I'm a big Seth Godin fan. I think he's one of the smartest marketing minds around.

His latest blog talks about agents in general and real estate agents in particular.

He says anonymous agents are "interchangable and virtually worthless."

He also says that agents need to say "No, I won't sell this house, it's overpriced. List it yourself."

I think I'm a bit more diplomatic, but I've said no to an awful lot of listings this year. Hopefully I'm on my way to being the "great real estate broker" that Seth talks about.

It's a changing industry. I believe the business models continue to evolve and I look forward to figuring out what's next and how my clients need me to work with them in this new environment.

The status quo was boring anyway!

The question is, what will replace the models we see today?

It seems incredible that at a time when this profession gets more complex each day, the Virginia Senate thinks once you've been a broker for 15 years you no longer need to learn anything new.

But I've ranted about the lack of educational expectations in the industry before. I'll let my friend and colleague, Jim Duncan, in Charlottesville state the case this time around.

For the record, though, this is an idiotic idea. The only thing more idiotic is that it passed unanimously. Is there something in the water in Richmond?