Utah Real Estate Investors Association

Right in the middle of the bloody depths of civil war, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving which should take place every year.

His entire Thanksgiving proclamation (written by his Secretary of State, William Seward) is worth taking in, or even reading aloud, but the opening is particularly powerful:

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added ..."

I believe Lincoln understood a fundamental truth in the human soul: how we choose to see our circumstances often dictates the state of our hearts -- and, thereby, our future circumstances. After all, if a war-torn nation can turn its eyes upward -- so can you, your employees, and your family.

Read More...

"You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential." -Steve Garvey

Consider the following story...

Alison, a young girl running a lemonade stand,  last summer, in Bountiful, Utah. Pretty typical, right? But this ten-year-old girl was exceptionally bright. She had been watching other ten-year-olds run their lemonade stands with one qualm: they let customers slip away without a sell.

Determined, the girl enacted a new selling strategy. Instead of asking customers, "Would you like any lemonade?" like the other kids did, this girl decided to ask, "Would you like lemonade or a cookie?"

From that po
Read More...

"My job as a leader is to make sure that everybody in the company has great opportunities and they feel they are having meaningful impact to the good of society." -Larry Page

If you do nothing to help your employees grow, complacency can become the norm. They might be "good" at their job but they may never become "great". And for those employees who are striving, regardless of their given opportunities, it's vital you recognize them in their good work. Is a promotion at hand? Possibly. Consider the following three questions before promoting your people.

Are they prepared?

Hard work and stellar performance does not mean they are automatically ready for the next step. Consider the highest award in college football: the Heisman Trophy. Those who win the award do not always excel at the next level. Some trophy winners leave college early when they should have prepared another year for the NFL. Your employees might need another six months or year to pr
Read More...

"The sweetest two words are 'next time.' The sourest word is 'if.'" -Chi Chi Rodriguez

One of the big problems with "branded" style advertising, is that you simply cannot know whether your marketing is really working or not. After all... if you're "getting your name out" (as the ad reps tell you), how do you know if your "name" is pulling in new clients?

It's a classic strategy by which ad reps get you to purchase more advertising from them: "We just need to go a few more months, so you can get your name out more." For most small businesses, this is a waste of money.

Well, when I've worked with advertising agencies, we enjoyed the power position with our ad reps. Why? Because we knew our numbers.

We could attach dollars and cents to the ROI from our specific ads, and we used that info to make marketing decisions every season. And it's a MAJOR missed step for many lo
Read More...

"Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant." -P.T. Barnum

Life is all about prioritization. Businesses are no different.

Where does profit fall in your list of priorities? Obviously, in the realm of cash flow, you are sparsing out revenue to various functions within your business: COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold), payroll, etc.

But the profit first mentality says to do just that -- prioritize profit as the number one item on your list. AND THEN move onto other areas of your business that need cash flow. This is the "pay yourself first" perspective -- many utilize this tactic to propel their personal finances in a favorable direction. But in a business sense, this concept requires a few shifts.

1. The Bank Accounts

Setting up your bank accounts accordingly is crucial for profit first to succeed. The order is as follows:
Read More...

"To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions." -Stephen R. Covey

Mindlessly conforming to conventional wisdom about how to thrive in your calling is something I think we should all avoid. But with every (bad) magazine and social media post tossing around conventional wisdom left and right, allow me to question some of it...

"Just do your job"
Your job description is a bare minimum. Fulfilling it means you'll probably keep your job, or that client contract, but you won't stand out when buyers are re-upping contracts or managers are deciding whom to promote. Push the envelope a little so your contact sees that you're committed to helping the organization, not just safeguarding your position or contract.

"Never say 'No'"
You can't do everything, know everything, or even attempt everything your boss or c
Read More...

To build a long-term, successful enterprise, when you don't close a sale, open a relationship." -Patricia Fripp

I know that there are businesses who are doing extremely sophisticated, enterprise-level things with their email marketing. And they are most definitely worth studying.

But I prefer to live in the land of what is actually possible for a small business owner. And if you're like me, you like things simple.

So, I suggest you start by cutting out two bad habits, rooted in some mythology about the email medium:

1) Branded headers and clean graphics make your emails look more "professional".

So I ask you: how do you want your emails to be received? As a "professional" email -- with similar content that can be otherwise fo
Read More...

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." -Abraham Lincoln

Anybody can see there's a huge difference between activity and progress. But this is one of those topics that many of us *think* we have handled pretty well, when in reality, we might be fooling ourselves.

So, consider this: How much time do you (and your staff) waste in meetings?

A recent survey of Fortune 500 CEOs showed they averaged only 28 MINUTES of actual productive time during a day, primarily due to useless meetings.

You're probably doing considerably better than that in your small business because of less bureaucracy, but still ... eye-opening, yes?

So, I have three cautions for you -- and inherent to each of them, I believe, you'll see the kind of "opposite" behavior you need, to win the time-management game for business owners:

Read More...

Hello, I’m Cody Reeder with Reeder Asset Management. We are a full- service property management company, serving Cache Valley to Utah County. Today I would like to talk about the screening process. In particular the landlord screening component of the screening process.

A lot of times when I talk with owners, they will tell me that they do screening and that is great. But, as I dig a little deeper overwhelming the majority just do a credit check. Sometimes they may call to make sure that they do work in the place they claim to work.  As I talk with owners I realize they are missing a very important component, and that is the landlord referral.  Part of our screening is the credit check, we check the sex offender list, we do a criminal background check, employment verification, we do previous landlord, we are a part of rent bureau, it’s kind of how property management companies talk to each other.  As I said, each one warrants their own discussion. But today I want to dive into the previous landlord because it is so important. In my opinion, it’s the most important. For example, we’ve had just recently a prospective tenant that we screened have a 780 credit score but had one tradelin
Read More...

"The worst kind of lying I've ever done is keeping things from people." -Elijah Wood

With the October 15th deadline nearing (for extended personal returns), there is almost always an uptick in scammer activity, especially seeking out those who are facing debts to the IRS. Yes, criminals use databases too.

Let's start with email...

Take note of these email subject headlines:

"Automatic Income Tax Reminder"

Or

"Electronic Tax Reminder"

If you see an email with either of those subject lines, or something even close to resembling the like, PLEASE DO NOT CLICK. These emails can contain
Read More...