Just about 3 years ago, I decided to write a blog post. Within a month, I stumbled upon Active Rain and signed up.  I had absolutely NO idea how much that simple decision would change my life and career.

Yesterday, 2 extraordinary events intersected together in 1 day aka 1,440 Minutes. During the Annual Broker Meeting of the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors®, I was nominated by Pat Vredevoodg, 2007 NAR President for the position of President-Elect (2009) & elected by the board of Brokers of the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors®.

It was a moment ripe with symbolism on a variety of levels.  Pat captured a unique essence during her brief nomination speech which she termed as a 'tweet' about why the Brokers present should cast their vote in favor of the nomination.

Here's Pat's insightful Twitter nomination: Vote for Lola Audu because she is "Smart, Caring, Cutting Edge, Daring, Forward & Clear Thinking, Humble, Funny, RE Pro, Motivator, Responsible, Experienced, Mom, Inspiration"

Later that afternoon, I picked up a direct message on Twitter from Todd Carpenter, NAR's Social Media Manager who asked me to check my in-box for a message from President-Elect of NAR, Vickie Cox Golder. Here are excerpts from the e-mail which showed up this morning,

Dear Lola,

Congratulations!  You have been identified as an influencer in progressive ideas about real estate and, as a result, we invite you to participate in a new pilot program for the National Association of Realtors ®.  NAR's leadership would like to include your voice in our governance system in 2010 and have selected a national NAR committee for you to join. .....

By serving on a national NAR committee, you will have the opportunity to bring your ideas about today's competitive and evolving marketplace to the industry's leaders and you will be in a position to spark change within the business......

NAR has made a commitment to elevating the voice of young professionals and early adopter of social media in the real estate business, and we want to hear from you.....you were recommended to serve on the Housing Opportunity Committee.

What an opportunity!  I'm so grateful to God that the tapestry which He weaves in our lives through our experiences is never conventional nor is He ever limited by pre-conceived limitations about who we are or can become.

Relationship Marketing is not a new concept, however the rapid emergence of social media as a dominant tool for online communication has rendered new significance to the term.  

You may not have heard the term before, but you're most certainly aware of sites such as Twitter, Facebook & Youtube.  These constitute the new frontiers of Relationship Marketing where the fight for turf doesn't revolve around simply attracting 'eyeballs' but rather has moved into a more holistic approach to building client relationships.

Lola Audu, CRS, GRI, e-Pro will be giving an educational seminar about Relational Marketing to the Grand Rapids, Mi chapter of the Womens Council of Realtors ®  entitled "How to Expand the Groundswell in Your Business" on October 15, 2009.  The venue is the Wild Fire Grille - 1144 East Paris Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.  Lunch will be served at noon with the session commencing shortly thereafter.  The cost is $20 for Members and $25 for Non-Members.

RSVP: RSVP to pamela.manus@lmcu.org

2009 is the year to take your knowledge to the next level!  Having the right information at the right time can be the difference between success and failure. Motivated real estate agents understand that the  challenges ahead carry unique opportunities as well.  What you know and When you know it will be as important as What you do in the year ahead! 

Education is rapidly emerging as a top priorty for real estate professionals because of the enormous challenges in our industry and the business community at large. 

If you're a real estate blogger, you've got a head start.  The knowledge shared on the blogosphere easily exceeds what is available through many local brokerages. 

But, it is always good to supplement online information with good books. Throughout the year, I enjoy reading a variety of books. 

I'd like to share with your some books which have been especially helpful to me.  If they're not on your reading list, you might check them out for 2009!  I've broken up my selections by general subject area, so skip around and peruse at your browsing pleasure. :)

Blogging & Social Media:

Blogging with Moxie by Jeolle Reeder & Katherine Scoleri

This fun book is chock full of helpful tips on blogging.  It's written by two ladies who indicate that they're dishing up the "IT Girl's Guide" to blogging, but there really is a lot for everyone..guys & gals in this entertaining and well written book. I'd especially recommend this book for newbie bloggers...but I definitely picked up some useful tips too.

ProBlogger Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Christ Garrett

If you're been blogging for a while or are really serious about blogging for business..that is making your blog pay you as a business investment, I'd highly recommend taking a look at this book.  I've just recently picked it and am working my way through it...gives you a lot to think about with practical tips and insights.

Trend Setters:

Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott

The Net Generation (defined as those b/w 11-30) is changing the world as we know it dramatically.  It is imperative that real estate professionals understand this generation and the way in which they are re-shaping the context and methods of communication.  If you don't think that you will be affected, your model may already be irrelevant and you're simply unaware...

Nextville by Barbara Corcoran

On the other end of the continuum is Nextville by Barbara Corcoran.  This book talks about the trends impacting another large demographic...baby boomers and their retirement plans.  Written by someone who has had her hand on the pulse of what makes the real estate market tick, I appreciated her insights and engaging way of communicating where she thinks the values and movements of retirees will be trending in the future.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink

This book was given to me as a gift when it first came out in 2006.  Since then, I've bought several copies which I've given out as gifts.  It's just that good.  Pink's ideas about the paradigm shift which is occurring and will necessitate that we evaluate our problems and decisions differently is fascinating.  He uses examples for the world of storytelling, design and symphony to engage you in re-thinking your world.

Mortgage Crisis & Financial Markets:

When Markets Collide by Mohamed El-Erian

This is an interesting book to read if you'd like to understand more of what is happening in the world of global investing.  As it became painfully apparent this year, what happens in this world can dramtically impact our lives as real estate professionals.

Confessions of a Subprime Lender by Richard Bitner

Reading this book was an eye opener.  Enough said.

Consumeritis:

Affluenza by John DeGraaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor

This book really made me think about what drives us to buy to live.  It's a thoughtful book which will cause you to examine your live or more simply put, what surrounds your life.  It's really a book about the stuff of our lives and why this has crippled us as we have continued to strive for more & more & more...

Deep Economy by Bill McKibben

In the real estate industry, we're seeing a shifting focus towards neighborhoods and communities.  Deep Economy explores how local communities and grassroots movements can be mutually beneficial for society and business and sustainable environmentally.  A thought provoking read...

Inspiration & Spirituality:

Lifetime Guarantee by Bill Gillham

I read this book in my early 20's.  It remains a favorite as one of the books which most impacted my journey of faith.

The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

This three volume series (bound into one book) is one of the most profound spiritual books that I have ever read.  It's not a quick nor easy read.  It took me a year to read it the first time and I've pondered on the depth of truth revealed many times.  Nee's expose of the inner life of man is one of the most exhaustive and exquisitely mapped guides that I've ever encountered.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

This book is about the perils of Resistance.  We read through much of it as a group this year.  It forced us to look at the myriad of clever obstacles that we were continually putting in our own paths.  As we enter another year, I would highly recommend this book to jump start your thinking in the right direction.

Just for Fun...

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive & all books in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith

I love this series!  The story line encompasses the life of an African lady detective whose wisdom and wit have a way of leading her to the root of many of the problems which arrive in her office.  Smith writes with such humor and insight that I love become immersed in the whatever the No. 1 Ladies Detective, Precious Ramotswe is involved in at any given moment.   

At Audu Real Estate, we encourage our agents to invest in their education.  In fact we believe in this so strongly, the company provides qualifying agents with a generous credit towards educational classes on a yearly basis.  An investment in knowledge is an investment in your future welfare.  With the exception of the series, every single book on this list could be obtained for an investment of less than $150. 

Have you read a book which you'd like to recommend?  Please feel free to share it or your list!

Most of us emerge on planet earth with all the stridency that our 8 to 9 pounds of flesh can muster.  So much so that the infant who emerges without a lusty yell is promptly  spanked on the rump to produce one.  After all...one has arrived.  Say so!

Sideline living is against the grain of human ego.  A newborn baby in a household quickly demands just about everyones' waking and non-waking moments. 

Babies need to be fed at regular intervals, burped, changed, bathed, soothed, entertained...in short, paid attention to at all times. 

While we relish the joy of observing the expansion of new life in a newborn, this quickly becomes old by the time the child hits the terrible twos.  Who can blame the toddler?  Relinquishing prime real estate territory at 'the center of a universe of ONE' cannot be easy.

But, I suspect that the inclinations of the toddler do not fully disappear.  In most of us, they simply retreat underground; temporarily masked by the need to adhere to social norms but always eager to assume center stage if and when the opportunity arises.  A silent witness to the most debilitating form of human suffering...the deep yearning to be given permission to live life with gusto.

Several years ago, I wrote a devotional which I shared with some staff members at a local church.  The mediation was entitled "Living in the Margins."  At the time, we were attending a church which had gone through a number of significant transitions which had left many feeling somewhat fragmented emotionally and spiritually. It was a feeling of disconnection and disorientation...a struggle to regain ones' footing; to reclaim ones' place.

It was around Easter and I was drawn to the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus from a perspective that I had never considered before.  I began to study the sideline characters in this well known narratives ...the possible stories of individuals  who garnered few eloquent sermons.  These ordinary folks whose contributions remain on the sideline of of the most important titanic drama in human history. 

It was their stories that engaged the imagination of my mind...

I started thinking about what it must have been like to be merely passing through Jerusalem and then suddenly conscripted, without the benefit of hire, to carry the cross of a man who was stumbling to His the death like an ordinary criminal. 

Then there was Pilate's wife, a well to do lady.  She had a nightmare about the man her husband was about to sentence to death.  This nighttime terror haunted her soul's dreams and forced an urgent entreaty to warn Pilate about her apprehension. 

Witness the women who were considered as little more than chattel to be owned by men...following at a distance, and watching the last gasping breath of the Son of God. 

I thought of a rich man who gave up his burial plot for a bruised body to be laid...a body which had been publicly scorned by passersby.

As my thoughts wove around the potential stories of these individuals, I was struck by the remarkable experiences that were only available outside the crowded confines of the scriptural text.  Lives whose contributions emerged within the margins and not on the central stage. 

Women whose minimal status in cultural life was elevated by God to witness this transforming moment in history after all the strong men had bolted in fear. 

A black man who was not paid for his forced labor but allowed to carry the burden of God on earth and be rewarded with eternal glory. 

A  man of immense wealth and privilege who went against the grain of society and gave up his own burial place not knowing that his body would one day occupy the space in which a Resurrection took place.  Wow!

It was their position at the sidelines which afforded them the benefit of these unique and extraordinary moments.  But, why is it that so often we yearn for the extraordinary but strive to find it within the crowded confines of the norm?  The middle place, the popular position, the cursed bane of compromise which robs us our uniqueness while promising us safety in numbers?

It is in this place of false security that we pay with hands outstretched the price required for our soul. Unaware that it is the one thing for which there is no earthly compensation is large enough to ransom. 

In this trade, the devil laughs at our naivete, knowing that we have not outgrown the proclivities of that tempestuous toddler, we have merely traded the newborns scream for a dull, blunted roar. 

A harsh return for an immortal life which entered the world unfettered, knowing that the cry which brought it here was never meant to be imprisoned within the limiting confines of mediocrity and conformity.

And inside, the scream continues unabated...unheard by human ears, reeling with staggered desperation within the human heart.  For it knows that it was sent on a unique mission; one which has now been traded for a pittance of pottage.  The scream bears silent witness to the inner desire to complete our unique mission in life with integrity, knowing that we enter into this life alone...and we we are all destined to leave it in the same fashion.

Picture of baby courtesy of jessicafm's photostream on flickr.com

Mouth picture courtesy of Phineas H's photostream on flickr.com

This entry is part of a larger series entitled..."What it Means..."

The story of the Crucifixion can be found in the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke & John

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