter, and when I woke up this morning things made sense.

One thing that stuck in my head was Brian Brady’s post on niche marketing. So well put- a recipe for success. The other thought was about my dad. I spent yesterday afternoon with my parents which wasn’t unusual, but was delicious because it was just the three of us and that is a rare occurance. At any rate, this morning I realized that my dad was an expert at niche marketing.

My dad has led a very interesting life. If Charles Dickens had written about Depression era babies growing up in the slums of Dayton, my dad would be famous. His childhood was the type that either beats you down or makes you smart. Since my dad doesn’t do “beat down”, he’s smart, and because of his childhood, he’s very resourceful. He made his living as a self-employed sales rep in the tri-state area. He drove a lot. To save money, he did his own car repairs. He became expert at engine work, transmission replacement, all sorts of major car work. He loves this stuff. He loves cars, working with his hands, and creating something from nothing.

Once his business began to run itself, more or less, he could focus on car work as a hobby. He started, well, flipping cars, so to speak, for fun and profit. He loves the challenge of scouring a salvage yard for the perfectly wrecked car, putting it in running condition and selling it; using the profits to buy a nicer wreck, fixing, selling, etc. Being an adventurous sort, he gravitated towards what might be considered SUVs, but this was in the 1970s. There really was no such thing as an SUV- there were only 4x4s and they were used to haul stuff on farms, or truly went off road. No one drove those big, noisy, hard riding behemoths around town, except my dad. Or so we thought, until he joined with other 4×4 and off-road afficionados. He began to network with the salvage Read more