Let's get right to it. Here are my Top Ten Lessons for 2008:
1. Get out of your "Comfort Zone."
Whatever it is, smash out of your bubble. Maybe your "Comfort Zone" is crunching numbers and shuffling papers. If so, get out of the office and join a networking group. Force yourself to get out there and meet people.
Maybe your "Comfort Zone" is talking to people, but your organization skills need improvement. If so, schedule some "hard time" with your record books and a large cup of coffee. Shut off your cell phone and return no calls until a good chunk is organized. Hey, maybe you even need to bite the bullet and get a part-time assistant who will make your business shine while you're out selling away.
2. Find a mentor.
This may be the one most important step you ever take in your career. Every successful agent I know has had a mentor relationship with someone who they admired and respected.
Think of someone you'd be proud to say, "I learned everything I know from. Who would it be? Are you afraid to ask them to be your mentor? You'd be surprised how many people would be flattered to be asked. And if there's one thing successful people love to talk about, it's how they got where they are.
Mentoring, as such, is truly a win/win relationship. The mentor gains the sense of fulfillment that comes from handing down personal philosophies onto others. The student gains one-to-one knowledge of what it takes to be successful.
But even more importantly, such a relationship helps you to be accountable. When you commit to another person, you find ways of doing things that you would have skirted away from if nobody was looking. A mentor will hold you to your promises just by listening to you make them. There is no better way of getting things done.
And, at the same time, think about of someone you could mentor. The energy you give out to your own "student" will come back to you in many positive ways. Make a commitment in 2007 to both find a mentor and to be a mentor.
3. Do something different in your marketing.
(Well, you really didn't think I was going to leave out this one, did you?)
There is nothing more powerful than giving yourself a new image. Maybe your marketing lacks continuity. Maybe you need more tools. Maybe you don't STAND OUT from your competition.
Bottom line: If your marketing isn't working, holding onto it for a "little while longer" is only going to bite you in the neck. I know you want to save. I know you're conscious of every penny that goes out of your checkbook. But at some point, you know you must commit yourself to your business, even if it means outlaying the cash to get things done right.
It's a hard thing to admit that your marketing is lousy, especially when you thought it was so brilliant. I can't tell you how many agents I've known who have "fallen in love" with their marketing. But it didn't work! No new business equals bad marketing, no matter how wonderful YOU think it is.
Sorry to sound a bit harsh here, but when it comes to marketing you have to go with what works. So take some time to look at what's NOT working in your marketing and make plans to get rid of it by replacing it with proven strategies that work over and over and over again.
4. Appreciate!
A big lesson for me in 2007 was seeing how many agents don't stop to appreciate what's good in their business. We're often good at appreciating others, but terrible at appreciating ourselves.
Stop getting so down on yourself about everything that goes wrong. Appreciate the fact that this is a tough business, but that's why you're in it—you love the challenge of using your true potential to help people. Sure, things go wrong. And they always will! But even in the midst of chaos and misery, we struggle, we survive, and we rise to the occasion!
Appreciate all the hard work you've done. Appreciate your staff. Appreciate the rewards of this business. And, most of all, appreciate the opportunity you've been given.
5. Get competitive.
Let's put this fear of competition to sleep once and for all. Competition is good. It's a measuring stick for our abilities and achievements. Without it countries would not be forged, industries would not be built, and very little would get done. It's the competitive spirit that drives progress—and it's better to accept this truth than to sit back and expect the world to "cut you a break."
Everything worth doing is a competition of sorts. It's an eternal vigilant battle against laziness, low self-worth, and negative thoughts.
If you were one of six agents asked to appear before a panel of judges hired by someone who wants a real estate agent, what would you say about yourself that would win you the business? This is a great brain-stimulating exercise that you can use everyday to tweak and refine your competitive edge.
If you don't know what your competitive edge is, then make sure you figure it out in 2008. One of the best ways to find out is to ask your previous clients, "What was the best part about working with me?" and "What was your least favorite aspect of working with me?"
Ouch. That last question stings a bit, doesn't it? It should. We all have negatives -- each and every one of us. And our negatives need to be seen, dragged out into the light, and eliminated as best we can. How else can we become better if we don't eliminate the aspects of our businesses and personalities that may be sending business to our competition? Have the guts to hear the truth. The truth will always catapult you to the next level.
6. Get educated.
Real estate education is often equated with the insidious phrase "clock hours." That's not the education I'm talking about.
To me, the word "education" ignites that yearning to get to that class because it's a topic that you're almost obsessed with. If you're not obsessed with being the best you can be and living the lifestyle you want, then maybe you should be working a 9-to-5 job sitting in a cubicle staring at a computer screen, letting your boss make all your decisions for you.
But that's not you. That's not why you're here. You want to be in charge of your destiny and you know that to get there, you need to be as educated as you can possibly be.
7. Don't listen to the media.
8. Do your own research. Become an expert who knows more than any reporter. Be able to shoot down their argument without even thinking. Your clients will love the fact you are so knowledgeable.
9. Pick a niche.
Agents are so afraid of specializing in a tiny market segment (or "niche") because they think that they're alienating the bigger population of potential clients. I cannot tell you how wrong this thinking is.
When you adopt a small market segment and become the #1 expert in it, you will have more business than you can handle.
For example, most of the world (and I'm talking the planet!) runs on Microsoft Windows-based PC's. So you'd think Apple would stop selling Macs or go out of business, right? But no. Apple markets their computers to creative and artistic professionals -- because their product works better for that "niche." If Apple hadn't realized this early on, they would have gone the way of Atari and Prodigy.
A more local example is the carpet cleaner who uses all-natural nontoxic cleaning equipment. He's not trying to be all things to all people. He can charge higher prices than the fancy steam rug cleaners with the big trucks and hoses because he's providing a "niche" service—and stays busy all year round with a much smaller clientele than the big guys.
That's the power of niche marketing. Think about it. What would you like to be an expert in? How about condos? Waterfront property? Second homes? Retirement homes? If you send out 12 articles a year on your specialty, you will be amazed at the effect it will have on your business. The people who need you will find you because you'll be known as the "Go-To" person for your niche. (And you'll make more money than being a "generalist.")
10. Know your market.
Real estate agents are guilty of not doing enough research on their market. When I ask, "How's your market?" and I get the response "Good" or "Not so good," I know immediately they don't know what they're talking about.
Markets change daily. They change by price, by area, by neighborhood, and by supply-and-demand inventory. Do you really know how your market is doing?
If someone asks me "How is the market doing?," I always say "It depends. Which one? The rambler market? The acreage market? The million-dollar market? The half-million-dollar market? Yesterday's market? Today's market? This hour's market?"
Do your research. Know your market.
11. Commit yourself to QUALITY OF LIFE.
This is the BIG ONE. This is why we're here. This is life. You need to be enjoying your life in order to have one.
When I start to get tired or burnt out from working too hard, that's the moment I realize I need to put everything down and go home to my husband and kids. Balance is everything.
And if I'm not putting my family first, then I'm not living. I'm not in business to spend every waking moment at work chasing money. I'm in business to use the money I make to create a happy home life. If you're not spending enough time at home, then commit to figuring out in 2008 how to streamline your business with processes and systems that provide you with more free time.
And, get away! You must schedule a vacation in 2008. And I mean a real vacation! (I'm thinking about making it mandatory for all my students.) No phone calls, no e-mails, no clients. If you don't have time to get away, then you need to plan it. It may be the one most important thing you do for your business all year.
Implement even one of these things and you will surely see an increase in your business.
