This week we got some good news from Pfizer on a vaccine, and a whole lot of bad news about COVID infections exploding nationwide. A recent trial indicated that Pfizer’s novel vaccine was more than 90% effective. This would make it about twice as effective as the normal flu vaccine. Medical experts believe that up to 30 million Americans could receive the vaccine by the end of the year and it could be widely available by April. Thank God. At the same time, COVID infections in the United States are approaching 200,000 a day. This means a lot of people are going to die in the coming months. Tragic. Those of us in the housing business have been spared the financial devastation that others are experiencing right now. We’ve been lucky. Millions of people are still out of work and the economy is far from recovered. That said, we just need to get past this. I’ve had friends who became infected with barely any symptoms, and I’ve had other friends who were hit so hard, they were sure they were going to die. As difficult as it is for everyone right now, mentally, physically and economically, we have to make it to the other side of this. The one thing I hope we have all learned from the pandemic, is that nothing is more important than health, because everything else can be replaced. Stay safe and wear a mask.
Almost everyone, including Democrats, were expecting last Tuesday’s midterm election results to heavily favor Republicans. Many predicted a “red wave” where they would pick up 50-60 seats in the House and 3-4 in the Senate. Joe Rogan said the red wave that is coming will be like the elevator doors opening in the horror film The Shining.
When we invited Gary Vaynerchuk to NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE in 2021, I was mostly relying on input from others. Several members loved his content, but the little I saw online left me underwhelmed. However, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation at our event, particularly his comments about toxic employees, which he says to dump with impunity.
Selling during a downturn required a more strategic approach, but the opportunities for growth and expansion are available to the savviest of companies. Here are some of the best ideas I’ve read about.
A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors said “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”. The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.” A few days later the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out “Your horse has returned and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” and the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”