NEW, new business: Jafa Homes

Move over Non-boring Web Doctors, hello Jafa Homes!

It was November last year that I had a brain wave - completely out of the blue. 

"There's no website JUST for people buying & selling Auckland Real Estate"  No "Go-To" website as it were. 

And Auckland is an AMAZING city.  It's beautiful, it's gorgeous, it has tons of character and an enormously diverse and rich culture.

So how can we get away with not having a completely 100% dedicated website for so long?

Enter Jafa Homes.  


Current Status


How I've described my Jafa Homes status to my family this week is: "I've built the house, now I'm just tidying up & making the food before my guests arrive"  So I'm nearly there. 

I've kept it semi-quiet because I know I'm onto an absolute winner.  I spoke to three bank managers when I was setting up my accounts in January - all of them said it was the best & most comprehensive business plan they've seen all year/in years/in ages.  That kind of feedback is extremely encouraging. 

I've built the website, I've taken over 3000 photos of the city, I've created resources (which I'm still loading onto the site) and I've started about 4 other blogs.  

Marketing


The only marketing I've done so far is tell about a third of my Facebook friends and change my LinkedIn Status.  That's it. Yet, I've already been approached by all sorts of people, including a magazine and plenty of industry people.  (will let you know when the mag's out)  I've put out two episodes of the only Auckland Real Estate podcast, "This Week in Auckland Property" which has also generated some great feedback.  

Don't think for a minute I'm going to stop there.  My business plan wouldn't be so impressive to the bank if that's all I was going to do!

Why it's taking off

Jafa Homes Resonates with Aucklanders - BIG TIME.

We have a housing shortage which is pushing up the prices of existing real estate.  It is incredibly difficult for people to get their foot in the door when buying a home.

I want to help this situation so I'm going to try and interview as many people as possible and generate some discussion.

How I'm monetizing the website

Highly Affordable Property Listings (costs about 2 coffees a week) & Professional Profiles - so basically, classified ads.


Enough about me, how's your year going?

To Err Is Human - Be Like Google

What do you do when your colleague/spouse/employee/friend/customer makes a mistake?

Do you point out the error and tell them not to do it again?   Do you forgive them?

Be like Google.

When you misspell a word, Google doesn’t laugh at you or rebuke you.  Instead, Google kindly offers a suggestion along the lines of “is this what you might be after?”

 

Try responding positively. 

Next time someone owns up to their mistake, how about thanking them for being vulnerable to you?  It’s not easy them letting their guard down.

Next time one of your people messes up, love them anyway.  Wouldn’t you want them to love you?

Which of these types of friends do you have:

I’m pretty convinced there are only a few sorts of friends you can have:

1. The ones who make you a better person
2. The one who don’t add value but don’t take away
3. The ones who drain you or bring you down a brain-cell or two

If your life is populated with #3, you’re screwed.

Phase out #3.  You don’t need them in your life and guess what – you’re an adult.  You don’t have to be friends with people you don’t want to.  And if they’re people at your work, consider changing jobs.  No, really.  Life's too short to have your energy drained!

It’s your life.

How do you escape mediocrity?

In the business world, it’s super, SUPER easy to be mediocre.  When you compare yourself to your competition and say “We’re 10% cheaper” or “We’re better on this particular thing” chances are you’re just pitting average against average.  

So why not set your sights higher?  Why not raise the bar so it’s unreachable?  Why not provide unbelievable services & products with mind-blogging customer service?

Be remarkable.

Be awesome.

Be outstanding.

Be incredible.

Offer the BEST service.  Offer the BEST product.  Compete on Quality, not on price.  NEVER compete on price.  

How are you going to do it?  Brainstorming time!

Happy New Year! Resolution time?

Happy New Year!

A seriously hot summer down here in New Zealand at the moment - we are very blessed down here.

New Years Resolutions, while very well meaning, are generally crap.  It's usually "To lose weight" or "to make more money" or "to eat healthier" with no real intentions of implementation.

Maybe we should look at this another way.

I've decided I'm going to say these words to myself every morning:

"Be a High Achiever"

I want to have the most output of my life this year, creatively & physically.  

If I can look at what I'm doing each day and question whether I'm achieving as much as I can, then I think I can get a lot done.

Needless to say, I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, here's where I was earlier today:

My jandals at an Auckland Beach, The iconic Rangitoto in sight

 

The Real Reason Behind Doomsday Belief (according to Rosie)

Let's review:

- The Mayan Calendar is about to expire
- The Mayan's ACTUALLY believe the world is going to CONTINUE
- Doomsday-Believers think the world will end because the Mayan Calendar ends.  Which is not what the Mayan's believe...so...

As ridiculously illogical as the theory is, there are actually people who will be disappointed when we remain un-exploded in a couple of days time.

And we know what will happen:  They'll go back to the drawing board, do a bit more maths & deliver some new predictions & a new date for the apocalypse. 

WHY??

Because people assume today will be like yesterday and tomorrow will be like today...    

We take comfort in knowing there's some kind of purpose to life. 

If you're a frequent reader of mine, you know I don't ever want to win the lottery.  To me, it makes no sense to invest money into something with the slightest, faintest, teeniest, tiniest hope of return.


Why bank on uncertainties?   

If you are bored with your life MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN!!!!!

You want to write a book?  DO IT!

You want to learn the clarinet?  BOOK A LESSON!

You want to take up Spanish?  RESERVE YOUR SPOT!

You want a new job?  SORT OUT YOUR RESUME!

You want a boyfriend?  ASK YOUR FRIEND TO SET YOU UP WITH HIS MATE YOU FANCY

The time for excuses is over.  Stop banking on failure, be it the lottery or the earth getting nailed by Planet X.


Tell me, what are you going to do?
 

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So, you’re a laughing stock. What next?

These days if you’re caught out in some viral scandal, you need to quickly prepare yourself to deal with an overwhelming amount of unwanted attention through social media. 

Anne Hathaway revealing her lady-bits when attempting to slide out of her car was one such recent event. 

I’m not even going to direct a link to the million sites with photos etc. because I don’t want to encourage that kind of voyeurism.  What I will highlight & applaud is Anne’s elegant statement on the subject:

“It was obviously an unfortunate incident. It kind of made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it, and do the decent thing, sells it.

“And I’m sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants. Which brings us back to ‘Les Mis’ ... So lets get back to ‘Les Mis.’”

I don’t know if she could have possibly given a better response to tell the truth. 

Anne…

• Acknowledged it happened
• Pointed out her vulnerability in the situation
• Steered the conversation back to the work she had been creating with the rest of the team
• Held her head high

Then again, celebrities are prepared to deal with this kind of attention.

Nurses looking after celebrities on the other hand, are not. 

We all judge everyone else based on what we would do in a certain situation.  If I was the victim of a radio prank, it’s incredibly unlikely I would take my own life and for arguments sake, neither would you – but we’re not Jacintha Saldanh. 

Jacintha tragically didn't have the grasp of perspective when it comes to suicide that most of us have.  It's horrifying she felt death was the best solution for her - I sincerely feel for her kids who now live with her decision.

What I will say is this.  There is Strength in Vulnerability

So if you're dealing with a public embarrassment: 

• Swallow your pride & ASK FOR HELP – and I don’t mean attention-seeking-cryptic Facebook statuses
• If you stuffed up, say you stuffed up
• If you didn’t stuff up, stand up for yourself
• If it seems like no one else is standing up for you, don’t stop looking until you find someone who will
• ASK FOR HELP!!!!  No really, go and do it.    

If you know someone who’s dealing with some public attention – not even from the media but just within circles of friends – stick with them.  They’ll need a friend or two at the moment.