I consider myself a digital camera novice. When I bought mine in 2003, I went to someone I trusted (Brett Ellis), asked what he had, and got pretty much the same thing (Canon PowerShot S-50).

When Sam Miller sent me a link to his recent blog post on the advantage of wide-angle lens for digital photos of property interior shots, I was truly amazed by the difference just a few millimeters makes. He shows 35, 24, 17, and 10 mm shots of the same kitchen. Wow, what a difference!

Of course, I am now reflecting on the many areas of my life where a "small" change might make a huge difference. Intensity in exercise... portion control in meals... focus when listening to someone I'm interacting with... I could go on and on.

Thanks Sam for reminding me, that it's the little extra that gets us from ordinary to extraordinary.

Printed courtesy Dwight L. Sullivan, 96 years old

There is very little difference in people says Clement Stone, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.

Nowhere is this principle better illustrated than in the story of the young bride from the East who, during the war, followed her husband to an Army camp on the edge of the desert in California. Living conditions were primitive at best, and he had advised against it, but she wanted to be with him.

The only housing they could find was a run-down shack near an Indian village. The heat was unbearable in the daytime -- 115 degrees in the shade. The wind blew constantly, spreading dust and sand all over everything. The days were long and boring. Her only neighbors were the Indians, none of whom spoke English.

When her husband was ordered farther into the desert for two weeks of maneuvers, loneliness and the wretched living conditions got the best of her. She wrote her mother that she was coming home -- she just couldn't take any more. In a short time she received a reply which included these two lines:

Two men looked out from the prison bars,
One saw mud, the other saw the stars.

She read the lines over and over and began to feel ashamed of herself. And she didn't really want to leave her husband. All right, she'd look for the stars.

In the following days she set out to make friends with the Indians. She asked them to teach her weaving and pottery. At first they were distant, but as soon as they sensed her interestwas genuine they returned her friendship. She became fascinated with their culture, history -- everything about them.

She began to study the desert as well, and soon it, too, changed from a desolate, forbidding place to a marvelous thing of beauty. She had her mother send her books. She studied the forms of the cacti, the yuccas and the Joshua trees. She collected seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the sands had been an ocean floor. Later, she became such an expert on the area that she wrote a book about it.

What had changed? Not the desert; not the Indians. Simply by changing her own attitude she had transformed a miserable experience into a highly rewarding one.

We're off to a great start already, with an incredible number of resources in the first two hours.

Agent Tim Burrell is writing a book, and he's already developed a Web site that coordinates with the book, "Create a Great Deal: The Art of Real Estate Negotiating," full of helpful tips and resources.

Looking for training videos on a variety of topics? Check out expertvillage.com - it's FREE!

And my roomie shared with me a site called ChaCha that will answer just about any question you can come up with! No joke!

Want to turn a pdf into an online book that clients can flip through, like your listing presentation book, or a property brochure? Go to issuu and sign up, then create your book in literally just a few minutes.

I've told some of you before, and I believe it now more than ever - there's little, if anything, you can't find on the Internet. Start at google and go from there!

If you have the itch to get techy, this is definitely the group to do it in!

I arrived in Scottsdale around 4:30 p.m. local time yesterday, and the ideas were flying before the event even started. As of this writing, I've already gotten several great ideas.

Agent Leigh Brown from Charlotte, NC, shared that she's read The Ultimate Sales Machine four times already: its subheader is Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies. Leigh says it's the absolute guide for how to run real estate in today's market. I'll be picking this one up!

Perhaps my personal favorite, for no good return-on-investment reason, is agent Pat Wattam's purple Mac laptop. What can I say... I love purple. (And I love Pat.) It's beautiful. I want one. :-)

So many real estate agents are avoiding social media sites. Whether it's a lack of understanding, a fear of being too tied to the computer, uncertainty about what to say, or something else, many agents continue to stay far away from sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo.

Agent Mario Romero in Phoenix wrote an exceptional blog explaining how real estate has changed. For agents unwilling to adapt, now is the time to get out. Read his article for the full report; here are some highlights:

"... a time is coming where the very foundational business of real estate
will require tools that many of us do not have right now..."

"... if you want to have a viable real estate career into the foreseeable future,
you need to be actively building your social network online TODAY..."

"It’s time to change our paradigm, permanently and significantly..."

See you on the Web!

I strongly encourage all real estate agent clients of mine to implement a "mail monthly, call quarterly" process for everyone in their sphere of influence, which includes all past clients and customers as well as anyone likely to generate referrals. In the interest of "going green" you might also consider emailing some of these monthly "mail" pieces.

To make the monthly mailings easier for you all, here are some suggestions to consider for each month. Where coupons or discounts are referenced, approach your local businesses and offer the opportunity to them to be promoted to your entire database, and most will leap at the opportunity to offer something for free, something at a discount, and they may even pay for the cost of postage!

January:  HUD statement mailing for everyone who closed in 2008, and summary of 2008 market stats and activity for all; 'Time to change smoke detector batteries' reminder

February:  coupon for a free rose from the local florist (thanks agent Janet Parsons for this idea!) or a free cookie from the local bakery to celebrate Valentine's Day

March: Happy St. Patrick's Day with a scratch-off lottery ticket enclosed (thanks Crockett Team); 'cabin fever' discount to local indoor miniature golf or bowling alley

April:  Discount for spring window cleaning or lawn fertilization

May:  Happy Mother's Day - offer a free Gerbera Daisy from the florist, or a discount for a family portriat at a local studio

June:  Happy Father's Day - offer a contest where anyone who updates their email address with you is entered into a drawing for tickets to a baseball game

July:  Independence Day! Agents Martha & Roddy McCaskill did a postcard that said "Baseball... Mom... and Applie Pie..." and offered a free slice of pie with any dinner purchase at a local restaurant. Or, send an American flag printed on the postcard for them to proudly display in their window. (Canadians, agent Bill Renaud used to do a Canada Day flag for his market)

August:  mail school contact information (attendance phone numbers for all elementary and middle schools in your area), or football schedules for your local college or pro teams

September:  discount for a furnace check-up and cleaning or winterizing the lawn mower

October:  coupon to pick up a free pumpkin at your office; reminder to set clocks back

November:  Agent Fraida Varah offers a free Thanksgiving pie (clients must call in to reserve their pie, so that Fraida knows how many to purchase); or send calendars for the coming year

December:  coupon for a free or discounted poinsettia at a local garden shop; offer to come into the office on a particular day to have a picture taken with Santa