Things move quickly here at Buffini & Company. We recently moved into our new facility in Carlsbad, California. It's a state of the art building that we took time to shape to the team's needs, but now we are settled into our new home as if we were here all along. 2012 has been a great year for Buffini & Company. Our brand new training program, Peak Producers, is something the whole team is very proud of. More than 9000 agents across North America have averaged 12 transactions during the 12 weeks of the program. Our new CRM, ReferralMaker, has just launched and is being used in record numbers. Events like MasterMind and the Peak Experience are sold out with people on waiting lists for both these events and for our One2One Coaching program.

Why do I tell you all this? Because we are walking the walk.

All those things our Business Coaches hold you accountable to in your business are the very things we do here at Buffini & Company. We build relationships, provide value, exceed expectations and ask for referrals. I try my best to be a good example... if Buffini & Company can demonstrate profitability in tougher times then that hopefully shines a light for you in your business too.

We're all in it to win so let's keep up the momentum many of you are beginning to enjoy in your business.

It's a good life!

Brian

Well here we are...it's official. Buffini & Company has a brand new home. And we love it!

The team involved in the design, building and outfitting of this new facility have a lot to be proud of. They've worked tirelessly and ahead of schedule so we could be in our new home on time and in ship shape. And our staff have a lot to be thankful for. Myself included. From the moment you walk through the doors you get the sense that this place is something special. There's a renewed buzz around the building and our staff are excited to be in their new headquarters.

If you're ever in San Diego or if you live close by, Pop-By for a visit of the new pad - it still has that 'new car' smell!

It's a good life!

Brian

This week marks a significant one for Buffini & Company...Friday will be the last day in our current location and Monday our first in the new. The building is almost complete and we're very excited about our new home.

When you move an entire company like this there are many moving parts and it's something that we most definitely had to outsource. So for weeks now a company that specializes in these things has been assessing both buildings and the contents ahead of the move. They'll then come here on our last day to begin packing up the thousands of yellow bins that our staff have filled and load them up for transport to the new facility.

We're all a little nervous as well as excited but that's to be expected. Ultimately we're headed to a custom designed space where we will have even more interaction than we've had, where community will be even stronger and where our company's foundations can be even more solid. I'll let you know how the move goes

It's a good life!

Brian

Joe Niego and myself are putting the finishing touches to this year's Peak Experience. Every year this is my favorite event to attend. I always look forward to it and without fail I have an experience or breakthrough that has a long-lasting impact on my life or on our business.

We develop content and design the event in such a way that attendees experience positive, accelerated change and growth - and I can tell you, this year will be no different. You'll discover how to run your business at an elite level while you synergize and connect with the industry's best.

The event is not for everyone and we only have a few seats left so check it out and see if three days in an intimate setting with Joe Niego, myself and some special guests is for you!

It's a good life!

Brian

It's that time of the year again. Hard to believe it's already been a year, but the Summertime Surge - our 60-day Blitz program - kicked off Monday with more than 2500 of our Members across North America registered and ready to build their business during the dog days of summer.

Our Blitz programs are proven action plans for your business. You follow a day-by-day series of activities designed to get results. And results they get! "Every time I Blitz, my business skyrockets," says Nancy Puder in Arroyo Grande, CA.

Didn't have a chance to register yet or just now hearing about this incredible program? Don't worry...even though the Surge has already begun it's not too late. You can register right now at www.buffiniandcompany.com/blitz and be a part of this tremendous community of professionals. Last year's participants earned, on average, $18,467 during the Summertime Surge. So what are you waiting for? Let's get Blitzing!

It's a good life!

Brian

When things seem out of control or circumstances feel overwhelming, we’ll often try some grand gesture or radical U-turn to catapult us out of a rut. The benefits of a single day can seem too insignificant to truly have an impact. The reality is, however, that every great journey begins with a single step. Day-by-day, note-by-note and call-by-call, when you keep chipping away and being faithful with the fundamentals of working by referral you’ll weather this market and come out with a great business.

I wanted to share something powerful with you today. It’s a 17th Century French proverb that deals with the importance of doing the small thing right:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For want of the shoe the horse was lost

For want of the horse the rider was lost

For want of the rider the message was lost

For want of the message the battle was lost

For want of the battle the war was lost.

All for the loss of a lone shoe nail

(Anon)

The lead-generation activities we’ve laid out in the Summertime Surge have been designed to keep your eyes peeled for those loose nails so your business is battle-ready. Don’t neglect the fundamentals. Put these in your business otherwise you’ll be biting your nails from fear and worry.

It’s a good life!

Brian

If you’ve been following the national news recently regarding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the stock market getting hit and Fannie and Freddie being taken over by the government, these are all the classics signs of the bottom of a market correction.

Right now, we don’t have so much of a real estate problem as we do a banking one. Prices have mostly stabilized across the country and in the short sale and foreclosure market we’re seeing multiple offers. Although I do believe there are a couple more banks in trouble and there’s not yet a full complement of mortgage products to satisfy all the buyers in the market, trust me that will get sorted out. For thousands of years lending money has been one of the most profitable businesses in the world. Banks make money by lending; not by deposits. So they will figure out ways to package loans and get cash into the hands of consumers. I believe this is the final cleansing process and in the next six months we’ll start to come out on the other side of this.

Make sure your clients don’t get caught in the “cudda shudda wudda” of taking advantage of this market. Make sure all your investor clients are fully aware of all the deals that exist and if there’s any way possible, see if you can pick up one of these real estate deals as part of your own investment strategy. We won’t know what the bottom is until after but I believe it’s pretty close. Keep your head down working hard.

It’s a good life!

Brian

On my travels this year, I’ve noticed a lot of people working harder than ever to make the same or even less money. And myself and the staff at Buffini & Company have been doing everything we can to try to encourage, motivate, challenge and train all of our great Members. However there’s one element that you must introduce regularly to your mental diet and that’s a good belly laugh.

Studies have shown its physiological healing qualities, researchers have analyzed its psychological benefits, however it just seems to me that at times like this there’s nothing like putting your head back and allowing yourself to have a good laugh. This was part of the thinking that went into the "Referral Brothers" skit Joe Niego and I did this year at this year's MasterMind. We had just received the first copies of our new book, Work by Referral. Live the Good Life! and we wanted to come up with a creative way not only to gift our audience with the first edition, but also provide some comic relief and allow people to throw their heads back and just enjoy.

So make sure you put yourself in an environment or spend time with someone you know will provide a good laugh. And if you don’t have anything planned for today, check this YouTube clip out and maybe it’ll do the trick.

Keep working, keep trying, and keep laughing.

It’s a good life!

Brian

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

Some say that Rudyard wrote this poem to encourage soldiers in the war. It seems rather applicable for Realtors®, lenders and those working in the service industry in this market.

It’s a good life!

Brian

DESERT PETE by The Kingston Trio

"I was travellin' West a buckskin on my way to a cattle run
Cross a little cactus desert under a hot blisterin' sun
I was thirsty down to my toenails, stopped to rest me on a stump
But I tell ya I just couldn't believe it when I saw that water pump
I took it to be a mirage at first, it'll fool a thirsty man
Then I saw a note stuck in a bakin' powder can
"This pump is old", the note began, "but she works so give'r a try"
"I put a new sucker washer in 'er, you may find the leather dry"|

"You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe"
"You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive"
"Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet"
"Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete"

"Yeah, you'll have to prime the pump, work that handle like there's a fire"
"Under that rock you'll find some water I left in a bitters jar"
"Now there's just enough to prime it with so dontcha go drinkin' first"
"You just pour it in and pump like mad, buddy, you'll quench your thirst"

"You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe"
"You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive"
"Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet"
"Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete"

Well I found that jar and I tell ya nothin' was ever prettier to my eye
And I was tempted strong to drink it, cuz that pump looked mighty dry
But the note went on "have faith my friend, there's water down below"
"You got to give until you get-I'm the one who ought to know"
So I poured in the jar and I started pumpin' and I heard a beautiful sound
Of water bubblin' and splashin' up outta that hole in the ground
I took off my shoes and I drunk my fill of that cool refreshing treat
I thank the Lord and thank the pump and I thank old Desert Pete

"You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe"
"You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive"
"Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet"
"Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete"

"Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet"
"Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete"

Like the thirsty traveler, you’ve got to give of yourself to get. It’s not about money; it’s about keeping up all the work you are doing to get leads. All the calls, notes and Pop-Bys are your version of priming the pump. And one of these days the referrals will start to flow.

It’s a good life!

Brian