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Real estate teams are very popular here in St. Paul, MN, and Keller Williams Realty really encourages and supports teams through training.  The people that I have the most contact with in our office are all on teams.  I used to feel kind of lonely, that was before I discovered all of the wonderful people who live inside my computer.  I was thinking about this yesterday when I was headed for a team meeting.  I really do have a team, it is just different from the other teams that I come into contact with, which is O.K. because I am also kind of different.

So let me introduce my team "The Boardman Group"

Meet Miles, my GPS system.  Sits on my dashboard and gives me maps and talks me through them. I have blind faith in Miles and his ability to get me to my destination.  Miles will say things like, slight left in .5 miles.  That is why I named him miles. He is so polite when he says "please make a complete U turn when it is safe to do so",  I think he really cares.  I also talk to Miles, I will say things like, yes I know that is the shortest route but I am going to go the other way because it is rush hour and your route will take us for ever.  I argue with miles but never while I have passengers in my car.

Meet Berry, I hope miles isn’t jealous but Berry is probably the team member that I rely on the most.  Berry can’t read so I can safely say that REALTORS are supposed to use Treo phones, not blackberry’s.  I love my blackberry!  I can access the MLS, surf the net, read and answer my email, and even post to my blog using Berry.  I have even learned to read my email while I drive. He communicates with my MS Outlook, so I always have my appointments and phone numbers with me. I love his little wheel for scrolling through messages and the tiny keyboard. He is always ready to make a phone call or to receive one, but I program him to turn off at night and back on in the morning so that he is there for me during my every waking hour but never wakes me up at night. (hard to imagine be people do have real estate emergencies at 12:00 AM)

Meet Elph, my camera, a canon digital elph.  Again not the recommended camera for a real estate professional, because it does not have a wide angle lens.  I hire a professional photographer to take photos of my listings and provide a virtual tour.  Elph is with me at all times and I have hundreds, maybe even thousands of pictures.  Many of my pictures include my side view mirror because I like to take pictures from my car.

Meet Donna Dell, my laptop computer.  She may be getting on in years but she can still handle most of the tasks I need her for.  Her keyboard is a bit worn out and she has traveled around the country, and even out of the country.  She started having some hot flashes, but is not powerful enough to burst into flames. I dropped her a couple of times, and her case looks a little beat up but she just keeps humming along.  She is great with mail merges, web sites, databases and many other applications.

My team is wonderful!  Our team meetings are short, no one asks for a raise.  Once in a while a team member fails to work for a while but they always listen to reason when I beg them to continue and charge their batteries.  Our holiday parties are a little different from those of the other teams I come into contact with but they are fun.  My team is loyal, on some level they almost act like I own them.  I guess I just don’t tell them often enough how much I appreciate their work.  That Donna in particular she is like a machine the way she works so hard!

My team has other members, including the other businesses that provide services to my business, when I have the opportunity,  I will get everyone together so I can take a group photo so that my business card can look like those of my colleagues with teams.  Just not sure how to get Elph in the photo.

It is Friday, leave work early and do a little Christmas shopping, but please wait until I am done, I really hate crowds!  Have a great weekend and if you are looking for a gift for that special someone you can get a really great price on a condo right now.