I’d been busy working on my next book and hadn’t checked in on Goodreads for a few days. When I finally did check, I discovered that I’d gotten a new rating and my heart totally sank to discover it was only two stars.

Ready to wallow in the misery, I looked for the review that was sure to tell me why. There was no actual review, however, just that enigmatic two-star rating. Lacking specific info I decided to see what I could learn about the star-giver and what I discovered was pretty amazing.

She had actually ranked Bad Dog to Best Friend the same as The Art of Racing in the Rain, but both of us ranked lower than Obama’s book! Being ranked lower than Obama really irked me and I set out to write a blog entry about it called “Ranked Lower Than Obama?”

The more I studied her ratings, the more fascinated I became and the blog post took a different turn, far away from ranking lower than Obama’s politics. By the time I was done, Obama didn’t even get a mention, but I had turned her two-star rating into a very positive marketing post called Neck-to-Neck with The Art of Racing in the Rain.

The next time something triggers your misery meter, try looking at it as a marketing tool. How can you turn that misery into a positive marketing strategy?

Tags: bad book review, bad review, book review, book reviewer, lemons to lemonade, lower than obama, marketing, marketing strategy, marketing tool, obama, obama's politics, the art of racing in the rain

Category: Book News, Moneybags

Struggling with a choice or decision can be very difficult especially when it involves your business. I had just completed a major goal and it was time to decide which goal I would tackle next. There were many possibilities and never enough time.

As the woman behind Gypsy King Software games I had several game related goals. There were older games that hadn’t been moved to the new millenium but could be. There was one game in particular I’d been wanting to bring forward.

Then there were the brand new games that were part way done that needed to be finished, two in particular that were tugging at me. In addition there was a game update that I considered important.

In addition to games, there were books. Now that the door had opened to allow me to publish my books, I had half a dozen already written and just needing to be polished and edited, and half a dozen more in my head wanting badly to come out.

On top of that there were websites to be updated, blog posts to be written, t-shirt designs to be released, marketing to be done, and the list goes on. With so many choices how on earth do you pick one to focus on?

The answer turned out to be quite simple once I knew how to approach the decision making process. I was spending the afternoon at the doctor’s office reading Les Brown to pass the hours. If you’re not familiar with Les Brown, you should be. He’s an amazing motivational speaker and writer who I first encountered on public television and he can set you straight.

I was reading his book called Live Your Dreams and like a magical genie called forth to answer a question, I came to a segment about making decisions. He said to close your eyes and imagine each option, moving forward with the option as if you had chosen it. Imagine yourself completing the goal or moving forward in that direction. How does it make you feel? What emotions do you get from success with this option? Then move past the emotions and beyond, what do you see as the result of choosing this option?

Do this mental exercise with each choice and see if it clarifies the decision making process. I was skeptical. I’m not good at foreseeing which option will be the most successful when it comes to business. Back in the day when I had released several different shareware games, I would have put my money on the political game to be the most successful. I was so wrong. A more common game that I didn’t expect to do anything at all turned out to be the dark horse which took off and left all the others eating dust.

Knowing my track record, how was I supposed to trust my imagination to fill in the blanks? Nevertheless I closed my eyes and followed each option mentally, seeing it finished and released, following it into the beyond. I was amazed at the answers that came.

The option I was leaning toward was a non-fiction book, already written and needing just minor changes. I knew the book presented useful information and could be finished quickly. From that logic it made perfect sense to pursue it. However, when I followed the book mentally as Les Brown had suggested, I discovered that my emotions on completing and releasing the book were not joy and elation, but embarrassment! The subject had been so overdone by so many different people, the entire topic had somewhat of a bad rap.

The next option on my list was to bring a game forward into the new millenium. I really believed this game would be well-received and I’d already undertaken the task of updating the graphics. I closed my eyes and followed this game to its re-release and beyond. Again, the result surprised me. Instead of feeling joy and elation, I felt like I’d just wasted several months that should have been focused elsewhere. I’d had this conversation with myself many times before and always I came to the same conclusion: If I were going to work on a game there was only one game it should be and that wasn’t it. This realization nixed another option that had been high on my list as well.

That left two other prominent options, both of which would bring joy and elation to finish and release, and both of which I felt had a good chance for success with the primary difference being which one could be done quicker. The answer was immediate. One was already near finished. The decision was made.

There are two morals to this story. The first being that the next time you have to choose between several options, especially in business, try this technique. The results might surprise you. The second nugget I hope that you take away from reading this is to acquaint yourself with Les Brown. If you’re needing direction, motivation or just a swift kick in the pants, Les Brown is your man!

Tags: business, choices, decision making, decisions, goal, goals, les brown, live your dream, live your dreams, mental exercise, mental exercises, motivation, motivational book, motivational speaker, power of the mind, power of your mind, tough choices, tough decisions, visualization

Category: Moneybags, Pay It Forward

The real estate closing table – that place where broken deals lie scattered like carcasses in a vulture’s den. Many a deal has fallen apart at the closing table. Many a buyer has had to ante up more money than expected and many a seller has walked away with less.

I’m sure we’ve all heard tales of horror stories at the closing table but how does it happen and what can you do to protect yourself?

The first thing to remember and this is key – The Contract Is Boss. They can tell you whatever they want. They can make all kinds of promises and assurances. They can argue until the cows come home but if it’s not in your written contract, that critical document that the buyer and seller sign when the deal is first struck, and if it’s not in a written and signed by all parties addendum to the written contract, then it’s just a worthless agreement.

Let me say this again because I can’t say it loud enough: Whatever agreement you have with your real estate buyer or seller, if that agreement is not spelled out clearly in the written and signed real estate contract then you have no recourse to make the other party honor the agreement. An agreement that’s not in writing is absolutely worthless. Go into a courtroom or tune into Judge Judy or Judge Brown on TV and see how often the phrase, “But he said…. but she told me…. but he promised….” comes up. Watch the judge’s reaction. While the judge may sympathize, unless you can offer solid proof to validate your claim there’s not much the judge can do for you.

Let me give you an example. I’ll take you back to my very first real estate closing. I was your average first-time home buyer. I knew nothing about buying real estate – not one thing. I was as green as they come. We had a real estate contract between me and the seller and we had a lender and a realtor overseeing the sale.

One day the realtor called me up and said, “We’ve got a small problem. The lender needs a real estate appraisal and the seller is supposed to take care of it but they don’t have the money right now. If we don’t get a property appraisal, we can’t close. If you could put up the money for the appraisal you’ll get the money back at closing. I promise.” It sounded like a valid issue so I agreed to front the money for the real estate appraisal.

The realtor came to my house and I wrote him a check for the appraisal but before I would hand over the check I wanted his signature on a document I had prepared. The document stated that the appraisal money would be returned to me at closing or, if a closing didn’t happen, it would be returned to me when the deal fell through. The realtor and I both signed and dated it. The phrase I used was, “Under any and all circumstances.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the realtor. I believed that he believed his promise but I have this knack of seeing the worst case scenario in any given situation and I just wanted to make sure that I got my money back no matter what happened.

Closing day came and I studied the settlement statement. The sellers were not intending to reimburse me for the real estate appraisal I’d paid for. My stubborn face took over and I whipped out the signed agreement between me and the realtor promising that I’d get the money back under any and all circumstances.

The closing attorney did everything in his power to convince me that I was supposed to pay for the appraisal and that the realtor never should have promised that I’d get the money back. All I knew was that the realtor had made a promise and signed it. After a lot of huffing and puffing and threatening to walk out without buying the house, I got my money back. The realtor had to give it to me out of his commission.

Apparently the contract had stated that I was supposed to pay for the appraisal but the realtor had told me otherwise and instead of reading the contract at the time I signed it, I had simply trusted what the realtor had told me.

Since then I’ve thoroughly read every document before signing it and all of my closings have gone smoothly – or rather, they went smoothly until I worked with a realtor again. I had become very familiar with real estate contracts and most of my deals did not involve realtors. They were directly between me and the buyer or seller so I used my own contract which was clear, concise and offered no hidden surprises for either party.

It wasn’t until I bought a house where a realtor was involved that another sticky closing occurred. The next realtor-related closing I partook of did not go well. If you poked a stick into a hornet’s nest you’d be attacked by a swarm of furious hornets. That sums up the seller’s frame of mind at the end of the closing. Me? I wasn’t furious; I was just disgusted.

The strange part of it was that we both got what we expected to get. I paid what I expected to pay and the seller received what he expected to receive. So what went wrong?

The real estate contract that appeared at the closing table went wrong. We had all agreed on what we wanted but the realtor’s contract did not accurately reflect our agreement. The realtor was bound and determined that I sign, at the closing table, a new version of the contract that I hadn’t seen before that included changes from the original contract we had signed. One of those changes involved property taxes.

I had agreed to pay the current year’s property taxes but no taxes prior to that. No back taxes. Our original agreement said the property taxes would be prorated. The new agreement, the one that appeared at the closing table, said they would NOT be prorated – period. That meant I’d be liable for any and all taxes including back taxes from previous years.

It was explained to me that the seller – a real estate investor who was flipping the house to me – could not have purchased the property if back taxes were owed. That is simply not true. You can purchase a property and take on the debt of back taxes. It’s done all the time, especially where real estate investors are involved. Not all exchanges of property follow the traditional path.

A document was produced that was supposed to prove to me that the taxes were paid through the previous year. I know that documents can be forged and I simply wasn’t willing to take a risk. Everyone kept saying, “There are no back taxes owed so it doesn’t matter what the contract says. It’s a moot point.”

“It doesn’t matter what the contract says.” If someone tries to lay this line on you, you better watch your back, folks. Remember: The Contract Is Boss. What the contract says is the ONLY thing that matters.

The vision loomed large before me of a closing day where I’d be selling the house at which I’d discover thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. In my vision I’d go back to the closing attorney of purchase and ask, “What gives? I’m not supposed to owe all this…” and the closing attorney would pull out the contract of purchase which said, “Real estate property taxes shall not be prorated.” If the property taxes were not prorated it meant that the seller would not be crediting me for the portion of the taxes owed before our closing date. In other words I’d be liable for all taxes owed, period. No exceptions.

Much to the anger of everyone involved I refused to sign a new real estate contract until it clearly stated that I agreed to be liable for the current year’s taxes only but not any taxes prior to the current year.

The moral of the story is: Read and understand every document that you sign. Make sure that every aspect of your verbal agreement is spelled out clearly in the written real estate contract. Remember: If the agreement isn’t in writing it’s a worthless agreement. The Contract Is Boss.

Tags: closing costs, closing table, contract of purchase, contract of sale, get it in writing, purchase contract, real estate, real estate closing, real estate closing costs, real estate contract, sales contract, verbal agreement, verbal agreements, worthless agreements, written agreement, written agreements

Category: Moneybags