Get outside of your own box with Seth Godin's help

Reg Gupton, here.

I have been a follower of Seth Godin for years. The first book I read was The Purple Cow. I was astounded with the clarity of his thinking and his novel ideas.

I read his blog every day. Without fail. Others not so much. His every day.

What follows is a 3 minute video where he describes his latest book. I just read the first 10 pages and found many things of import. I will be doing a PPT presentation soon about the ground breaking ideas he describes.

Seth Godin on Poke The Box & The Domino Project

Seth Godin describes his new book Poke The Box and The Domino Project

If you wish to purchase the book like I did: you can get it here.

The Mind Manual System: A Review

The Mind Manual System, created by Joan Breiner, M.Ed & Susyn Reeve, M.Ed. Self Esteem Experts us a ground-breaking empowerment system that guarantees to provide you with the inspiration, information, tools and resources to transform your life.

At first glance it appears to be a simple program of 21 Days of Audio Messages, a Workbook and Bonus Guided Meditations, but as soon as you start reading the information and doing the exercises you discover that The Mind Manual System gets right to the core of whatever have been the blocks and obstacles to your success in life.

By providing information about how the brain works combined with proven exercises for you to uncover your self-sabotaging thoughts by Day 3 you will have defined your “big dream,” claimed your power and not only uncovered your self-defeating beliefs but written new programming to upgrade the software of your mind - focused on greater happiness and success in all areas of your life.

Don’t you deserve to live the life of your dreams and to be the master of your mind? The Mind Manual System is your roadmap - your user’s manual - to access the power of your mind to live the empowered life you deserve.

For more information see the Mind Manual System video and download a free lesson from The Mind Manual Workbook

Learn more

Reg Gupton's The Top 10 things to have each mgr's employee answer

Buckingham and Clifton advocate out of the box ways of working. These are explained in their book, "Now, Discover Your Strengths." Managing is more and more complex today than it has ever been. They endorse holding each manager accountable for creating the following outcomes, in the way they work best. This list, (shortened from 12 to 10) is to be asked of each manager's employees.

When worded exactly this way, they say, "they predict employee turnover, productivity, profitability, and customer loyalty. Asked twice a year, they provide the most robust and most relevant measure of a manager's impact on his or her employees" yet they do not dictate the manager's means to this end.

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?

2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work properly?

3. At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?

4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?

5. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?

6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development? In the last six months have I talked with someone about my progress? This last year have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

7. At work do my opinions seem to count?

8. Are my coworkers committed to doing quality work?

9. Do I have a best friend at work?

10. Does the mission of my company make me feel like my work is important?

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton offers a book review of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller

Order your personal paperback here. Or you can get your own CD version here.

Gary Keller (of Keller Williams) wrote this book to get real estate agents to start "thinking big" and "living large." Don't worry, his company name isn't mentioned in the book except in the biography, so the book isn't a sales pitch.

I have taught most of the courses that are attached to The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. It is safe to say this book is the best resource available to real estate agents everywhere. This statement applies to any market, experience level, or education level.

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent turns success in real estate into a choice--you can either choose to do the things that will make you successful or you can choose to ignore them. What better way to succeed than to copy those who have already succeeded?! There's no need to reinvent the wheel.

This book has improved countless lives in the real estate business. It's a playbook on how to make a million dollars a year in real estate sales. The best part is that if you don't want to build a massive sales organization, you can step out of the way before you reach the million-dollar level. Maybe half a million dollars a year in passive income is enough for you. Maybe fifty-thousand dollars a year in passive income is enough for you. The point is that if you follow the systems and models in the book, you now have a choice instead of a job.

Let's face it--most real estate agents have a sales job and they happen to be self-employed at that sales job, so they call it a "business." If they stopped going to work tomorrow, that "business" would stop producing income. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent gives step-by-step instruction on how to change that scenario and turn a real estate sales practice into a real business.

On the back cover of the book, Robert Kiyosaki says, "This book presents a new paradigm for real estate and should be required reading for real estate professionals everywhere."

I agree.

Jon Sterling
Real estate licensee in Illinois, Colorado, and California
866-563-8968 cell

Reg Gupton's real estate success books.

Hi there,

Take a look at this list of real estate success books. Read them and succeed.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton's top rated marketing books of all time

Hi there,

Today I created a web site containing my list of the best and top recommended marketing books of all time. Look here for the list.

You can add one or more of them to your library today.

All my best to you.

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton offer best 25 books for success

While reading a past issue of Success Magazine, I came across the following list of the top rated books on success as rated by their readers.

Great books to buy or get from your local library for beach time or when it is raining this summer.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton presents reasons for reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell's Book About Success Contains Valuable Lessons
by Bob Hunt

Real estate agents, brokers, and managers could all profit from reading Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers. Gladwell, the author of Blink and Tipping Point, has subtitled this work, "The Story of Success", and what he has to say about the topic both shatters some old myths and provides us with a better understanding of how success comes about.

One of the most memorable chapters in the book is titled "The 10,000-Hour Rule". Its point could be expressed this way: No matter how much talent and native genius you have, to become a success you have to pay your dues. Gladwell considers a number of cases of people who might be thought of as "world-class" geniuses. He points out that "the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play."

The author discusses "Exhibit A" in the study of talent, a 1990s study of violin students at Berlin's elite Academy of Music. Now, all of the people at the school were very talented. But even among the very talented, there are differences in performance ability. With the help of faculty at the school, researchers grouped the violin students into three cohorts. At the very top were those who had been identified as having the potential to become world-class soloists. What the researchers found was this, "the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder."

The title of the chapter derives from this fact: "… researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number of true expertise: ten thousand hours." "'The emerging picture … is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything,' writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin. 'In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists … what have you, this number comes up again and again.'"

Does all this have meaning for an aspiring real estate agent? I think so. To be sure, we may not have a standard for measuring a "world-class" real estate agent, and the idea of "practice" does not straightforwardly translate from fields like music and sports to the skills an agent needs to hone. Nonetheless, the general point can be applied. Do you want to become a successful agent? Practice. A lot. Talk to people about real estate. Do open houses. Become totally familiar with available inventory, financing options, and applicable laws. If you don't have transactions, create hypothetical scenarios and write the contracts and do the math. (The role that brokers and managers can play in this should be obvious.) Maybe you won't need to do this for ten thousand hours. Maybe it would be satisfactory to be very good, if not world class. What about five thousand hours? Or three? Or two? Whatever it is, success is not likely to come overnight or without work.

Gladwell also notes the important role that timing may have in the formation of a successful person or business. But this does not necessarily mean that successes arise from environments and times that appear favorable. He shows how some of New York's most successful law firms had their origins in market conditions that, for their founders, seemed meager at best.. Unable to garner prestigious business and accounts, these people took "whatever business came in the door." And it was precisely the skills they learned doing that that prepared them to be successful in the business climate to come.

Aspiring agents in the present market may find themselves despairing that they can't/don't get the big transactions. They find themselves just getting by doing rentals, struggling with short sales where banks will cut their commissions, and selling foreclosures priced at the bottom of the market. The lesson from Outliers? Hang in there. This market, too, shall pass; and you will have honed skills that will serve you well on your way to becoming one of the successful ones.

Published: January 8, 2009

You can order your copy here.

www.thedunninggroup.net
303-904-2450
Pinnacle Properties Group Inc"

Reg Gupton offers a book review of Get out of your own way.

“Get out Of Your Own Way: 5 Keys to Surpassing Everyone’s Expectations

By Dr. Robert K. Cooper

New thoughts on reaching goals and accomplishing your dreams and the process to get there. He explains how the chemistry of the brain works and why we approach tasks, goals, dreams and projects in the way we do. I really could care less about the science, it’s there anyway, so what I appreciated about the book was the authors approach, stories and decisive steps. Great book and real reality based.

I look forward to using his methods along with Kevin Robert’s stuff from “Peak Performance: Inspirational Business Lessons from the World’s Top Sport Organizations “One of Cooper’s axioms is: It isn’t a straight line to your Dream, we have many challenges and bumps. That’s what makes the successful stronger His terminology is new “open space goal.” You’ll have to read this book. It is a good read.

Get your copy here

Bruce Dunning

Pinnacle Properties Group Inc

The Dunning Group

Reg Gupton offers a book review of Never Eat Alone: And other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

Hi Reg Gupton here,

Here is the latest bookreview.
Never Eat Alone: And other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

By: Keith Ferazzi

This is probably one of the best books full of actual real life tips that work. He talks about the “Deep Bump” when you meet someone at conferences and conventions. The goal is not to become their life long best buddy but to establish common ground and maybe share a vulnerability that each party can relate to. After that, move on.

The goal is to be remembered so when you contact that individual in the future it is a warm touch. He also talks about “pinging people”. That terminology refers to a brief call and either touch base or leave a message, so people feel important to you because you took time to acknowledge them.

Many other systems and thoughts are shared here. I’m waiting for it to come out in paperback so I can share it with team members and those close to me. Outshines “Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty” by Harvey McKay.

You can order your copy here

Bruce Dunning
Pinnacle Properties Group
10390 W Bradford Rd, #100
Littleton, CO 80127
303-904-2450 (Mobile)
303-948-5845 (Fax)
bdunn10425@aol.com

Reg Gupton presents 12 tactics for surviving market 'shift'

Hi Folks,

It has been a while since I have posted. Been fishing and traveling too much.

A recent article in Inman News struck me as interesting. This is a great summary of the Gary Keller book, SHIFT. If you don't have it, you can get it here.

12 tactics for surviving market 'shift'

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

A bookreview of What to Say When You Talk to Yourself.

What to Say When You Talk to Your Self

By Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D.

This book was recommended to me and for several weeks I thought about buying it and didn’t. Finally, needing a decent book to read I bought it thinking it would be another book I would start, find too pop psychology-ish and put on the shelf to collect dust.

Not so. Not even close. The principle behind the book is those subtle and not so subtle messages we give and receive that are holding us back. The messages are often negative and filled with why we can’t do, achieve or acquire something we want. These messages undermine our confidence and our belief in ourselves. Before you know it, daily tasks are filled with negative thoughts or phrases. A case in point: if I drop the mail coming back from the mailbox I’m likely to say to myself “Well, that was dumb!” With no positive force to counter this negative energy we believe the negative image is who we are.

Shad Helmstetter gives the reader clear and concise instructions on how to get through the negative talk; turning years of faulty images into positive, confidant ones. He describes in detail how the brain works and why, if we are to reach our true potential, we must learn to be a well spring of positive energy.

Once you begin reading the book, you’ll begin to notice how often our ideas are phrased in a negative context and you’ll stop, often mid-thought, to rephrase the idea in a positive way.

This book is eye-opening and life changing. It has allowed me to begin the transformation process of not believing I was worth what I wanted out of life into being fully aware of the positivity needed to attract those things I want for myself and my loved ones. Beyond the “stuff”, there’s a whole world of well-being, joy and abundance just waiting for each of us.

You can order the your own personal copy here.

A book review by

Deb Berman

Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR)
Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
Royal LePage Partners Realty, Brokerage
169 Willowdale Avenue
Toronto, ON M2N 4Y7

416-229-4454 ext. 285 (Business)

416-803-8712 (Mobile)
Email: deb@debworksforyou.com
Visit: www.DebWorksForYou.com

Reg Gupton posts a book review of Getting Things Done

For those of us who are always scrambling through papers stacked here, there,
and everywhere -- who seldom see the actual top of our actual desk -- who are continually haunted by the fear that we've forgotten something terribly important -- help is at hand.

The book is called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. Google GTD and you'll discover his followers are legion and wildly enthusiastic about his systems for dealing with time, obligations, and stuff.

Allen says that it's that fear we've forgotten something that creates stress in our
lives. To eliminate the stress, we need systems. Once the systems are in place, the stress will disappear and we will find that we have become healthier, happier, and more productive. Doesn't that sound wonderful?

Like all lifestyle changes, a clean desktop (both real and virtual) won't happen
without effort and determination. Nevertheless, I can personally attest that even implementing GTD imperfectly has resulted in a vast improvement compared to my previous normal state of clutter and chaos, pre-GTD.

Give it a try. Even if you're not Saved, you may be Improved.

Book review by

Dianne Goode, Realtor/Broker
Keller Williams Realty
Raleigh, NC
www.diannegoode.com

Reg Gupton tells you how a client found content for her 8x8 program

Hi All,

One of the strategies recommended in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller and Dave Jenks. (follow this link for a review and to secure your personal copy)A current client describes below how she was able to get 250 copies of each of three brochures that she wanted to send to the new prospects for her practice.

Call me and we can quickly create an 8x8 program for you that will achieve Top of Mind Awareness with your prospects. I promise.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton
800.418.0401


Reg,

In order to get my Mold, Radon and Lead Base Paint pamphlets to use in my 8x8 program, I had to go to two sources.

Lead Base Paint came form EPA #1-800-490-9198 and ask for pamphlet 402-K-06-093. They had very few pamphlets they could send out ( I got 2) but I did have permission to copy as many of them that I needed.

For the Mold and Radon I called NAR #1-800-874-6500 hit #2 and then 0. A gentleman took my order of 500 each. I did not have the order # for these pamphlets, however, I told him what I needed and he knew which ones to send.

About 1-2 weeks later a lady called to verify my order and ask what I was going to do with the pamphlets and I told her they were for mail outs. She informed me that they were short of pamphlets, however, she could send 250 of each. I received these about 5 days later.

Janice


Janice Cantrell
Keller Williams Realty of Chapel Hill
1516 E Franklin St, Suite 100
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514
janice_cantrell@kw.com
www.janicecantrell.com
Cell 919-260-1798
office 919-951-1798
Fax 919-929-6792
e-fax 919-951-1898
"A PROMISE MADE IS A PROMISE KEPT"

Reg Gupton offers an idea to learn faster

Hi All,

A few days before the Labor Day weekend, I left for a 3,000 mile road trip to Michigan for the wedding of the son of one of my best friends from college, then to the Dad's house for a few days of R & R, then to Nashville to attend to some family business and finally back to Boulder.

All this time alone in the car. I took the time to listen to about 40 hours of educational tapes/CDs that I had been meaning to get to for some time. Either listening the first time or re-listening to some that I thought would be instructive. I did not have any trouble staying awake and no boredom. None.

In addition, I took a small digital recorder with me to dictate ideas that I did not want to lose. I did not want to drive off the road nor lose the ideas (again)

It worked. I have dozens of small audio notes that are being acted upon daily. The idea worked very, very well.

This weekend, I began listening to the audio version of Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Moneyaudio book. (You can order it here) Those of you who know me or have heard me in a presentation know that I read 50+ books per year. I discovered this weekend that listening is a great way for me to have the material reinforced. It seems that hearing the same information even though I have read the book 3 times from cover to cover and have read sections of it many more time, adds lots of value for me.

Try it and let me know what you think.

You can order it Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton
www.growthseminars.com

4 Lifestyle commitments to transform your life

The Four Agreements
by Don Miguel Ruiz

Sometime ago a friend recommended that I read this book. If you are like me, you capture some of the books recommended by your friends and others slip thru the cracks in your book reading information system. My system usually is a mixture of my brain (pretty hit and miss), the back of envelopes, bar napkins and other random scraps of

paper. Somedays I am lucky and the suggestions end up in my hand when I am on Amazon.com, at a local bookstore or at the library. I am glad that this book made it to the forefront of my consciousness.

Ruiz suggests that these four commitments will change your everyday experience. I have only read the book once and plan to read it again. A commitment to live in this way intuitively seems helpful.

The four agreements that you should make with yourself are (from the inside cover):
1. Be impeccable with your word.
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your work in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don't take anything personally.
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own realty, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you will not be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don't make assumptions.
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid understandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always do your best.
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstances, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.

Find a few hours during a snowstorm this winter and curl up with this book and a pot of your favorite tea. You will be glad you did. Click here to order


To your continued success,
Reg Gupton

Questions that great managers ask

First Break All the Rules
by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

Imagine a friend recommending a powerful and fun mystery book that they recently read and knowing you read mysteries, thought you might like it too.

You rush to your local or on-line bookseller and purchase the book. During some scheduled reading time you finally pick it up with much anticipation since you trust your friend’s recommendations.

You begin reading and find that on page 28 of the 270 page book the entire (or so you thought) plot is revealed.

This is exactly what happened to me with First Break All the Rules. When I reached the page mentioned the entire results of a major project on management were revealed. The Gallup organization surveyed hundreds of top performing managers and thousands of employees to create the keys to better management. What they found was that if employees are asked a specific series of powerful questions and managers are evaluated on the answers to this simple list of questions, amazing results are achieved.

The good news is that there are only 12 questions. The questions measure the most relevant information about how a workplace is run and what the employees feel about their jobs. I was stunned how few questions there were and by the differences in corporate performance between those firms that had employees that had higher scores and those that did not. Great information.

Much further in my reading I discovered that Gallup had interviewed over a billion (that is with a big B!) customers attempting to discover what customer service looks like in multiple industries from the customer’s perspective.

That is a strange strategy don’t you think? Ask customers what they want. Much to everyone’s surprise there are only 4 attributes that customers looked for and they must be satisfied in order. In addition, they are very similar across many, many different types of service providers from your physician to the bottler of your energy drink. They are accuracy, availability, partnership and advice. The section on these four attributes is a must read.

I am loving the material presented because it is based on research, not on someone’s opinion. Opinions are great but data driven decisions make more sense to me. You should have opinions and it is best if they are current and based on information that is drawn from those that are being impacted or served.

Opinions should not come from two or more people sitting around a table dreaming about what they want to be true or the way it has always been. The way we have always done things is no longer relevant in most situations in today’s customer driven information rich society.

Read First Break All the Rules. You won’t be disappointed if you wish to grow your business and increase your employee’s satisfaction and your profit.

Hurry and order this book: First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

To your continued success,
Reg Gupton

A Blueprint for Success

Slight Edge
Jeff Olson

Reviewed by Fred Pelon, Seagate Technology

The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson has absolutely nothing new in it. In fact, Mr. Olson makes no bones about this. He mentions other famous and time-proven self-improvement books such as, Think and Grow Rich, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, liberally throughout his book.

Given a seemingly self-deprecating approach to self-improvement can this book offer anything of value? It has a lot to offer. The primary theme that pervades this narrative is contrary to all things modern-American: slow and steady wins the race.

This book is peppered with familiar monetary parables and common sense throughout, but it never talks down to the reader. Repetition is the prevalent learning device used by Mr. Olson, but his timing is impeccable contrary to many other self-improvement books on the market. In short, buy this book and read it. Slowly.

Order a personal copy for your library: The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

To your continued success,
Reg Gupton

Book Recommendation

Purple Cow
by Seth Godin

When my monthly issue of FastCompany shows up one of the people whose contributions I look for to and enjoy is Seth Godin. He is a regular contributor to this cutting * edge publication and the author of 3 (now soon to be 4) best selling books about marketing. You could summarize his thinking and writing as clearly out of the box.

There was an offer in his article that allowed you to order and receive prior to general release his next book, Purple Cow. All one had to do was pay for shipping and handling. Being the information junky that I am, I figured that I had really enjoyed and benefited from his other books and his monthly contributions to FastCompany, I would invest under $10.00 to see what he had to say.

The link provided in the article took me to a brief (single page if memory serves) web site where I could enter my contact information (and credit card, of course). The page was simple, direct and uncomplicated. The web site managed my expectations by telling me when to expect the book to be delivered.

Two things to note here: 1) the investment of $10.00 covered his cost of printing and mailing, a Jay Abraham maxim. But that is another story. 2) You can bet that the date given for the delivery was very clearly achievable as the book had been written, printed and was ready for shipping.

So not to my surprise earlier than the expected date which I (like you) had forgotten, a purple and white 1/2 gallon milk carton showed up in my mail. And it contained the book. The book’s complete title is: “Purple Cow, Transform your business by being remarkable” Do you suppose that receiving a book in a milk carton not a brown cardboard shipping box would be considered “remarkable.” You bet.

One page one of the book, Godin talks quickly and interestingly about the “P’s” of marketing. Over the last many years, the marketing practitioners have touted that there are 5 P’s that each business needs to pay attention to. Unfortunately for us mere mortals, each marketer has there own set of P’s. Some that are included:

* Product
* Pricing
* Promotion
* Positioning
* Publicity
* Packaging
* Permission
* Pass-along

Now Godin would have us believe that there is now another P, Purple Cow.

From the product description on Amazon.com:

“What do Starbucks and JetBlue and KrispyKreme and Apple and DutchBoy and Kensington and Zespri and Hard Candy have that you don't? How do they continue to confound critics and achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and true brands to gasp their last?

Face it, the checklist of tired 'P's marketers have used for decades to get their product noticed -Pricing, Promotion, Publicity, to name a few-aren't working anymore. There's an exceptionally important 'P' that has to be added to the list. It's Purple Cow.

Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period.“

I read business books with a highlighter. Purple Cow by Seth Godin is full of turned down pages and many, many highlights. Your copy will be too. Order today: Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin.

Reg Gupton posts a guest book review of What to say when you talk to yourself

What To Say When You Talk To Your Self
by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D.

This book presents a fundamental understanding of how the mind is programmed, and it was a real eye opener for me. I especially liked Helmstetter's analogy of the mind as it operates much like a computer. The computer receives input, and the mind receives input. The computer does not care what the information is about; the computer simply accepts it, or deletes it if the save command is not given. The mind can choose the information that is good or not good; the mind can accept the information, or delete it. Helmstetter writes, "I choose my thoughts. No thought, at any time, can dwell in my mind without my permission." It makes a lot of sense.

My thoughts are under my control. I can re-program the information in my mind. I can delete limiting beliefs. Marcus Aurelius said, "Our life is what our thoughts make it." Shad Helmstetter tells us how to do it in "What To Say When You Talk To Yourself."

John Newby - REALTOR®

Click here for your own personal copy of What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, by Shad Helmstetter. Ph.D.

Reg Gupton