A little about myself first (it's my Blog entry :) before I share the next inSide919 Sponsor (Amy Shair) with you.

I am the middle child from a (practicing) Irish Catholic family of 7 children. 4 boys and 3 girls. I am now the Father of 2 young ladies and if you’ve met my wife Mickie yet (she is on inSide919) you’ll know that I married up.

I share this with you to validate a point my sisters informed me of when I was quite young and that I witness with my daughters and sweetie. Women are simply smarter and more active risk takers than us guys.

So far inSide919 has attracted 3 incredible business women - I work for inSide919 so I, of course call this Smart.

Why is this (why no guys)?

I’m starting to think that maybe the idea of ‘giving’ before receiving is easier for some. I know my Mom never eat a hot meal as long as I lived in her home – she was always serving people – and she “loved” it, it wasn’t work to her (although I soon learned it was a ton of work - another story).

As I previously shared in my blog Olalah and Leslie contacted me before I had decided to launch the Sponsors option. Amy contacted me shortly thereafter.

You don’t hear much about the Sponsorships because I’m still working through everything I want to offer (info is there to be found for someone looking). But that did not stop these 3 local business women from jumping in.

Amy and I met very much like everyone else on inSide919. I left her a Welcome email and she replied back with a Thanks!

Time passed and she reached out to me to talk about this “Sponsor option” and we set up a time to talk.

If you ever talk to me about Sponsorship you’ll think I’m the worst sales person in the world. I lead with “this might not be for you”, then we more quickly to “I can’t really promise you more than doing my best to extend and enhance your Brand”.

We then get into the “this is NOT advertising” conversation and the ‘”you’ll have to be active and help others” part of the offer.

Already sounds like something you should “pay for” :).

I then end with ‘let me look at your past contributions, your website and anything else you have so I know we’re compatible (because the Sponsorship term is for 6 months) and we’ll reschedule another phone visit.

This is where other protential sponsors and I have lost each other.

But not Amy – she is actually really pleased with this process and shares her passion about what she does – she really loves being in Real Estate, that she is NOT expecting immediate results - but wants to make sure that her current and future clients “KNOW’ that she is Active in a down market – she’s in Real Estate in good markets and bad.

I tell Amy that I’ll “NOT” be getting back with her. I want to let the idea of Sponsoring inSide919 percolate in her head and reach out to me if it makes sense.

Thanksgiving comes and shortly thereafter I get an Internal Email from Amy saying it’s time to revisit and that she has a couple more questions - but has been able to “explore the network” and really likes what’s going on inSide919 and is very interested in sponsoring.

Our next conversation goes into finding out if we share the same values (again this is a 6 month relationship and entails us connecting our brands and reputations - it’s NOT advertising – she will have to do some ‘work’) – I ask how long she has been into real estate, why she is in that business, what she thinks of the economy and so on.

I’m blown away with her and pretty much like everything about the way she carries and represents herself. She is firm in her questions, yet easy to communicate with.

SO… we move to the 3rd leg of the Sponsorship process – we need to get offline and visit in person (it’s what you should be doing too).

We schedule some time at a coffee shop near me and visit. She, in person is as Businesslike, Professional and Kind as she is online and so we agree to work together. She “knows” real estate, is keen about the current market conditions and is very active in positioning herself for growth, Amy Shair is a smart Realtor AND net worker.

Success of this network financially will rest on the shoulders of sponsors like Amy who even in times when others put on a helmet and go deeper into their fox hole – instead want to do something positive and move their line forward.

Amy is obviously comfortable (even without knowing all the answers) with technology and the emergence of the new marketing world of “Social Networking” (which will become more and more important to selling a home), to me this will be a competitive advantage to those in the Real Estate profession and Amy is jumping in head first.

I am sooo pleased to introduce Amy Shair to the inSide919 Network and hope that you’ll take a minute and reach out to her. If you’re not in the market for real estate no problem – simply thank her for supporting inSide919.

By Pat Howlett

Founder of inSide NetworX and the inSider Spotlight Publication. 

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