What Are You Dreaming About Today?

Everyone has dreams!

Some dreams are suppressed, some are considered doubtful, while others may be happening right before your eyes!

Dreams are often easy to imagine, but acting on them and bringing them to life takes commitment and desire and persistence on your part.

One way to help your visualization process is to design a 'Dream Board'.

Go through various magazines...Money, Fortune, Success, Robb Report, etc. Find magzines that are focused on your interests. It could be golf, travel, quilting, missionary work...whatever really gets you excited is what you need to clip out of magazines and put on your own dream board.

There are different types of boards you can use. Go to a printing company and they'll be able to provide you with the right kind of board. Then after you fill up your Dream Board...take it one step further and take it to Kinko's or somewhere similar and have them laminate it.

Now this process may take a few days or a few weeks to complete depending on how quickly you're able to find the pictures and photos that really inspire you. Don't be in a rush to just put any photos together. This is very important to assemble!

You may even want to start out with one or two 8.5" x 11" boards and work your way up to bigger sizes as you collect more pictures of your dreams. See the board to the left. It's actually neon-yellow colored paper with hand-written quotes on it. That was my first Dream Board.

Also, here's two walls in my office, where I bought many 'Successories' note cards and attached them to my walls. It allows me to read the sayings and use the power of visual photos for inspiration. Each picture and its scripted message has a different meaning to me and it re-focuses me when I review them.

Whatever you do, know that with all of the distractions happening every day, it's important to stay focused on your goals and dreams for your life.

There's nothing wrong with putting yourself in a 'cocoon' sometimes...shielding yourself from all the negativity.

When you have a blocked out time to make calls or work on a project, that's the ideal time to be sure you don't get interrupted...by other people or phone calls. You'll achieve so much more when you complete the task at hand. So turn off any extra phones and tape a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on your door, so you can efficiently and effectively work on your project.

In the end, know that motivation is internal and you need to surround yourself with positive, successful people as well as constant and never-ending thoughts of what it is you want to achieve.

5 Ways To Find Buyers From Brochure Boxes!

I just returned from visiting my brother in Boulder, CO this past 3-day weekend.

Wow! What a beautiful place!

As I flew in on Friday morning, the foothills had a thin layer of snow that sparkled in the sun light. By mid-day, most of the snow had melted.

While I was there, I noticed that most real estate companies had brochure boxes attached to their for sale signs.

I found out that homes are a lot more expensive in Boulder than back here in Cincinnati. I walked down one street of early 20th century homes (photo above) and pulled out a black & white flyer of a home with a list price of $2,500,000. In Cincinnati, that home would be listed for $400,000 - $500,000.

That got me to thinking...what strategies can be used to get more buyer calls from yard signs?

Here's 5 brochure box, yard sign strategies:

1) Print a color brochure with photos - add a toll-free hotline # on the flyer for prospects to call about the current price on the home. You can also be notified when someone calls and follow-up with them right away to see if you can show them the home or answer any questions.

2) Offer free home buying and selling reports - people are always looking to see how they can save time and money. Write some free reports and promote them. You can become an expert in the eyes of the consumer.

3) Invite prospects to read your real estate blog - people want to learn and by inviting them to your blog and web site, you may pick up another client

4) Add a sheet with details about your other listings - tell your sellers that their property information will be posted at your other listings as well.

5) Promote any buyer or seller service guarantees that you offer - add a sheet that states your various service guarantees (what they can be is another topic). You need to stand out from other agents in your area. When done right, you will get business from this source.

The important thing is to do something. Then go out and test to see which strategies will work for you.

The #1 goal is to get prospects to contact you, so that you can qualify them. If you give people everything, they have no reason to call you. Then you won't ever know who they are and won't be able to help them.

We all know that consumers want to stay invisible as long as possible. Don't we too sometimes? But by having them inquire about a property or service you provide, you're potentially offering them something of value. Show them that you're there to counsel them, not sell them. Nobody likes being SOLD!

Even though 80% or more of home buyers today search online for property, those and others still drive by homes in their areas of choice. Now go put your yard signs to work and generate some leads.

To your success,

Dan

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Going Back To School!

It's time to go back to school.

With needing to learn some new strategies in this ever-changing real estate market, you need to keep pace with the changes, so you don't get left behind.

We're back in a cyclical buyer's real estate market. Some of the causes for getting here are in dispute, but the reality is in many areas, housing inventory is high and buyers are scarce. This marketplace has created a hardship for some and found new opportunities for others.

What does that mean to you?

It's time to RE-MAKE yourself!

You need to analyze your business plan and determine which parts of it can be profitable in this market. Focus more attention on fewer strategies. Figure out how you can go deeper into making those few strategies better. Instead of scattering your energy, trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, fine-tune your strengths and delegate your weaknesses.

It's time to RE-EDUCATE yourself!

Now is the time to attend local and national training events...those that fulfill your continuing education requirements as well as topics that you have an interest in learning more about. One such constantly changing arena is in technology...web sites, blogs, RSS, digital photography, virtual tours, Twitter, Facebook, SEO, the list goes on and on. There's so many exciting things to learn and so little time.

It's time to take back CONTROL your environment!

Whatever is controlling the thoughts in your mind is controlling your life. Every day we are being bombarded with negative news about the economy from CNN, e-mails, billboards, direct mail and even the comments from family and friends.

You have to block it out...all of it. It's hard to do...I know. Some things slip through the armour, but you need to keep as much of it out as possible. Otherwise, it can turn your positive thoughts into negative or scary thoughts. It can cause you to go from daily, consistent, action steps to into inaction and feelings of doubt.

Don't allow that to happen. You are stronger than the outside negative forces. 94% of all people are still working. People are still buying and selling real estate. Yes, you will have to work harder and smarter to find them, but they're out there.

Sure, there is concern and anxiety among many people right now, because they are allowing the media to scare them into inaction...and the sky is falling. Stop allowing others to influence your thoughts. The situation is not ideal right now, but you must do everything you can to stay focused on controlling what you can control...your actions.

We will get through this...we have to!

"What is 'Blamus Realtus'?"

How many times over your career have you heard friends, family and clients tell you "Hey, I tell everyone I know about you."

To which you reply, "Great! I really appreciate that."

But in your own head, you're saying to yourself, "That's nice, but NO ONE has CALLED me!"

This is a case of "Blamus Realtus".

What in the world does that mean, Dan?

I'm glad you asked.

This common and painful condition is the real estate agent's fault.

Our family, friends and clients frequently come in contact with people, who are planning to make a move...whether buying, selling, relocating, etc. Sometimes it's something they hear through the grapevine. Other times, they hear it firsthand and get a lot of details.

The problem for you is 'you'll rarely if ever hear from these people'.

Why?

Because you haven't "trained" your family, friends and clients on how to properly handle that sometimes ackward situation, where they want to recommend you, but they either botch it up or don't say anything at all.

We, as agents, have the word "referral" tattooed on our brain. We know what it means and how it can benefit our business. It's used as common real estate jargon between agents every day.

But consumers don't usually know how important that word is to us.

When the opportunity arises, you need to ask those, who 'know, like and trust you', if they'd be comfortable recommending you to others when the topic is broached.

If they say "YES", then you need to share them the strategy that will allow them to help you help their family, friend or co-worker.

When they find out someone is moving, have them share some of your qualities with that person. Next, they need to ask "Would it be ok if I had ____ touch base with you and see how they can help you?"

Once they get the OK, they need to call you with the person's name and number, so you can follow up. Please don't do a hard-sell on the person. Remember, you were recommended and you need to honor that person's trust.

If your phone has 3-way calling, see if your client would introduce you on the call, maybe say something nice about you and hang up while you go ahead to see how you can help your new, potential customer.

Remember, the biggest frustration many agents have is knowing that they do a great job in helping people with their real estate needs, but when they're recommended by a friend or client, they never hear from the prospect.

Here's a script you can use, "If you hear of any friends or co-workers wanting to take advantage of this buyer's market, please tell them about me and then tell me about them."

Each situation can be a little different, but come up with some ways to show clients and friends how to recommend you and you'll add a few more transactions to your real estate business each year and it didn't cost you a dime.