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The trend seems to have no end: families dreaming of permanently relocating to the tiniest communities of sunnier, warmer, smaller countries are younger and younger. Radical life changes are no longer held off until retirement.

Working with a Greece-based real estate firm catering to international clientele, I have encountered a growing number of young people pursuing the dream of simplifying their lives. Really simplifying them. A recent example is that of a very likeable British couple with 2 young children, looking for property in Paros or some other smaller Greek island. They both hold stable, well-paying jobs, they own a UK home and, by all accounts, they are not missing out on anything. Yet they have decided their family would be happiest on a Greek island, operating a B & B or teaching English, sending their kids to a small school and not worrying about violence and drugs, learning another language and, ultimately, becoming part of a community. They seem well aware of the difficulties and adjustment required and they know their plan is not foolproof. For them, however, it is all worthwhile.

Are they out of their minds?

Not in my opinion.

My family is one of many having done so. They moved to Greece from the U.S. in the early seventies – a time when Athens was light years away from today’s modern, fusion city. Back then the move seemed devoid of all logic. Let’s face it: transitioning from a suburban house complete with yard, pool and 2 TV sets to a cramped flat with no TV, no telephone for 2 years and a tiny balcony is nobody’s idea of fun. Strangely, though, there was no harm done. In fact, we reminisce about those days with nostalgia. Life felt so simple. It was the first time us kids played on the streets with no curfew, walked to school instead of being bussed over, learnt how to swim and fish and felt free and loved it. Going to Greek school without knowing the language could not have been easy at first but, in retrospect, I think we caught up in no time. We were kids, after all: tough, resilient and absorbent like sponges.

Last winter, while living and working on a small island in the northern Aegean, I crossed paths with yet another family that inspired me. I befriended a small boy of about 4, who was always running around looking happy and playing with the older kids after school, and came to know his mother, Suzanne. Originally from Switzerland, she had come to the island on holiday about 8 years prior, with her small daughter, following a nasty divorce. She fell in love with the place and decided it was as good a time as any to make a radical change? so she gave up an enviable job in a lucrative family business and moved to Greece with her daughter. She knew nobody and only spoke German and English. The first thing she did was to enroll her daughter in local school and ask some of the adults to be her own Greek tutor; in return, she started teaching their children English. Fast-forward to today and Suzanne is still in the village, happily married, has a second child, speaks fluent Greek and operates a small boutique. Her children are bilingual. They are just like everybody else, only different somehow – in a good way. They have used their differences to their advantage and fit in perfectly.

The remarkable thing, for me, is that they live what can only be described as an uneventful life. Suzanne’s favourite part of a day in the village (mine as well) is the evening: as everybody lingers around the house after dinner, people start to casually trickle in unannounced. Keys are left outside the door of most houses in the village, so there is no need to keep going to the door and letting visitors in; naturally, they could knock if they wanted to. I was there in the winter, and evenings were chilly. More often than not we just stayed in and huddled around the fireplace drinking a mouth-watering concoction of local liquor, warmed and sweetened with honey. There was no better way to end the day – or to make friends with the entire village. Each person had a story; some were hilarious, some were sad, some were ordinary, but they could all make their way into the pages of a good book.

To avoid being carried away, however, let us end on a realistic note: downsizing is not for everybody. Living small can be frightening and frustrating. It means having to let go of so many creature comforts we are accustomed to. Add to that the inherent difficulties of adjusting to a foreign culture, which takes patience, stubbornness and a certain amount of attitude. Multiply all this to the nth degree when relocating to a small village community, where all anonymity is relinquished and people come to know in the blink of an eye who you are, where you come from and why. But when your kids start mingling with the other kids, when you begin understanding the language, when you get rid of stress, stop racing against the clock and start spontaneous socializing on a daily basis? you know you have made the right move. Irrational? Perhaps. Difficult? No doubt. Worthwhile? Absolutely.

Katerina Roussou works with Property Greece Ltd., a group of Real Estate / Insurance agencies throughout Greece. For more information on buying property in Greece, or to browse Greek properties for sale, please visit http://www.propertygreece.com. Questions? Feel free to email info@propertygreece.com.

At a recent networking meeting Jana asked for a recommendation for a public speaking coach. She was starting to speak in front of audiences, and wanted to polish her presentation skills a bit. Before anyone else got a chance to reply, Elise jumped in to recommend her coach, Kelly. “I have been working with Kelly for two months, and I have already seen results from working with her. I am much more confident during my presentations, and I see that my audience is more engaged and more responsive. She is great; I will e-mail you her contact information later today.”

Later that day I spoke with Elise about Kelly. Elise has always been interested in public speaking, so when she heard about Kelly about a year ago, she put herself on Kelly’s mailing list. She enjoyed what Kelly had to say, learned more about her practice, but didn’t take action to actually buy anything from Kelly until an opportunity came up for Elise to conduct a few workshops with another colleague. Once she started working with Kelly, she confirmed that she was as knowledgeable and professional as she appeared in her newsletter. Kelly, with his professionalism, knowledge and proven marketing techniques turned Elise from being a random business owner into a raving customer. How did she do this?

- She knows and uses effective marketing techniques. Kelly has a web site that describes when she does. She publishes a newsletter, in which she shares useful information on public speaking, as well as keeps the readers informed about her expertise.

- She is consistent. Marketing is not a one time event; rather, it is a process. Kelly markets consistently – she publishes his newsletter on a regular basis, she uses her own web site, branding, articles, and many other techniques in order to get results.

- She is a professional who delivers results. When clients work with Kelly, she delivers the services and products she has promised.

So how can your business benefit from knowing about Kelly’s marketing techniques? Over to you – let’s take action:

- Run your marketing campaigns on a consistent basis. One time advertising or marketing campaign is likely to bring in more web site visitors, but not very likely to bring in many long term customers. Whether you are publishing newsletter, refining search engine traffic or giving workshops to promote your business, it takes time for the campaigns to start bringing in a consistent stream of qualified buyers. Continue your marketing campaigns for a long enough time to see the results.

- Learn how to promote your products and services online. Knowing how to market online will save you time on your marketing activities.

- Underpromise and overdeliver. Your marketing materials make promises to your customers. Whether it is fast results for people in your classes, a product at no charge with any coaching package purchased or a press release critique for new customers, make sure that you deliver MORE than your marketing materials promise. Doing this will result in customers who not only are happy with your services, but who will also promote your services to others.

Knowing who your customers are and delivering them what they want will help you fill up your practice with happy customers.

About the Author:

Biana Babinsky is the online business consultant, expert and author who teaches business owners how to make more money online. You too can make more money online – start learning by getting Biana’s FREE special report, ‘top 5 Ways to Increase your Online Sales? at http://internationalpractice.com/free_newsletter.html