My Name is Finally Mine Now

A tale of how it was lost forever, and how I got it back.

On a Friday evening at 8:59PM I suddenly remembered, “Hey, isn’t Facebook giving away vanity URLs in one minute?” I knew the demand for facebook.com/Niman wouldn’t be very high, so I let my friend Katherine go first, and what do you know, she got lucky: Facebook.com/Katherine

It was pretty easy for me to claim facebook.com/Niman. My only competition for claiming that name is Bill Niman (Niman Ranch), and Henry Niman (swine flu guy).

A few weeks later, I noticed a lot of folks had matching vanity URLs for the Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. I had 2 out of 3 (facebook.com/niman and twitter.com/niman) so I decided I should also get my LinkedIn URL.

So then I go to LinkedIn to claim /Niman… AND I AM NOT ABLE TO…. The first thought I had to myself was “Darn it, some other Niman beat me,” and I just had to see who it was. When I found out who it was, I went nuts!

As it turned out, it was someone named Nima. I started thinking to myself “Why did Nima have to take /Niman when he could have taken /Nima,” and I decided Nima would just have to give up that URL!

Then I began writing to Nima. It started off as an angry letter, demanding that Nima change his URL to /Nima so I could claim /Niman. It ended up turning into a really nice and compelling email pleading for his humble graciousness. Then, right before I could send the email, I realized I couldn’t send it!

LinkedIn has a 5 character minimum. Nima doesn’t have /Nima, because he can’t. He took /NimaN, because his last name starts with “N”

 NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I thought to myself….. Now I can’t tell him to change his URL, because I don’t have a reasonable suggestion for what he can change it to!

 At this point, I am suddenly back to where I started, and angry at the world because by now this had consumed over an hour of my life.

Then I started to laugh about it. I started thinking to myself about how much this stupid URL was messing with my mind. I decided that this story was just too funny to remain untold, and that I had to share it with someone. Who do you think I chose? You guessed it!

And now, the pleasant surprise: He did it! My name is mine now! LinkedIn.com/in/niman

So what is the moral of the story?

Many things in life will not land in your lap, and you need to be proactive if you want something to go your way. As I reached out to a complete stranger, I was truthful, humble, and I had no problem with humiliating myself. In return, he did me a huge favor, and I’m sure it made him feel good to do so.

Can you do the same with your clients? How do you reach out to real estate investors? A lot of people seem to have forgotten what a real life conversation can still accomplish these days.

Take this for example:

(Knock, knock)

Hi there my name is (BLANK), and I am your neighborhood (BLANK). I pride myself on being able to help my clients save time and money on (BLANK), and I really think you’ll like this (BLANK)

(Solve a problem for the client ie. if their grass isn’t green, give them some turf builder!)

Please let me know if this was helpful for you. If there is anything else I can do for you, your friends, and your family members - you can always ask me for assistance. I’m happy to help!

Have a great day!

I challenge you to go knocking on doors, use this script, and prove to me that it doesn’t work! My suggestion: Don’t miss the RealTown Webinar on how to Gain Investors Clients. It’s on Thursday August 13 at 11:00 AM PST and will last 30 minutes.

This webinar for FREE for RealTown members ($199 value), but space is limited, and pre-registration is required. You can register using this link: 

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/994227410

This webinar is designed to help real estate professionals attract business with investor clients. Investors are becoming very active in the current markets and agents who are not targeting them may be missing out.

The presentation includes the following:

• "Why are Investors Important" - This segment illustrates the size and buyer behavior of the real estate investor market based on recent studies and NAR data
• "How can I be Successful with Real Estate Investors" - This segment discusses investors' pain points, and how agents can create opportunities by helping to solve these pain points.

Click here to Register