This board has been great. Some local agents might view you as competition (I have run into that in the past). But here on the board I am not worried about it. Besides Cod8825, I am the only one in Kansas City.
Cod, give me an Email if you want to do lunch again.
I get daily motivitational Emails from justsell.com. That helps too!
Agents that may view you as competition are very insecure and probably have nothing to offer that would be beneficial. I have yet to meet a successful agent that would not spill his guts if you stroke their ego. I have even had agents buy my lunch just so they could spend more time talking about themselves and how they have become successful.
Other agents can be your most valuable resource. They may not tell you everything, but they will reveal enough that you can learn something every time you are around them.
If nothing else, they will be quick to tell you what doesn't work and that can be invaluable.
Competition? There's 5 million people in my state. If half are over 21 that's 2.5 million people for me to contact. If me and my marketer can make 300 calls a day we'd have to call for 224 years before we called everyone once. I think I'm fine for a while.
I agree with you both in that they should not be worried about talking to the competition, however I have met a few that would not give me the time of day when it came to marketing, sales ideas, and other like subjects. They are the ones usually who need the most help, so I do not take much offense to it.
Now, this board is great for the simple fact that you can post a question or idea and get several replies usually within an hour from various people. Plus the quality of the replies have been above average.