Is Volunteerism Dead?

Welcome to the New Year! The year 2010 is here and bringing great anticipation of hope and excitement, especially for real estate professionals. Of course, business will not be the same as it has been in the past, but that is not always a bad thing.

Change and time are two things we cannot control. Yet, for most of us, the change we are experiencing in business is evolutionary; we are actually a part of and participating in the changes and evolving with them, whether we want to or not.

After the initial shock of 2008 and 2009, we are groomed for the advances in technology and new skills in marketing we will be learning in 2010. This is exciting! You can read some of this excitement in the posts on our National Women’s Council Facebook page.

Real estate professionals have reconciled with the past and are moving forward with a “bring it on” attitude, ready to meet challenges and good business. This is the time to talk openly about our markets and professional techniques that are bringing us business success. Though the year is very young, Women’s Council members are open and ready to share with potential members their expertise and experiences — a tremendous membership value.

This is the time we need to continue to pull together, mentoring our business practices and leadership skills — another membership value. We know that these two ingredients make dynamic and successful business professionals, value in itself. And, through Women’s Council, we have created a strong referral network — the best value.

We have heard from NAR’s National President Vicki Cox Golder, as well as other leading women in real estate, that their industry participation and community service helped give them the competitive edge to build their businesses. However, many REALTORS®, bogged down by the day-to-day business of running a business, fail to see the benefits or believe there is no time to participate.

This year, one of my goals as your National President is to create growth opportunities for our volunteers and enthusiasm within these volunteers for the tangible business value of their participation. So, I ask two questions:

• Does volunteering in real estate cease to exist as we have known it in the past?
• How can we effectively engage the non-participatory real estate professional to show her or him the value in participating in Women’s Council?

I’m eager to hear from you, the member, on your volunteer experiences and ideas. Please continue the conversation by posting your comments below, or e-mail me at tatumdj@bellsouth.net.

Deborah Tatum Gilmore, ABR, GREEN, GRI, PMN, SRES
Harry Norman REALTORS®
Marietta, GA
tatumdj@bellsouth.net

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