The Annual NAR Convention offers a number of opportunities to benefit REALTORS^®. This year, the convention will be held next week in Orlando, Florida and promises to be the best real estate trade show and convention ever. An old pro at networking, Ralph Roberts has some tips on how to make the most of your time at the convention whether you are a seasoned agent or brand new to the profession.

Roberts, called "America's Scariest Salesman" by Time magazine, has been attending the annual NAR convention for over a decade. Although his business has grown to the point that he now rents two booth spaces to hold his collection of books, tapes and other sales materials, he remembers what it was like to attend with nothing but wonder in his eyes and business cards in his pocket.

Roberts has always been an extraordinary networker. He would walk up and down the aisles, stopping to meet every person he could and exchange business cards. He also looked at the convention as an opportunity to stock up on office supplies for the year. With all the free pens, tablets, magnets and so forth being passed out by other vendors, he found he could save hundreds of dollars a year. If you get a bag, also free at some booths, you can fill them up over and over, he says.

As he grew more successful, and was able to afford a booth of his own, he would entice people to stop and talk with him by luring them with the smells of food - fresh steaming cookies or popcorn, or he would serve refreshing snow cones, depending on the locale of the convention.

Roberts, now a featured seminar speaker at the convention, has been known to do outrageous pranks to get attention, but has toned down in recent years. One year, , he actually allowed himself to be talked out of appearing at Monica Reynold's session for women Realtors dressed in drag.

"A lot of people don't realize that I am a real person," says Roberts, who wants to reassure the public that he is very much alive. "They think I am some phantom figurehead for the company."

So what does Roberts think will be different about this year's convention? More about the Internet, which is certainly proven true with the NAR's announcement of the ePRO certification. "The Internet has the potential to be huge," says Roberts.

Roberts says trainers are changing, too. "Now there is a whole group of companies that focus on how to use the Internet alone instead of using the Internet as part of a package of services," says Roberts, who wrote the forward for Internet trainer Barbara Ling's book, The Real Estate Pro's Internet Edge,"You don't have to focus on the Internet to be successful, but Realtors who don't focus on it will find themselves in trouble."

So what will Roberts be serving up this year at his booth? You'll just have to stop by and see.

Published: October 6, 1998

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