I was riding the bus to the airport the other day and started a conversation with the lady across from me. Its nothing new, I love to chat with folks and hear their stories. I’ll be the first to admit, this is very easy for me, but I know other folks have problems talking to buyers, sellers, strangers.

As with anything in life, it gets easier with repetition. So here is a way to get better at your nemesis. Start talking to random folks you run into during the day. Here’s how you open. Find a quality you like about them (hair, shirt, tone of voice, anything, make it genuine), then tell the person. Start with a question, and then let them chat. People love to talk about themselves. Give them an opportunity.

These opportunities are everywhere. In line at the fast food joint, at the bank, a new coworker, that relative who’s name evades you. Just start the conversation, and get them to talk. Compliments are my favorite way because they are unexpected and open folks up. Just remmeber to get them to do the talking and show genuine interest in what they want to talk about.

This will help you long term when talking to sellers and finding out their needs. It will help you learn how to open sellers up. It will also help you to overcome that fear of talking to people. Whats the harm in a little conversation while waiting for a Starbucks? Remember opportunities to grow happen all day everyday, don’t let them go to waste.

On another very positive note. I want to give a shout out to Josh Dorkin at Bigger Pockets. He has created the largest real estate forum on the web. Nearly 50k members. Not only is the largest, but it is hands down the best way to stay on top of the ever changing real estate market. The information freely given by its members far outweighs its weight in gold.

Recently Josh just put this blog on the top 20 real estate blog list. Its the who’s who of real estate bloggers. I was truly stunned at the mention. This is the Grammy of real estate blog recognitions. I’m am very honored and humbled to mentioned next to the likes of Shae at Good Faith Investing, Scott at Struggling Investor, Jason at 123Flip, Tom at Tom Tarrant, Rachel at Adventures in Mobile Homes, JP at REI Tips and many others. I can’t even compare to the quality of these blogs. I read them almost daily. You should too.

Again thanks for the honor and keep up the good work Josh.

I leave you with this quote “To believe in yourself and to follow your dreams, to have goals in life and a drive to succeed, and to surround yourself with the things and the people that make you happy – this is success!” Sasha Azevedo