Pulling up at the baseball field this morning for Sam’s 3rd game of his first season, I noticed that a lot of kids carry fancy equipment bags.

Special-purpose backpacks, built for baseball, with room for a helmet, gloves, cleats, water bottle, and more. They even have straps on the side to hold their bat, so they don’t have to carry it.

In contrast, Sam is carrying an old backpack leftover from kindergarten. It won’t hold all of his stuff, so he’s got a separate bag with his helmet, he’s wearing his cleats, and carrying his bat.

It’s too early to tell if he’ll be any good at this sport, but one thing is for sure, he loves it. He’s already talking about playing in the competitive league next spring and asking about travel baseball.

Seeing those kids with their fancy bags this morning and knowing how much he loves it, my initial reaction was that I should get him one and I started to think about what color he’d like.

By the time we’d reached the bleachers, I’d decided against it.

He’s here to play ball, not for a fashion show, and a fancy bag isn’t going to enhance his experience one bit.

The money would be better spent on training.

In the real estate industry, there’s a constant barrage of shiny objects peddled towards agents who are trying to grow their business.

You can get your name on the cart at the grocery store.

You can have your logo splashed on the screen at the movie theater.

You can have a chapter written for you in an “Expert Advice” book.

You can pay for fake awards that allow you to claim “All-Star Status” in your email signature.

Etc, etc...on and on.

There are hundreds of these, but like a fancy baseball bag for an eight-year-old, they don’t do much in the way of improving business, enhancing work, or even attracting clients.

It's just bling, and not very good bling at that.

(Seriously, when’s the last time you called anybody because you saw their ad on a grocery store cart?)

Whenever I see stuff like that, I can’t help but think the money would have been better spent on training.

Buy a book.

Take a class.

It might take a bit more work than swiping a credit card, but your business will be that much better for it.