Marketing Department

"Marketing Department"

We announced this at the Potomac Sales Meeting last week. I wanted to make sure everyone knew of a new service that will be available in the offices starting this week. We have formed a partnership with Vatsana Brundage and Indrani Murukutla to help the agents with marketing in the offices. Starting tomorrow and every Tuesday moving forward Indrani will be at the Potomac office from 9:30-12:30 and the Germantown office from 1:30-4:30. Their prices are very reasonable and the quality of their work is top notch. Please stop by when you have a chance to introduce yourself, here is a link to their website.

  http://vatsanadesign.com/ 

Some of you have been talking about the golf tournament, party bus or dinner but have not signed up yet. Everything needs to be in by Thursday this week so we can give a final count to the club. Love to have as many of you involved as possible :)

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe 

 

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The manner in which it is given is worth more than the gift."

~ Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)

JOIN THE VOLUNTEER BRIGADE!

Back in the '70s, CB radios became popular, especially among the nation's truckers. You could tune in Channel 19 and listen to a constant chatter among truckers and others with radios. If you were traveling on an interstate highway, you could get info on traffic, weather, wreck scenes to avoid, radar traps, and other useful tidbits. It was like there was a whole other world of activity going on around you IF you had a CB radio. Those who didn't were oblivious to the activity - yet it was still there.

The same is true of the volunteer brigade - those who offer their time and talents to worthy causes without reward. In any given community, there is a work force that operates 24/7 without any expectation of reward. If you're not one of them, you are probably oblivious to their daily actions to serve the community - but they are out there working whether or not you know it.

One example that comes to mind is a recent wreck scene. At 1:00 AM a vehicle traveling at over 90 mph left the road, went over an embankment, and hit the bottom upside down. A witness to the crash was amazed to see about 15 firefighters, EMTs, and rescue squad volunteers on the scene within 5 minutes after the wreck was reported. The witness asked in surprise, "Where did you guys come from?" One minute traffic was normal, and those 15 volunteers were in their warm beds. Five minutes later they were saving a life.

There are many ways to make a life-altering contribution to others as a volunteer. Most are not as glamorous as saving a life, yet all contribute to the many unmet needs of community members. Each of us has talents that can be put to use for those in need. A little self-examination will help identify your potential contribution. With all the blessings we enjoy in this country, each of us should make an effort to reach out to others. Why not join the volunteer brigade today?

I'll Have Another

Hello all,

"I'll Have Another"

We can find motivation and inspiration for our personnel and business lives in many places. I am a big sports fan so it is one of the areas that gets me going. Saturdays running of the Preakness Stakes was one of those moments that get's me fired up. If you did not see it here is a link to a you tube video of the race.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AAivdpjiV0

Bodemeister was/is arguably a superior horse, but sometimes you can't measure the size of the heart until you are in the heat of battle. Across the board everyone agreed that Bodemeister ran the race he needed to win, both horses beat the field by 9 lengths. However down the stretch it was clear that "I'll Have Another" simply had a bigger heart and wanted it more. This is a characteristic that we should all strive for in our lives (I understand he is a horse). We may not win every battle and "I'll Have Another" may not win the Belmont. But one thing I will know for sure, it won't be from a lack of effort.

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority."


~ Ralph W. Sockman 

 

A LEAGUE OF YOUR OWN! 

Have you sometimes felt like you were “out of your league” when reaching toward a lofty goal or competing against others for the “brass ring”? Imagine being a 5-foot-5-inch tall player in the National Basketball Association! Every time Earl Boykins of the Denver Nuggets walks onto the court, he hears jeers like, “Look at the little guy!” and, “Who decided to let the ball boy play?" 

Although diminutive in size, Boykins always dreamed of playing in the NBA. Obviously, it took heaps of courage, determination and hard work to make that dream come true. In a year when many college players now recognized as “underachievers” were selected in the first and second rounds, Earl Boykins went undrafted. 

But if you do not doubt yourself, you can either ignore the doubts of others or use their disbelief as a tool to motivate your achievement. When you set your goals a little bit higher than what you can reasonably accomplish, it’s surprising how far you can go. 

Boykins started his professional career in Canada, and then began a series of short-term contracts with several NBA teams. While no one offered to keep him, he did not give up. In and out of season, he worked out, ran drills, and played every day. He explains, “There are no days off for me. I have to work longer and harder than everyone else to be successful.” 

Then he set another goal and refused to waiver from it: He would only join a team that offered him a position as the top backup – setting a reasonable goal, but “kicking it up one notch.” 

Now he plays for Denver, with his statistics and playing time on the rise. Another lesson from this? Be aware of the promise in others, recognize greatness in unexpected places, and seize the opportunity to nurture the success lying just below the surface.

Speaks for its self

 Hello all,

"Speaks for its self" 

 

 

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Trouble creates a capacity to handle it."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. "What one has to do usually can be done."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 

A BLUE RIBBON EFFORT! 

Have you ever surprised yourself with a moment of creativity or lucidity, just when you were sure you didn’t have it in you? Last fall there was a garden club show, and one of the members who always performed well was considering not entering. She had just returned from vacation the day before to discover that unwelcome pests had ravished most everything in her garden. 

Trying to back out, she explained that there was nothing in her yard but weeds, but a friend insisted, “I’m sure you’ll find something.” Lacking inspiration, she headed out to the yard with her tools and bucket anyway. She worked, recalling the words of her mother. “You will not always have the things you would like, but you can always make do with what you have.” 

She discovered a vine with little blue flowers crawling up the trellis. She realized how pretty the bright yellow dandelions were. Wild daisies and pansies appeared in unexpected places, “sown” by bird droppings. 

She headed back to the house and began her arrangement, hiding a coffee can pot inside a sewing basket. She then rushed over to meet the submission deadline. Glad that everyone else had already deposited their entries, she sneaked in her less-than-blue-ribbon quality candidate. She didn’t even stick around for the judging. 

Party Bus

Hello all,

"Party Bus"

Thanks to everyone who came to our Cinco de Mayo party on Friday, always good to let loose a little bit... This business can take it's toll on all of us and we need to have a party every now & then. Speaking of which the golf tournament & party bus is right around the corner so we need to start getting a head count for the bus, golf & dinner.  Part Bus- For $75 you have lunch at the club, fun day on the bus, then return for dinner and raffle. Dinner- For $30 you can join us for dinner and the raffle. We do not need the money yet (will be bugging you in a couple of weeks) but we need to get a head count for both the dinner and bus. Please reply to me with how many you might have in your group. Thanks.

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking." 


- William James (1842-1910)

 

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! 

Walk into a totally dark room. What do you see? "Absolutely nothing," you say. Now, turn on the light. Where did the darkness go? Really - where is it now? Hopefully you will agree that darkness cannot exist in the face of light.

During a lifetime, we experience many types of "darkness." It may appear in the form of discouragement, fear, hopelessness, grief, ignorance, or poverty. Yet, in every case, there is a "light" in which such darkness cannot exist.

Fear, for example, cannot exist in the face of courage. Education denies ignorance any chance of survival. Grief disappears in the presence of peace-of-mind. Discouragement ceases when hope prevails. Wealth denies poverty its chance. 

No matter what form darkness takes, it cannot exist when faced with its opposite. That also means we have the ability to send darkness on its way at any point in time. No matter how overwhelming the darkness appears, it is our thoughts and our minds that ultimately control the outcome. How powerful is that? 

In the words of several favorite authors: "Think you can, think you can't, either way you're right." "Your life is what your thoughts make of it." "We are what we think about all day long." Finally, in the words of Tom Bodett, from one of his Motel 6 commercials: "We'll leave the light on for you!"