Those of you who have been in our courses know that we read a lot of material and make the best recommendations to you regarding resources that will help and assist you. Through 20,000 hours of live classroom education and over a decade of teaching real estate classes there has been only one book that we have been saying is a “MUST OWN” for every real estate professional – Michelle Lind’s “Arizona Real Estate, A Professional’s Guide to Law & Practice.”

As all of us should know, Michelle Lind acts as General Counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors in Phoenix. Nearly every form that you use in your real estate practice Michelle Lind had a hand in creating. Her days are filled with providing advice and insight into risk management issues and legal questions for brokers and agents throughout the state.

You can now have Michelle Lind’s wisdom and guidance at your fingertips. This book is full of practical everyday information you need to know. We guarantee that no matter what level you may be at in your real estate practice you will find information in this book that you didn’t know, but should. At the end of each chapter Michelle provides great practice tips. They alone would be  worth the price. Do yourself and your practice a favor, you’ll be glad you have this book.

K Michelle Lind is General Counsel for the Arizona Association of REALTORS®

Len & Theresa have been requested to present at the 2009 NAR Conference and Expo in San Diego.

Their presentation was a hit last year and this year they will be revisiting ‘Statistics To Success”an analysis of how to use the Home Buyers and
Home Sellers Profiles to increase your business. We look forward to helping you Chart a Winning Course in San Diego.

Many of you may recognize the author, Stephen C. Lundin, as the bestselling coauthor of “FISH” which provided amazing insights for boosting morale and productivity in the workplace. Dr. Lundin is back with a new international bestseller entitled, Cats – The Nine Lives of Innovation. Building on the principle that companies don’t innovate, people do, the book dissects the process of innovation. If you have ever wondered why some people keep having all of the great ideas while others struggle this book has the answers.

Though doubts, fears and distractions are the primary killers of innovation, Dr. Lundin has identified 9 key characteristics of CATS. CATS are the innovative voices and forces that drive business forward. Those characteristics as outlined by Lundin are:

1. CATS create an innovation friendly environment

2. CATS are always prepared

3. CATS know that innovation isn’t normal

4. CATS welcome physical provocation.

5. CATS enjoy social provocation

6. CATS promote intellectual provocation

7. CATS say, “How Fascinating!”

8. CATS fail early and fail well

9. CAT wranglers understand natural energy.

You’ll learn how to use and apply these principles to take fundamental steps on a personal innovation journey and you’ll learn alot about your business as well. Definitely worth the read.

Stephen C. Lundin is a writer and filmmaker with a background in business management and education. His bestselling book FISH! has appeared continuously on the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller lists and has been published in 34 languages.

Chuck Corriere of the Deal Maker Show!

On September 9th at 5:00 Chuck Corriere will be interviewing the owners of Course Creators, Len Elder and Theresa Barnabei. They will be discussing “How Social Media is Transforming the World of Business.” Len and Theresa have been teaching cutting edge business technology courses and have insight into new ways to grow and create business in a world that has been transformed by social media.

You can be part of the discussion, ask questions and learn what you need to do to take your business to the next level. Tune into Jolt 1330 at 5:00 PM on September the 9th and participate in the show. We look forward to sharing with you there!

Those of you who really want to know how much the current world in which we live and work has shifted on its axis should read, Groundswell by Li and Bernoff. The subtitle of the book is “Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies”. What all need to understand better in business is the fact that the “Groundswell” is about so much more than new technology. The technology is only the tool that is ushering in a whole new era of how we work and how business is built. Among the gems of truth drving this social revolution are the fact that:

• Any business can develop strategies for dealing with the groundswell
• The level of client polling and feedback can be utilized like never before
• People trust people more than they do advertising or companies and the groundswell can allow you to take opportunistic advantage of  that fact
• You can energize your consumers to a level previously unattainable
• You can collaborate in new and innovative ways

Groundswell isn’t some “pie in the sky” philosophical discussion. It is backed up with powerful consumer research. Whether you are a salesperson, an entrepreneur, a marketer, a business manager or a company owner, this information will help you make sense of what is really going on and how you and your business can benefit from it.

Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff are vice-presidents and principal analysts at Forrester Research. They originated Forrester’s Ongoing Technographics Surveys and Web 2.0 Research

Thanks to those of you who have taken the VideoBiz course to learn how to create, edit and post videos to your website, blog and upload those to YouTube. We shared a tool with you in class called YouTube downloader. It is a great FREE software product.

The YouTube downloader software allows you with two simple clicks to download any YouTube video and convert it from a flash file into a windows media file that you can then import and edit in your FREE windows movie maker program. It allows you to insert clips, music and other portions of YouTube videos into the video you are making.

If you have been experiencing difficulty with your downloader program it is because YouTube changed some of their formatting on August 12th and it became incompatible with the software. You can fix that by going to the following site and downloading the updated version of downloader. Here is the link for the NEW FREE YouTube Downloader program. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Download Version 2.5 From: http://youtubedownload.altervista.org/