Did you know it exists? Do you want to know where it is? REALTORS® rely on referrals from their customers and clients and they need them from their fellow agents. And I know where you can find Referral Central. Another name for it is your REALTOR® Association!

I took part in a committee meeting a while back and the topic of discussion was the value of membership and understanding why members join the Association. One member of the group explained that her moment of truth to understanding the value of membership was seeing the result of her husband serving as a volunteer leader in the Association. He traveled to events and meetings across the state and came back from those meetings with one overwhelmingly huge benefit – Referrals.

She could not believe how his business grew after taking part in Association activities. There were several other head nods in the group. Ask any volunteer of the organization to confirm this scenario as fact. I challenge you to prove it wrong.

You can contact your local, state, or national REALTOR® Association, begin volunteering on a committee for 2013, and work your way from there as a boots on the ground volunteer. However, you can also ACT NOW and see IMMEDIATE BENEFIT. How? Instant networking is at your fingertips at the annual MAR Conference & Tradeshow, happening in just a few weeks. It is the best-kept secret that the two-day Conference provides attendees with not only great courses and events in which to partake, but also two days of great networking and referral building.

Just think about it a minute. You are walking through the halls of the convention center, a spectacular venue this year by the way in Providence, RI, and you are a person from Newburyport chatting with a fellow member from Shrewsbury on your way to the same class. You find out that this member has a buyer looking for waterfront property on the north shore and of course, you have great properties in your listings! It happens all the time at this great event.

Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about grabbing the time in between classes to connect with fellow members, because there is a Tradeshow Grand Opening social event, a networking reception, a lunch hour mixer, charitable auction and much more.

The Conference gives you easy access to one of the best events to reap the benefits of “Referral Central.” Your access is yearlong through other Association involvement, but you can’t miss the greatest hub of activity that happens once a year. You’ll be sorry if you do!