How you ever thought how your real estate business is really just math? That’s right your business is numbers and formulas and equations if you really take the time to break it all down. There are only 4 simple activities that an agent can do each year to improve their business and make more money than previous years. Do you know what those activities are?
Increase your average sale price. Increase the average sale price you increase the average commission payable per sale, right?
Increase your average commission sales rate. Stop cutting your fee and fight for your value. Start asking for more at a listing 7% and making them feel like they got a concession if you have to and settling at 6%.
Increase the transaction activity with your clients. Get the repeat, referral business or start selling them investment properties over and above their personal residences.
Simply sell more properties each year than the previous years.
So let’s look at the math part of it. Take the goal for 2020 of 26%increase. Does 26% increase sound too high? Unattainable? Unrealistic to you? Let look at the math of our business using the goal 26%.
Look at this example below of an agent in their first year who earned $50,000 gross in 2019. Average commission income per sale was $5,000 and basically did 10 deals the past year. Now lets implement the 26% goal to their first year business and see what starts to happen…..
Year 1- 5 Agents Numbers ( Just adding 26% more sales ) not changing commission rate or frequency
Income Avg. $ Earned # Deals
$50,000 $5,000 10 Deals
$63,000 $5,000 12.6
$79,380 $5,000 15.87
$100,018 $5,000 20
$126,022 $5,000 25.2
Did you see the math and compound effect of 26% on number of sales and what happens every 3 years?
An agents income and number of deals doubles every four year setting an annual goal in just one activity!!
Years 6-10 Agents Numbers the same result every 3 years still. The math doesn’t lie!!
$158,787 $5,000 31.75
$200,071 $5,000 40
$252,018 $5,000 50.4
$317,542 $5,000 63.5
$400,102 $5,000 80
Take the time to run these same numbers by increasing the sale price ( which will increase your commission number ) and see what the numbers do? What if you add an increase of repeat, referrals and start welling clients investment properties? Imagine what kind of a compounding effect 26% would have for you and your business? Focus on how I can increase my sale price in 2020? How can I increase my commission average per sale? How I can increase my referrals, investment sales? How I can increase my number of sales? Let the math and the compound effect work for you in the coming years!!
For almost three decades I have been in real estate and you always hear about the people needing to know you, like you and trust you. In 2020 this is not enough to thrive in the real estate industry any longer. We are now in a time where it is imperative to an agents success the people know, like and trust you but now they also have to see you!!
Every agent needs to up their game in 2020 and find ways to be known, liked, trusted and seen. Gone are the days you can get away from showing up and being seen by people. We are inundated with information, visuals, messages and we are getting more and more guarded with our time, space and attention…Out of sight, out of mind!! So how can we focus more on being seen in 2020 and capture their attention and be more top of mind? Here are my top ideas to be seen in 2020.
Morning Coffee Routine – every morning for the last 30 years I go to a coffee shop and enjoy hanging with the regulars. It never fails we end up talking about real estate and business comes from that time year after year after year. The secret is to be social and interact and talk to people. Not sit on your phone or in a book or on your laptop. The owners of the local coffee shop just last week asked me about a development land piece they just put an option on and what to build and need a proposal for marketing what we feel they should build. Not bad conversation for a $4 coffee and 30 minute conversation in the morning?
Coffee, Breakfast, Lunches – make a point to meet with your clients and give them the gift of your time and take the time to break bread with them. Easy to do but easier to not do day after day. Deepen that relationship with others and increase top of mind and make them feel truly important to you and your business.
Video email or text – 86% of communication is nonverbal. Tone, voice inflection, eye contact and body language and video delivers that punch! Why email and text when you can wow and awe your people with a video email or text. BombBomb ($) or Loom (Free) are great tools to use for this. Just a little secret your phone does video email and text too and its free!!!
Call – Are you ready for this crazy little secret? Your phone makes incoming and outgoing calls!!! Take the time to just call and say hi. Stop underestimating the power of the simple. Remember the old ad that said “Reach out and touch someone”? Take the time and do it and make them feel important and cared for.
Hand Written Notes – The power of a personal hand written note with your business card attached. Always gets opened, always gets read, show you took time and care and always leaves people feeling better than they did before. Sadly this is a lost art and something that never dies.
Personal Mail – We never get mail any more and if we do it is a bill. Mail that is personal like the hand written note gets opened, read and if it contains something valuable to the receiver and not to you then it makes an impact in them I guarantee it!
Social Media – It is not about looking what everyone else is doing and what you are posting. Dale Carnegie said “people don’t care what I know unless they know that I care” Be seen and show them you care. Like, comment, message and make them feel important to you. What would a quick Facebook message to someone asking them how they are doing? How’s their family? Anything I can do to help? How would that make them feel and how would you show up to people if you took the time to do it? PS in two years 100% of content feed on Facebook will be video. Do you post video content?
Client Events – Hosting annual client events like seminars, appreciation parties or my personal favorite, hosting their house warming parties always makes an impact on others and a fantastic way to show up and be seen in 2020. Do you see them? Appreciate them? Add value to them? Make them feel like a rock star and host their house warming party?
Deliver the Unexpected – every spring, summer and fall find an item and a funny tag to add to the item and drop by your clients place of work and let them feel the love! Every summer I love delivering everyone at their work place the BBQ triple packs of Ketchup, Relish and Mustard with a tag on them saying “Just ketching up and relish your referrals and not all agents cut the mustard” People at work ask who I was, what that was for and look at the tag and laugh out loud every time.
Give Back – The amount of people you get to meet and interact with when you are part of an event as a volunteer and the joy and sense of purpose you get from giving back is the perfect one two punch! I always end up connecting with someone new and someone old and such a great way to show up and be seen and make a difference.
B2B – I started my own business networking group and CEO mastermind groups to meet monthly and idea share and connect professionals in the community with one another. Such a powerful way to be seen and add value and be seen in the community and be the straw that stirs the drink in your community.
So there you have it, ways to be seen in 2020. Show up and be seen and not just known, liked and trusted in the coming year. I dare you to just try one of these ideas and let me know how it worked. Feel free to add more comments on how you show up and be seen that works and adds values. Love to hear from you all!!
As the president and CEO of my own “control club” I have honestly struggled for so many years with the fact I am not able to control everything in my life. It is such an uncomfortable space for me to not be in control and why is that? So here’s the truth: Most of us know so many things in our world are outside of our control, right? The way other people act, the way they behave, the way they think.
If we want to be happy, if we want to be successful, if we want to be determined toward our dreams, then we need to make a clear distinction between that which we can control and that which we can’t. So much easier to say than to do, am I right?!
If we’re wise, we put the lion’s share of our attention on that which we can control—which are our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviour, and our responses and reactions to what happens. There’s a great quote that sums this up by Pastor Chuck Swindoll, and it goes like this: “Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” This week I want to share my top 5 things that we can control!!
1. Breathing – Most people don’t even think about their breathing.
(I myself used to talk for many seconds at a time and forget to breathe!). Breathing is obviously important, but so is the ability to focus on it. Can you feel your chest expand when you inhale, and get softer when you exhale? Where do you feel the rise and fall most? Breathing is the ultimate hack to relax and slow racing thoughts. As soon as you experience something unpleasant, just take a few deep breaths and focus not on how horrible the situation was, but on your breathing. When you focus on your breath, you can count “one” as you inhale, “two” as you exhale. When you get to 10, start over. I bet you’ll start to feel better and more grounded immediately.
2. Your Self-Talk
We all have a voice in our heads. That voice can often be critical and get in the way of our happiness and success. Try to count the times you engage in negative self-talk each day. It may surprise you how often you criticize yourself. If you can learn to recognize this Debbie Downer of an inner voice and replace it with encouraging statements, your attitude will start to change. Try talking to yourself with compassion. For example, instead of telling yourself you’re not good enough, remind yourself you are worthy of love and attention, or it’s okay to make mistakes—we all do!
3. Your Gratitude
If you can practice being grateful on a daily basis, your happiness and productivity will increase. Cultivating gratitude trains us to focus on hope, to remain inspired, and to be optimistic, lending us the courage and resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks (on top of giving us a mood boost that keeps us coasting).
4. Your Mental and Physical Fitness
I don’t know about you, but I come up with my best ideas while I’m on the elliptical. Exercising is a chance to just listen to my music and think about nothing. It’s glorious. You don’t have to go to the gym, but we all ought to take 20 minutes out of our days to get up and move. Motion helps free your mind and body to better tap into your creative potential. Walking has literally been found to increased creativity.
5. Your Sleep – Sleep is critical.
In order to hack sleep, you have to set a routine. I’m asleep by 9 p.m. and I wake up to watch the sun rise. Watching the sun rise is beautiful, and it’s a net positive that I’m grateful for. If your brain can’t calm down while you’re trying to fall asleep, tell yourself, “I’m proud of the work I accomplished today, I’m going to let my brain and body rest now.”
Let me ask you the most important question for you to start 2020 off right:
What’s your plan in 2020 and how are you going to make this year better than any other year? I am just back from my first planned unique memorable moment experience of 2020 with the most important people in my life, my family! Doing the coolest things with the coolest people in my life is what really makes me feel like I am living life and not doing life. What about you?
This week I want to take some time to dig deep into making this the best year ever for you personally and professionally. Make 2020 better than any other year. Making this year your best year ever requires more than an income goal or successfully selling more homes. It is about creating the quality of life you desire and deserve… in addition to kicking some ass in your business. To me, that means two things:
Enjoying the fruits of your labor by creating unique memorable moments with the most amazing people in your life and also growing as a person so you become better than you are today. Achieving these two objectives in 2020 requires action RIGHT NOW. Not later… but NOW!
So how do I plan for a Balanced Life? See if this scenario sounds plausible (perhaps scarily so!)… Of course, the ideal is to have a great year both personally and professionally. So to start the year, you put your blinders on and really dig in to gain some momentum… You’re doing the work, and as a result, you get crazy busy – and suddenly it seems impossible to take any time off. So you don’t. You keep working your tail off. Maybe you sneak away for a day or two instead of taking a real vacation. Before you know it, summer is here and it flies by as you continue helping people. By the time you come up for air, you realize the kids are headed back to school and it’s not a good time to get away. Your life is out of balance… all because you didn’t plan accordingly.
So let’s fix this. Get Out Your Calendar right now. Just like you built your business plan, I want you to build your life plan to make 2020 your year of experiences
Here’s how… Get out your calendar and start making commitments: Schedule and book at least one big vacation ( unique memorable moment ) and a few smaller getaways throughout the year. You NEED these for your mental health. For me its one every 4-6 weeks when I begin to feel burnt out and begin to be running out of patience. Then buying the tickets and making the plans will hold you accountable to getting everything in place so you can take the time off.
Research and make your travel plans for the training events you’ll attend in 2020 to keep you learning and growing. You should attend an event at least once per quarter to keep you fresh, recharge your batteries, and learn new strategies to implement. If you don’t do this, you will fall behind the competition.
Determine how much time you want off around certain holidays and block it off. Block out at least one day every week to ensure you don’t end up working 7 days a week. Make plans for those days ASAP so you don’t end up working anyway. And while you’re at it, get selfish and reserve some additional “me” time that you can use to clear your mind, read, meditate, brainstorm, conduct quarterly reviews of your progress on your business plan, etc.
There are several big benefits to making these plans. They give you something to look forward to and work toward. This will help keep you motivated and prevent burnout. They bring added urgency to be more efficient in your work. When you block out all that time on your calendar, you no longer have the luxury of time to get things done.
Believe me… you’ll become extremely productive right before each of your planned vacations. They provide an added layer of accountability in the form of personal commitments to your family or travel companions as well as financial investments in your vacation expenses, etc.
So that’s your assignment. Not too hard, is it? Actually, it should be fun. Maybe it’s something you want to do with your significant other, your family and loved ones, or your good friends.
Here’s what I’d like you to do after you’ve blocked out all the time on your calendar and made your plans: Text me at 250-212-8220 and tell me you finished and where you’re going in 2020. I can’t wait to get that text!
Practicing gratitude can be a powerful way to strengthen your mental health while helping to amplify positive emotions. When you cultivate a sense of gratitude in your daily life personally and in your real estate business, anxiety and negative emotions can often soften over time, while stress resilience increases. Feelings of gratitude can be grounding, relaxing, and peace-promoting, and a gratitude practice can also help shift your mindset in positive ways during challenging times. If you’ve been musing over your goals for the coming year, note that creating a creative gratitude practice for 2020 can help you hone in on your next-year goals, while potentially boosting your mood in the process. According to Forbes, a simple gratitude practice can help you feel happier by increasing feelings of inner peace and tranquility. Psychology Today writes that the benefits of gratitude are backed by research, and include improved relationships, enhanced empathy, deeper sleep, and stronger mental and physical health. No matter what your goals for 2020 may be, if your aim is to practice more gratitude, you have options beyond your typical gratitude journal (which I’m definitely not knocking — gratitude journals rock).
Here are seven tips for cultivating a creative gratitude practice for 2020, so you can close out 2019 with a mindset reset on the horizon.
1. Perform A Daily Act Of Kindness
“Kindness means a behavioral response of compassion and actions that are selfless; or a mindset that places compassion for others before one’s own interests. In performing the selfless act, a person may undercut their own selfish interests,” writes Psychology Today. Helping a neighbor carry their groceries, taking takeout to a sick friend, or volunteering your time at your local animal shelter, are all simple ways to boost your well-being by adding to someone else’s quality of life, too. Basically, practicing acts of kindness every day just feels good — even as it brightens someone else’s day. So, everybody wins.
2. Express Daily Words Of Affirmation To Your Friends & Family
Expressing your love and appreciation to your crew is *major* when it comes to taking care of your relationships. And sometimes, telling your loved ones just how much you appreciate them might get lost in the daily hustle — but it can take surprisingly little to nourish your relationships. So, take the time to tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them and why. Words of affirmation and appreciation can make all the difference in someone else’s day, and can strengthen your relationships in some powerful ways, too.
3. Identify Something To Look Forward To Each Day
Most days present a mix of experiences — some stressful and some you enjoy. Tiny Buddha writes that “When we don’t look forward to something — when we don’t enjoy it — we aren’t very present in that current moment. It’s like life is just passing by, and we’re just waiting for it to pass so we can get on with the more fun or interesting parts of each day.” By finding something to look forward to each day, even if that thing seems small, you can bolster your ability to focus on the good in your life, which can amplify feelings of gratitude over time.
4. Write A Letter Of Appreciation
Old-school thank you notes and letters are underrated. By investing in some stationary you love, a sweet pen, and making it a practice to send thank you notes to your community, you’re reviving some extremely sweet old-timey etiquette, while adding to your ongoing gratitude practice. If there’s someone in your life whose really made a difference to you, write them a letter of appreciation. Tell them how they’ve added value to your life, and how grateful you are for their presence in your world. Or just (actually) get in the habit of writing a note of thanks for your holiday or birthday presents. You never know how that letter might make a difference for them, and the practice strengthens your capacity for gratitude, too.
5. Reach Out To A Writer Or Artist Who Touched Your Life
While I don’t recommend crossing any lines of privacy where public figures are concerned, if an artist has touched your life, let them know — a process that’s never been easier thanks to social media. Writing their publishing house’s public information email a letter, commenting on their blog, or even leaving some words of appreciation on their official social media page can help them know that they’ve made a difference, while reminding you of a positive influence that’s helped shaped your experience.
6. Identify 5 Things You’re Grateful For Every Day
OK, so while this sounds gratitude journal-ish, it’s still a great mental health muscle to flex. Whether you meditate and reflect on the things you’re grateful for, or take a moment to jot them down before bed, reflecting on five things that you’re grateful for each day is a pretty essential gratitude practice.
7. Take The Time To Appreciate What You Normally Take For Granted
Sometimes it helps to remember where you’re fortunate, even on the most fundamental level. Hot running water, nourishing foods, and a supportive community of friends and family are just a few things that not everyone can take for granted. So, next time you take a hot shower, really enjoy it, savor it, and remember how good simple things can be. Practicing gratitude can take so little to do, but yields a lot over time. By choosing a few ways to mindfully note and honor who and what you’re grateful for every day, not only can you strengthen your own capacity for appreciation and positive emotions, but you can add value to others’ lives, too. And that’s something to feel great about as you head into 2020, friends.
We have all heard the phrases “Earners are learners.” “Grow yourself and grow your income.” We asked our network to tell us about the ONE book that made the biggest practical impact in their business so you can narrow down your reading list and get a jumpstart on the New Year and 2020. We hope this list will help you personally and professionally in 2020.
“Influence by Robert Cialdini… We are in the ‘Human Connection’ business and we need to be extremely effective with the Human Connection and building great long term relationships. The Real Estate Industry is transitioning from a ‘Relationship Business’ to a ‘Transactional Business’ and if our Industry becomes transactional based, it will weaken the role of the Real Estate Agent and continue to drive down Real Estate Agent Compensation. As Real Estate Agents, the real battle we are facing is making sure our industry does not turn transactional and as technology expands, yes we must learn and master how to use technology as effectively as possible, but we need to use technology to allow us to develop stronger relationships and we need to be extremely careful to not allow it to replace the relationship.”
About the author
Dr. Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career researching the science of influence earning him an international reputation as an expert in the fields of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation.
Influence has been listed on the “New York Times Business Best Seller List.” Fortune Magazine lists Influence in their “75 Smartest Business Books.” CEO Read lists Influence in their “100 Best Business Books of All Time.”
“I’d recommend The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. It was recommended to me by Verl Workman and it’s just brilliant.”
“It’s influenced by many ancient philosophies including lessons the Bible and others. For example, one is ‘I will form good habits become their slave.’ Things like, ‘Start each day with love in your heart. I will persist until I succeed.’ It’s got a lot of the same ideas you might find in other books but the way it’s written and presented is brilliant.”
About the author:
Og Mandino is the most widely read inspirational and self-help author in the world. Former president of Success Unlimited magazine, Mandino was the first recipient of the Napoleon Hill Gold Medal for literary achievement. Og Mandino was a member of the International Speakers Hall of Fame and honored with the Masters of Influence by the National Speakers Association. Og Mandino died in 1996.
“Shift is a great book because it shows you how to look at how to get from where you are to where you want to be. There are 3 parts they use metaphors for the Rider, the Elephant and the Path.”
“The Rider is the intellect. The plan maker. The system generator. This Rider gets on the Elephant, which represents the motivation and actions taken…or just standing still. It can be easy to have a great plan, but if you don’t have the motivation and take action, the elephant just stands there. You don’t go anywhere. The third part, however, relates to the short synopsis above. The PATH is how you get there. Is it with ease? Or are there boulders in the way? What about pebbles? Twists and turns? How well the elephant moves is determined by the path you choose.”
“Choosing Bought Leads over Generating Leads is one of those paths that can lead to a myriad of problems.”
Gary Keller is an American entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is the founder of Keller Williams, which is the largest real estate company in the world by agent count, closed sales volume, and units sold. Keller founded Keller Williams on training and education and later brought his teachings to print.
“I love this because it is truly ‘365 days of insight to develop the leader within you’. Don’t believe me? Here’s a sample that directly relates to the market transformation happening as we enter 2019:
Great leaders are seldom blindsided. They realize that the punch that knocks them out is seldom the hard one — it’s the one they didn’t see coming. Therefore, they are always looking for signs and indicators that will give them insight into the problem ahead and their odds of fixing it… Pay attention to your intuition and follow up when something strikes you.
“See what I mean? You may have a gut feeling to take a course of action as 2019 approaches. Hopefully, this excerpt gives you the courage to follow your instincts.”
About the author
John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, coach, and author who has sold over 19 million books. He is the founder of EQUIP and the John Maxwell Company. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books which have each sold more than one million copies.
“Exactly What To Say by Phil M. Jones is a must read/listen for every agent. It is a quick, tactical take on sales scripts that can easily be applied to a real estate transaction. If you are open minded to a better way of selling this book is amazing.”
About the author
The author of five international best-selling books, and the youngest ever winner of the coveted “British Excellence in Sales and Marketing Award”, Phil is currently one of the most in-demand assets to companies worldwide.
“I love to read, the most recent was Brene Brown — Dare to Lead and coming up is Rachel Hollis Girl, Stop Apologizing.”
About the author
Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work.
“Passive income in a shift is extremely important. It always was important. However, with home sales slowing there may be more deals to be had which will increase the ability to invest in real estate. Wealth Can’t Wait by David Osborne and Paul Morris would be my go-to for any agent right now looking to explore those opportunities.”
About the authors
David Osborn has built one of the top real estate brokerages in the world with more than 4,500 agents and annual sales volume exceeding $10 billion per year.
Paul Morris is a prolific and award-winning entrepreneur, trainer, author, and business consultant.
“Well…. since we are talking about 2020, they should probably listen to the book on a place like Audible but I would recommend a book like The E-Myth Revisited. ;)”
About the author
Michael E. Gerber is an American author and founder of Michael E. Gerber Companies, a business skills training company based in Carlsbad, California. Inc. Magazine called him “the World’s #1 Small Business Guru.”
Before you choose, take stock
Intel is great but learning itself can become overwhelming if you don’t go about it with the right intentions. This is the time to fill your forecasts, build your pipeline and really reflect on who your customers are and what they need from you. Take an inventory of your business strengths and improvement areas. Are they aligned with your biggest personal goals? What about your goals for the year?
You’re too busy to spend time learning about an aspect of the business that’s better off in someone else’s hands. Focus on getting the right people and systems in place so that you can place your best energy where it matters most.
Books are filled with great ideas, but information is only power when applied. Take action this year and commit to a book a month or a book a quarter and implement and execute the ideas you take from them all the create the life you truly want to live!
There is this myth in real estate that lead generation is expensive or it has to be expensive for it to be effective marketing in today’s world. Although I agree there are some very pricey marketing tactics in play right now, I assure you there are countless highly effective tactics that are “zero” cost or low cost to the agent and I know from the thousands of agents I have done work with these 20 lead generation activities work for any agent in any place in the world….
1. Agent to Agent referral system. It is who we know and who knows us to send us the referrals.
2. Always follow up and add value to any no sale or no appointment client lead. You just never know when they are ready.
3. Divorce attorneys. Bank foreclosure attorneys.
4. Sphere of influence. You need to be known, liked, trusted and seen. Top of mind.
5. Buyer house warming or Seller farewell parties that are financed by your professional service providers.
6. Mortgage lenders or bank loan managers.
7. Trades, contractors or small business owners.
8. Volunteer at charity, fundraiser or community events.
9. Estate attorney or notary.
10. Networking events like chamber, rotary or business after 5pm.
11. Attend community event calendar events where there are people to meet.
12. Find a club on www.join.me like a hiking or running club.
13. Attend garage sales or help people host their garage sale. Offer garage sale kits or hosting services for no cost.
14. Email marketing campaigns don’t cost a thing.
15. Social media campaigns.
16. Video campaigns.
17. Blog – written or video.
18. Open house.
19. Expired listing (if applicable) For Sale By Owners.
20. Career apparel – car logo, name tag, logo on clothing.
Bonus…
1. Seminars.
2. Public relations submitting articles to the editors.
3. Testimonials – google, yelp, written, video.
Don’t let the myth stop you from taking action and I challenge you to take action and implement and execute some of these lead generation ideas in 2020. Let me know how you make out and please share in the comments below any other fabulous low or no cost lead generation activities that work for you year in and year out.
Have you ever given up? Reached the point in real estate where you can’t go on any further? Remember that life is not a marathon or a sprint. It’s a series of sprints combined with a boxing match. You’re not just running toward a goal but you’re also getting hit along the way. I don’t know where you are on your journey, but I know there will be times you want to give up on a goal or dream. I know the importance of the right words at the right time. Whether now is one of those times or perhaps you’ll save this for a time you need to read it, I want to encourage you to keep going. Don’t quit! Here are a few ways you can fuel up your mind and soul for the journey ahead.
1) Keep your Vision Alive: It’s so important to keep looking forward and seeing the future you want to create. If you can see it you’ll keep moving towards it. Consider making a vision board or creating a vision notebook filled with pictures and words that remind you of what you are working towards. It’s wild how many things I wrote down that actually came true.
2) Fuel up with Purpose: There will be many times you want to give up but always remember that your purpose is greater than your challenges. It is the ultimate fuel for a meaningful journey. It gives you meaning and mission which helps you overcome adversity and avoid burnout. We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. As you are moving toward your vision keep reminding yourself why you are going there. Consider creating a purpose statement that you can look at each morning to keep you going.
3) Believe the Best is Yet to Come: We don’t give up because it’s hard. We give up because we get discouraged. No matter what challenges you face along the way keep encouraging yourself. Maintain hope. Believe the best is yet to come. If you believe in what you are doing and know that this is what you truly want, then keep believing it will happen. Research from Duke University shows that if you believe it you are more likely to take the actions necessary to achieve it.
4) Focus on the Process, not the Outcome: There will be many times where the outcome is not looking good. You may not be hitting the numbers you want or getting the results you desire. The key is to focus on the process and just work to get better each day. Focus on small victories. Strive to hit milestones. If you have a vision you want to create and focus on the process each day, you’ll gradually move towards your goal and dream.
5) Trust in a Bigger Plan: Sometimes when all hope seems lost and you feel like there is nothing more you can do; I believe you can do something that will help everything. You can pray and trust in a bigger plan for your life. I did this many times when I almost lost it all in 1997 and 2008 during the global market corrections. I did it when we ran the company out of our personal savings. I did it when I was so unhealthy and having heart issues and needed to get into ownership. I did it when my first speaking and coaching events didn’t go very well. And each time I did it I had renewed hope and optimism that led me to this very moment where I wrote this blog and you read it. There’s a bigger plan and it includes both of us.
So don’t give up! Keep going! Because, you’ll be better for it and so will the people you impact along the way. I’m rooting for you!
On the first day of real estate my true love gave to me… Spend some focused time on your real estate database prior to 2019. If you don’t have a database then assemble one. Input names from your phone, emails, social media and client files. Take the time to build a monthly database touch system for 2020 making specific activities each month to add value and deepen your relationships with your database. Treat your clients like they are first class passengers on your own airline and not like their sitting in the back of your plane tossing them a bag of peanuts and charging them for luggage. The “give to get” activity is the best way to increase repeat and referral business in 2020.
On the Second Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Create an online lead generation system. These landing pages capture a seller who is curious what their current property value is or a buyer who wants to be notified of hot new listings and beat other buyers to them. Check out Prime Seller Leads, Bold leads, Zillow or Agentlocator real estate leads for this. A nice steady stream of buyer and seller leads from a good landing page keeps you from those peaks and valleys in your business. This is a great way to create more buyer and seller leads all year long while you are busy serving your active buyer and sellers and when you don’t have the time to prospect.
On the Third Day of real estate my true love gave to me… 3 – 6 seperate twenty minute sessions daily prospecting and lead generation. Who doesn’t have 20 minutes? High-volume agents don’t just service existing business and then start lead generating once they have closed the majority of their transactions. Instead, they block time (usually in the morning so it gets done) to do something each business day that gets them closer to earning a new client. In a nutshell, there are two ways to be successful in real estate: By Default: live in the same area for years where everyone knows you and eventually sends you business; or By Design: time-block a relatively small portion of each business day to proactively generate for new leads.
On the Fourth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Listings is the name of the game. The power of the spin is where a listing can generate up to 15 other pieces of business, if done right! If a real estate agent is working more than 65 hours a week and not closing more than 45 transactions annually, the agent either has a time management problem and/or is working with far more buyers than sellers. You can handle four times as many listing sides than buyer sides at the same time. So, top producing real estate agents always focus their lead generation activities on the listing side. Top listing sources are your sphere (complimentary equity analysis unsolicited every year), open house, FSBO, expired or door knock looking for a bona fide buyer.
On the Fifth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Face to Face and belly to belly activities like coffee, lunch, door knock, open house, kiosk, floor duty, networking, volunteering and a “pop by” are all great. We know conversion is higher when you are face to face and the prospect can tell if they like or trust you quickly and want to do business with you. Although many agents are reluctant to reach out to people. This is a full contact sport.
On the Sixth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… An Agent to Agent referral system with other agents working the areas where the people and business is coming from to buy real estate in your market. Contact them once a month and stay top of mind and be that referral agent source of choice in your market area. Share tips and ideas with other agents to keep top of mind and make them feel like they want to refer you their clients moving to your area. This is a lucrative business opportunity if done consistently.
On the Seventh Day of real estate my true love gave to me… The power of words. Scripts and dialogs are important. Successful real estate agents understand whether they use someone else’s scripts, dialogs or their own, they’ll eventually start saying the same things they know will work. Using tested real estate scripts created by others simply eliminates the trial and error process and enables agents to start seeing desired results more quickly. Sound like your planned and engage and attract the clients to want to work with you with your powerful words of persuasion.
On the Eighth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Have powerful sales presentations and visuals. Pre seller and buyer packages. Don’t tell them but show and sell them. Have a visually powerful presentation for listings, buyers and pricing. Don’t just wing it and leave things to chance but engage people to want to do business with you, your company and NOW! Talk alone is cheap. The most powerful visual sales tool is a pad and pen and being able to show prospects and tell them has greater impact than words alone. Remember some of us are visual and some of us are auditory but we don’t know which one they are.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me… Know your “why”, purpose and vision. My goal that drives me every day is to impact and improve people’s lives personally and professionally every day. Real estate is the vehicle that makes this happen. We all need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. If your why is big enough then the how takes care of itself!! I love having a vision board with images of the things that drive me, move me, I want and need to experience each and every year. Never underestimate the power of a vision, purpose or why! Create that vision board and place it on your screen saver.
On the Tenth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Be a servant and focus on helping others get what they want and you in turn get what you want. Listen for the need and be aware of others fears, challenges and offer to help. So as to not “bother” the general public when prospecting for new business, top real estate agents always tie the reason they’re contacting people in with providing some type of value at the same time. Always come from a mindset of contribution. Helping you is what we do. Listen for the need. Take care of people and the cash takes care of itself.
On the Eleventh Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Be a lean mean appointment setting machine. The money in sales is in the conversion to the appointments. No appointments then no presentations. No presentations means no contracts or agreements. The lead generation is great but not having the skill to convert to the face to face appointment is a real estate killer. Know what you have and what you can offer for them and engage them to want to sit down and meet with you. What is your value proposition for a buyer and seller? Why you? Why now?
On the Twelfth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Leverage by systemization and delegation. When real estate agents consistently do not have time to prospect for new business because they are too busy servicing their existing business it’s time to hire someone to help out. The first hire should be an administrative assistant, not a buyer’s agent. Administrative assistants help agents make more money by freeing up time for agents to perform more important revenue-generating activities. 3D test everything in 2020. “Do I do it? Do I delegate it? Do I just dump it?”
I trust your holiday season is full of love, happiness and joy.
The holiday season is approaching us soon and I thought this might be a good time to share this journey and story. All my life I have been referred to as the “Big Guy” and something I have had to work at pretty much all my life. I am certain I was born as a baby weighing in at 55 pounds ; )
The struggle for me and my health during my 27 year real estate career and my go to for stress, anger, sadness and any emotional challenge in my life is food and beverage. It literally fires off these feel good charges in my brain for that period of time while I enjoy some good food and drink and then I have to feel the shame and guilt from going to that dark side to medicate my feelings and thoughts.
I was selling real estate and making a lot of money in 2004 and thought things were better than ever personally and professionally for me. Then in the middle of the night I woke with a terrible pain in my chest and had to go to the hospital and in triage they thought I may be having a heart attack. At that same time my wife was sick and tired of my working all the time and was wanting out of our relationship.
Remembering thinking the night before I was a balanced, healthy and happy money making real estate agent, I realized this was the furthest thing from the truth. I decided to hire a personal trainer that would kick me in the butt to train 3 days a week and challenge me on my eating. That was my start to lose the weight I needed and get myself healthy and my marriage and family healthy again.
Why it took the heart attack and divorce scare to wake me up I will never know but I stand here today still battling my food and beverage medicating demons but healthier and happier than ever. Here are a few tips I want to share with you and how I turned this “Big Guy” around in real estate and life.
Reach out to people for help and support
Find someone to hold you accountable to get exercise
Find someone to talk to about the stresses and problems in your life regularly
Prepare your food and meals in advance or have someone make good food for you
Isagenix meal replacement has been a huge help for me. Two shakes a day and one regular meal a day
Intermittent fasting… let me explain
Intermittent fasting, or limiting your food intake to specific times, has taken North America by storm in recent years. Research has shown intermittent fasting can help you lose weight, lower your risk of cancer and improve both your blood pressure and blood sugar. Here are three common methods of intermittent fasting to get you started and it has worked for me!
The 12-Hour Fast – With this method of intermittent fasting, you fast for 12 hours each day. Before you worry about skipping meals, remember: The fast can be done overnight. For example, you can fast from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
The 16:8 Method – A 12-hour fast isn’t enough for some people to get a metabolism boost. That’s where the 16:8 method for intermittent fasting comes in. It involves fasting for 16 hours (14 hours for women).
The 5:2 Diet – This strategy involves eating as you normally would five days a week, then fasting for two days. On those two fast days, experts recommend men consume 600 calories or less and women consume 500 calories or less.
I hope my personal story and some of my solutions to help me with my own struggles will help some of you with your journey as well. Please comment below and share some of your own stories and solutions with the rest of our readers, we would love to hear from you. Healthy life is a happy life and without our health we can’t really do much of anything we really want to do in life.
How you ever thought how your real estate business is really just math? That’s right your business is numbers and formulas and equations if you really take the time to break it all down. There are only 4 simple activities that an agent can do each year to improve their business and make more money than previous years. Do you know what those activities are?
“I love to read, the most recent was Brene Brown — Dare to Lead and coming up is Rachel Hollis 
The holiday season is approaching us soon and I thought this might be a good time to share this journey and story. All my life I have been referred to as the “Big Guy” and something I have had to work at pretty much all my life. I am certain I was born as a baby weighing in at 55 pounds ; )